Song of the Real Meaning

Bing Gong once translated what Sifu had on the blackboard in the studio on the fly. This is a translation of the same poem from a tai chi book written by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming.

Song of the Real Meaning

No shape, no shadow.
Entire body transparent and empty.
Forget your surroundings and be natural.
Like a stone chime suspended from West Mountain.
Tigers roaring, monkeys screeching.
Clear fountains, peaceful water.
Turbulent river, stormy ocean.
With your whole being, develop your life.

Memories of studying with Kuo Lien Ying.

Late 70's
We used to arrive around 5 in the morning to study with Kuo Sifu. Upon seeing Sifu, we would shout, "Sifu Zhou!" and Sifu would respond with a voice that echoed thru Portmouth Square Park in the early morning. Sifu would sometimes walk thru the park tweaking the rope dart off of his foot to snap out thru the air. I heard that he used to target the pigeons that lived in the square, but stopped when some students protested. He had a special concealed tie of the rope dart around his abdomen beneath his jacket which with a quick flick of his arm would shoot the rope dart out of his sleeve really fast. Once I was stretching out in the studio and Sifu coming thru the screen door shot the rope dart towards my head. I can still see it coming towards me in a kind of slow motion speed as I jumped backwards and it's snap back before it hit my nose and Sifu laughing.