Continued from Iron Palm Q&A With Sigung Richard Clear Part 3
I immediately went and asked Tyrone about this. He simply smiled in a telling way and said “Don’t break, Just Keep Practicing”. I then realized that he was teaching me vibrating palm and how to transmit the energy through objects without damaging the surface. I got really excited and we were in the process of tearing down an old little 3 room guest house that was sitting in our back yard. I began striking the tiles on the house to see how far I could project. At one point I hit the front of the house and broke a window on the back. I then began using the house to see if I could make the energy travel in the direction I intended and I was able to gain some skill at it. When I told Tyrone he frowned (a little annoyed) and said, “Don’t break, Just Keep Practicing”. I still broke on occasion but I did get the idea that he wanted to train our hands to be able to project so well that one blow would have devastating consequences if we ever had to use our art. Today I only break to test things out or when I am giving a demonstration or if I am teaching a very specific skill where the student needs to see what is expected. I believe as Tyrone did that this is much better for long term health.
As for using our Kung Fu in a fight Tyrone subscribed to the idea that we should never try to hurt people if it could be avoided but he was very aware that we lived in a very violent and crime ridden industrial city where the chances were high we would have to use our skills for survival.
To be continued in “Iron Palm Part 5″
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