【Epoch Times September 4, 2024 News】”Every time I come to the competition, I feel that I have improved a lot!” This year, Taiwanese athlete Liu Dayan participated in the “NTD World Chinese Traditional Martial Arts Competition” in the United States for the fifth time, winning the gold award with a set of simple and majestic Xingyi Quan, continuing his previous achievements of winning a gold award and a bronze award.
Liu Dayan has been practicing martial arts for many years, and he values the improvement of his realm more than competition rankings. In the previous competition, although he won a bronze award, he felt that he did not really improve during that time. In the finals on September 2nd this year, he felt: “This time it was the calmest, showcasing what I have practiced well.” He sincerely admires the competition judges, “They are not just organizing a competition, but truly reviving traditional martial arts.”
Liu Dayan has loved the essence of martial arts and chivalry in traditional culture since he was young and started learning traditional martial arts during high school. Apart from the techniques, what attracts him the most is the demeanor of martial arts teachers. “Not showy, introverted, very humble, but with such great martial arts skills.” Liu Dayan made up his mind to devote himself to martial arts training under the guidance of his teacher.
The greatest feeling of learning traditional martial arts is “exhaustion.” He said, “The body is exhausted, shaking, covered in sweat, as if it’s on fire.” Persistence is the most important secret for Liu Dayan. “The process of martial arts is like forging a sword, refining steel, you have to constantly temper and refine.” He said, “It’s hard work, but you have to practice to cultivate real skills.”
Traditional martial arts emphasize training in basic skills. The Xingyi Quan he practices requires long-standing in stances, commonly referred to as horse stance. “At the beginning, you can’t stand for so long, but you have to break through.” When persevering in practice, Liu Dayan strives to relax his body and calm his mind. Through long-term hardship and persistence, he feels that the strength of his body gradually transforms from surface muscles to internal core strength, constantly pursuing higher realms of traditional martial arts.
“Martial arts are a form of practice.” Liu Dayan introduced that during the learning process of traditional martial arts, his teacher emphasizes cultivating martial virtues. “Martial virtue is cultivating your heart, for example, when facing certain situations, is your mindset positive? Are you facing everything in a positive manner?”
In recent years, Liu Dayan has increasingly realized that martial virtues and martial arts skills are closely related. “They are completely the same thing.” Learning martial arts is like learning an art, both pursue the improvement of realms. Liu Dayan mentioned that the process of improvement encounters many “barriers.” “Even if you practice every day, if you don’t break through this barrier, you will remain stagnant.”
Once, Liu Dayan changed his long-standing incorrect perception of a certain matter. “I should let go of myself,” he felt he overcame a mental “barrier.” Then one day, while walking, Liu Dayan had a sudden insight and gained a new understanding of a certain martial arts move. “I thought about how to perform a certain move, where to exert force, where to relax.”
From a spiritual aspect, Liu Dayan said, “Martial virtue is the spirit of traditional Chinese culture.” The deeds of many historical heroes reflect different martial virtues. Taking the story of the warrior Han Xin as an example, who endured insults with graciousness: “Han Xin was a martial artist, when he was insulted by others, he didn’t get angry, and in the end, he even entrusted that person. He had a broad mind.”
Traditional martial arts can improve health and fitness. Liu Dayan believes that martial arts practitioners have a mission to uphold justice. “People who practice martial arts are relatively strong, so they should not bully others.” He said, “The basic principle of martial virtue is to stop evil and promote good, it is about restraining violence rather than advocating it.”
As his levels continue to improve, Liu Dayan deeply experiences the profound aspects of traditional martial arts. “Firstly, the body is very healthy.” He stated that popular modern martial arts like Sanda and Judo mainly focus on attack and striking, resulting in severe physical injuries for almost every athlete.
Through basic movements like standing and leg pulling, traditional martial arts train the body from within. Liu Dayan said, “Your body receives comprehensive and balanced training, including coordination, flexibility, explosive power, and endurance.” Training in martial arts also helps relieve negative emotions, “When your body feels comfortable, your mind will also feel better.”
If modern martial arts can be compared to “showmanship,” then traditional martial arts emphasize practicality, having been originally used for battles and escorting. Traditional martial arts are a long-standing practical skill.
Most importantly, Liu Dayan discovered that traditional martial arts have profound essence. “My teacher always tells me about the transmitted culture; there is a lot of wisdom in it.” Using Xingyi Quan and standing as an example, “Just by standing in a posture, the meridians are cleared, and the body undergoes significant changes.”
Liu Dayan mentioned that those who receive genuine transmission of Xingyi Quan can cultivate internal and external harmony, reaching the level of unity of heaven and man. During the martial arts practice, he keenly feels the smooth flow of meridians and abundant energy of internal martial arts.
Due to the fascinating nature of traditional martial arts, Liu Dayan has persisted in learning martial arts for many years and shoulders the mission of revitalizing and promoting it, “I hope to pass it on.”
Liu Dayan has already won the gold award in the traditional martial arts competition twice, but he has not relaxed his standards for himself. “My expectation for myself is to pursue the heights of ancient martial arts masters and even surpass them.”
“I really hope that this traditional transmitted culture can be preserved and inherited,” Liu Dayan said.