Earth, fire, metal, water and wood are the essential elements, which create and destroy each other. They can be found everywhere in nature and are parts of the human being. In the martial practice, all these elements have specific martial correspondents, which, once mastered, offer practitioners reliability, rapidity, firmness, fluidity and energy. This is only one of the stories that Master Ismet Himmet shared with his students who participated to Wudang Kung Fu Fundamentals of Neija Quan intensive seminary.
Martial arts students from Romania and from other European regions met in Bucharest during 9-11 May 2014, along three days of intensive training for learning the fundamental techniques of Neija Quan style, taught by Master Ismet Himmet for the first time in Europe. The event was organized by WuDao Club (Wu Tao Kung Fu and WDP RO) and attracted both members of the club and passionate of martial arts from other clubs from Romania or from abroad. Although most of participants in this seminary interacted for the first time with the fundamental elements that compose the Neija Quan practice, Master Ismet Himmet transmitted warmly, patiently and with an intense energy the techniques taught. As a result, the elements and techniques presented during the seminary were gradually assimilated.
The information given in the three days of seminary included a practical and a theoretical part, which contributed to understanding the specific movements of Wudang Pai style. In the first day, the students interacted with Yin Yang expressions, trying to express their feminine, respectively their masculine side. These are elements that must be integrated in each martial art practitioner’s personality, as offensive or defensive forms. In the same time, in the first part of the seminary there were presented the first 36 sections of the body, which represent the first level of consciously synchronizing the positions, the movements of the body, the hits or the blocks.
In the second day of the seminary, there were further presented the next sections of the body, till 48. In this way, the students were challenged to consciously synchronize the movements of the 48 sides of their body. Also in the second day of the seminary, there were introduced the Fajin and Fali elements, energetic explosions of the body that take the shape of vibrations which spread throughout the organism.
In the final day of the seminary, the Fajin and Fali elements were intensely repeated, alongside the 5 elements (earth, fire, metal, water and wood) and the study further included the theoretical and practical learning of the 64 sections of the body. Towards the end of the seminary there the students were engaged in discussions regarding WDP style meditation, demonic and angelic vibrations and the Astral Qi.
However, this is just a general, very schematized presentation of what happened during 9-11 May 2014 at the seminary sustained by Master Ismet Himmet in Bucharest. The Master’s teachings comprised complex techniques because they were new and because they were diverse. Master Himmet offered additional explications with pleasure and interest. Using an elegant language and a communication beyond words, he instigated the students’ energy, power, attitude, essential qualities in the practice of the Chinese martial arts.
Few impressions of the participants to this seminary reflect the fact that they assisted at a rare experience, wherein they interacted with the fundamental elements of WDP style and for better understanding these elements, they need to integrate them in their regular trainings.
With an extensive experience in martial arts, Master Ismet Himmet, also known as You Li Han, harmoniously combines the art of teaching with the abilities gained in the martial practice. Being engaged in the present, Master Ismet Himmet is aware of the fact that martial arts need to evolve in line with the times in which we live, and this aspect is permanently integrated in the martial principles practiced and taught. Like this, the Master is enriching his experience through the systematic interaction with new martial styles. His presence in Romania demonstrated his ability to easily adjust to a new culture, which is a fact proven along time through his international experience, which includes seminaries and traineeships in China, Germany, Turkish or Greece and, since recently, also our country. He is the first foreigner to open an academy in Wudang Mountains in China and among the first who officially brought the Wudang style in Europe, being recognized as the disciple of the Great Master You Xuan De.
Briefly, the Fundamentals of Neija Quan was a complex seminary, with many new information, with vibrant energetic techniques, interesting and impressive both because of the assimilated elements, but also due to the friendly and assertive teaching style of Master Ismet Himmet.