Saskatoon Nine Dragon Baguazhang
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610 Clarence Ave S.
Saskatoon, SK
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Attention
By: John P. Painter (Copyright IAM Co 2006)
It is said that when the Buddha was reaching his last days his disciples gathered around him and asked for the great secret to his knowledge. The dieing master asked for paper and a calligraphy brush. Propping himself up on one arm he wrote a larger character. The disciples looked somewhat confused. On the paper was the single word “attention”!
“But surely master there is more?” queried his disciples. With that the master took another piece of rice paper about six feet long and wrote five characters. He held up the scroll for all to see and on it was written ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION!It is said that some were enlightened on that last day while others were not.
I often see students who seem to have a burning desire to learn Jiulong Baguazhang. At least that is what they profess with their mouths and their presence at workshops, classes and seminars. However, when after five or more years one sees that these same people do not know how to perform even some of the most intermediate skills it gives one pause to think are they really paying attention?
For example the Jiulong Baguazhang system has two very fundamental skills that absolutely must be understood in order to produce the correct power (Jin) during linear and circle walking. The first is a very specific method of stepping called “strolling immortal walking” in which the feet must roll like the rungs of a rocking chair during walking so as to make use of the entire range of motion of the foot and activate the muscles of the tibialis and calves working together in harmony. When done correctly the momentum of the body and the potential for speed is greatly increased because one is using the body correctly. Now this stepping pattern is not one that most people have done for a majority of their lives and so it must have close attention paid to it in order to become a natural method of walking and running.
The second is the most important method of turning or changing directions in Jiulong Baguazhang and that is the “water dragon turn”. This method is difficult to learn and must have diligent training on a daily basis for at least two to three months before it becomes natural. If one spends the required time with this method it is possible to turn, change direction or even spin rapidly while generating enormous amounts of momentum to be used as power even during the turns. Not only that but it serves to stabilize the body like a gyroscope during rapid changes of direction. So why is it that even in many advanced students and some assistant instructors I often see that this skill is not really part of their “natural way”? A skill is not a skill if you have to think about it before you do it. It is only natural when you do it without thinking first.
The answer is that they have not paid enough attention to the development of the skill. One of the first things people seem to do is train a movement a few times like strolling immortal or the water dragon turn and then think, “Ok, I got it, now what is next?” and move on to another tactic or skill. In time when this method of “training” is done too much the entire load of information is more than the mind can hold and the tactics become very poorly understood.
So one of the first things to know is that if you think you have learned a certain skill like the strolling immortal walking method and then you add say rolling the pearl upper torso movements while walking and the strolling immortal step disappears or becomes less powerful this is a clear indication that you have not paid attention long enough and with enough desire to truly make the walking method your natural walking method.
If we examine how the brain works when we are learning we begin to see how important is it to pay attention on more than one level when attempting to develop a new ability. When we are presented with a new skill and we are attempting to learn it there will be new neural connections created as a result of incoming information from at least 19 sensory systems (there are not just five senses). However, within approximately 18 seconds the brain makes a functional determination regarding whether or not to lay down a memory trace for new information. The attention mechanisms in the brain function primarily based on an
orientation for survival. If an object or an idea threatens our survival, then it is important enough to warrant our attention. If, on the other hand, the same object or situation helps us feel good, then that too is worthy of our attention as well. However, the "good, bad, and the ugly" are stored along a completely different neural circuits. If the brain does not get the message that, "This is important. We'd better remember this", the full experience can dissipate and the pathway disintegrates. In other words we forget it soon after seeing it. This is one very strong reason why it is important to use imagery and intention (Xin and Yi) during training.
In the past, it was assumed that human emotions had no place in the learning process. There was a mutually exclusive choice of being either "intellectual" or "emotional" in our thinking. However, emotions / feelings dictate attention. It is biologically impossible to commit to memory or physiological skill something to which the brain has not paid attention. Emotions are now known to be a primary catalyst in the learning process. The two essentially pave the way for successful subsequent learning to take place. The problem of forgetting, we now realize, is not always a memory problem. It is often the neural consequence of attention-related problems.
The brain pays little attention to information that it feels is irrelevant. In martial and qigong training this occurs when we see someone do a skill and we think, “Oh, I can do that, it is just like such and such a method.” This comparison to something we already know is very dangerous as we run the risk of not fully understanding subtle points that may be very different in the new
method from a method we feel is similar. What happens for example in strolling immortal walking we may think it is just like the way we always walk or that it is similar. This attitude will not produce the desired emotional energy necessary to cement the new skill into the mind. We must train the new skill of strolling immortal as if we have never walked before and with an attention to the importance of the skill that says in our imagination, “this skill can save my life!” if we do not attach such importance to it we will not retain it and we will not be paying “ATTENTION”
John P. Painter Ph.D.ND