Retsu Kaioh's Training- Part 6

After a short break from the Kung Fu madness that is the 72 Arts of Shaolin, we're back at it with the next installment of Retsu Kaioh's training. And, here we go!

#14: Raising a Weight of 1000 JINs- The author suggests you create a pear-shaped tool out of stone and hold the tool on the narrow end with a pinch grip consisting of the fore-finger, middle finger, and ring finger. The tool should weigh approximately 10 lbs at the beginning of the training and should be raised and held at shoulder height for as long as possible. Do not swing the weight up to that height.

I've thought long and hard about how to make something like this, but I am not entirely sure what to do. I'm sure you can fashion something like this out of stone or metal and then tie a weight to it to increase the difficulty. You can have various implements, I would say, as long as they are difficult to hold and require a pinch grip. After you are comfortable holding it for some time, you can move in a circle, making sure to hold the weight tightly as you move.

Eventually, you can increase the weight by 3-5 lbs per time, but it is necessary to do so gradually. Eventually, you can get to the stage of holding 60 or 70lbs in this fashion, ideally for over an hour, at which time you will be able to grasp your foe so that he can not escape and wound him with ease.

#15: Celestial's Palm- This is kind of like Diamond Finger, except you press all four fingers of your hand together tightly and jab your hand at various object throughout the day. It is not important that it be a definite objects at first, but eventually, you will be able to make a dent in wood. Then, you can make a hole. Then you can do it with a big stone. It is essential to train both the left and right hands so the enemy does not know which hand will strike. With this skill, you can overcome even the toughest of bodies.

#16: Method of Hardness and Softness- This is an interesting little exercise. You'll need to take some bundled up paper, perhaps newspaper and form it into a little brick by wrapping string around it. Tie a small cord to the brick and place it on a table. Assume a horse stance or a bow stance and strike at the paper brick with with one hand, pushing it back with the air and pulling it back to its starting position with the other hand. Do this until exhausted on one side and then switch. The author says to do this in the morning and the evening.

After a while, you will make a larger brick, until it weighs about 20lbs. After you can move the brick at this weight for a good distance, you can add small weights to the brick gradually until it gets up to as much as 100lbs. At this point, your focus is the distance you can move the brick and how far it jumps in one strike. You can make lines on the table of where you want the brick to jump, to measure your success.  When you can make the brick jump about a meter and come back to its original position, you have achieved success in this art and should be able to throw a man back with a single strike. Although it is not quite as damaging as some strikes, it should toss him nearly two meters.


That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!