16/06/2026
What a joy it was to once again get together with fellow WKLPWC enthusiasts over our June in-house seminar at our Pori HQ!
This time we delved deep into the concept of connection with the always brilliant guidance of SiHing Matti from our Jyväskylä branch.
In any truly interactive art, nothing is achieved without connection. Yet the strength of a chain is measured by its weakest link. And, as taking an aeroplane to anywhere will inform you, should a need arise, it's best to put on your own oxygen mask first.
This is to say, connection begins from first being structurally integrated, as emphasized by the revolutionary IST (Integrated Structural Training) program developed by our beloved SiMo, SiFu Kati Rounevaara. Integration means experiencing and expressing unity of body, mind and spirit. Or, alternatively, perhaps consult your art's version of the so-called six harmonies. In any case, first you need to make sure that you are not the weakest link in a chain consisting of you and your opponent(s).
Second, have no opponents.
Even better, resist nothing and no one. Accept the people around you, even - and perhaps especially - the ones with malevolent intent. And listen intensively. (Remember: friends close, enemies closer.) Then, harmonize accordingly with whatever comes your way. Use their energy and momentum to realize your own goals.
The listening just as well as the affecting happen through connection. But merely touching does not a connection make. It's not enough to contact skin, flesh and bones. You need access to the fascia of the other person(s).
And that's the beauty of it. The fascial network covers and connects virtually everything inside your body. No need to hunt for any mystical points. From any given point in a human body you come across in the thick of it, you can access the fascial web. From there you'll reach the center, and be able to put to practice the old adage of not chasing the hands but chasing the body instead. Sometimes the hands can be the medium, whereas other times it's something else. You really don't have to fuss about it.
Having access to the other's fascia, you are able to gain control.
- "Right. But how?"
Well, as you become integrated, your newly united body works much like gears in an old-fashioned clock. One gear turns, all the gears turn. Through connecting to the fascial web of the other, by rotating your own gears, you rotate the gears of the other as well. You have thus created a unified system, but the controller of the same is now you. Voilà.
- "Weirdly enough, that kinda makes sense, I guess, but how, then, can you access, or as you say, 'connect' to the fasciae of the other person?"
Now that's the art. And this art is transmitted by feeling. You have to get somewhere, where someone is actually able to practically demonstrate that feeling to you. Be sure not to take these words for it: only feeling is believing.
And let me tell you that this Saturday of ours was a day packed full of some seriously hands-on feeling. But never too serious to not have a good laugh while at it!
As for the cuisine (which by now you should know to expect a report of), SiHing Teppo yet again outdid himself. To quote a student of ours: "This spoiled me. I don't want to go to a Chinese restaurant anymore. This was so much better!"
If kungfu and fascial manipulations are not your thing, maybe next time pay us a visit for the food?
