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The
Last Two Weekends with Master Choi
by Ray Hayward
(This article
originally appeared in Wudang, Vol. 13, No. 1)
Thanksgiving weekend, 2004 was the tenth Thanksgiving weekend of
eleven consecutive years I spent studying with Master Wai-Lun Choi
at his school in Chicago. The weather was dark and dreary when Paul
Abdella and I arrived at Master Choi’s studio in the Lincoln
Park area of Chicago, foreshadowing the weekend ahead. We were greeted
at the door by a smiling Master Choi, but we could see he was sick
and not feeling good. After the usual pleasantries and greetings,
Master Choi told us his health was failing and that he couldn’t
eat anything because he was developing allergies to everything.
This set the mood for a melancholy and depressing weekend. We knew
retirement was coming soon for Master Choi, but this decline in
health made him decide to retire in the spring. This weekend was
turning out to be the conclusion of many lessons and paths. Paul
finished the Main Form of Liu Ho Pa Fa which he started seven years
earlier. I finished Master Choi’s T’ai-Chi Form. And Master
Choi was finishing over thirty years of public teaching. The end
of an era had come.
Wanting to capture and catalogue as much as I could, I asked Master
Choi if I could take photos of both levels of his studio. He looked
at me and said, “You do what you want. Consider this your school.”
Used to many hours of classes, we were sad to have Master Choi stop
to rest after only an hour or so. Because of his stomach problems,
we didn’t get to take him to our favorite Chinese restaurant
for a meal.
In spite of poor health, Master Choi gave us some great lessons.
Concerning meditation he said a simple meditation technique is,
“Don’t forget—don’t focus.” He quoted a
Classic that says, “Outside calm, but there is something inside.”
He told us that “something” is your meditation technique.
He reminded us that, “The Classics are the headlines. You still
need face-to-face time with the teacher to learn how to do it—to
get the story.”
Looking back on thirty years of teaching for a living, Master Choi
gave us insights into two negative experiences he had with students
over the years. He told us about the Chinese phrase “Mo Dai,
Mo Sai.” Mo Dai means “No High.” Mo Sai means “No
Low.” Master Choi lamented the lack of respect shown to teachers
by students and the need for students to be friends, or on the same
level, as the teacher. He said this makes it hard to teach and to
learn. He also quoted the founder of Yi-Ch’uan, Master Wong
Hong-Chai, “Smart people have no patience (to learn Martial
Arts), dumb people can’t get it, so both quit,” and said
he has now had this experience.
In the midst of this gloomy weekend, I was taught the liberating
essence of the Spear, a weapon I have been studying and practicing
for over twenty-five years. Master Choi also said, “Ask for
whatever you want.” I had nothing to lose so I asked for his
teacher, Master Chan Yik-Yan’s secret Bruise Juice formula
(Dit Da Jow), which he brought the next day. He also said one of
the funniest things I had heard from him. He was talking about meeting
a Northern Chinese person (Master Choi is from the south), he said,
“They speak Mandarin, I speak Cantonese. It was like a chicken
talking with a duck.” As we were preparing to leave, Master
Choi must have seen our sadness, because he said, “Remember,
a tiger is still a tiger even if he’s hurt.”
Master Choi set May 1, 2005 as his retirement. He had some equipment
for us so we decided to travel to Chicago in April to pick up the
equipment and to take a few last private classes. As we walked up
to the door and entered Master Choi’s studio, we were surprised
to find him watching a boxing match on TV and dancing around on
his toes shadow-boxing like a spry 20-year old!! Greeting us with
a big smile and hearty handshakes, the transformation from our last
visit was miraculous. Here before us was the Grandmaster we know,
energetic, happy, powerful, and lively. I was shocked and had to
ask him what he was doing over the past five months. He said he
had been “continuously practicing standing meditation to improve
my health.” I felt Master Choi was more peaceful, energetic
and happier than I had ever seen him. We trained with him for hours
on end until we had to ask to stop to get something to eat. We once
again went to Chinatown for a meal and good conversation.
This weekend was full of light, in contrast to the darkness of
Thanksgiving weekend. Master Choi pulled out all the stops and gave
us lessons from his more than thirty years of teaching. He gave
us lessons on self-defense, kick attacks and defenses, throws and
ch’in-na. At one point he threw me so fast and hard, that when
I got up from the mat I was dizzy. About the ch’in-na, or joint-locks,
he gave this wonderful insight, “When you use the ch’in-na
techniques, you have to look ahead like playing Chess, this move
goes to this move, etc. Give the opponent no time to fight back.
Plan two moves ahead, just like a play in Chess. There are many
ideas, that’s why you have to learn all the methods and techniques,
then you have to apply them for different situations. The basic
idea is you control the person to slow them down.”
He gave us the essence of the Lama-style and of Thai kick-boxing,
“Lama is like fighting a crab. If you get rid of the claws:
no problem. Lama tries to hit and hurt the opponent’s hands
and legs.” And, “Thai kick-boxing has the hands block
the hands and the legs block the legs. That’s a good idea,
but even a leg block can get broken.” Master Choi also told
us the official name of the “Embrace the Moon” standing
posture is Wan Yuen Chong–“Combined System Post.”
He also gave us advice on training with the heavy punching bag,
“If you think the bag is heavy, you will tense up. Internal
styles should punch cotton.”
I asked Master Choi what he planned for the future. He told us
he wants to research the highest level of meditation. He reminded
us that “the highest level is about using meditation to get
the Internal Power out. Body Power (Lik) is not power. 9 joints
united plus the mind is power (Ging).” He also wants to produce
instructional DVDs, write explanations about the Classics, and teach
a few students privately. As we were leaving a most profound weekend
I told Master Choi that I left Thanksgiving weekend feeling sad
for him, but this time I feel sad for myself.
Master Choi smiled and said, “No party lasts forever.”
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