Old Truth About the Ling Kong Jing Series

Old Truth About the Ling Kong Jing Series

Below I've reproduced my series of articles on the Ling Kong Jing martial qigong system which was srcinally on UncagedFighter.com as I will e removing the series from that site. Ling!ong"ing.com will e the new site for all things Ling Kong Jing. #ver the coming months I'll e revamping $ rewriting this material to present it in a di%erent format. &o please ma!e sure you suscrie via email so you can get the updates.

The Truth About the Ling Kong Jing Series At least once a week I get an email from someone asking me about the Ling Kong Jing. Due to the fact that I frequent seeral martial arts forums man! know that I stud! the Ling Kong Jing. It isn"t a secret that the Ling Kong Jing is a controersial to#ic in martial arts circles. So$ t!#icall!$ I either refer them to %aul Dong"s book or I &ust tell them to do a lot of 'han 'huang. I hae recentl! come to beliee that such a res#onse will no longer cut it. So$ oer the ne(t few weeks I"ll be #ublishing seeral #osts that will shed more light on the realities of the Ling Kong Jing and outline the entire training method. )o#efull!$ this will satisf! the masses.

What is the Ling Kong Jing? The Ling Kong Jing literall! means *%owerful +m#t! ,orce*. S#eci-call!$ the term refers to a skill in which one is able to use his or her *i* in a -ghting conte(t. The *i* energ! of the Ling Kong Jing #ractitioner is used to #ush$ #ull$

or in some other wa! inca#acitate a would be assailant / all without touching them 0the *%owerful ,orce* is able to trael oer *+m#t!* s#ace1. It also refers to the 'han 'huang2qigong training method used to build the skill. ,or sometime the Ling Kong Jing skill was considered b! man! to be a legend. In fact$ in his book +m#t! ,orce$ %aul Dong lists 3ang Luchan$ 4ou 3un Shen$ and 5ang 6iang'hai 0this is dis#uted1 as some of the man! famous martial artists to hae mastered the Ling Kong Jing abilit!. )oweer$ in recent times there hae been seeral indiiduals claiming to #osses the skill and !et were unable to demonstrate the skill under #ressure. This has led man! to beliee that the Ling Kong Jing is either sim#l! a hoa( or that onl! the delusional would claim to hae such an abilit!. 3et$ there are still others who beliee that the skill is real and that it is the ultimate wea#on for an! martial artist / those who trul! #ossess the skill don"t adertise that the! hae the skill. As I"ll discuss later$ the truth ma! be somewhere in between these two e(tremes

Finding a Master of the Ling Kong Jing I learned Ling Kong Jing st!le 'han 'huang from Sifu 7harles Dragoo 0a student of 8ichard 9oone!1. I -rst met sifu Dragoo at a igong class. At the time I was under the im#ression that igong was more like !oga and would be useful in hel#ing me recoer after training 0I was training in a Korean2Ja#anese based art at the time1. During the class sifu Dragoo would make references to how this skill or that skill would be useful in a -ght. I was #rett! confused b! these statements because all we were doing were sim#le moement e(ercises and standing #ostures. So$ after the class I ste##ed aside with sifu Dragoo and asked him to e(#lain further what he meant. In all honest!$ I thought he was full of shit. So$ he gae me a little demo of the Ling Kong Jing skill. During the demo sifu Dragoo was able to #ush and #ull me backwards and forwards as as moetouching m! arm me. awa! from him as I was holding a #ractice knife against his throat /well all without I knew what I felt during that demo and I was seriousl! im#ressed. I"e been a student of his eer since.

Through him I"e l earned the Ling Kong Jing :han :huang method$ Tai&i 8uler ;ei 4ong$ and 6ing!iquan. I want to #oint out that throughout our training together he alwa!s stressed how im#ortant it was to actuall! know how to -ght because the Ling Kong Jing skill wasn"t meant to be$ as both he and 8ichard 9oone! #ut it$ an *end all$ be all* skill. During that initial demonstration and through subsequent demonstrations I noticed a few things that I found #eculiar and er! interesting. ,or one$ I noticed that it was a er! real force / I could de-natel! feel it. )oweer$ it wasn"t trul! *#owerful*. I mean$ I could resist it if I tried. These things and others #rom#ted me to do a little #ersonal research. I think !ou"ll be intrigued to see what I found.

What I Found -

5heneer sifu Dragoo would *#ro&ect* the +m#t! ,orce at me I could de-nitel! feel it / there was no doubt it was a real force. And I wasn"t alone. All of Dragoo"s students could feel it. 5e could een feel it when we #ro&ected at each other 0though the strength of the *force* was much less #ronounced1. Interestingl!$ we all re#orted the force actuall! feeling the same wa!.

The Science of Qi As I e(#lained in #art ?$ the traditional de-nition gien for the Lin Kong Jing is the act of using one"s i to #ush$ #ull$ or otherwise harm an attacker. =ut what e(actl! is i> ,or a long time the idea of i energ! was considered some sort of m!stical life/force that e(isted inisibl! all around us and within us. +s#eciall! here in the 5est$ the conce#t of i carried a lot of s#iritual2religious baggage.

During the middle to late twentieth centur! howeer$ new research into Acu#uncture$ +(ternal i Thera#!$ Tai 7hi$ and igong 0#ronounced *chee/gong*1 o@ered man! im#ortant insights into the nature of this energ! we call *i*. %erha#s one of the most im#ortant -ndings to come out of this research was that the energ! known to the 7hinese as *i* was in realit! the bioelectromagnetic energ! all liing organisms #roduce. 3ang$ Jwing 9ing and 8andall L. 5aechter hae both done e(cellent &obs summari'ing the research into human bio/energ! and i. =ased on the oluminous amounts of research into human =ioelectricit! 0i1 we know

1 That the hu!an bod" #roduces an easil" !easurable electrical current and !agnetic $eld %also &no'n as bioelectromagnetic felds( do to the the electrical acti)it" of the heart* brain+ner)ous s"ste!* and the #ie,oelectric eect of bones and )arious other connecti)e tissue . These bioelectro!agnetic currents are /SS/0TIAL to our sur)i)al - thought* s#eech* #erce#tion* organ function* loco!otion* tissue regeneration* ect are all guided b" bioelectric %Qi( acti)it"  The bioelector!agnetic $elds our bodies #roduce radiate out fro! us in$nitel" 2 A #erson3s !ood* #ro#rioce#tion* sense of direction* and e)en )ision are all aected b" e4ternal electro!agnetis! 5 There is a signi$cant a!ount of research %in both the east and the 'est( 'hich sho's indi)iduals %#articularl" those trained in Tai6i and Qigong( can consciousl" !ani#ulate their bioenerg" 7 The bioelectric energ" of one #erson can aect the brain'a)e acti)it" of another 'hen the t'o are in contact or close #ro4i!it" %but not touching( Those last two are im#ortant for our discussion. So$ based on the aboe B #oints it isn"t reall! that much of a stretch to imagine that a trained igong #ractitioner could deelo# the abilit! to a@ect others through the use of bioelectromagnetic energ!. The real question is would such an e@ect be all that #owerful>

8oes the 9:o'erful /!#t" Force9 Li)e ;# to its 0a!e? I"e hinted at this a cou#le times$ but I"ll go ahead and be more e(#licit here The Ling Kong Jing isn"t all that #owerful. I mean there is a real force / no doubt about that. I"e e(#erienced it and I"e known man! others who hae e(#erienced it.

The #roblem is$ for it to work !ou hae to be a #assie$ coo#eratie #artici#ant to the demonstration. At an! #oint !ou could easil! resist the force. I hae ;+<+8 been a #art of or witnessed a belieable demonstration b! A;3O;+ claiming to use the Lin Kong Jing abilit! 0or similar abilit! where the attacker is thrown or moed b! i1 against a determined$ non/com#liant aggressor. I"m also #rett! damn sure I will neer see one and neither will !ou. So$ then what"s the #oint> It is m! #ersonal belief that the igong2:han :huang and intent training that make u# the traditional Lin Kong Jing s!stem aren"t meant to bestow *su#ernatural* #owers u#on #ractitioners. 8ather the training in this s!stem is meant to build something much more #ractical. =ased on m! training$ research$ and conersations with m! Sifu 07harles Dragoo1 I assert that training for the Lin Kong Jing is useful for

1(
.( I!#ro)ed Focus / =ecause of the arious meditatie and focal isuali'ations Lin Kong Jing #ractitioners get a #rett! damn good mental workout. %ractitioners note an im#roement in reaction s#eed$ abilit! to handle stress 0#articularl! in a -ght1$ and abilit! to rela(. All great things for a -ghter.

( Wea&en+8e-!oti)ate =our >##onent / This is the most *esoteric* bene-t of Lin Kong Jing training so bear with me. I established #reiousl!$ that the *i* 0bioelectromagnetic energ!1 of one #erson can a@ect the brainwaes and$ thus$ the mental state of another. ;ow$ this is an im#ortant fact$ because if #ro#erl! trained indiiduals can consciousl! control their i and #ro&ect it outside of their bodies at s#eci-c targets 0 which we know the! can also here1 then that #erson can literall! inEuence another on a er! subtle 0which I don"t mean as a s!non!m for *weak*1 leel. This can be er! useful for the -ghter. 3ou see$ it is well documented that electromagnetic radiation that falls within the +L, 0e(tremel! low frequenc!1 range has the #otential to #roduce feelings of an(iet!$

fear$ memor! loss$ weakness2loss of coordination$ and een hallucinations in human beings. %rimaril! due to the fact that the #ineal gland and other #arts of the brain are sensitie to changes in the electromagnetic -eld of the surrounding enironment. 7an !ou guess what range the frequenc! the human bioelectromagnetic -eld falls within> 3e#$ the +L, range. So$ it isn"t at all out of the question that one human can inEuence another and cause feelings of fear and an(iet! and #erha#s een make another #h!sicall! weaker 0een if onl! slightl!1. In fact$ we"e all e(#erienced that #erson who &ust seems to e(ude negatie energ!. +er! time !ou interact with this #erson !ou feel drained of energ!$ an(ious$ and !ou !ourself begin to hae negatie thoughts and emotions. Or$ #erha#s !ou"e had to s#ar with or -ght someone who seems to #ro&ect nearl! unconquerable leels of con-dence. 3ou -nd it diFcult to attack and defend against this #erson !ou don"t feel as strong$ but when -ghting or s#arring with others !ou can #erform at normal leels. And that is the ke! to the Ling Kong JingG It"s an e(tra line of defense that sits somewhere between situational awareness and actual -ghting techniques. It hel#s !ou win the -ght before it een starts. And it"s in that sense that the *%owerful +m#t! ,orce* is *#owerful*. ;ot in the oert$ oer/the/to# wa! most #eo#le imagine it. The #ower comes from its subtlet!.

Ti!e to et Training / 9ake sure !ou start o@ eer! training session with H/ 8e#s of %ushing and %ulling )ands igong

The traditional %owerful +m#t! ,orce s!stem consists of roughl! ? di@erent :han :huang #ostures intended to deelo# H subsets of the Lin Kong Jing abilit! C. This is wa! too man! #ostures It isn"t a sur#rise that the Lin Kong Jing s!stem has so man! #ostures as it is closel! related to 3iquan. =ut$ then again$ I"e alwa!s thought 3iquan had too man! #ostures as well. To sim#lif! things I want !ou to focus on  of the most im#ortant #ostures

8ouble-Weighted :osture 1 - 9@ands on the Water9%bi-lateral(

3ou"ll be standing with !our feet about shoulder width a#art or slightl! further. Shift !our weight so that all of it rests eenl! across the whole surface of !our foot. Lightl! clench the ground with !our toes. ;e(t tuck !our butt in as though !ou are going to do a slight *crunch* while standing. This will cause !our lower back to Eatten slightl!. As !ou tuck !our butt in !ou will also tuck !our chin in slightl!. This will cause the to# of !our head to rise u# a small amount. %lace !our tongue to the roof of !our mouth$ behind !our teeth$ and begin breathing through !our nose. 3ou can utili'e either the =uddhist or the Taoist breathing method. 0mi( it u# with both1 ;ow$ bring !our arms u# with !our elbows bent and #alms down as shown in the #ictures aboe. 9ake sure !ou kee# !our shoulders rela(ed and !our arm#its *hollow* 0imagine as though there are golf balls in !our arm#its1. A good isuali'ation for this #osture is to imagine !our hands are resting on to# of the surface of water.

8ouble-Weighted :osture . - 9@igh /!brace9%bi-lateral(

This #osture is irtuall! the same as #osture ?$ e(ce#t the arm #osition. Instead of *resting !our #alms on to# of water*$ !ou"ll be doing a high *embrace* t!#e #osture. Kee# the hand high 0-ngerti#s about forehead leel1 and make sure to leae seeral inches of s#ace between the -ngers of each hand.

All other #ostural requirements remain the same.

9Single-Weighted9 :osture 1 - San Ti Shi %uni-lateral(

I"e discussed San Ti Shi %osture in detail here.

9Single-Weighted9 :osture . - 9/!#t"-Ste# /!brace9 %uni-lateral(

This #osture is er! similar to San Ti e(ce#t for the hand and arm #osition. 3our going to be holding !ou arms in an *+mbrace* t!#e #osture with the lead hand held about face leel and the rear hand at about heart2chest leel. 9ake sure !ou rela( !our shoulders and kee# the *golf balls in the arm#its* isuali'ation. During all of these #ostures make sure !ou allow !ourself to rela( 0but not so much that !ou break #osture1. 3ou should feel !our weight sinking into the ground beneath !ou. There are other as#ects to *rooting* but these will be good for now. Also$ strie to maintain an *alieness* in !our #ostures / !ou should feel as though !ou could *s#ring into action* at an! moment.

9@o' Long and @o' >ften Should I @old These :ostures?9

There are all kinds of cra'! stories about martial arts masters haing new students hold :han :huang #ostures for ridiculous amounts of time. I"e heard as long as two da!sG And all of this was to #roe how serious the student was about training. Other stories describe how some instructors would teach nothing but :han :huang for as man! as three !ears / again to test the seriousness of the students. Initiall!$ m! instructor$ 8ichard 9oone!$ and %aul Dong all suggested that Lin Kong Jing #ractitioners should #erform :han :huang training for roughl! and hour a da! followed b! an hour and a half of seated meditation. That"s two and half hours of training nothing but standing and sitting stillG It"s also 5A3 TOO ,7KI;4 97). Look$ I"m a huge fan of :han :huang but it is sim#l! irres#onsible to tell !our students to #erform this much standing eer! da!. Luck! for me$ sifu Dragoo ended u# telling me the truth. According to m! instructor$ a Lin Kong Jing #ractitioner need onl! *stand* for about ?/  minutes a da!. In m! own training I hae found that the ?/ minute time length is #erfect. 5e"re looking for qualit! not quantit!. So$ here is what a t!#ical ? minute session would look like

 War! u# 'ith so!e Joint Mobilit" 8rills and :ushing+:ulling @ands Qigong 1 San Ti - hold for . !inutes each side . 8ouble Weighted :osture 1 - hold for . !inutes  Single Weighted :osture . - hold for . !inutes each side 2 8ouble Weighted :osture . - hold for . !inutes  Finish 'ith  re#s of 9athering Blouds9 %rett! sim#le stu@. ?/ sessions of this routine dail! is more than enough :han :huang training. In the beginning !ou want to focus on !our breathing and maintaining the #osture. As !ou become more and more comfortable in the stances !ou can begin to add certain isuali'ations. ;ow$ Lin Kong Jing training has seeral isuali'ations and *meditations* !ou can use$ but earl! on 0and es#eciall! for those who are interesting in deelo#ing a strong -ghting abilit!1 the *7reating a Sense of "+nem!" Drill* is the most im#ortant.

Breating a Sense of 9/ne!"9 ;ow this isuali'ation is great for a few reasons

• •

•

It hel#s !ou oercome come the fear of -ghting. It hel#s deelo# the right *intent* !ou will need should !ou -nd !ourself in a iolent encounter. It hel#s !ou deelo# more self con-dence and ma! hel# !ou #ro&ect that self con-dence so an! would/be attacker ma! think twice before tr!ing an!thing. 0this is the real Lin Kong Jing1 This isuali'ation is incredibl! sim#le. In %aul Dong"s book$ and the wa! I was srcinall! taught$ a s#ecial stance was used for this isuali'ation. don"t like the stance and #refer to use either one of the *Single 5eighted* stances=ut or I&ust a standard -ghting stance. In general I &ust use a t!#ical 9ua! Thai2Kickbo(ing st!le stance.

;ow get in stance and face a wall2hea! bag2tree. ;e(t$ imagine as though what !ou"re standing before is actuall! a er! strong o##onent or attacker. This #erson wants to kill !ou and eer!one !ou loe. 3ou reall! hae to get this image in !our head and reall! e(#erience the emotions it creates. ,eel !our heart rate increase. ,eel the an(iet! and anger$ but control it / direct it at !our target. ,eel !ourself becoming read! to attack at an! moment. 3our whole bod! should feel as though !ou are about to lash out at this #erson. It has to be real in !our mind. )old this isuali'ation for /M minutes while standing in !our !our stance. Another wa! !ou can use this isuali'ation is &ust #rior to and during a shadowbo(ing2hea! bag session. Some of the best -ghters in the world isuali'e beating their o##onent during training before the! eer ste# inside the ring or cage with them. 3ou hae to do the drill eer! da!$ but the more often !ou do it the better results !ou don"t will see. 9ake sure !ou s#end a time dail! in silent seated meditation to hel# balance out this drill.