the coNtainer-contained in traditional MartiAl Arts
This last week, I spent a wonderful 36 hours with one of my Shifus, Rui ZiHe. He provided workshops on Neidan meditation and Bagua, gave me and two of my students 1-1 tuition (10.5 hours of practice in one of the days!), ate with us, chatted and hung out.
We talked about alot of things, including the importance of being held, supported and contained by a mentor when journeying on one’s path. In psychoanalytical psychotherapy Wilfred Bion called this the ‘Container-Contained’ dialectic - both a meaningful external relationship between two people and simultaneously an aspect of our internal psychological architecture, emergent from the important relationships in our lives. The central role of this inter-subjective element has been highlighted in psychological development, learning and education, and human relationships of all kinds.
When one person benefits from being contained, strengthened and supported to grow, build resilience and develop, they can do this for others. Imagine an infinite series of Russian Dolls, each one containing the next.
In Daoism, a key image guiding the practice of Neidan is the alchemical embryo - as visceral an image of containment as one can imagine. The progress of one’s self-cultivation is conceptualised as a gestatory relationship. Self and other are fused on the path, Dao.
As those who have trained with Shifu ZiHe know, he always talks about his master in Wudang, Shifu Yuan XiuGang. Any concept or specific point of tuition that he makes is invariably accompanied by an anecdote from his 7 years with Master Yuan: an exchange of ideas, words, important lessons, deep connections. When ZiHe teaches gong fu, Yuan XiuGang is also present, as an implicit or explicit frame of reference.
As ZiHe is so when I teach, along with Shifus Pablo Salas and Alex Mieza (ZiXiao) from Spain, and my first master in Wudang mountain, Zhong XueChao (Master Bing). You can find out more about my train g background here.
I feel strengthened when training with these practitioners, and I am sure my own teaching comes across as more focused, enthusiastic and enlivened to my students at these times. Perhaps this energy is infectious and it ripples into their lives and relationships too.
It is a real joy when one of my teachers visits my school and my students benefit from their warmth and expertise. Two of my teachers have already done do, Pablo is coming next month, and I hope the day we all go to Wudang mountain to train with Master Bing is not too far away.
It can be really exposing as a new teacher, especially when you frat establish your school. When I was preparing to do so, Shifu Lucia Ring-Watkins from Wudang Pai UK warned me to expect nights when only one or even no students turn up: you lose money and can get paranoid that no-one values your teaching or that few share your enthusiasm for your style. With ZiHe recently, we talked about regular students dropping away from practice and how hard this can be for the instructor. In these times having supportive masters of your own help you to keep going and grow the school (and grow yourself).
When your own students face their own adversity when struggling with a new set of difficult techniques, physical hardship when drilling and repeating sequence, the container-contained is more necessary than ever. Your encouragement and present attentiveness helps them to see it through. To an even greater extent, the individual student’s exhaustion can be transcended by sense of fellowship with their training brothers and sisters, as they flow in unison in the movement.
Big love in the Wudang Family!
My masters and their websites (find them in FB too):
Rui ZiHe (Jeff Reid)
www.wudangdaoism.com
Pablo Salas
www.wudang-tao.com
ZiXiao (Alex Mieza)
www.wudangzixiao.com)
Zhong XueChao (Master Bing)
www.wudangdao.com
We talked about alot of things, including the importance of being held, supported and contained by a mentor when journeying on one’s path. In psychoanalytical psychotherapy Wilfred Bion called this the ‘Container-Contained’ dialectic - both a meaningful external relationship between two people and simultaneously an aspect of our internal psychological architecture, emergent from the important relationships in our lives. The central role of this inter-subjective element has been highlighted in psychological development, learning and education, and human relationships of all kinds.
When one person benefits from being contained, strengthened and supported to grow, build resilience and develop, they can do this for others. Imagine an infinite series of Russian Dolls, each one containing the next.
In Daoism, a key image guiding the practice of Neidan is the alchemical embryo - as visceral an image of containment as one can imagine. The progress of one’s self-cultivation is conceptualised as a gestatory relationship. Self and other are fused on the path, Dao.
As those who have trained with Shifu ZiHe know, he always talks about his master in Wudang, Shifu Yuan XiuGang. Any concept or specific point of tuition that he makes is invariably accompanied by an anecdote from his 7 years with Master Yuan: an exchange of ideas, words, important lessons, deep connections. When ZiHe teaches gong fu, Yuan XiuGang is also present, as an implicit or explicit frame of reference.
As ZiHe is so when I teach, along with Shifus Pablo Salas and Alex Mieza (ZiXiao) from Spain, and my first master in Wudang mountain, Zhong XueChao (Master Bing). You can find out more about my train g background here.
I feel strengthened when training with these practitioners, and I am sure my own teaching comes across as more focused, enthusiastic and enlivened to my students at these times. Perhaps this energy is infectious and it ripples into their lives and relationships too.
It is a real joy when one of my teachers visits my school and my students benefit from their warmth and expertise. Two of my teachers have already done do, Pablo is coming next month, and I hope the day we all go to Wudang mountain to train with Master Bing is not too far away.
It can be really exposing as a new teacher, especially when you frat establish your school. When I was preparing to do so, Shifu Lucia Ring-Watkins from Wudang Pai UK warned me to expect nights when only one or even no students turn up: you lose money and can get paranoid that no-one values your teaching or that few share your enthusiasm for your style. With ZiHe recently, we talked about regular students dropping away from practice and how hard this can be for the instructor. In these times having supportive masters of your own help you to keep going and grow the school (and grow yourself).
When your own students face their own adversity when struggling with a new set of difficult techniques, physical hardship when drilling and repeating sequence, the container-contained is more necessary than ever. Your encouragement and present attentiveness helps them to see it through. To an even greater extent, the individual student’s exhaustion can be transcended by sense of fellowship with their training brothers and sisters, as they flow in unison in the movement.
Big love in the Wudang Family!
My masters and their websites (find them in FB too):
Rui ZiHe (Jeff Reid)
www.wudangdaoism.com
Pablo Salas
www.wudang-tao.com
ZiXiao (Alex Mieza)
www.wudangzixiao.com)
Zhong XueChao (Master Bing)
www.wudangdao.com
