Chi Escapes From Doc-Fai Wong
by Jane Hallander
Head Instructor of
Marin Tai Chi Center, California
It was a normal day in the life of Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong in 1985. He
traveled by plane to Los Angeles with me and another students Manuel Orozco
for a photo shoot for a new book, which turned out to be one of the best
selling martial arts books ever, the ?Shaolin Five Animals Kung-Fu? book. I
am a long time student and co-authored the book. Manuel Orozco and I were
excited and honored to be included in the project. There were many photos
required to complete the book. The sequence photos of Grandmaster Doc-Fai
Wong demonstrating the correct animal forms positions, the application of
the Shaolin Five Animal techniques and of course, the cover.
As the cover shot, the most important shot, was being done, Mr. Dave Cater
the well known editor of Inside Kung Fu magazine and he was also the editor
of the new Shaolin Five Animal book wanted a true ?action? shot. Posing for
the photo was not enough for a cover shot, so Dave Cater said ?put some
intention into the shot? Although there was no physical contact in the
photo, the picture shows Grandmaster Wong controlling Manuel?s left arm with
a nap sou with his left arm and attacking with a right fu jau or tigers claw
to the face. The photo shot took almost an hour and required Grandmaster
Wong to strike (with intention) towards Manuel?s face many, many times but
of course not actually hit him. Manuel would then throw his face to the
right out of physical contact range.
As the photo shoot wound down before lunch, I discovered the previously
healthy student, Manuel, was pale faced, tired, ill and lying down without
an appetite. Grandmaster Wong immediately checked his pulse and discovered
it was fine. He then checked to see if a fever was present, it wasn?t.
Confused, Grandmaster spoke with me and told me about what was happening
with Manuel. Only then I thought about the ?intention? of the photo shoot.
Grandmaster Wong had been practicing Chi Gung for many years with Professor
Peng Si Yu and his wife Madam Yu. It was Madam Yu who had assisted my
teacher Doc-Fai Wong to open his Chi six weeks earlier. After reflection,
Grandmaster Wong remembered the teachings of Professor Yu and his discussion
on how the power of Chi could be used without physical contact to attack and
disrupt the internal energy of an opponent. Of course Professor Yu always
taught that this type of energy power was to never be used incorrectly to
hurt someone. So when Grandmaster Wong was to put ?intention? into his
attacks, he did. Even though he was not trying to hurt Manuel, the fact that
the strikes were in close proximity to his face and were with intention, was
enough to project his Chi into Manuel and make him sick and severely effect
his health. Manuel was too sick for lunch and did not recover for three
days. The next time you pick up a copy of the Shaolin Five Animals Kung-Fu
book, look at the face of Manuel and the palm of Grandmaster Wong and you
will then know the secret of the released Chi of Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong.