0:00

Suffering is a reality . No one is

0:02

. no human being is protected by

0:04

money . He doesn't fix it , even having

0:06

love . whatever it's going to happen , right And

0:09

that's fine . What it showed

0:11

me is that we are all well equipped

0:13

to deal with it . The best selling

0:15

author , award-winning podcast

0:18

, transformative purpose .

0:22

If you're into martial arts or kung fu

0:24

, then you probably have heard of Bruce Lee

0:27

or Yip Man . My next guest

0:29

, nima King , used to train with

0:31

Tui Xiang Tan and

0:33

he was a third student of Yip Man . But

0:36

what are some of the untold stories behind

0:38

a Wing Chun master ? My

0:41

conversation with Nima blew me away

0:43

And , as the saying goes , we can't

0:45

run away from our paths . Sometimes

0:47

we need to face our paths in

0:50

order to move forward . I

0:52

hope you guys enjoy this conversation . Welcome

0:55

back to the new episode of Transformative Purpose

0:57

. Super excited , i've got a Wing Chun

1:00

master who is going to have a

1:02

conversation with us today . Meet

1:04

Nima King . Nima is the founder of Mindful

1:07

Wing Chun here in Hong Kong , also

1:09

Hong Kong's biggest Wing

1:11

Chun center . Right Kung fu school yeah

1:13

, kung fu school yeah , looking

1:15

forward to this chat , nima .

1:16

Thank you so much for joining us . Thank you for having me . Thanks

1:18

for sharing . Thanks , aaron , thank you . How are you , mate

1:21

? Good , very good . Thank you for having me on , no

1:23

worries .

1:24

How's the family ?

1:25

Family is great . Well , now they

1:27

are . I was just telling you that the kids were going through some

1:29

illnesses in this month . But yeah

1:32

, very good , all happy , all

1:34

healthy , so blessed , no

1:36

complaints , yeah .

1:37

Man , you've got an incredible story to tell . I don't even

1:39

know where to start . I've got so many questions for

1:41

you . Let's just start

1:43

from your childhood . Sure , you were born

1:45

in Iran .

1:46

Yes , you lived through the war , yeah Right

1:48

. Yeah , so that was in the middle of the

1:50

Iran and Iraq war And it

1:53

was just a few years after

1:55

the Islamic Revolution . So

1:58

there was a lot of

2:00

fear in the air , you know , because

2:02

the military police were trying to really

2:04

clamp down on anything that wasn't

2:07

going their way . So I remember there was a

2:09

lot of fear , even as a . So I was

2:11

there until I was at nine and a half . But I remember

2:13

I have clear memories , vivid memories , of

2:15

the fear I had with the Not

2:17

the normal police , but the military police Young

2:20

, 15 , 16-year-old kids

2:22

with AKs . You know six

2:25

, seven of them in the back of the vehicle and you

2:28

know all the adults saying don't look at them . So

2:30

there was a lot of that . And

2:32

, of course , what's the worst thing ? you saw

2:36

People getting dragged away by the

2:38

hair , like just randomly , people having

2:40

meals and then just getting . People

2:42

were coming and everyone's women screaming

2:44

and then just you know , men getting dragged

2:46

away by the hair and probably never

2:49

seen again . We sort of liked that , you

2:51

know , and there was . Luckily

2:53

we never got bombed around . Where I was

2:55

I was actually I'm from Shiraz

2:58

, the city of Shiraz , but I

3:00

remember sirens going off , so we'd

3:02

be playing in the streets and then the sirens

3:05

will go off . So on TV , on radio and

3:07

just , you know the mosques that have these

3:09

loudspeakers , so it would go off . And

3:11

whenever the sirens go off , you just run in , run back home

3:13

, and I remember my parents used to get me to stay

3:15

under the Stay , get me and my brother under

3:17

the doorframe . Apparently , that's

3:19

the strongest structure of the building . If a bomb hits

3:21

, maybe less chance of everything collapsing

3:24

in on you . So , but they made it into a game . That

3:26

wasn't that scary , to be honest . It was sort of more of a game oh

3:28

, siren , everyone runs back home and nothing

3:30

happens , or right , and then you go , yeah , yeah

3:32

, sort of like that . But the military , police

3:34

and the whole regime is what

3:37

was just really scary because of

3:39

what I saw . There was no , there was

3:41

just what they said , you know what

3:43

they said went

3:46

And to see that the adults that

3:48

we look up to , our mentors , being so feeble

3:50

of them as well , it's just like , okay , you're in a , you

3:53

just don't feel protected in any way , you know .

3:55

Have you overcome that fear .

3:58

I would say fear in general . I

4:01

have I have changed my relationship

4:03

with fear , but I wouldn't say

4:05

I have overcome fear . Fear

4:07

is always there in different , in different kind of . Before

4:10

we started I was saying you know the fear . Now

4:12

the new thing being a parent is , when the kids

4:14

get sick , the fear of being unknown of

4:16

what's going to happen and the helplessness and things

4:18

like that you know . So it was similar in terms

4:20

of the helplessness back then . But well

4:23

, i would never , i can't go back to Iran anyway

4:25

, because they'd probably throw me in the military because

4:27

every man has to do their service

4:29

. But I wouldn't go back there anyway until there's

4:32

a regime change , if there ever is . But I

4:35

don't know how would act in a scenario like that . I would

4:37

still be scared because what can you do ? You

4:39

know they can . Just What keeps you up at

4:41

?

4:42

night these days . How do they keep getting sick

4:44

?

4:45

That's probably the only thing , That's

4:48

the reason . There's really nothing else like be

4:50

it financial ups and downs , you

4:52

know , with the business . I mean , you know

4:54

, having gone through the protests

4:56

in Hong Kong before , that obviously affected

4:58

the business because it was , You know , the riots were

5:00

happening just outside of here . And

5:03

then COVID we were . During COVID , all

5:05

gyms were closed , I

5:07

think , all up about over a year , year and a

5:09

half . We were just closed , you

5:12

know . So

5:15

that was interesting , you know , to have to go through that

5:17

. But apart from

5:19

that , just the kids man

5:22

, that's my , You know , just losing the loss

5:24

of loved ones which I've gone through

5:26

in my life in the past . So

5:29

that's the biggest thing , Yeah

5:31

, apart from that , it's pretty good . Other stuff , you

5:34

know , if he comes and goes , but I'm

5:36

pretty cool with it . I've learned how to manage it where

5:41

it doesn't completely debilitate

5:43

me .

5:44

Yeah , so how does one manage ? You

5:46

mentioned about the emotional fear

5:48

and you were living through all

5:51

that . There was the military , police that

5:53

was going on and as a child I

5:55

guess you had fun here there , but there

5:57

was this fear that they I guess inside

6:00

you right . So at what point did you

6:02

redefine your relationship with fear and

6:04

touch to do that ?

6:05

Well , look , the biggest fear actually growing

6:07

up was the fear of my father that

6:10

it was domestic violence , because

6:12

that was sort of external fear , but at home

6:14

there was a lot of . My

6:16

dad was very , very , extremely violent

6:18

, very physically abusive

6:21

, verbally abusive , used to be

6:25

the same way towards my mom as well , and

6:28

so that was the biggest

6:30

fear , you know . And so

6:32

because of that I started to

6:34

In

6:36

my youth , when we moved to Australia , i started

6:39

to rebel , but there was that and we

6:41

were in absolute poverty

6:43

. You know , when we moved there , because he was

6:46

a university teacher

6:48

And the uni supported us . So during

6:50

that time it's like how can you run away from

6:52

Iran ? How can you get out ? right

6:54

? This is like Australia , the States

6:57

, canada , these are the places that are England

6:59

. These were like the scene as

7:01

heaven compared to where we were living

7:03

. What , krishna ? So

7:05

that's one thing that I got to take

7:07

. You know , i got to thank , be grateful

7:10

to my father Because of his education

7:12

. The uni gave him a

7:15

student visa for Australia

7:17

, a four year visa to

7:19

be able to go and write his thesis on philosophy

7:22

and then come back as a

7:24

professor And then work

7:26

back for that university again , and

7:28

then during that four years he did his thesis . During

7:30

that four years it was obviously figuring

7:33

out a way to stay there and sort of became refugees

7:35

in Australia . And that's how we but during that time

7:37

, because he was on that visa , we

7:39

couldn't work , my mom couldn't work and he

7:41

couldn't work . So we were and what they were

7:44

providing us with was peanuts , you know so . So

7:47

we literally were at York from Oz . You know

7:49

, council clean us , right . So everything

7:52

, including my , me and my brother's mattresses , where

7:54

other people's rubbish we go during council

7:56

cleanups , we'll go at night when there's no one around and we'll

7:58

just bring back from our TV to our couches

8:01

, to everything was just from council clean up . So that's

8:03

the spot of level of poverty

8:05

. But we , so I was like , okay , so this you know

8:07

, i couldn't . First of all , it was

8:09

half a minute of half , friends , because I was very , i

8:13

was an introvert because of the V , because

8:15

of it , and I was so different , coming from Iran , couldn't

8:17

speak English . That was , you know , my

8:19

life had changed and I couldn't bring people back

8:21

home because they'll see them sort of dumpster

8:24

that we're living in . Did you have

8:26

a feeling that you were trying to fit in , absolutely

8:29

, absolutely . I

8:31

was trying , i was , i was , i was hoping to fit in , but everything

8:33

from my shoes to my haircut , to everything was

8:35

just so different .

8:36

So when you , when we touched on the child board , you

8:39

mentioned that your fear didn't come from the external

8:41

environment , even though there was war

8:43

and revolution happening , you

8:45

said you were on the fear team to

8:47

feed the fact and just be abusive

8:49

. And then you moved to Australia

8:52

where you were having different

8:54

thoughts and it was

8:57

drawn again . I left for you . Yeah , identity

8:59

there .

8:59

Yeah , yeah . So

9:02

hanging around on the streets and me that that that was

9:04

my way of um take the fear box is one of them being getting

9:07

a sense of family , sense

9:09

of belonging , because I didn't have as much

9:11

of a sense of belonging at home because

9:13

of the way . I mean , even with my brother , which I'm

9:15

very close with now , but before growing up , only

9:18

until recently , only until we

9:20

lost our sister , we weren't very

9:22

close , we wouldn't talk and talking

9:25

about it . Now We love each other , right , it's blood , and

9:28

he , i have nothing against him , he's got nothing

9:30

against me . We live in the same room together but we

9:32

never talk . And there was this thing and it was

9:34

the dynamics that my dad had created . So I didn't have

9:36

a sense of belonging , apart from just

9:38

my mom and later when my sister . Sister was one

9:40

with her , but it was just . There was no

9:42

sense of togetherness , you know , and I had that with

9:44

my cousins and stuff in Iran . But when I came

9:47

, we have zero family in Sydney , zero And

9:50

the friends . It took me a while I mean my brother

9:52

. We were getting into a lot of fights at school as well because we're

9:54

getting picked off for having plastic

9:56

shoes from from reject shop . You know we

9:59

get . You know , so we get picked on . So we have

10:01

to be cool . Kids being silly , yeah , i mean , kids

10:03

are being kids , right , But so

10:05

it was . It was a sense of belonging . Another

10:07

thing was a sense of respect

10:09

and and and and , which is of course

10:12

. Now you know , i've matured and understand that's

10:14

. That's not the way to get respect , but it was that okay

10:17

. Well , you can't pick on me because I'm

10:19

, i'm , i'm stronger than you , i'm stronger

10:21

than you . There was there

10:23

was money as well involved , you know . So

10:26

. So that way you could get money which

10:29

we didn't have , which I wanted things . I wanted a nice

10:31

I don't know

10:33

set of coloring pencils , you know , just

10:35

little things , that that I wanted to have food

10:38

. I wanted to have a know what a sneakers bar

10:40

, you know , tasted like , because everyone

10:42

would have it and I never tasted it . So things like that

10:44

. There was all . So it ticked many boxes and

10:47

it was my way of maybe

10:51

the outlet for anger , you

10:54

know to , to shout at someone , to , to , to , to

10:56

, to , to fight and all that kind of stuff , because

10:58

at that age this is just before

11:01

I was able to stand up to my

11:03

dad and that came . That came in a

11:05

few years after that where I happened between

11:07

. So

11:10

it was just , i mean , because he was so abusive

11:12

, we ? I

11:15

remember one time I was supposed to be like probably

11:17

15 at this stage and I

11:19

started Wing Chun when I was 14

11:21

. I had a break in the middle because

11:23

I just got deep into the street life

11:25

type thing . But I

11:28

remember one time at 15 , he would , he would have

11:30

, he was very creative with what he would . He would hit us with

11:32

. One of his favorite was the electrical cord

11:34

. That's what he would hit my mum with . So that's

11:36

much worse than a belt , right , because it

11:38

just it just breaks the skin open . So I

11:40

remember he was , he started to hit

11:42

me .

11:43

And what age were you when he first started doing this

11:45

to you , as young as I can remember

11:47

.

11:48

I remember being . I remember when we first got to ourselves

11:50

nine Many

11:52

occasions he would , he would , he would

11:56

. It was also the

11:58

way he did psychologically . He

12:00

would have a . He would literally bring a gas can

12:03

, a tin gas can , and leave it there

12:05

And he would say no one's allowed to

12:07

sleep tonight . We were in the living room , a small like

12:09

I speak it's this right , no one's allowed to sleep tonight . If

12:11

you sleep , i want to burn the family . So I was like

12:13

nine years old , right , and I'm like you know , i remember

12:15

like , don't sleep , don't sleep , next morning

12:17

I'll wake up . I was like , oh , we made it Okay

12:20

time to go to school And I'd go to school with

12:22

that . You know , no-transcript

12:26

, yeah . So , as I remember

12:28

, when I was 15 , one time he hit it and I held the thing and

12:30

I sort of piped up at him and

12:32

I could see fear in his eyes because I was bigger

12:35

, stronger and I had a lot of fights And it was like

12:37

the time that I was like stood up . By that time my brother

12:39

had already left home . My brother was

12:42

lovely human being , he's really

12:44

hardworking . He took it

12:46

out instead of like the street lights biting

12:48

and stuff . He took it out , took out his I

12:50

don't know channeled that energy into studying

12:52

. For as long as I can remember , his

12:54

face was in the book and he got it . You know he's

12:56

now he's got his law

12:58

firm , very successful lawyer in Australia

13:01

, and that's sort of what he did . So he left home and

13:03

he lived in a granny flat of this

13:06

old lady and he was working

13:08

at . So he was studying and he was working at

13:10

McDonald's He was at the age 16 or something

13:13

to fund his

13:15

rent and all that kind of stuff and he sort of . You

13:17

know , he came back later but during his

13:19

time that's when my rebellion started

13:22

against my father And then

13:24

from there we didn't talk to each other for

13:26

a period of about

13:29

six or seven years until

13:31

he well , basically he

13:34

the last thing he did and

13:37

I was in Hong Kong . I remember getting

13:39

a call from a man . I

13:42

remember it was . So I

13:45

right now I can't tell you exactly

13:47

what year it was , but

13:49

the way I find out is I Google

13:51

. When was , what

13:53

year was the movie Gangs of New York

13:55

, gangs of New York , the American Gangster

13:57

by Denzel Washington ? What year was that

13:59

release ? Because I remember we were after

14:01

training , we were going to go watch that movie . My

14:04

brother called me up and said and he was just

14:06

crying , sit down . Why

14:09

Sit down ? you started swearing . I mean , i'm not

14:11

by that side , sit down . He goes . Are you sitting ? I

14:13

said , yeah , he goes . He

14:15

, he effing did it . He finally did it . He said

14:18

did what ? who ? what ? He said he took

14:20

her . He took what . What are you talking about , man ? And

14:22

then his girlfriend in time came on and

14:24

he said she was crying as well . He said

14:27

your dad killed your sister . They just , they

14:29

just walk into to , to your to

14:32

, and she was 13 years old

14:34

at the time . And so

14:36

they , they walked in and usually my

14:38

mom said , whenever they came in , my brother

14:40

and my mom would come home together . She

14:44

would be running , she would know they come in , she would be running

14:46

. And this time they didn't . Where is she ? And

14:48

then , when in the room and saw her , she was already purple

14:50

on the floor And my brother thought it's a

14:53

thief or something , you know . When

14:55

, in when , in the laundry , he saw my dad hanging

14:58

. So he hung himself So , and

15:00

so this was , and it's

15:02

for me , you know , thinking about

15:04

it now I'm like I , i still

15:06

don't understand why he did that , because she was the

15:09

only thing he loved , Right

15:12

. But I think the reason he did

15:14

that is either two things either she

15:16

didn't want he didn't want her in

15:18

this world without him , which doesn't make as

15:20

much sense as a second thing , which

15:23

is that was his last stab at my mom , because

15:25

my mom had , just after all these years

15:27

, when me and my brother were telling her to do it , she just

15:30

filed for divorce And

15:32

the hearing was like in a couple of weeks , and

15:35

then , and then he did this , so this was it .

15:37

you know , you know his

15:40

.

15:40

his old man , was more violent than him , apparently

15:42

. for what I hear , i never met my grandfather , his father's

15:44

father , so , and this is why now I'm

15:47

so passionate about being a father

15:49

like you and you know reading about your story

15:52

. I can connect with you on that because I you

15:54

know his father was

15:56

a during the King , the last

15:58

King of Persia , of Iran

16:00

. He was one of the high military

16:02

people , so it was just a man that you know was just

16:04

very violent . Which is he , the kids for no reason

16:06

. So my dad went through that right . He

16:09

, him . He had three brothers . One

16:12

of them died of overdose , one of them committed suicide

16:15

. He committed suicide . He's the oldest

16:17

one , which was it , i think , is a good man , is much older

16:19

. He sort of made his wife go crazy and

16:21

his sister at once is I don't know what happened to her . So

16:23

you can see that's the impact of So

16:25

he had some troubles in his life .

16:28

Absolutely .

16:29

And then he gave

16:31

that to us , He passed that , he expressed

16:33

that to us . So now I feel like my job

16:35

is so important . I've got to break that

16:38

because I have a son now , Anadolah . But

16:40

I'm going to break that with my son . It has

16:42

to end with me .

16:44

And it's amazing how you

16:46

interpret your past in a way

16:49

that basically made you a better

16:51

person . Yeah , i think you'll

16:53

continue that path and leave it in an exit

16:55

for your children . Yeah , i

16:58

want to ask about your family

17:00

and your kids . I guess you touched on it earlier

17:03

on . I guess you had some

17:05

influences from your father . You saw

17:07

some not so favorable things

17:09

when you were young , right ? How did

17:11

those experiences manifest in

17:13

a way that you deal

17:16

with relationships ? How do you look at love

17:18

? How do you parent your two children

17:20

?

17:22

This is a you would probably agree

17:24

with me , being a parent . Nothing

17:26

can prepare you for parenting , no book

17:28

or nothing 100% . Yeah , it's the

17:30

hardest thing in life , because

17:33

I love them unconditionally

17:35

. I can say , of course , unconditionally

17:37

. But then there are conditions

17:40

which are put through do this and

17:43

they don't do this . And let's say my son

17:45

, especially my son . I want

17:47

him , i expecting me , to do something

17:49

, act in a certain way

17:51

, and he doesn't . So then what do

17:53

I do ? I go to my default

17:56

, which , at the time when he was younger , before

17:58

I started to and I'm still , it's still a work

18:00

in progress , right , it always will be . But before

18:02

I started to look into the

18:04

psychology , psychotherapy and understand what's going

18:07

on , my default was it's very easy

18:09

, he's only three . I can say , hey , stop

18:11

, you

18:13

know , yeah , i never hit him , never , ever

18:15

And I never will . But that's how I deal with it . It's

18:17

such a great quick fix . And then he stops , right

18:19

. But then , as he gets older , i'm like

18:21

hold on the same patterns . This is

18:23

just suppression here . And as he's

18:25

going to get older , he's going to . You know so

18:28

, so , so , through all of that experience

18:30

, what I went through , how my dad was , and

18:32

now being on the other end of it and

18:35

with the understanding that I have , it's a

18:37

perfect playing ground for me to plant

18:39

the type of seeds that I want , rather

18:41

than the un sort of non

18:44

, the mindless seeds of just quick

18:46

fix anger or which is which is pushing

18:48

them away . And now my son's nine years old and I

18:50

can see it . If I ever be

18:52

stern in an , in

18:54

an in an unfair

18:57

way , i can sense the

18:59

, the . You know that that from here

19:02

, yeah , and my dream , my hope

19:04

, my for me , when I

19:06

see and I see a lot , i have a lot of students and

19:08

I see that , that that real close

19:11

, best friend type relationship between a

19:13

16 year old boy and

19:15

and his father

19:17

and the both of them our students . We've got a few of them . And

19:20

when I see that I always tell the dad

19:22

I'm like for me this is success , well done

19:24

, like parenting is not an easy thing , but to have

19:26

that real love . And

19:30

for me , not having that , oh yeah

19:32

, not shameful And that's just that

19:34

, that's their world . And for me , not having that

19:36

, you know , from from , from my dad

19:38

, that's what I want with my kids . So

19:40

it's like now , so , so how

19:42

how do I parent ? I one thing

19:44

I do and I do have . As I said , it's a work in

19:46

progress day by day . But if I

19:48

do sort of

19:51

do something that's unfair and

19:53

and and I blow up , i make

19:55

sure immediately after I

19:58

, immediately after I'm like , okay , my wife

20:00

maybe steps out of it or vice versa , i

20:02

take him to the room , give him a hug .

20:04

I'm sorry I did that not , yeah , no matter what , no

20:06

matter what , no matter

20:08

what , no , that daddy loves you

20:10

.

20:10

And I give him when they're young , when they're three , four

20:12

years old , what if you , like

20:15

you know , hit someone , will daddy

20:17

love you ? And then they say , no

20:19

, i will . That's not the right thing to

20:21

do , i'll , you know , but I still love you . So I

20:23

make very bad scenarios for

20:25

the and my summer keeps that . I said what if you do

20:27

this ? And then right here , you could see , surely

20:29

you'll start loving me ? then No , you won't love me

20:31

. I said , even then I will love you . So I'm trying to drill

20:34

that at least , because home is always home

20:36

, because home is almost home

20:38

. And I think , as I said in the beginning of this

20:40

chat , i feel , before

20:43

I'm in my teacher , what got

20:45

me through and what made me in

20:47

situations where I could really really

20:50

have hurt someone , someone's on the ground

20:52

, and it's a gang fight And it's a . You know , i

20:54

never , ever did . I would pretend

20:56

because I

20:59

was with the group and I didn't want anyone to see it , but I never

21:01

did . I never had that in me to really

21:03

hurt someone physically

21:06

or and I put that down to my mom's

21:08

love . See , if I didn't experience

21:10

my mom's love and my mom's yeah

21:13

, that kindness , and it was just even if she

21:15

wasn't doing what my dad was doing in terms of violence

21:17

. My mom beat me as well for not

21:19

studying , but it was just a I

21:21

guess , a part of the culture in Iran as well . But the

21:24

fact that I felt the love , i think that was my saving

21:26

grace , that was my , that was my experience

21:29

in seeing less for the likes compared

21:31

to the dark right . So I feel

21:34

for my

21:36

dad . Maybe he didn't have that from

21:38

his mom and was trying to figure out his way

21:40

and he got a family and he just couldn't get out of it . He

21:42

just didn't have the support

21:45

system , didn't have you know . So I want to

21:47

be that . I want

21:50

my kids to say this in 40 years

21:52

, when they're in a situation where

21:54

they could , you

21:57

know , do someone over or be

21:59

, you know , cheat or steal or whatever , or

22:01

do something really bad . I want them

22:03

to say I was

22:05

brought up better than this , not just because of

22:07

what ? Their conscious choice , yes , yeah

22:09

, because they've felt goodness from

22:12

us , which is who they look up to . So , as I was saying

22:14

, the fact that the

22:16

self-defense aspect is a small

22:19

branch on the tree of the benefit

22:21

. So what does that mean ? So the good thing about Wing

22:23

Chun is we

22:26

can tangibly feel

22:28

and test whether

22:31

we have infused

22:35

the body with the mind . That sounds

22:37

fancy , but what I mean is , for example , something

22:39

very , very simple . So think

22:42

about movement . So let's say , the arms going forward

22:44

back side , where it could be the leg , could be a step , whatever

22:46

, but we'll pick something simple like the arm going forward

22:49

right , as you're standing , however you

22:51

want to stand , stand however you want to stand , very stable

22:53

, how we want to stand right . Now , if you

22:55

wanted to move your arm forward , what I'm

22:57

going to do , of course I could put a pad in front of you and I'll say

22:59

punch , and anyone coordinated could throw

23:02

good enough punch , right . But let's

23:04

say , the way sometimes we look at , the way we

23:06

teach , is , if I ask

23:08

you to , okay , aaron , move your arm forward right

23:10

. So as you slowly move your arm forward , or fast or whatever

23:12

you want to do , keep coming forward . So

23:15

it becomes hard to move . Why ? Because

23:17

tension , muscular tension

23:19

, acts as a blockage for

23:21

force , right , And if there's a blockage

23:24

, then it can't move . Imagine a

23:26

hose that's blocked . Flow can't go

23:28

through it , right . So what we do

23:30

so in a solo practice . We

23:32

have different empty hand forms . The

23:34

first one is called siolimtao

23:37

. Siolimtao , yeah , siolimtao translated

23:39

to little idea or little intention or

23:41

whatever . It's very interesting because it doesn't

23:43

suggest any kind of . You know usually that

23:45

kung fu forms have , like dragon

23:48

these have fancy names fighting , powerful

23:51

, related names , whereas this one's talking about

23:53

the mind or intention . So

23:55

in siolimtao practice , we're standing

23:57

here , we're not moving our , our

23:59

body , we just have this very

24:01

relaxed triangular stance . The posture is very

24:03

upright and let's say , i'll just

24:06

give you one move . Yes , yeah , the other hand's holding

24:08

like this , and then this arm is is going

24:10

out on what we call the centerline . So

24:12

the reason we stand like this and this

24:14

arm is up is because what

24:16

we're trying to do think about a magnifying glass

24:18

, the way it catches the rays of the Sun and

24:21

if you want to burn something puts it into

24:23

one point , right . The reason we stand

24:25

like this is so , from the knees

24:27

, from the , from the , from everywhere , from every

24:30

cell in our body , we are focusing

24:32

and aiming

24:34

everything out to one point . So

24:36

by doing that , we are activating

24:39

, we're getting a holistic sense of the whole

24:41

body . As we're doing that , we're thinking

24:43

how to stand

24:45

and move with less and less and

24:47

less and less effort and you start to tangibly

24:50

feel the muscles opening

24:52

up and relaxing and , as a result , you're

24:54

gonna have power with that . So I'll show you the same

24:56

thing . That would just that , would just this . As you're pushing

24:58

into me here , you stop me from

25:01

moving . Right , usually people will have to stand

25:03

like this so they can push off the ground . But if I just stand

25:05

normally , sort of casually , as you

25:07

really stop me from moving . So stand however you

25:09

want , yeah , hold strong , yeah . So if I

25:11

do something like this , you can

25:13

feel that there's a blockage right now

25:16

. If I change that to again use

25:18

the just relax this area and

25:20

have us , as you try to stop me from moving again , but

25:23

relax the area really , really try , really hold as hard

25:25

as you want , yeah , yeah . So from here

25:27

becomes effortless to move , and that can be through

25:29

any kind of if you , if you

25:31

pull , pull really hard , yeah

25:33

. Now , instead of this , where

25:36

you can feel the blockage , what if I stand on one

25:38

leg , pull hard . I'll stand on one leg , relax

25:40

and I can still create pulling force Right

25:43

. Or if you hold my arm here . So these

25:45

are not techniques . I'm just showing you ways

25:48

of movement through relaxation . Okay , hold

25:50

with two hands , don't let me move anywhere

25:52

. So don't let me move left right

25:54

. So don't let me move this way . Good , if I

25:56

use this , you feel the tension . Now

25:58

, if I go like that , hold very strong . Yeah , that

26:01

becomes quite easy to start moving around . So it

26:03

seems like you don't have a

26:05

platform to apply force on . So

26:07

then when we do have , you

26:09

know , if that is , let's say

26:11

, hold here , if that is a punch run

26:13

, this having it . So it's just going out like

26:16

this , or you know , as you hold strong

26:18

. So then we have the windcham techniques of covering

26:20

the centerline as we defend and attack

26:22

simultaneously . So , quite effortlessly

26:25

, we are able to

26:27

produce force and then that's

26:29

the engine . Let's say , behind the

26:31

techniques There's a lot of I mean , that's

26:33

a whole other one hour podcast So

26:36

of introduction of what are the principles in terms

26:38

of combative principles , of centerline and

26:40

taking the shortest path . It taps

26:42

into geometry , like using circular

26:44

structures and circular angles and circular

26:47

energies , et cetera . But what

26:49

it is is this tangible thing , like , for example

26:51

. So we talk about relaxation . Relaxation

26:54

means different things for different people . Like someone

26:56

can go okay , i can relax my arm if I'm like this , or I'm relaxing

26:58

when I want to count right , yeah , yeah . So

27:01

if I say , okay , you hold your hand

27:03

like this , and this is like a townside , this is one of the moves

27:05

. You hold it like this , right Now , feel

27:07

this area , feel the tendons , the muscles

27:09

, area . If I say , as

27:11

you're standing without changing the shape

27:13

, can you relax ? can you tangibly

27:16

relax that by using

27:18

your life to feel that area and control the body

27:20

to relax , or this

27:22

area , you know ? And if the answer

27:25

is no , that we can't really tap into and relax it

27:27

then if you hold it like that , if I

27:29

apply force onto it , or if you're holding a dumbbell

27:31

or something because it's already activated , it's

27:33

gonna activate even more . Ie , if

27:35

I say , okay , now , from this point , if

27:37

you wanna touch your own chest with this hand , if

27:40

you touch your own chest with this hand , it's gonna be

27:42

hard . It's like doing a dumbbell curl , right

27:44

. So feel this . If you feel here from

27:48

there , if I just think about it

27:50

, you won't work , whereas if I go like this , oh

27:54

, okay , yeah , yeah , now this , if you hold

27:56

strong , hold strong , feel

27:58

again . So this is just one joint

28:00

right Instead of the hold

28:02

stronger , instead of this . If I go

28:04

to that , yeah , so

28:06

hold strong , it becomes very easy to start

28:09

moving . Wow , yeah . So if you do that with every

28:11

joint and the power comes . So here we're using

28:13

. That's why , when I met my teacher

28:15

, he was using these kind of demonstrations , effortless

28:18

power , tangibly felt , not like

28:20

hey , this is my chi , and then people jump away . No

28:22

, it's actual , pure

28:24

biomechanics , he would say . The way that a mother

28:26

lifts up a car when the baby's underneath it , they're

28:28

tapping to this system . The human body and mind

28:31

has that potential . It's just through

28:33

overthinking and through tension we lose

28:35

that ability . And if someone has really bad coordination

28:38

.

28:38

Can they still do this ?

28:39

Of course of course , because this is coordination

28:42

is then that application afterwards

28:44

, how to apply it ? This is just every

28:46

human being . As long as you have a nervous system

28:49

, you're able to . It's your mind , it's your

28:51

body . It's just about connecting

28:53

it . This is an ability that everyone has

28:55

. Someone that's got , maybe that's

28:57

paralyzed , it's got Parkinson's , i don't know

28:59

. I don't know . I don't know no experience

29:01

with what they can do there , but if

29:04

you or not , anyone that can stand , that

29:06

can walk , that has a mind for sure , they can

29:08

do that . And once you do tap

29:10

into your body in this way , then coordination

29:13

becomes a lot easier because you're tangibly feeling

29:16

your body . So you have much better

29:18

relationship with gravity , ie

29:20

your balance , because you have to be balanced to be able

29:22

to relax , not just here , but relax all

29:24

of these areas right , move efficiently

29:27

. You have a better sense of proprioception

29:29

, which is your body in

29:31

relation to things around you , because you're

29:33

present and you're feeling it . And that's the

29:35

thing . You're present . You can't be I can't be thinking

29:38

about what I'm gonna have

29:40

for lunch later if and

29:42

at the same time , relax at this level . So

29:45

that's what I said . It's a real . You

29:47

have to be here , right now , in the body

29:49

connected to be able to open up .

29:51

One last thing before we wrap up , Nima , if

29:54

someone , let's just say a

29:56

woman , is in a dangerous situation or

29:59

a child is being kidnapped in a dangerous

30:01

situation , is there one move

30:04

, one self-defense move that

30:06

you can ?

30:06

that they can do . Yeah , it's hard to say , it depends

30:09

on the situation , but I tell my wife all the time

30:11

first of all for kids , what we teach for kids

30:13

be very loud , you

30:15

know . Try to straight away . First

30:17

of all , you have to be aware If you're like this on the phone

30:20

, someone could just put you in a van . If

30:22

you're more aware of your surroundings , then you're not an

30:24

easy victim . That's a first thing , right ? That

30:26

already is what the first year , sort of The consciousness

30:28

right . The consciousness people go for , people

30:30

that are you know , that are easily picked

30:33

. Second thing is for

30:35

children . What we teach is okay when you feel that , when

30:37

you sense that don't let someone get this

30:39

close to you or hold you So as you step away

30:41

. So be ready to step away and shout

30:44

stay away from me , you know . So you use your voice to get attention

30:46

.

30:46

Just walk away from that situation , right Walk away as best

30:48

as you can , but sometimes you can't .

30:49

You're in an alleyway , it's dark and you know . So

30:51

for what I say for my wife , just like

30:54

element of surprise , so just like act

30:57

very scared but just be going , wait for that moment

30:59

where you can get close enough to poke in the eyes

31:01

, you know , because they're groin

31:03

, yes , but it

31:05

takes a couple of seconds for the guy to react , right

31:07

, so for the pain to come in

31:09

and you fall . So by that time they could already grab you and even

31:11

if they're in pain , they're just gonna get angry , whereas

31:14

the eyes anybody , if you go

31:16

like that , they're gonna momentary close the eyes . So

31:18

if you poke them in the eyes , they're gonna go like

31:20

that And you're gonna run away . You have to run away , You

31:24

have to run away yeah , yeah . But it's really hard

31:26

to say this technique . I think the technique

31:28

is just go for the eyes , then the groin and

31:30

then just get away as fast as you can , And it's

31:32

also about making the right choices right And not to engage

31:35

in that confrontation

31:37

. Yeah , if there's a dark alley somewhere they say

31:39

don't walk down . You know , try to try to and

31:42

just be . Avoidance is the best , best for yourself

31:44

, i think , yeah .

31:45

Thank you so much , nima , my pleasure . Thank you so much for your

31:47

time today , thank you Learned ? a ton from you .

31:49

Yeah , thank you And guys , if you guys want to learn more about

31:51

Chonlin , Hong Kong in Central .

31:53

Where's the address ?

31:55

The address . We're on Onland Street , just off Wyndham

31:57

Street , and Marks and Spencer's on Queens Road . We're

31:59

right behind , so right in the heart of Central .

32:01

So And he's our master Nima King

32:03

. Thank you so much for everything today , man .

32:04

Thank you for giving me a hug , cheers brother , thank you so much for sharing the story

32:07

. Thank you for having me . Thanks

32:09

, king

32:15

Kong is the best .