There is one very effective method of counteracting your intake and breaking down its harmful effects. It is not only a reconditioner of the liver and kidneys, where most harm is done by prolonged drinking, it is a health aid in itself and dates back as far as the origins of Wu Shu, although variations of it have long been practiced all over the world with varying degrees of faith. It is the simple process of drinking a certain amount of pure water under certain conditions and at a certain time, known to the Chinese as water therapy.
Rather than attempt an explanation of my own, the following is a fairly faithful, if quaint, translation from an original Chinese document, in turn translated from a paper published by the Japanese Sickness Association in 1975. It turned up in Manila and copies were handed out to Chin Wu pupils with strong recommendations for its application during early morning practice of Pa Tuan Tsin. This is bow the copy reads:
‘This that follows is a Chinese translated copy of Water Therapy which was taken from a paper written by a Japanese author whose name is not known to me. I found the salutary and curative effects of this therapy not only by my personal experience, but also by those who know t ‘ he treatment and were applying it without any let-up. I am inspired to translate this Chinese copy into English with the aim of giving it to those who have not conic across this knowledge -of God-given therapy, especially to the poor who cannot afford modern medication. This therapy cures at absolutely no expense except that of our faith and perseverance.’
The paper then went on to repeat a story which is reputed to have taken place long ago, and was apparently passed on by a very old but robust Chinese peasant. Some Chin Wu instructors, more from romantic imagination, I suspect, than from evidence, placed the events at ‘more than a thousand years’ ago. The full account is far too long and flowery to include here, but the following is a condensed version:
‘For a long time I had been ill. I was unable to perform the smallest tasks. The fields and streams, the trees on the mountain, the plumage of the peacock had lost their colour. Day for me was night and night was day. Grasshoppers did not sing, nor linnets. No flower opened. Then, a man came to the door of my hut and asked for rice. He was old, he said, but his body was young and he journeyed for the love of journeying and lived for the love of living.
I gave him rice and he cut all my wood in a very short time, also mending the shingles of my roof, Before he left he told me this: ‘Tonight, eat nothing for your supper but fruit. In the morning as soon as you arise, go to the well and fill a bucket. Do not wash or eat but breathe deeply the early morning air and drink one gallon of pure water as you watch the sun come up. Do this every day of your life and you will never grow old. All sickness will be banished and you will find new life.’ Then he went on his way, strongly along the path. ‘Next morning I did as he had told me to. At first I found discomfort to drink so much. Many times I drained the cup. Many times I urinated and cleared my bowels. I felt a dizziness but still I drank. My conjee that morning tasted more delicious than ever before. After one week I could drink all the water easily. I urinated only twice, my motions were normal and my head was clear. I quickly became well again and I have never been ill since, not even with cold or fever. This happened thirty years ago when I was forty. Every day, I have taken the water without exception and everyday is new to me and better than the one that went before. Now I live for the love of life and journey for the love of journeying. I tell this story to all who will listen..’ That is the gist of the document that created so much interest in the Chin Wu School in 1975.
The writer goes on to say: ‘Such claims for the drinking of water seem unbelievable and inconceivable, but facts prove it to be reliable and recommendable. Drinking sufficient quantities of water at one time renders the colon more effective in forming more fresh blood, known in medical terms as hematopoiesis. This is made possible by the function of the mucosa folds found in the colon and intestine. These folds absorb the nutrients from food taken by our bodies and turn them into new blood.
Due to insufficient exercise of the colonic tract, man feels exhausted, becomes sick and finds his ailments hard to cure. Adult human beings have colons (or large intestines) eight feet long, capable of absorbing the nutrients taken by us several times a day. This nutrition is completely absorbed by the mucosa folds which in turn prevent or cure our ailments and are considered a principal power in the improvement of our health. Water therapy completely flushes this vital system in regular cycles, thoroughly cleansing the mucosa folds where dangerous waste otherwise gathers and remains. in other words, applying water therapy will make us healthier and prolong our mortal lives.’
The paper then claims that water therapy as prescribed in the story ‘deterred or benefited’ the following complaints:
‘INTERNAL AILMENTS
Headache, hypertension, anacmia, rheumatism, Bell’s palsy, obesity, arthritis, tinitus, tachycardia, asthciiia.
Cough ‘ asthma, bronchitis, pulmonary tuberculosis.
Meningitis, hepatic diseases, aropathies.
Hyperacidity, dysentery, rectal prolapse, constipation, hacmorrhoids, diabetes.
OPTHALMOLOGY
Opthalmic haemorrhage.
Opthalmia.
GYNAECOLOGY
Irregular menstruation.
Leucorrhoea.
Uterine cancer.
Cancer of the breast.
OTOLARYNGOLOGY
1. Rhinitis.
2. Laryngitis.’
The full claims of this unusual document are, of course, open to a great deal of speculation. Medical experts would most certainly question the variety of diseases it is said to repel. But the simple fact that no other liquid is known to be more widely beneficial or totally essential to mankind than plain water cannot be disputed. It is not only a reconditioner of the liver and kidneys, where most damage is done by over- indulgence, it is a health aid in itself. Plain, unadulterated water is as free and available to most people as oxygen. We have always known. water to be good for us - which is probably why we stop drinking it as soon as we can when we are kids. We seem to associate it with washing our necks and invasion of that very private territory behind the ears.
Drinking large quantities of fresh, cool water by choice is fairly unexciting to some and its lack of popularity is not hard to understand when we consider the competition it has. The drinking tap is surrounded by so many persuasive alternatives. Even forgetting the addictive everyday drinks we are more or less forced to consume, there are multitudes of’health drinks’, flavoured and preserved milk combinations, canned fruit juices, bottled essences, powdered mixtures ... so many things to mix with your water that the thought of drinking it on its own seems decidedly old- fashioned. Many of us go to our final resting place having never been closer to a regular water intake than cleaning our teeth and swallowing pills.
I have been practicing water therapy for the past three years, until it has become as much a part of my daily exercise routine as. the air I breathe. I can honestly report that, apart from the initial discomforts mentioned, I have enjoyed excellent health, despite my several daily pints of beer, dinner wines and nightcaps.
The procedure is simple. Boil 3.5 litres of water in a receptacle kept strictly for the purpose (so as to avoid impurities). Allow it to cool overnight and drink it during your first half hour of awakening. If you are lucky enough to have a schedule that will allow you to exercise on rising, then it should be drunk as explained on page 64. If not, get it down any way you can during your normal morning preparations.
For the first few mornings, you will probably find it too much to cope with. it may make you slightly dizzy or give you a touch of headache. it will certainly loosen your bowels in a hurry, probably several times. Don’t worry, it should if it’s working. You will also urinate frequently and fully for an hour or two.
if you cannot consume the full quantity, drink as much as you feel you can and increase on following days. Do not worry if you vomit at first, it is only pure water. You should try to reach at least 1.5 litres with ease within the first week and 2.5 litres by the second. You may wish to ask your doctor what he considers your particular intake should be and his opinion of the treatment in your case,
If you decide to try water therapy, it is vitally important that you do not miss a morning and therefore break the cycle. After three or four weeks, you will find it as much a part of your ablutions as visiting the bathroom.
Do not put the water in the fridge. Drink it warm rather than very cold. if you believe in nothing else, you will find that you can take your usual intake of alcohol with less effect, hangovers will be a thing of the past and you will know that your liver and kidneys are being thoroughly taken care of. Water therapy is not an essential part of Pa Tuan Tsin but the drinking of sonic water, however little it may be, is strongly recommended during the exercise period.