First, a few announcements!
The Sanctuary will be closed between December 24 and December 31 for the holidays. On New Year’s Day we will gather at 9am for our traditional NYD flow on Coronado Island at 100 Ocean Drive. Please join us! All are welcome.
We just finished another wonderful seminar with David Gaffney and Davidine Sim. These two skilled teachers and practitioners of Chen style taijiquan delivered a valuable 5 days of classes on the practical theory of taijiquan, push hands, and the practice of several forms including erlu, yilu and spear.
David and Davidine have a way of distilling this complicated art down to the most efficient and effective methods of moving. There is no wasted effort, and each move is martially motivated. Like the lessons of our teacher Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing, the primary tenets of relaxation and alignment are emphasized by David and Davidine. Preparing correctly for each move, then moving from the dantian ensures the best chance for expressing the true nature of the Chen family art.
David and Davidine’s lecture covered information in their latest book, Masters and Methods. Because of their relationships with many of the primary members of the Chen family, they have been able to document stories and thoughts of the Chen style masters who are the last living masters of their generation. Chen style is changing. The younger generations are bringing a different flavor to the forms, perhaps because the genesis of their form comes from a different world as that of their forefathers. It’s so important to be able to carry forward the circumstances of the birth of this art, and David and Davidine have done their part to bring this information to all of us. Now it’s up to us to continue passing it on to the next generations of our own students.
I hope that everyone has a happy holiday season! We hope to see you on January 1st, 2020 at 100 Ocean Drive on Coronado Island, 9am, and then at the Taoist Sanctuary for our winter term.
Jan Silberstorff will be teaching January 23-26 on the Taoist philosophy, laojia yilu, push hands and seated meditation.
Ken Cohen has several classes scheduled in January and March on the Tao Te Ching and Yi Quan Qi Gong.
Bill is doing a February series on Chuang Tzu and Taoist Philosophy.
Stefan Berwick will return in June 2020 to teach long pole and sword techniques.
And I will be walking the Camino de Santiago from mid-April until the end of May, taking 40 days to complete the 500 mile pilgrimage from Saint Jean Pied de Port, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Best to all of you along the way, and buen camino!