Old Farmer Li

[Franklin]

lol

a big discussion about throwing stuff while working on a farm...

just to let you guys know- i work on a farm and we sometimes throw things at each other it is no big deal and happens... usually it isn't a bullet but something like a tomato..
i would say that it is a way to make very hard work less serious- sort of take the edge off
but we are all around the same age- younger guys under 40


i would just take the story to mean that the older guy was testing the younger guys awareness...

a couple of weeks ago a guy at the farm got hit by a cherry tomato and he had no clue what it was or where it came from- he started looking around really confused- it was actually kind of funny- he knew what it was when we started laughing so hard... all in good fun though...



franklin

[Dai Zhi Qiang]

"His favorite weapon, a metal ball which he could throw from his hand..."

"The village leader saw his predicament and shot out a metal ball at Li Laonong, but Li reached out his hand, caught the metal ball, and sent it back where it came from. The metal ball hit the village leader's left ear and knocked him down.

...sounds better...no?

sounds better for sure, but do you think if someone threw a rock at you full speed you would catch it, let alone a metal ball?

"not flaming, just askin true opinion"

Brother it is about time you put some of your teachers research on here, since it conflicts so much with everyone else's.

Jon.

jon, history has this thing about it that makes alot of the arguing useless, we can all have opinions and i rarely have gotten offended by anyone elses opinions on history or the arts, etc. so i hope nobody else gets offended at my views. I do nopt believe in parts of the history, such as someone who while waiting to climb a mountain seen the animals fighting and came up with the ten animal forms, i believe that was long after animal forms were already established yet the newer guys changed them, etc. i do not discount most of the stuff you post in articles, only small pieces i dont buy into.

i dont have solid proof of anything more than anyone else does. you kn ow in shanxi che guys and dai guys have conflicting stories, etc, so nobody has the "proof" so why cant i have a different view on some stuff? again, i dont speak for my teacher, nor does he have anything to do with me not believeing certain parts of the articles,

your articles are great, i just dont buy into the fable type parts of it, and hell i may be wrong, but again, its just an opinion. hope you were never offended by anything as i do appreciate the reading.

as a side note, you have stated over and over how hard your teacher worked to attain dantien in only a few years, do you think li could have a deep understanding of the art in one year from dai just showing him a few movements and no weekly or monthly lessons? and would that be a record to this day for anyone else to ever have attained a deep understanding in one year?

This article does not come from someone I am affiliated with in any shape or form, but I thought I would make it available as it was written. As for it's contents I don't think are that reliable, but like I mentioned after I posted it "it is just another yarn".

As for anyone attaining high skills in just one year of practice, this is impossible. I know in regards to my own teacher, he at times before he was married used to train up to 10 hours a day as there was nothing else to do on the mountain and at times it was necessary to stay warm, etc.

Jon.

[Jake]

Hey Franklin!

LOL I think I know what you're talking about but I've had a few cold one's after a long day so...........

I grew up in IOWA back in the late 70's early 80's.

EVERYONE Wrestled. That is the way it is.... Period.

There were some tough sum bitches.... They worked on farms from the time that they could work it.

Natural talent...

Bay-ling hay??? If you can't throw forget it... Training all the time... Pushing... Puylling... all kinds of stuff........

Practice all the time without practicing... Like the way the guys we read about did it. That's the point of this post.

I've got some farm stories and the crazy fuckers who made em... These guys would get in a fight every weekend...

That's some of the stuff I grew up with.

Some people can just naturaly throw a punch... Some guys can get hit and just smile at you and ask for more....

I knew a lot of farm boys who could do both.

Cheers brah!

Jake,.

[DeusTrismegistus]

"His favorite weapon, a metal ball which he could throw from his hand..."

"The village leader saw his predicament and shot out a metal ball at Li Laonong, but Li reached out his hand, caught the metal ball, and sent it back where it came from. The metal ball hit the village leader's left ear and knocked him down.

...sounds better...no?

sounds better for sure, but do you think if someone threw a rock at you full speed you would catch it, let alone a metal ball?

"not flaming, just askin true opinion"

I catcher can catch a 90+ mph fastball and a shortstop can catch a line drive at his head, i see no reason why anyone cannot catch a metal ball thrown at them.

[beegs]

stupid to go on about the throwing think to such an extent,

the story is about stealing someones belongings, not playing baseball, not playin on the farm, etc, i feel(and maybe wrong) if he was throwing anything, it was intended to cause damage.

[Ian]

I liked how the baddies were sitting in their tower, cackling away at the success of their evil scheme.

And also the bit about a stairway made of throwing knives.

[DeusTrismegistus]

I like the story. I don't really care if it is true or not. The story is inspirational. It gives an insight into what it takes to become a master. If we aspire to be like Old Farmer Li, we will probably never reach our goal, but we will surely make it very far trying.

[Ian]

[snip]

And also the bit about a stairway made of throwing knives.

Old Farmer Li clearly trained with Vlad and the Spetsnaz.

[GrahamB]

I've printed this thread out to read it. It's very absorbant... sorry absorbing, that's what I meant, yes.

[I-mon]

In 1856, when Li was living in Qi County near Taigu, he accepted his first disciple, Che Yonghong. Then came Song Shirong, Song Shide, Li Guangxiang, and He Yunheng. In Hebei, his students were Guo Yunshen, Liu Qilan, Zhang Shude, Liu Xiaolan, Li Jingzhai, and Liu Yuanheng. In Jiangsu, there was Bai Xiyuan and in Yunnan, there was Meng Laorong. The Xingyi style was not limited to just one location. Schools sprung up like bamboo shoots, each one striving for excellence, until Xingyi had spread everywhere, with each school developing its own characteristics.

this is interesting - is there anything left of Yunnan or Jiangsu Xingyiquan?

it's also cool to think that the guy who made xingyiquan was a skilled practitioner of tongbeiquan.

thanks for posting all these articles jon.

[Dai Zhi Qiang]

In 1856, when Li was living in Qi County near Taigu, he accepted his first disciple, Che Yonghong. Then came Song Shirong, Song Shide, Li Guangxiang, and He Yunheng. In Hebei, his students were Guo Yunshen, Liu Qilan, Zhang Shude, Liu Xiaolan, Li Jingzhai, and Liu Yuanheng. In Jiangsu, there was Bai Xiyuan and in Yunnan, there was Meng Laorong. The Xingyi style was not limited to just one location. Schools sprung up like bamboo shoots, each one striving for excellence, until Xingyi had spread everywhere, with each school developing its own characteristics.

this is interesting - is there anything left of Yunnan or Jiangsu Xingyiquan?

it's also cool to think that the guy who made xingyiquan was a skilled practitioner of tongbeiquan.

thanks for posting all these articles jon.

I am not too sure who you are referring to (Ji Long Feng maybe?), from the article written by Dr Yan, it mentions he learned the "5 bows" from Shi San Shi Rou Shou and Liu He Qiang. It is very possible he learnt this Tong Bei from Qianzhai (if that is the case) as the 2 arts (Tong Bei and Xin Yi), share some of the same terminology.

I got a shit load of stuff in Chinese, I just need to get it all translated.

Jon.

[I-mon]

Part I

Li Laonong, also called Li Nengran, was born in 1807 and died in 1888 at the age of 81. He was born in Shen County in the province of Hebei. As a young man he was naturally good at martial arts. He excelled in the arts of Tongbei and Gongli Quan.

[Dai Zhi Qiang]

I really don't have a clue about this?

There are many, many holes in this article, but in general it was written nice and was very entertaining, like a good comic book.

JB.

[wkfung108]

if he wanted all the same, he would have taught all the same

I don't think that's a logical conclusion at all. Maybe he tried and failed?

so by playing with a cup of tea, that was enough to say"hey we must untite these arts"
these stories are what make mma guys laugh at gong fu

Actually, MMA guys might laugh at modern-day kung fu practitioners (perhaps deservedly so), but most that I've met really get into the old legends and the movies and all that stuff.

Anyway, it's a story. I just take it as entertainment, similar to a wuxia movie or novel.

[GrahamB]

But what colour was this metal ball? That's the real issue.