A Month in China

[simply puzzled]

I've been living in Taiwan for the past year, teaching English and working on my Taijiquan, and at the end of this teaching year, I'm going to (hopefully) be heading back to the states. If everything works out, I'm going to be blessed with about a month between when I need to leave and when I need to arrive, and I'd like to go to China for a month to study at a kung fu academy. I found a few on Wudang Mountain, just because I think it would be fun to say I've studied kung fu on Wudang Mountain, but I don't really have a good way to judge them via the internet.

 

So, is anyone familiar with any good schools in China that teach Taiji, Qi Gong, and/or Kung Fu, and where would you go if you had a month?

[GrandmasterP]

I' settle for Taiwan.

What passes for Taoism in China subsists in state sponsored tourists traps combined with tacky show business. Wudang Schools especially. Tai Chi teachers you'll see all wear a green ribbon which shows they are only teaching state approved forms.

QiGong is mostly underground since Falun Dafa was proscribed.

Excellent place for shopping though.

Enjoy.

[i am]

I was in China for a month this spring, and spent 2 weeks on Wudang Mountain. The schools...are not great. Most of the teachers it seems have resigned themselves to the fact that they'll be getting a lot of Western students who don't have the drive to really master any of the arts, and so that's how they teach. It's very watered down, from what I can tell. I was lucky enough to get introduced to a former teacher at one of the academies, who quit because he didn't feel they were teaching the authentic arts anymore. He would teach if you were introduced to him through someone he knew.

 

It wouldn't be a bad experience to go, but don't go expecting an authentic experience. The teachers, from what I could tell, are mostly just going to go through the motions and give you some form or other to learn. The taoist temples are very much tourist traps. Worth seeing, but kind of sad...the monks are all taking care of the tourists, and don't seem to get solitude or practice time, and the Chinese tourists come by the busload. Most of them treat the temple like an amusement park, climbing on sculptures, throwing trash on the floor, taking photos and generally showing no respect. They'll also gawk, stare, take photos, copy what you're doing and practically make fun of you while you're trying to train.

 

This was my experience on Wudang, anyways...but I probably wouldn't do it differently, if I had it to do over again. Aside from the tourists and the sad state of the monks lives, it was a good experience. At least they are now able and encouraged to practice, even if only for the government to create another tourism industry out of them.

 

Whatever you do, have fun! Taoism (in temples) and martial arts (open to westerners) is in a pretty sad state, but at least it's there. It's cool stuff to see, even though it's past its prime.

[exorcist_1699]

Visit China is good, but to find any real Taoist legacy or come across a real master through a short tour , seems impossible.

 

The Qigong " movement" in China reached its climax before the so-called TianAn Men Incident in 1989, then it receded quickly, followed by the FLG's acticvities that only worsened it. Most of the contemporary "masters" , their gong and theoretical ability ,definitely are far below the ancient Taoists .

 

Three factors restrict the development of qigong in China:

 

1) Political upheavals ;

 

2) Commercializing ( it has good and bad aspects , anyway) ;

 

3)The dominance of scientism ( ie, squeeze all things related to qigong into a scientific framework...)

 

My advice is , spend more time in studying the Chinese language , and the Taoist classics.

Edited September 24, 2012 by exorcist_1699

[GrandmasterP]

It's all pretty new anyway on Wudang and elsewhere round the temples and tourist sites to do with the Tao.

What there was that was old was more or less all totalled in the cultural revolution so what you get to see now is mainly new-ish.

Shao-Lin has the worst rep as a tourist trap cum circus. They put shows on for the tourists twice a day. The place is packed with coach parties.

Taiwan has to be the place for original flavour free-wheelin' Taoism free from state meddling.

 

They do have the cutest little minivans over in China though.

Not available to buy here in the UK yet but soon will be apparently and I shall buy one as soon as they are, to replace my ageing Chevvy Matiz.

Edited September 24, 2012 by GrandmasterP

[GrandmasterP]

http://www.qimagazine.com/fileadmin/free_downloads/Qi_Mag_Back_Issues/Qi_73.pdf

 

 

Useful article here, bit old but still interesting.

[i am]

Wudang survived the cultural revolution fairly intact. Most of the monks and martial arts masters left, but the buildings/temples were spared. For the past 20 or years, they've been getting masters to come back. It's not what it was, but there are absolutely very old temples all over Wudang.

[GrandmasterP]

Fair comment we didn't go everywhere. Also on the plus side I have read that some places have refused the state subsidies and thereby controls and are paying their own way in order to be able to retain a greater degree of independence.

[i am]

I won't say they're independent, I'm just saying that a lot of the old temples in Wudang were not destroyed when so much of the rest of Chinese history was. Lucky for them. The old buildings live on...the authentic traditions...? Maybe not so much.

 

The culture seems to have been hurt just like the rest of China. I only meant to say that the temples there are very old, definitely not destroyed only 20 or 30 years ago.

[simply puzzled]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

I think I'll take the advice and just stay in Taiwan. I just thought it would be fun to check China off of my list of countries to see and spend some time learning the Tao. It's sad to see it's in such a bad state there.

 

And yeah, exorcist, I'll keep working on my Mandarin. xD

[liminal_luke]

I know Michael Winn of healing tao usa conducts taoist oriented trips to china every year. Not sure if he'd share his info or not but you might contact him and ask. Bet he could suggest a more authentic experience.