Da Shifu Clark

Da Shifu Clark teaching a mantis chin naJust two week ago, I was preparing to leave Tucson, Arizona and fly across the country to visit a very good friend and great teacher Da Shifu Clark.

After I arrived and we began the lessons, we had the opportunity to discuss Northern Shou Shu and various aspects of learning the many fighting ways of the animals. From this training, I learned and reviewed many important concepts and lessons which have opened my eyes, the first of which I will share today: Da Shifu Clark said to me in reference to his training from Da Shifu Sr., that "Da Shifu Sr., always taught me to remain humble."

No doubt, humility is a virtue that touches on the teachings of many faiths and philosophy. After all, humility is the opposite of pride -- and we all know that pride is the father of all sins. Still, acquiring humility requires an interior disposition that we see ourselves exactly as we are; as a fragile human being who requires the right temperature to live, enough food and water so as not to starve, medicine to heal us when we are sick, and that we are created by a God who loves us. If we strive to practice the virtue of humility, then we eventually realize that our own desires are not an end in themselves. Most importantly, we realize that we are not the center of the universe.

Accordingly, learning Northern Shou Shu requires humility --- if you don't have it, you can never continue to learn. Da Shifu Clark explained to me that as a Shou Shu master grows in his skill, he will have insights into something he has learned and practiced for 25 years. This of course only comes from remaining humble and therefore staying true to what was originally taught.

In Northern Shou Shu, every student should understand that your art will grow and change as you first become a black belt, then again around 3rd degree, and also at 5th degree. I can't explain what happens after that; at least not yet.

Nevertheless, it is absolutely necessary to learn and understand the core principles of Northern Shou Shu and the individual animals in order for the growth to happen. By analogy, consider that any judge, who becomes a Supreme Court Justice, must read the older cases and precedent in order to understand the current status of the law. However, only some Justices read and rely upon the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers to understand the intent of the US Constitution when it was written. One might say that this is because these few Justices understand that even though "times change, people remain the same." Similarly, if you apply this same line of thought to Northern Shou Shu, you can understand that even though times have changed, the principles of Shou Shu and of what you need to learn in order to understand each animal must remain the same. Accordingly, if the Shou Shu principles and concepts that Da Shifu Sr. taught are not preserved in the art and passed down to the next generation, then the Shou Shu which Da Shifu Sr., taught will certainly be lost.

So, even though I can tell you and share more about what I learned when I went back to Arkansas to visit Da Shifu Clark, (including the awesome training and review of my animal forms), what I will say is that what I learned is exactly what he was taught from Da Shifu Sr. And just as important, I learned once again how to be humble --- especially when Da Shifu reviewed “Rising Knee.”

After all, humility is a virtue that must be developed and most certainly is the key to studying Northern Shou Shu – without it, you will undoubtedly lose or never learn the secrets which Da Shifu Sr. gave out sparingly.

Shihan Way

I think this is the coolest video ever. Just posted it to youtube.
I'm going to see if I can track down the original and maybe the missing pieces are available. I was pretty bummed it cut out early.

It's funny to think, I was probably in grade school when this was filmed.

I can name three people in this video. How many can you name?