unity and tribe

[silent thunder]

Well met.

 

I find the most rewarding experience I have, is re-connecting with others; nature, animals, art, random moments with strangers, deep hours long coversations with friends. I say re-connect because that's what the connections feel like to me. Even when I connect with a 'perfect stranger', the moment the connection is struck, there is a deep familiarity which is profoundly unifying.

 

That's why I'm here, to re-connect, share knowledge and have some awesome discussions.

 

I don't recall the first moment I was introduced to the Tao, but its impact in my life has been like a huge stone dropped in my pond. I am profoundly grateful for the handful of teachers who have shared knowledge, experience and love. My world has expanded as it has become simpler.

 

I live in California with my seven year old son and my wife of 25 years.

 

Some of my experience with the Tao:

 

Countless hours spent in the wilderness.

 

Kung Fu and Taoist Practice

Master Zhou Ting-Jue: Fire Hands Qi Gong - Wu Tang California

Master Lawrence Tan: Tan's Dazzling Hands, Shao Lin, Jeet Kun Do : NYC

Master Richard Huang: Shao Lin, Jeet Kun Do: NYC

Master John Kim: Chung Moo Quan: Minnesota

 

Favorite Taoist Authors:

Lao Tsu

Alan Watts

Joseph Campbell

Damo Mitchell

Mantak Chia

 

Looking forward to swimming in these waters.

 

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

geeze, i think a concice post like that should count as all 5 prerequisite posts!


Shouldnt there be something the mods/admins can do to "undermine" the automated functions of hte forum when such evidence as this is presented as fact that they are not a spammer?

[gentlewind]

Yes! A cracker of a post!

 

Namaste,

 

gentlewind

[voidisyinyang]

 

wow I'm in Minnesota - never heard of that dude before....

 

thks

[silent thunder]

Namaste, thanks for the open and focused responses.

Talk about the re-connection bell ringing.

Didn't expect the Chung Moo Quan story to be coming out in my second post but here goes.
pythagoreanfullotus, deep bow for your attentive and quick response.

I count my time at the Chung Moo Quan studio to be rewarding, but not entirely positive.
As a rule, I don't relish sharing dark stories about people, but I share when it is relevant to growth.
I don't enjoy swimming in dark energies, though I don't shun them when they reveal themselves.
I don't enjoy speaking of, nor to I celebrate the dark side of people, but in some cases, we meet people for no other reason than to know who we don't want to be close to us.

Chung Moo Quan was my first experience in martial arts aside from Bruce Lee and the movies.

I walked in off the street, with a swollen face after having been ambushed and beaten.
I was a sophomore in high school and had recently moved to a new school. One morning at my locker I was kicked into my locker from behind. I was grabbed and spun around and within the first few seconds my eyes were swollen and having no knowledge of, nor real desire to fight, I had little response but to put my hands up and take the beating.

Two days after the attack I walked into the Chung Moo Quan studio that was two blocks from my house and staring at the instructor, feeling like the elephant man, said.
"I never want this to happen again."

I studied at that studio for two years starting in 1985, until the experience that drove me away.
This is the only 'negative' experience I have had in Martial Arts and even though it was my first, I knew it was an anomaly immediately when it happened. None the less, it made me gun shy to study again for some years afterward. Turns out it was one of the more beneficial lessons of my life. For while it is the teacher's prerogative to accept the student. Learning is an active process. The teacher does not open your head and pour in knowledge. The student must reach out, grasp the teaching and incorporate it.

It is the student's imperative to choose his teacher with care and wisdom.
The student teaches the master as well.

Going into my second year of study, I excelled and was offered 'special' classes.
To say these classes were intense is an understatement. I have never experienced any teachings like them since. Intensity is not negative in itself. The forms I studied were solid and beneficial, but something else was odd and it became very apparent not long after.

To be fair and honest in retrospect, I benefited from the skills I learned in these classes and I was never physically hurt while studying this style. I still use one of the mental forms from time to time, for building Qi and opening channels.

What drove me away was a bizarre encounter, not with Master Kim, but a secondary instructor whose name I don't recall. My classes had been getting steadily more expensive which stood out to me in the back of my mind, yet I was doing well and having no real knowledge of how this whole process worked, I trusted it.

One day, I had just completed a solo class and was asked by my instructor when our next class was going to take place.

When I responded 'next Tuesday at 4 o'clock' I found myself sitting on my ass with the wind knocked out of me.
I had been double punched in the solar plexus.

The instructor was standing over me saying, "You will never say that number in this place. You will say 3+1. That number is bad luck. We do not say that number here." I was dumbstruck.

I changed into my street clothes and left.
I never returned. It wasn't that I was physically damaged, but I knew that this teaching was not for me.

The pure absurdity of the incident, sucker punched because I said the number 4? I knew in the anchor of my being that this was not for me. While Master Kim may be very skilled, his methods did not suit me.

While I didn't seek out another teacher immediately, I did continue to use what I was taught to that point and and so I still honor the teachings I received for what they were... not suited to me, but still beneficial on a certain level.

I hope this is coming across as I intend it. I bear no ill will nor malice to Chung Moo Quan.
I recognized that this teaching was not compatible with me and I moved on.

It was several years later when I heard about the story you posted pythagoreanfullotus.
I was not all that surprised. It brought back my experience and cemented in me the deep understanding that undertaking study of this kind, entails a responsibility by both teacher and student.

It was several years later, after moving to NYC that I began to study again.
I would never again just walk into a studio and ask to be trained after that experience. I would have to meet my teacher through someone I knew, someone I trusted. That teacher was Sifu Richard Huang and based on following these instincts, I found a teacher who embodied that which I most admire in people... kindness, gentle nature and deep, calm power.

Like I said, I don't share this story often, but it's value is undeniable to me, so I share it with no malice and with an open heart.

Namaste.

Edited May 4, 2013 by silent thunder

[Basher]

Never being able to mention 4 ?

Lucky he wasn't your Golfing Instructor !!

 

It's always disappointing to be "put off" of something we enjoy, by somebody else with a "problem".

 

I've met a lot of Martial Art Instructors, most of whom were / are dedicated, honest, friendly types who simply wish to spread their teachings because they believe that it's an art worth learning about and the student will benefit if he puts some effort in.

 

Money is rarely a key motivator for the genuine "Master" (IMHO).

Edited May 7, 2013 by Basher

[silent thunder]

Never being able to mention 4 ?

Lucky he wasn't your Golfing Instructor !!

 

It's always disappointing to be "put off" of something we enjoy, by somebody else with a "problem".

 

I've met a lot of Martial Art Instructors, most of whom were / are dedicated, honest, friendly types who simply wish to spread their teachings because they believe that it's an art worth learning about and the student will benefit if he puts some effort in.

 

Money is rarely a key motivator for the genuine "Master" (IMHO).

 

That number 4 thing was just so freaking bizarre... I mean, cartoons on acid bizarre.

I now see it was a way to test who would be open to blind submission.

 

Looking back it was such a great thing to have happen.

I learned some Kung Fu there, but really, I learned how to be awake in that pursuit.

Edited May 8, 2013 by silent thunder

[Basher]

Used to be in days of yore that a "master" was : a) somebody who had all but completely mastered the martial art they were trying to teach you.

and somebody that you respected and were completely obedient and submissive to, without question.

 

If you were chosen as a Pupil, that was a great honour & you were duty bound to do everything asked of you, in return.

"Inner Door" Pupils even more so. The expectation being that you would practice several hours each day, without complaint.

 

In the modern era, the term Master has (in the main) long been replaced by Teacher / Instructor.

Schools / Classes cost money & as long as you've got the cash, they'll (usually) instruct you in their art(s) for a few hours each week.

 

Even more recently, we're seeing the term Coach used in the western world. As in most Sports...

Unsure if that's a good thing, or not.

 

My own teacher calls himself "The Technical Director" of his Arts, as he's choosing the direction his Organisation takes. He decides which particular parts of the Arts are taught on courses & in classes, etc (but takes into consideration the views of all of his Senior Instructors).

His skill level is IMHO that of a Grandmaster, yet because his own Grandmaster died in 1994, he's remained with the same Teaching Grade ever since. Not self-graded himself to "Master of the entire Universe", like some.

 

For two hours worth of quality tuition, he charges us the princely sum of £5.00. For that, I get to train with a great bunch of people, most of whom are Instructor Grades themselves. And whilst they're obviously all keen to learn more themselves, they all put themselves out to help us "Student" Grades.

 

Basher

[zanshin]

It is considered bad luck to say the # 4 in Japanese, because it is similar to the word for death. Of course over the top bizarre to sucker punch you for saying it in English if you were unaware, but there is a superstition about 4.

 

welcome!

[xor]

It's an unlucky number also for the same reason in Korean and Chinese cultures. Same as many western countries with the number 13. And yes, it sounds crazy getting punched out of the blue for mentioning the number in English where you can't even mistake four for death or dying.

Edited May 8, 2013 by Guest

[silent thunder]

Superstitions are fascinating to me, how they differ in cultures, how they're the same.

 

When I later found out about the superstition regarding the number 4 in the east, that moment really set it in my memory that some folks take that stuff very seriously.

 

I used to be a professional stage actor, during the 80's and 90's, and had regular fun tormenting superstitious actors by saying 'Macbeth' on stage while rehearsing or before a performance. The superstition around that one is legendary. You never say Macbeth on a stage, or in a rehearsal hall. Instead you say 'The Scottish Play'. If you mess up, you must go outside, spin around counter-clockwise 3x and spit over your left shoulder, then knock and ask permission to re-enter. If not, you risk 'cursing' the show.

 

I grew out of that particular mischief after making one actress cry before curtain. Her logic might have been sketchy to me, but her suffering was real.

 

Superstitions had a cool lesson for me. One day while living in NYC, I was thinking about how ridiculous one particular superstition was, (I forget what), but my resulting thought was...'hmm, what makes that superstitious thought any more ridiculous than the one I'm thinking now?' I chewed that bone for a while...

[Basher]

wAs Goin g tO rePLY to tHis pOsT but TOo diFfiCul t wIth alL yOuR FinGeRs CrosSeD..