I am an intermediate-level instructor for the Wudang San Feng Pai tradition, and a member of the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain with instructor's insurance and DBS clearance. I have undertaken a full 3 years instructor's training in the practice, theory and history of this lineage, with Shifus Pablo Salas, Jeff Reid (Zi He) and Alex Mieza (Zi Xiao). My existing and ongoing training is recognised by both Wudang mountain (Shifu Yuan Xiu Gang, see photos) and Wudang Spain, in addition to various European Tai Ji Quan and Qi Gong organisations. I have also completed a Tai Ji for Rehabilitation course, to link with my day job as an NHS clinician.
My journey here has been as a spiral, circling closer and closer to an attuned expression of myself and my place in the universe through movement, philosophy and spirituality, a system which has been waiting for me at the centre to arrive and discover it all along.
My entry into martial arts started in Tae Kwon Do in 2000. I loved the kicking and spinning aspects to the movements but wanted a style that flowed more and explored deeper, qualities that took me towards Chinese martial arts and Kung Fu. A trip to China in 2006 focused on some training at Shaolin, but also a day hiking around Wudang mountain as a tourist. I had not had much exposure to Wudang culture before then (other than the referents in the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon movie). My day walking through the mists on the forested slopes of Wudang, discovering the Daoist temples scattered over the mountain range and seeing depictions of Tai Ji Quan forms and sequences, left something in me. It wasn’t a sudden urge to learn the art at first, but a steady and growing beating of something that gently but persistently insisted I keep may gaze on Wudang and find out more.
On my return back to Oxford in the UK I started a regular training in Shaolin with Shifu Andy Griggs. In addition to the martial art itself this training group has taught me the value of a small but committed collection of folk who share a love for a martial art style and camaraderie with each other, plus the importance of financially-accessible tuition, something I am very committed to as an instructor myself.
While I love Shaolin and trained in this for 7 years, the background beat of Wudang persisted. I found myself spending more time looking at videos of Wudang forms and techniques on the net and reading more about the background Daoist context to these practices. I started to do some distance learning of the basic forms, but realised I needed the face to face instruction, despite the dearth of Wudang schools in the UK.
Then in 2012 a new opportunity arose: a work trip to China allowed me to spend a short time training with a Wudang monk, Shifu Zhong Xue Chao (Master Bing), at the remote Five Dragons Temple on Wudang mountain. This was a life-changing experience: the location was beautiful (most of the photos on this website are taken there) and the study was exhilarating and inspiring. We focused on Long Hua Quan and I was also introduced to a lesser extent to Fu Hu Quan, Baxian Gun, Tai Ji 28 and Wuxing Qi Gong. I could see during that stay how much I would come to love the whole syllabus of San Feng Pai, if only there were more opportunities to learn and study it.
While I love Shaolin and trained in this for 7 years, the background beat of Wudang persisted. I found myself spending more time looking at videos of Wudang forms and techniques on the net and reading more about the background Daoist context to these practices. I started to do some distance learning of the basic forms, but realised I needed the face to face instruction, despite the dearth of Wudang schools in the UK.
Then in 2012 a new opportunity arose: a work trip to China allowed me to spend a short time training with a Wudang monk, Shifu Zhong Xue Chao (Master Bing), at the remote Five Dragons Temple on Wudang mountain. This was a life-changing experience: the location was beautiful (most of the photos on this website are taken there) and the study was exhilarating and inspiring. We focused on Long Hua Quan and I was also introduced to a lesser extent to Fu Hu Quan, Baxian Gun, Tai Ji 28 and Wuxing Qi Gong. I could see during that stay how much I would come to love the whole syllabus of San Feng Pai, if only there were more opportunities to learn and study it.
During 2012-2014 I looked for any Wudang-related opportunity in the UK to study more, and had some valuable learning experiences from the Wudang Xuan Wu Pai lineage, via Shifus Lucia Ring-Watkins in London and Cristian Lopez in Portsmouth, and a workshop on 13-step Taijiquan by Shifu Yuan Li Min from Wudang (see photos).
|
|
In 2014 Wudang San Feng Pai arrived in the UK. Shifu Pablo Salas opened a school in Sheffield and Shifu Jeff Reid was based in London for a few months. I started training regularly with both. From 2015 until 2017 I trained regularly in Barcelona with Pablo and Alex Miez to complete Wudang Spain's Wudang San Feng Pai instructor’s programme, sanctioned by the mountain and aiming to facilitate the dissemination of Wudang arts worldwide. I continued to receive 1-1 training from Shifu Jeff Reid over a period of 3 years.
I started my own journey as an instructor in 2015, offering taster and seasonal workshops, and a summer course here in Oxford. In 2016 I started regular weekly classes plus Bootcamp sessions (see our classes page of the website and our Facebook page for details).
Daoshu welcomes the experienced instructors above to lead workshops in Oxford each year in both San Feng Pai and Xuanwu Pai practices, and Daoshu students train in Barcelona during an intensive weekend each year.
Daoshu welcomes the experienced instructors above to lead workshops in Oxford each year in both San Feng Pai and Xuanwu Pai practices, and Daoshu students train in Barcelona during an intensive weekend each year.
