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Religious Origins

Ch’an Buddism originated in China in the Shaolin Temple – the coming together of Taoist and Buddhist teachings. Although a form of Buddhism, Ch’an emphasises meditation more than the other schools of Buddhism. Ch’an is practised in order to develop the mind and spirit in order to bring them into harmony with the Universe.   Just as the physical forms of martial arts offer us a path to develop ourselves physically, Shaolin kung-fu through Ch’an Buddhism recognises that the mind also requires a path to develop.  Here, the development of the mind and spirit are achieved by regular meditation and by following the Dharma.

In order to understand the influence of Ch’an Buddhism on Wing Chun, it is first necessary to understand how it is itself a coming together of Buddhism and Taoism.

Ch’an Buddhism – The Merging of Buddhism and Taoism

Around 100AD Buddhism came to China along the trade routes between the two nations.  This early Buddhism was assumed by the locals to be a foreign version of Taoism and for the Buddha to be a Taoist Immortal.  This Taoist influence would affect Chinese Buddhism for the next thousand years.  Despite the many differences, at their core both religions have similar fundamental principles and beliefs.

Taoism:

Taoism (often called Daoism) is the philosophical, ethical, and religious tradition of Chinese origin that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao. Tao can be understood as “way”, “path” or “principle” and describes something that is both the source and the force behind everything that exists.

Taoism states there is no God, only an “energy” that pervades the Universe and gives rise to the things within it. This “energy” is not a living, intelligent being as understood in Western religions.  Instead, it is a naturally occurring pattern and its influence drives what we call nature.  It is understood as being behind reality, invisible to human inspection and detectable only by its influence.

What this “energy” is cannot be described and, as a result of this, our experience of reality is necessarily relative. However, Taoists have defined a set of principles by which life may be lived in order to reflect the way this “energy” acts upon reality.  This represents the Taoist belief that in living in harmony with this “energy” is like being in tune with music – a harmonious vibration leading to a balanced, healthy life.  Tao is the name of this “energy” principle.

In Taoism the basis of order is duality; the changing (yang) and the unchanging (yin). Each can’t exist without the other.

An emphasis is placed on the link between people and nature. Taoism teaches that this link lessens the need for rules and order, and leads people to a better understanding of the world and why things happen.

Taoist styles include Chinese martial arts that were created or trained mostly within Taoist temples.  These styles include those trained in the Wudang temple, and often include Taoist principles, philosophy, and imagery – such as Taijiquan, Wusanfquan and Baguazhange.

Buddhism:

Buddhists believe that there is no God, instead reality is likened to waves with a rising and falling motion within a great sea.  This is because in Buddhism  reality that is impermanent and unconnected from other parts – the same way that a sea is composed of individual drops of water flowing together and yet dependant on each other.  With this principle of impermanence and continual change, the Buddhist concept of self is not an actually thing, rather it is a convergence of impermanent energies.

Buddhism puts consciousness at the primacy of reality with all objects being a creation of the mind – whereby “self” is understood as a sequence of events that are experienced.  When these are combined with the memory of the past, this gives rise to the illusion of the self.   Life is part of this constant wave like rise and fall of energy and Buddhists believe that life and death is a cycle of rebirth; there is no soul that survives the transition between life and death, instead the impermanent components that you comprise of are brought together in a new combination and a different life form.

Buddhist styles include Chinese martial arts that originated in or were practised within Buddhist temples.  These styles often include Buddhist philosophy, imagery and principles – such as the Shaolin style, and related styles of Shaolinquan, Hung Gar, Choy Li Fu, Wing Chun, Dragon style and White Crane.  The common theme for this group is the association with the philosophy of Ch’an Buddhism.

Ch’an Buddhism:

Ch’an buddism was able to embrace both of these teachings which see the Universe as existing in impermanent flux. Both believe that the fundamental truth of reality can be obtained in a practical way through enlightenment.  It has the fundamental principle that living within the set of principles that lead to enlightenment is the path to happiness.

Dharma – The Buddhist Principles

The Dharma provides such a path through the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold path.   The Noble Eightfold Path from a modern psychological viewpoint is nothing more than a structured way to try to change patterns of thought and behaviour.

The Four Noble Truths are (1)  Suffering (Dukkha) (2) the Origin of suffering (Samudāya)  (3) Cessation of suffering (Nirodha) and (4) the Path to the cessation of suffering (Magga).

In summary, although our day-to-day troubles have easily identifiable causes: thirst, pain from an injury, sadness from the loss of a loved one. The Buddha claimed to have found the cause of all suffering – and it is much more deeply rooted; the root of all suffering is desire.    Liberation is possible by extinguishing the fires of greed and achieving Nirvana (which translates as extinguishing) – attaining this means reaching enlightenment.

Nirvana is not a spiritual otherworldly place, instead it is better understood as a state of mind that humans can reach – a profound spiritual joy, without negative emotions and fears.  The final Noble Truth is the Buddha’s prescription for the end of suffering.  This is a set of principles called the Eightfold Path.  The Noble Eightfold Path is a practice said to lead its practitioner toward self-awakening and liberation.  These are

(1) Right Understanding.

(2) Right Intention – a commitment to cultivate the right attitudes.

(3) Right Speech – a commitment to cultivate the right attitudes.

(4) Right Action – behaving peacefully and harmoniously; refraining from stealing, killing and overindulgence in sensual pleasure.

(5) Right Livelihood – avoiding making a living in ways that cause harm, such as exploiting people or killing animals, or trading in intoxicants or weapons.

(6) Right Effort – cultivating positive states of mind; freeing oneself from evil and unwholesome states and preventing them arising in future.

(7) Right Mindfulness – developing awareness of the body, sensations, feelings and states of mind.

(8) Right Concentration – developing the mental focus necessary for this awareness.

The eight stages can be grouped into Wisdom (right understanding and intention), Ethical Conduct (right speech, action and livelihood) and Meditation (right effort, mindfulness and concentration).

The Eightfold Path is a means to enlightenment – an analogy of a raft for crossing a river is often used: once one has reached the opposite shore, one no longer needs the raft and can leave it behind.

In time the Eightfold path divisions are developed together; they are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others.  With progress on the path all eight factors can be present simultaneously, each supporting the others.

However, this state cannot be immediately achieved by the new student and it is inevitable, until that point is reached, that the unfolding of the path must begin through a sequential approach.

Ch’an Buddhism and Wing Chun

Taoist thought focuses on wu wei (“non-action”), spontaneity and emptiness (refinement), detachment, the strength of softness.  All these elements are expressed within Wing Chun principles.

Wing Chun is a martial art based on simplicity, relaxed power through softness, yin and yang, yielding and controlling, chi flow and natural responses. Wing Chun’s principles go with the flow of energy rather than forcing against it. Wing Chun uses the power of relaxed softness to overcome an opponent’s force.

Wing Chun is not rigid, it follows the “Tao” – the way.   When one practices Chi Sau, the aim is to sharpen Wing Chun techniques and to concentrate on sensitivity rather than merely repeating scripted techniques. Chi Sau develops the ability to move with the flow of energy through yielding and controlling.  Chi Sau is the giving and receiving of energy, yin and yang.

A good Wing Chun practitioner will focus on structure, alignment, body movement, energetics and the centre line, which can all be attributed to Taoism.

Finally, as we train Wing Chun, we seek to become empty – in order to rebuild ourselves as martial artists.  In doing so, we should remind ourselves that martial arts is a form of meditation.

If you are interested in finding out more about the practice of Ch'an Buddhist meditation as a path to finding Enlightenment then check out the Blog post "Chan Meditation" by Patrick Wan here: Link

Copyright @ Craig Sands