Monk Spade Seminar

On Saturday 20th March, Sifu Iain Armstrong of the Nam Yang Pugilistic association returned to Sil Lum Kune to teach some of it’s members the Hong Peng Sarn or Monks Spade. This particular weapon is normally associated with Da Mo (Bodhidarma), the Indian Monk who introduced exercise forms to the Shaolin temple. Most pictures of Da Mo show him carrying a Monks spade over his shoulder.

Sifu Armstrong had previously taught members of Sil Lum Kune a form for the Tiger Fork. Both the Tiger Fork and the Monks Spade are traditional Shaolin weapons, with the Monks Spade being from Fukien province. There are very few people in the country who are able (and willing) to teach these weapons, and it was a great honour to be taught this weapon.

The day started with Sifu Armstrong taking the students through a short warm up to get everyone ready for training. This was followed by a discussion on the history of the weapon. Sifu Armstrong explained that the weapon is known by several names and that Hong Peng Sarn actually translated to ‘convenient cutter’. The weapon is also sometimes referred to as the bell shaped staff
due to the shape of the main cutting blade. He also explained that the weapon

is actually a fairly crude weapon with an unrefined cutting blade. However, when applied to a suitable target area. It would do plenty of damage.

Sifu Armstrong then spent the rest of the day teaching the students a form using the Monks Spade, making  sure that they understood the importance of stances to be able to generate power through the weapon. The emphasis here was on making sure that the stance was firmly rooted to the floor but also fluid and relaxed enough to allow the hips to be used to generate power.

The theme of relaxed fluid power was one that was returned to many times over the day, as well as the use if internal power. Sifu Armstrong also explained that by getting the stance correct, and by locking the rear  hand into the waist area above the hip, it is possible to transfer the internal energy of the body into the weapon via the belt channel.

On the Sunday, a group of the senior grades attended a further seminar with Sifu Armstrong about customs and ceremonies involved in Chinese culture and

martial arts. A large part of the day was given over to ceremonies and etiquette surrounding the lion dance, as this was of particular interest to the students.
 
Sifu Armstrong explained that the Lion is used to bring fresh Qi into a building and so bring good luck. In this way the Chinese believe that paying for a Lion Dance to be performed at New year or on other special occasions, is an investment that will bring them prosperity.

The remainder of the day was spent in discussions about the altars that are found in the training halls (the Sil Lum Kune altar is at the academy in Bedworth), and the significance that certain numbers have in Chinese philosophy.

It was obvious that Sifu Armstrong had spent a lot of time researching these subjects, and was very knowledgeable. The information that he made available to Sil Lum Kune was fascinating and very detailed.

Our thanks go again to Sifu Iain Armstrong and Nam Yang Pugilistic for there time and help.  For further details on Nam Yang, please visit their website www.namyang.co.uk