The Four Pillars of the Forest Fist

**The Four Pillars of the Forest Fist** is an article from The Red Hare Courier's second issue and first volume, released in December 15 1903. The article was written by Mei Lim, originally written in Tagalog and translated to English in 1989 during the digitization of the Red Hare Courier via MagnaOS by Stephen Lim, a descendant of Mei. The article is a primer for the "Forest Fist", a martial art and philosophy practiced and thought by the Lim family of the Snake Tong.

## Content

*Lim Ga Kuen, or simply Lim Kuen or “The Forest Fist” has always been a dynamic idea. It is less of a rigid codification of techniques and more of a foundational style meant to encourage personal adaptation when it comes to training and fighting. Many other schools and traditions base their styles on animals, Lim Kuen is absent of this. A practitioner may incorporate specific techniques from Dragon-Style or Tiger-Style, but in Lim Kuen, every adopted technique, every other “style” is simply one pole in a vast forest of bamboo. The fluidity of the Forest Fist, however, does not mean it has no fundamentals. I am sure a majority of those reading this article have already undergone the basics of training in the Forest Fist to realize this. However, I am writing this as a primer for newcomers who are completely unaware of what to expect. This may also serve as a reminder for those already trained in Forest Fist to avoid falling for the sin of complacency. Martial Arts, after all, is not just about honing one’s body. Sharpening the mind through insight is also an imperative. There are four fundamentals to the Lim Kuen, Four Pillars that stand as its foundation.*

*The First Pillar is the mastery of the Breath. If one cannot breathe, one cannot live: this is obvious. Managing the breath is akin to managing one's strength. Each breath flows through the body as power; so, a martial artist must learn how to control his breath before he can control anything else.*

*The Second Pillar mastery of the Body. The mastery of the body lies in two main spheres, often thought a dichotomy, but in reality, the master may possess both. The first of these is raw strength: the ability to jump high, run fast and long, lift and carry heavy burdens. The second is agility: the flex of the tendons, the coordination of the eye, speed of striking, and grace of movement.*

*These two spheres interlock, and thus comes the Third Pillar: Technique. While we are on this earth, our bodies, souls, and minds are bound together as one; what affects one will affect the other. A neglected body leads to a neglected mind or soul, and vice versa. A mindless fighter displaying raw strength and skill is susceptible to defeat in the hands of a mindful and tactical opponent. On the other hand, one who sticks solely on mental and theoretical study cannot defeat a foe without the proper physical conditioning.  Technique is reliant on a honed body and a sharpened mind. As every individual has their own bodies with their own uniqueness, it is up to them to incorporate specific techniques from other styles and adapt them to suit their own individual talents and physical capabilities, craft their own personal Technique. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo survives by bending with the wind. A martial artist must be as flexible as bamboo, their Techniques must adapt to the winds of battle. Technique, then, is the doorway to shaping Qi. Qi is in everything. The rightness one feels in finding the proper rhythm in their techniques is reflected in the flow and efficiency of one's Qi. Novices at this stage of training should be able to feel the Qi in their movements, and further conserve or release this energy in order to give more power to their strikes or absorb more force when deflecting a blow.*

*The fourth and last Pillar, Qi. A martial artist next learns to invite the world’s essence into their techniques to transcend their mortal limits, and this is not possible without mastering the three previous pillars. This transcendence can be brought about by Jiāqiáng or “Strengthening” is perhaps the simplest form of magic to learn but hardest to master. To Strengthen the existence of an object using Qi, or in a martial artist’s case, a body, sounds basic, but it is not. One must possess a mind sharp enough to grasp what is needed to be Strengthened in the body, the muscles, the bones, the nerves, the organs, and even the skin. This also requires a body physically fit enough to provide the ideal levels of Strengthening. A naturally weak body will not be as strong as a trained one when Qi is used to Strengthen it. In a metaphor of numbers, 1 multiplied 2 is just 2. That is what you get when with an unfit physique. 1 multiplied by 10 is what one must strive for as a martial artist. One must also require the swift mind of a warrior to know how and when to channel Qi and the technique to properly use it in a fight. It is important to know that to use Qi is not to divorce of the energies latent in one's body when casting spells and recreating the mysteries of old, but instead the ultimate channeling of it. A spell cast with proper breathing, physical conditioning, and technique is hence always more powerful than that merely conceived of in the mind, though a wise master will of course also learn still and silent spells for use against cunning foes.*

*After a novice learns to augment their martial training with Qi, more varied teachings may avail them, such as stealing or replenishing another's life force, twisting the fabric of light or substance of rock or air to create a more favorable arena, or shaping the raw energies of the Five Elements. Though one must demonstrate restraint and have the guidance of a master.*

*A wise martial artist trains in all four of these Pillars and knows neither of them are greater than any other, that each is susceptible to weakness if neglected. A martial artist focusing on only one mastery becomes but a point on a star, equidistant to the center from the others, from the true knowing. For this is the breath, the soul, of our art: that everything is connected.*

*A message addressed to Jong Jong regarding his article on knife fighting:*

*Please choose a shorter title for your next written work. I find it very unlikely that in a hundred years, thousands of people will read novels or watch theater plays with ridiculously long titles.  The whole idea is surreal.*

*-Mei H. Lim*