The First Rule of Qigong Club....

......Is you ALWAYS talk about Qigong Club. Couple of weeks ago I organised some special events that were taking place in my hometown for the first time ever. With the assistance and support of my Tai Chi Master and a colleague in Edinburgh we were bringing three Masters from the Chinese Health Qigong Association, based in Beijing, to the capital. It was for me a very big deal which I wished plenty of people to share in. So I spent a large chunk of time promoting the events. Thankfully the events were a great success but the only reason you know this is that either you were there or you have just read that line in my blog. I tried to arrange press coverage in the form of the local TV channel and the local press. All mail and phone calls fell on deaf ears to the TV channel and a cursory two line reply from the newspaper was all I received. "Please take some photos and write a short paragraph about the event and send it to us".
I fully understand that in the grand scheme of things these events were not front page stuff, but surely media outlets specifically designed to report on community events would show more interest than a metaphorical grunt of vague acknowledgement! So you want me to organise,facilitate, participate, promote and then write a report about it?- no it's not too much to ask, I'll self fund and publish it too if you give me another few minutes! To further shame the local media, here is a link from people who did decide to cover the event. The Chinese Press!! A reporter from the Shanghai Daily was in attendance, I guarantee they travelled further to report on this than the local press would have, if they had bothered.  http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=279180

Now although it may sound that way, I'm not bitter. It just got me to thinking about the profile of Martial Arts in general. A completely unverifiable "fact" that I heard once which seems to ring true, there are somewhere in the region of 20 thousand and 30 thousand people practising martial arts in the UK. You can search online directories of nearly 4000 clubs but of course there will be plenty more that aren't on there. At first glance you would think that the profile is quite high. The thing is that it's quite bias toward one end of the Martial Arts. Most coverage focuses on the sport/combat side. That's great of course as we definitely need all the support that we can muster but there are plenty other great things going on in the Martial World. As I've said before the sport side is one facet of this wonderful lifestyle. The coverage is usually from the same point of view. A press guy or girl goes along to give it a try and fails but has a laugh anyway, furthering the idea that Martial Arts is only done by people with special powers and thus proving that not everyone is cut out to do it. I can assure you that that bollocks! Perhaps if coverage was a bit more complete, we could highlight martial arts as a great alternative to team sports, (which most folk are forced to do at school even if it isn't for them) we could truly show people what they are capable of achieving with their own effort. In the case of Qigong, and this is where the lack of coverage saddens me, we could've shown people that your health is easily maintained and costs nothing but some time out of your day. No equipment needed, only knowledge which can be given to you once and then practised regularly. With diligence and some time that is all that is required to access the special powers of the Martial Arts. More than often the access to that knowledge is right on your doorstep-seriously search the online database and have a look. Beyond the necessary marketing to survive there are real people teaching real skills to folk like you and me. Sifu Steven Burton graciously allowed me to use him as an example. His profile is huge, he is soon to be teaching in North Carolina, New Jersey, China and as far afield as Sydney. His seminars are attended by hundreds of people and his youtube channel has over 1 million views. He has worked hard but he has been teaching exactly what he teaches now for many years. He candidly told me, that many years ago when he taught out of his gym in Accrington it proved much more difficult to get folk in the door. He was right there all along, a short distance away. Now the people of Accrington will travel to America, Australia and main land Europe to access his knowledge. So beyond the marketing and beyond the press coverage it falls to you. In the days past disciples would wander mountain ranges and go deep into the wilderness to find the true Masters. You don't have to do that. There is so much going on in your area, if you want it come and get it. Do me a favour? Tell someone what I do. Tell one person that you know about a guy that teaches Chinese Martial Arts in Edinburgh. Tell them that I'm here to help them if they want to help themselves. I'm not a master but I can assist. The first rule of Qigong Club is you should ALWAYS talk about Qigong Club.

Temple Rebuild

I have just returned from Zhangjiajie in the Hunan Provence in China. It was here I spent the week with Master Li Zhiyi. I have studied the Taoist teachings of this man for about five years, they have altered the shape of my life. They have given me a different perspective on living and engaged in me a drive to fully understand my place on this planet. It sounds all very serious but a week spent in his presence is wonderful and packed with humour. He leads a simple life of honesty and compassion. Master Li is a quiet man of deep spiritual intelligence, he has a warm heart and quick smile which he shares often. Not so long ago he asked one of his senior disciples,Steven Burton to help raise funds to rebuild the ancestral temple located in a not so well known or visited area on Tianmen Shan (Heaven's Gate Mountain pic)

As a group we undertook some fundraising activities, from workshops and seminars to sponsored events as well as donations gratefully we received, we aimed to raise £10,000. Many of you who are reading this played a part in that. So it is from the very bottom of my heart that I thank you. It was a great honour to be in Master Li's house when we presented him with the funds and therefore the opportunity to rebuild this important place. The significance of the temple is lost to many but in the face of Master Li on that day I was privileged to get a glance at how a simple selfless act can change someones' world. This was made further apparent when Master Li took us to the mountain the day after, to perform a simple ceremony that bound our group even more tightly. The burning of incense within the ruined temple on the alter that is very much still in use. This is a sacred sight so I could not take pictures within the walls, but I can assure you that the alter is both beautiful and crackling with energy. After we made our offerings we were very happy to meet Mr. Yen. He is the ground-keeper at the temple. He is so devoted to the temple that he has moved away from the city and up the mountain to be close to it at all times. Around the temple is more ruined buildings in which the forestry workers used to live. They are dilapidated and without power, yet Mr Yen leads a happy peaceful life doing exactly what he needs to be doing. maintaining the grounds and praying at the alter everyday. When Master Li told him about the funds we had raised Mr. Yen was so moved he began to cry. Which had the affect of setting us all of. Several grown men in tears will be a moment I remember all my life.

Work begins on the Temple in October, the plan is to focus on the shrine room at the top. To rebuild the roof and steady the foundations. The money will be used to sort out the path and the stairs that lead up to it and to fix the damaged pagoda. (pic)

Pictured above you can also see the Guan Yin Temple which sits at the bottom of the slope. There are plans to see this rebuilt in time. So the efforts continue, I will return to China next year and will keep you up to speed with developments. If you wish to help you may donate or get involved in anyway. I would be happy to hear from you. Master Li's teachings will stay with me all my life and I shall pass them on where appropriate. What he has given me cannot be resigned to history nor can this temple. I expect it to stand for another 10,000 years.

Mr. Yen at the Temple

A Martial Journeyman

It is, as always, a busy time for Breakthrough Combat Arts. It's not that I don't get time to sit down and be in my own thoughts but it gets more and more difficult to find time to put my thoughts into words. Sometimes my thought just aren't really worth putting down on "the record". But this particular thought is actually on the subject of "the record".

A Journeyman is defined as a sports person who is reliable but not outstanding. A person who is expected to take fights at short notice, provide a show but realistically never expected to win. Any practitioner worth their salt must spend time in this wilderness. It's good for you. In many ways it defines you. Not how you handle victory but how you handle defeat. As a race, humans are often judged more by our failures rather than our successes. Perhaps I'm wrong, and this is in fact only embedded in the Scottish National psyche? The world likes Scotland mostly because it has always given it a go but unfortunately failed, often at the last hurdle. The world respects the effort but perhaps respects more that the order of things has not changed. Life can continue safe in the knowledge that failure is inevitable and therefore it is justified for us all to sit on our backsides and continue as before for fear of making a fool of ourselves. Yes, people are more comfortable with failure than with success. Maybe because of this we reflect more on our failures and our shortcomings than that of our achievements.

This type of negative thought process serves no purpose in the world right now. Society and the establishment as it is, is already a shambles and is not moving forward. As our leaders becomes increasingly more aware of their obsolescence and decline in power, they move to make us all feel that we are "done" and that we too can do nothing to change our course. The truth is; this is of course bollocks! Everyday we have a chance to make a difference. Small or large, minor or definitive. The truth is "you can be the change you want to see in the world".

I have been involved with Martial Arts for almost 20 years now and I have spent my time being the journeyman, but come this Sunday I leave for China with some of my best friends and peers from the Martial world. We will travel to Zhangjiajie for intensive training with Master Li of the Shen Wu Lin Chuan Taoist internal arts. I fully expect my mind to be blown and I fully expect to return a different person.

Collectively we will present Master Li with funds raised by our students from around the UK to rebuild the ancestral temple of Master Li's masters. This act will see us become an indelible part of history. This small effort will see us all add to "the record" for generations to come. As a group of Martial Artists we all have doubters and people who disapprove of our teaching methods, our skills, our take on certain techniques and pretty much everything else! We are all quite familiar if not tired of it. I would by no means suggest that those doubts and criticisms are unfounded or without merit but more than anything I am aware of my own shortcomings and grey areas. However I choose to continue moving forward to learn and to build, and I choose to do it by thinking positively and hopefully. By engaging and actively seeking out solutions and new ideas. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that my Martial Arts would see me travel the world, compete, meet such awesome people. Earn respect and give respect to so many incredible practitioners many of whom are unsung.  Never did I think I would move from learning the basic mechanics of punching and kicking to understanding the traditional methods of healing. Then from this gain insight into the spiritual teachings that permeate all styles to then have my very life shaped by the Masters of the past. 

In this I can say I am finally winning! In this I can say, although my journey isn't over, my time as a journeyman is.