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God knows why I went to the kungfu and tai chi demonstration in Llandysul in August 2003. I had gained a black belt in Taekwon Do at the ‘tender’ age of 20 but had given it up two years later, turning elsewhere in search of more spiritual and esoteric pursuits. Then at the age of 49 there I was watching this kung fu group running through their Shaolin, Praying Mantis and tai chi forms. Based on my previous experience of martial arts, I had expected to see a load of ‘tatooed heavies’ showing how macho and ‘ready for it’ they were. Instead there was this very athletic looking teacher and a bunch of fresh faced youths. They ‘couldn’t hurt a fly’ one might think, until you saw the speed, accuracy lightness and power of their movements. Some had only been doing it for a year. Again, I really don’t know what made me turn up to the first classes, but I soon found myself after a few weeks being much more agile and supple in my movements. Michael, the teacher, was and is always friendly and enthusiastic, and I have never found the lessons to be the same. It is as if he has actually embodied so much in his martial arts training that, together with his enthusiasm for it, he generates on the spot one inspired lesson after another – in any subject, the sign of a good teacher. So now six years later, I’m still at it, feeling as much a beginner as when I started, but having nevertheless progressed. It did not take long after starting the kungfu to appreciate and take up tai chi as well, and Michael’s experience in both is a clear demonstration of why they are inseparable, as they are based on the same fundamental principles. And it is these fundamental natural principles that are clearly offered in all the classes (tai chi and kungfu) for us to follow and uphold if we want to. Learning to be located in the stillness of oneself, to be sensitive, to identify oneself with the greater significance of life rather than simply one’s personal ego, learning to receive and to give. All pretty deep stuff that subtly permeates everything we do from punching a sand bag to sparring with a partner, practicing a sword form to doing a standing meditation. The classes are really friendly and informal, with none of the stiff, hierarchical “stuff” that goes with ‘old style’ martial arts schools. We try to find our respect in the actual training itself rather than in any outer demonstration of formality, and this seems to work well, although we aren’t perfect (thank God!). We even crack jokes and laugh some times (J). In the end though, it comes down to your practice. How one is able to learn the lessons and start to embody it. What you then have is your own, that can never be taken from you. If you are interested in doing something that seems to combine a sport, an exercise, a theatre and a meditation about the deeper things in life rolled into one, then come along to these classes!
Terry |
