Warning:

The following article was produced for the Daoist Studies community and
assumes knowledge of the last fifteen years of Daoist Scholarship. Tai Chi,
Baguazhang and The Golden Elixir (2019) and Possible Origins, A Cultural History of
Chinese Martial Arts, Theater and Religion (2016), are books written with the
expressed intention of providing greater contextualization for the lay reader.
They are both available on Amazon.

Journal of
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Daoist Studies
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Volume 9
2016
 Journal of Daoist Studies
The Journal of Daoist Studies (JDS) is an annual publication dedicated to the schol-
arly exploration of Daoism in all its different dimensions. Each issue has three
main parts: Academic Articles on history, philosophy, art, society, and more
(limit 8,500 words); Forum on Contemporary Practice on issues of current activi-
ties both in China and other parts of the world (limit 5000 words); and News of
the Field, presenting publications, dissertations, conferences, and websites.
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Facilitators: Livia Kohn, James Miller, Robin Wang

Editorial Board: Shawn Arthur, Friederike Assandri, Stephan-Peter Bumbacher,

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Suzanne Cahill, Joshua Capitanio, Alan K. L. Chan, Chang Yi-hsiang, Shin-yi

Chao, Chen Xia, Kenneth Cohen, Donald Davis, Catherine Despeux, Jeffrey
Dippman, Ute Engelhardt, Stephen Eskildsen, Elisabeth Friedrichs, Norman
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Girardot, Seth Harter, Jonathan Herman, Adeline Herrou, Dominique Hertzer,

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Shih-shan Susan Huang, Clarke Hudson, P. J. Ivanhoe, Jiang Sheng, Kang Xiaofei,
Paul Katz, Sung-Hae Kim, J. Russell Kirkland, Terry Kleeman, Louis Komjathy,
fRonnie Littlejohn, Liu Xun, Liu Yi, Lü Xichen, Victor Mair, Mei Li, Mark Meu-
lenbeld, Thomas Michael, Christine Mollier, Harrison Moretz, Mori Yuria, David
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Palmer, Fabrizio Pregadio, Michael Puett, James Robson, Harold D. Roth, Robert
Santee, Elijah Siegler, Edward Slingerland, Richard Wang, Robin Wang, Michael
Winn, Xu Liying, Yang Lizhi, Yao Ping, Robin Yates, Yen Hsüeh-cheng, Zhang
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Guangbao, Zhang Qin

Submissions: To make a submission, please contact us at [email protected].

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Articles are reviewed by two anonymous readers and accepted after approval. A
model file with editorial instructions is available upon request. Deadline for arti-
cles is September 1 for publication in February of the following year.
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Orders:
Printed Paperback: US $25 plus S & H www.threepinespress.com
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Cover Art: Lord Lao as Qigong Master, Bagua Xundao Gong Red Cross Medical
Exchange Center, Beijing; Director: Wan Sujian. Used by permission.
© 2012 by Journal of Daoist Studies ISSN 1941-5524
 Table of Contents

Articles
ERICA BRINDLEY
Spontaneous Arising: Creative Change in the Hengxian 1
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STEVEN BURIK
Comparative Resources: Continental Philosophy and Daoism 18
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FRIEDERIKE ASSANDRI
Stealing Words: Intellectual Property in Medieval China 49
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SHU-WEI HSIEH
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Possession and Ritual: Daoist and Popular Healing in Taiwan 73

GEORGES FAVRAUD
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Immortals’ Medicine: Daoist Healers and Social Change 101

MARNIX WELLS
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Daoism Not as We Know It 121

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Forum on Contemporary Practice

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SCOTT PARK PHILLIPS AND DANIEL MROZ

Daoyin Reimagined: A Comparison of Three Embodied Traditions 139

ANDREW COLVIN
Nonaction and the Art of Blending: Daoist Principles in Aikido 159

DAVID HESSLER
Teaching with Dao 173
AVERY MORROW
How Not to Be Thinged by Things 185

YANXIA ZHAO
Daoist Longevity and the Aging Society 194
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News of the Field

Obituaries 211
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Publications 214
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Newly Founded 221

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Conferences 223
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Science on Qi 226
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Contributors 233
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Forum
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on
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Contemporary
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Practice
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 Daoyin Reimagined

A Comparison of Three Embodied Traditions

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SCOTT PARK PHILLIPS & DANIEL MROZ

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Abstract
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This essay investigates three transmissions of esoteric movement from the per-
spective that religious, theatrical, and martial arts of China are a single subject.
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This is a comparative and speculative exploration of personal practice contextu-

alized by current scholarship. The practices we examine are healing exercises
(daoyin) as taught by American Daoist and Buddhist initiate Liu Ming (1947--
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2015), those taught by American martial arts and yoga teacher Paulie Zink (b.
1954), as well as Himalayan Rigdzin Trulkhor transmitted by the Tibetan Bud-
dhist sage Jigmé Lingpa (1729-1798) in the 18th century. We selected these prac-
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tices for both systemic and phenomenological reasons: they have strong structur-
al similarities, they treat the body in correlate ways and their effects on the prac-
titioner are similar.
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Daoyin 導引 is a term now used to refer to all sorts of Chinese physical

practices (Chen 2003; Palmer 2007). It is described both as “Daoist Yoga”
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and as being an old term for qigong 氣功 exercise (Cohen 1997)

The character dao 導 means “to guide” in the sense of making small
corrections to movement in order to return the practitioner to the ineffa-
ble path of the Dao. The character yin 引 means “to pull open” or “stretch
apart,” i.e., open spaces within the body as in the action of drawing a
bow (Kohn 2012, 109). The composite meaning of daoyin, then, is to ad-
just and transform the body by pulling, stretching, opening, pounding,
and guiding it.

139
140 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

With its roots in pre-Han China, daoyin has been adopted by a wide
range of Daoist and other communities and expressed in diverse forms.
One type evolved into a hermit yoga-type practiced in conjunction with
long periods of physical stillness. Another type emerged at Shaolin to
form a core part of the martial training of monks (gongfu 功夫; see Shahar
2008). Still another type was incorporated into actor training for Chinese
theater (xiju 戲劇).
Daoyin is often highly specific in terms of method, yet it is more
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than a somatic practice that can be conceptualized in several ways not

directly focusing on techniques. These may include seeing the practice as
an exorcistic purification, a way of overcoming inhibitions or social con-
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straints, or a means of discovering our true nature between the polarities

of wildness and stillness. This perfect embodiment (zhende 真德) of our
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limitless nature is called becoming an immortal (xian 仙).

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Intrinsic Commonalities
The three types examined here share the following characteristics:
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Move- Mostly on the ground, require specific postures, and include the
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ments actions of opening, closing, folding and stretching.

Breathing Spontaneously determined by the movement and position of the

Patterns body. Controlled and independent of physical actions.
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Vigorous slapping, scraping pounding with stimulating specific

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Self- rubbing, rolling fists; banging on meridians (jingluo 經

massage jumping1 the ground.
絡)

Visualiza- Inside the body; outside the body.

tion Transcending inside and outside.

1 Shahar (2012) traces the origins of body conditioning like vigorous mas-
sage and self-slapping, used in Iron Shirt and Golden Bell gongfu practices, to
ideas about emptiness already developed in the story of Siddha Gōrakṣa, record-
ed by the poet Allama Prabhu in 12th century India.
 Phillips & Mroz, “Daoyin Reimagined” / 141

Enactment Of animals, plants, and figures from Daoist or Buddhist icono-

graphy. Phenomenologically altered body.

Perception Time can slow down or speed up; past, present and future can
of time coexist in an unproblematic way.

Playful Improvisation, humor, and asocial actions.

Feeling / sensation emptiness (xu Body as “Letting go” of

Sensation (qigan 氣感), 虛): numb, container habitual percep-
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heat, weight, hollow or (kong 空), a tions the body;

vibration, ex- dead; permea- puppet, or absence of famil-
iar social-self
pansiveness ble (toukai 透 some other
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object.
開)
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Perception Scale can increase or decrease radically, distance and volume can
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of space expand or contract infinitely, objects and physical structures can

appear to occupy the same space in an unproblematic way.
Dispersing or absorbing imagined space, light or sound. E.g.,
imaging one’s skin as deep and dark as the night sky or as gold-
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en armor gleaming out into infinity.

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Liu Ming’s Daoyin

In his monograph on the process of Daoist meditation, Dragon’s Play, Liu
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Ming (aka Charles Belyea, 1947-2015) introduces daoyin as a practice

from the Eight Heavenly Gates School of Daoism (Batian men 八天門;
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Belyea and Tainer 1991, 4). He received the method in Taiwan when
studying with a Daoist hermit named Liu, and I (Scott Park Phillips)
learned it from him in the late 1990s. It is a relatively short routine, per-
formed very quickly. As in many traditions of prayer and recitation,
speed is considered auspicious because it entails repetition and thus the
accumulation of merit. Speed also creates heat and disorientation. Liu
Ming advised against thinking of the daoyin as calisthenics, stretching,
or any kind of exercise in the normative Western sense. Rather it is
apophatic and transformational—inseparable from active visualization
and spatial-mind awareness.
142 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

The practice can be performed for several hours or even days by

alternating between daoyin and the non-conceptual sitting meditation
practice known as sitting-forgetting (zuowang (坐忘). Specifically, it in-
volves
(00:00) Sparks and Flames—Begin in a seated position on the ground, clap
hands together hard so that they sting and rub them vigorously to create
heat, then flick the hands and fingers away suddenly. Repeat 3 times.
(00:09) Heavenly Drum—Pound loudly on the skull along the Govern-
ing Vessel, from the base of the skull to the forehead along the center line
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with the knuckles.

(00:12) Sweep both palms across the base of the skull to pull the ears
forward and squeeze the face. Repeat 3 times
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(00:15) Aim for the Sky and Fire the Cannon—Extend one arm straight
ahead with a horizontal fist, slap the shoulder with the other hand, scrape
forward along the top of the arm, then back along the bottom of the arm to
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slap the armpit. 3 times on one side, then switch arms. 2

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Pounding the heavenly drum Planting and Plowing

(00:20) Wave to Friend on a Distant Mountain—Extended fist as above.

From the opposite hip reach in a large arc with the opposite hand to slap
the shoulder blade, then vibrate the fingers to drill into the Bird’s Nest
(Lung-1). Repeat 3 times then switch arms.

2 The full practice can be watched at https://youtu.be/fVg2f5NuRP0.

 Phillips & Mroz, “Daoyin Reimagined” / 143

(00:26) Shooting the Wind Cannon—Pound both the Bird’s Nest three
times with fists.
(00:28) Pressing central channel—Vigorously rub the sternum with the
knuckles of the thumbs.
(00:29) Monkey Counts His Ribs—Pull the elbows all the way back,
open the palms and vigorously rub the ribs up and down just below the
armpits with the heels of the hands
(00:30) Rain Falling Clouds Swirling—Round forward and reach be-
hind to drum on the kidneys with loose fists, thumb wrapped inside, then
gently rub in a circular motion around the kidneys.
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(00:33) Monkey Plays at Rolling—Reach down and grab the feet, dig
the thumbs into Bubbling Well (Kidney-1), roll all the way back, then for-
ward, using this momentum to launch into the air. Repeat 3 times.
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(00:45) Ploughing and Planting—Abruptly extend one leg. Pummel the

insides and outsides of the leg with the side of the fists from the hip toward
the feet, then sear a line on the leg using the tips of the thumbs to scrape
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back towards the hip. Repeat 3 times, then switch to the other leg.
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(00:51) Threshing Rice Grains—Press down with the palm of the hand
on one knee while using the other hand to squeeze Bubbling Well and lift
the foot off the ground and create a slapping sound on the ground by re-
leasing the foot. Repeat 3 times, then switch legs.
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(00:58) Monkey Plays at Rolling—Same as above, repeat 3 times

(1:05) Sky Cannon—Making a fist with the thumb wrapped inside the
hand, thumb tip at the base of the ring finger, punch the ground to propel
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the body into the air. Repeat 3 times

Repeat the entire sequence at least three times. Also, if desired, expand
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all specific repetitions of three to six or nine, then repeat the entire se-
quence six or nine times.
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Paulie Zink’s Daoyin

Paulie Zink lives near Billings, Montana and occasionally travels to teach
a form of daoyin he now calls Yin Yoga. In the 1990s, he was well known
in martial arts circles for his consummate performances of Monkey
Gongfu, or Taisheng quan 太聖拳, literally Great Sage Boxing, an allu-
sion to Sun Wukong 孫悟空, the Monkey King in the Xiyou ji 西遊記
(Journey to the West) (see Shahar 1992). Zink can be described as a living
treasure, not only because his practice is so exceptional, but because the
144 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

basic training of his art is perhaps the most elaborate and detailed form
of daoyin ever taught publicly.
Zink learned his art in Los Angeles over a ten-year period from Cho
Chat Ling, a Hong Kong native, who learned the method from his uncle,
Cho Chi Fung, in turn the senior student of Ken Tak Hoi. The latter stud-
ied numerous forms of martial arts and was considered a master of Pek
Kwar 劈掛掌, but he learned Monkey Gongfu and daoyin from a man
called of Kou Sze (Cau Sei / Qiu Si 囚四), which literally means Fourth
Convict. The story Zink tells is that Kou Sze developed the art in north-
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ern China while in prison for murder by watching monkeys he could see
from his cell. After his release, he brought the art to the south (Zink and
Matsuda 1999).
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There are reasons to doubt this account. After the Opera Revolt in
Foshan (1854-1861), traditional opera was banned and professional per-
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formers were hunted down along with their allies in the Heaven and
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Earth Society (Tiandihui 天地會) (Wakefield 1997, 139-56; Lei 2007, 133-
72). However, low-caste (jianmin 賤民) performers were still in demand
as their arts were both popular and an important part of the liturgical
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calendar (Ye 2003, 69; Johnson 2009). During the period directly after the
Opera Revolt, it became prudent to claim origins outside the region.
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In the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), during which

the most common deity possessing the rebels was Sun Wukong, the po-
tent mix of martial arts, acting, and religion became a magnet for ridicule
by writers of the May Fourth Movement and successive governments
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(Cohen 1997; Morris 2004). At the same time, actors who had been mem-
bers of the degraded jianmin caste found themselves legally freed to seek
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other occupations (see Ye 2003; Yeung 2010).

The lowest status roles among performers were animal specialists
(Ward 1979; 1989). It is our suspicion that the daoyin that Paulie Zink
learned from Cho Chat Ling was in fact the basic training used for these
animal roles and may go back to a southern origin.
Be that as it may, Paulie Zink’s practice centers on the notion that
the five phases or elements are always transforming and dissolving into
each other. Each of the twenty or so animals he uses manifests differently,
depending on which element is visualized with its particular physical
expression. Each expression, moreover, grows from the repetition of key
 Phillips & Mroz, “Daoyin Reimagined” / 145

insights transmitted by the teacher and eventually manifest spontane-

ously for the student. These transmissions can be divided into three tra-
ditional categories: the underlying body structure (jing 精), the animated
qualities of movement (qi 氣), and the spirit of the animal spatially em-
bodied in its real, imagined or staged environment (shen 神). These quali-
ties are far easier to see and feel than explain in words. Nevertheless, the
elements can be described as follows: 3
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Wood continuous lengthening, extending, pliant

Fire sudden opening, hollowed out, flaring, sparking, jumping
Earth sinking to the ground, still, calm, plain
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Metal (also stone) tense, strong, solid, muscular, hard

Water fluid, liquid, flowing, soft, yielding
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The animals, in turn, are

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Tree • Stump • Root Fish Seahorse Crab Frog

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Caterpillar Butterfly Beetle Snail Seal Rabbit

Cow Ox Cat Dog Pig Bear

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Five Monkey Roles: wood, lost, tall, stone, drunken

Stone egg Snake Dragon Phoenix Turtle Chair

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Descriptions of two movement-animals follow, together with a brief

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descriptions of the remainder of the routine. All the movements are de-
tailed and precise, with sudden transformations (bianhua 变化) from one
animal to the next (Mair 2014). Dynamic flow and variety of movement
are key qualities of this style of daoyin.

The Frog

3 A video showing Scott Phillips performing Paulie Zink’s daoyin is availa-

ble at http://youtu.be/AuESx-VSNiI.
146 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

(00:20) Earth Frog—Mouth (carp mouth) and eyebrows down, every-

thing sinking. Swallow a fly and gulp down. 4
(00:25) Wood Frog—Smile, eyebrows up, getting taller, ears lifting,
armpits lifting, roof of the mouth lifting, underside of the knees lifting, only
the bottom the feet and the fingertips stay on the ground.
(00:28) Metal Frog—Showing clenched teeth, fingers grip the ground,
all “four hundred” muscles tighten, ready to spring.
(00:30) Fire Frog—Like landing on a hot brick, mouth open in a silent
scream, toes and fingers spreading upwards, the inner cavities of the body
are all expanding. Balanced on the buttocks.
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(00:34) Water Frog—Fluid motion of the limbs, torso and face, like play-
ing in water, while balanced on the buttocks.
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Wood Frog Fire Frog

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The Caterpillar
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(01:00) Caterpillar rolls—Pike position, hands holding feet or ankles;

drop body as a unit to each side; whole body rolls. The structure of this
movement stimulates the yang meridians, causing a feeling of tonic re-
bound.
(01:48) Escape the cocoon and become a butterfly—Balance on the but-
tocks, raise feet alternately while holding onto them with the hands.

4This fly is not a fly, but Yin Xi, the guardian of the pass to whom Laozi
transmitted the Daode jing. Yin Xi then turned into a tiny flying elephant, flew to
India and into the mouth of the Buddha’s mother to grow into the Buddha
(Bokenkamp 1997, 211-12).
 Phillips & Mroz, “Daoyin Reimagined” / 147

(02:12) Cross the legs to grab the opposite foot—Movement in this po-
sition is of a butterfly trying to free itself from its cocoon; then arms crossed
but legs uncrossed – cross and uncross while keeping balance.
(02:30) Fully extended—Arms and legs balanced position on the but-
tocks. Flop forward loudly to the ground, press up with fists into full
straddle position and then surge forward to balance on chest and abdomen,
hands and feet behind and off the ground in a flying position.
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Butterfly from cocoon Seahorse

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The Ox The Tree

Jigmé Lingpa’s Rigdzin Trulkhor

This series of movements goes back to the Tibetan Buddhist teacher
Jigmé Lingpa (1729-1798). It clearly uses martial, ritual, dance, and thea-
148 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

ter movements. Daniel Mroz learned it from Tsewong Sitar Rinpoche

and his brother Lama Pema Tenzin in the secluded Bumthang Valley of
central Bhutan in May of 2013, during a ten-day group retreat, organized
by Canadian Buddhist teacher Lama Jigmé Jinpa (aka Asa Hershoff) and
American explorer, writer, and medical anthropologist Ian Baker.
Rigdzin trulkhor, which means “yoga of the knowledge holders,” is
an auxiliary training for tummo, the Tibetan practice of generating inter-
nal heat, which appears variously in all major Tibetan Buddhist sects as
important methods for actualizing states of enlightenment, crucial to
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achieving the soteriological aims of Vajrayana (Yeshe 1998, 131-43;

Gyatso 1982, 35-71). The technique closely follows ritual protocols, re-
quiring specific clothes, dietary adjustments, sexual abstinence, and oth-
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er limitations. The strictness and inconvenience of these protocols sup-

port the injunction that trulkhor is best practiced on retreat when such
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austerities are easier to maintain. The practice is secret and demonstra-

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tions to non-initiates are discouraged. The preliminaries resemble the

exercises demonstrated in Jeffry Pill’s 2002 documentary “Yogis of Tibet”
(at 41:16 to 45:10 mins.). Alejandro Chaoul (2006) and Tenzin Wangyal
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(2011, 60-73) discusse analogous procedures.

Trulkhor bears some resemblance to Indian and Chinese dance the-
ater forms such as Kathak and Kunju 崑劇. Rigdzin trulkhor theatrically
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uses whole-body image-mime to portray Buddhist figures such as

Humkara, Manjusri, and Nagarjuna. In consists of twenty-one short sec-
tions. The first five, called Yenlak Ngachang, are intended for daily prac-
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tice. The remaining exercises are reserved for practice during meditation
retreats.
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Yenlak Ngachang means “cleansing of the five limbs.” It mobilizes

the subtle energy channels (tsa) to clear obstructions and remove impuri-
ties from the body. To begin, ideally, one digs a shallow square pit in the
earth, fills it with fallen pine needles, places a fitted square cushion in it,
and lays a deerskin on top. Basic prayers and invocations are recited be-
fore taking the thunderbolt (vajra) pose. In this position, the legs are
folded into a lotus posture, with the ankles crossed and the soles of the
feet turned up. The elbows are as straight as possible and the hands are
held in the vajra mudra, with the wrists folded forward and the backs of
the fists pressed into the inguinal fold. The vajra mudra is formed by fold-
 Phillips & Mroz, “Daoyin Reimagined” / 149

ing the fingers over the thumb and pressing the tip of the thumb into the
first joint of the fourth finger. While performing trulkhor, practitioners
hold the breath as much as possible. The initial action (chen dep) is similar
to the opening of hands (kai-zhang 開掌) of some martial arts routines
(taolu 套路) from southern China, such as Cailifo quan 蔡李佛拳 and
Hongjia quan 洪家拳, common in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

The five sections of the Yenlak Ngachang

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Dorjé Kyildrung Vajra Pose

Kum Nyé Massage
Sor Nöl Interlaced Fingers
Pung Chü
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Shoulder Twisting
Ja Pung Vultureʼs Shoulders
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Here are the first two exercises: 5

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Dorjé Kyildrung—Vajra Pose (00:36)

Inhale and holding the breath, perform an opening salutation movement
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called chen dep by flicking the vajra fists out and along the top of the upper
leg, then retract the fists along the sides of the upper leg until they are
chambered at the hips.
Lift the fists up the sides, rub the ribs with the knuckles of the thumbs
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while letting the elbows rise outward to each side. Join the fists at the
breast bone and then firmly strike the flanks by dropping the elbows down
fast. Then thrust the fists outward at shoulder height with the wrists flexed
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and the palms facing forward. Repeat 3 times.

With the hands, make a flower shaped motion (pekor), raise them over-
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head, cross the wrists, and form the warrior mudra (dig tsub), in which the
first and fifth fingers are extended while the thumb is folded over the nails
of the curled third and fourth fingers.
Next, open the arms out to each side and snap the fingers before return-
ing them to the position above the head. Repeat three times, then drop the
hands to the knees and exhale making an aspirated ‘ha’ sound.

Kum Nyé—Massage (01:00)

5 A video of Daniel Mroz performing trulkhor can be seen at:

http://youtu.be/bLTI3BZo0wo
150 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

From the vajra pose, inhale, hold, and perform a chen dep. Extend the fists
forward and clap the hands together firmly. With the palms sealed together,
press the hands down towards the solar plexus, keeping the palms horizon-
tal. Reverse the upper and lower hands with each press. Repeat 3 times.
Bring the palms to a vertical position and rub them together in a circular
shape three times. Next, apply the warmed palms to the eyes and rubs
three times clockwise and three times counterclockwise. Then place the
right palm on top of the head and the left palm over the mouth, and again,
massages vigorously in a circular pattern three times.
Following this, place the palms on the upper chest, right above left with
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the pinkie of the right hand holding the thumb of the left. Turn both palms
three times clockwise and three times counterclockwise, firmly rubbing the
chest and abdomen with a circular motion. From here strike the back of the
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left shoulder with the right hand and the back at the right kidney with the
left hand, alternating striking these areas on each side three times.
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From the Kum Nye sequence—

Note the resemblance between this
section and Liu Ming’s Planting and
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Plowing
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The Larger Context

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One of the common features of the practices is the importance of visuali-

zation. The English term does not fully communicate the key idea in
these practices (Kuriyama 1999). They replace real spatial perception
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with imagined one. Raw physicality is an important part, but not more
so than the process of playing with or altering one’s experience of spatial
perception. In practice, daoyin is spontaneous and immediate, while vis-
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ualizations drive the movement: thus there are so many historic and
dramatic variations.
Human nature flows within boundaries of stillness and wildness.
Liu Ming’s practice alternates between long or short periods of stillness
and intense channel flowing movement, massage, or self-pounding rou-
tines. This produces a kind of map, charting the parameters of experi-
ence; it opens up a view of what we actually are. Classically framed, this
is the explicit experience of differentiating jing, qi, and shen. Stated dif-
ferently, we experience the distillation of our story from our body, so
that the two are both free, and free to interact. More specifically, there is
152 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

a primordial order of perception and action, which appears spontane-

ously out of the experience of emptiness (xu). This emptiness is opened
up and produced by the pull (yin) between wildness and stillness. One’s
form becomes unhooked from one’s intent.
To be sure, for Liu Ming jing, qi, shen, and xu are felt and performa-
tive experiences, not abstract ideas. A good visual of a person’s experi-
ence here is an egg: jing is the substantive aspect, the yolk; qi is the ani-
mated aspect, the egg white; and shen is spatial awareness, the shell radi-
ating out into space. Xu is the stage or the ground on which this percep-
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tion and action ordering takes place. When shen acts on jing directly, it is
like being hooked, or possessed by desire. Qi functions as the intermedi-
ary between jing and shen, keeping the two apart.
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Paulie Zink’s daoyin, on the other hand, focuses on the five ele-
ments and about twenty animals. His posture or movement routines are
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noticeably like Hatha Yoga, but far more animated, engaging immediate-
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ly with the mind and body of the given animal. The animation, moreover,
is imitative. The crab, for instance, looks like a crab moving. The five el-
ements are primordial qualities that emerge spontaneously from still-
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ness, and suddenly transform from one into another. The movements
map out the vast dynamic parameters of fully embodied animals. Our
intrinsic emptiness is discovered in the snapping of the bow (yin 引) be-
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tween one animal or element and the next, and in the discarding of pref-
erence for any given shape or emanation of being. The reordering of per-
ception-action that results, is identical to that envisioned by Liu Ming.
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The Tibetan practice is different yet again. When teaching Rigdzin

trulkhor, Tsewang Rinpoche imparted that both trulkhor and tummo
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were to be undertaken from the perspective of Dzogchen, a core form of

Tibetan Buddhism. Dzogchen claims that perception of our actual condi-
tion, often referred to as enlightenment, is directly, immediately, and
constantly available. It does not come about through incremental meth-
ods. As Ian Baker notes, the practice of Dzogchen is not merely a concep-
tual or intellectual exercise, but is characterized by physicality serving to
move both body and mind beyond conventional movements and ideas.
Insight is produced by alternating between unrestrained imagination
and physicality, and mental and physical quiet (2012, 236).
 Phillips & Mroz, “Daoyin Reimagined” / 153

Baker’s description of the physical practices associated with Dzog-

chen evokes the fruition of daoyin. This is unsurprising given the possi-
ble origins of trulkhor-like exercises that may have been introduced to
Tibet from Mount Wutai in Shanxi, a center of both Daoist and Chan
practice (Baker 2012, 222).

Comparative Analysis
All three forms of spiritual physical exercises access the primordial via
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similar experiences of animalness (see Farrer 2013), the elements, and

emptiness. They spontaneously produce an experience of feeling outside
the body (see Johnstone 2012; Mair 2014). This allows the perceived body
ot

to be replaced by the imagination, or what we might call active visualiza-

tion. This is a doorway to a larger experience, and is a kin to the experi-
t

ence of the golden elixir (jindan 金丹), centered on tradition-specific mys-

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teries or secret teachings.

The experience of receiving secret teachings, or pointing out instruc-
tion, is always interactive and relational, that is, communicated to a stu-
rk

dent during the process of learning. It rejects the centrality of method,

treating it as dynamic and responsive to the uniqueness of personal fate,
time, context, and location. View teachings are often apophatic: the cor-
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rections or guidelines (dao 導) point toward the simplicity and ease of

being upright (zheng 正), while always pointing back toward our intrin-
sic nature and return to Dao.
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The framework for practice is this: views suggest methods, methods

produce some fruition, fruition then verifies the initial view (Phillips
ps

2009). Daoyin as a method is constantly being tested, refined, expanded,

condensed, rejected, or modified by an evaluative process. This evalua-
tive process is rooted in the dynamic interaction of the following three
view categories, originally based on the Daode jing (ch. 23).
1) The nonaction (wuwei 無為) view refers to the absence of concep-
tual framing. It suggests methods that involve discovering the nature of
things as they are. Sitting-forgetting is a primary example, but any meth-
od can be refreshed by returning to nonaction as concept-free experience
or as not-knowing by discarding notions of purity, hierarchy, preference,
self-improvement, or identity.
154 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

2) The perfection view (zhende 真德) refers to the process of refining,

perfecting, purifying, or self-improving. It includes becoming god-like,
perfect body mechanics, superiority at anything, radiant health, accumu-
lating energy, awesome circulation, and the achievement of effortless
skill or technique.
3) The powerful-allies view refers to making alliances with any
form or embodiment of power. It is characterized by strategies for over-
coming fear, talismans for acquiring health and power, black magic, sac-
rifice, channeling, devotion, extreme discipline or subordination, con-
Sc

tractual trade-offs, and positive affirmations.

The three views feed into each other without priority. Nonaction
can refresh any method, the desire to accumulate power can transform
ot

into perfect refinement, and the quest for health can be attained by acci-
dent.
t

Another way to look at this is to say that daoyin does not actually do
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anything; it simply reveals a truth about what it is to be human. Like the

“Yang Zhu” 楊朱 chapter of the Liezi 列子 (ch. 7), daoyin reveals an in-
trinsic truth: that the totality of what we are is made up of just a body
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and a story (see Kohn 2011). We each have a body with a story attached.
Changing the story has an effect on the body and vise versa. However, at
the extremes of experience, a person can remove their body from the sto-
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ry they are in, and enter a completely different story. For instance, one
can move to a new place and speak a new language. At the other end of
experience, a person can dramatically change their body while keeping
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the story the same: a fat person can become slim, a stiff person can be-
come flexible. Just as changes to the body can be intentional or acci-
ps

dental, the same is true for the story. While never completely separate,
body and story can develop and function independently.
Daoyin, understood as a body practice (as distinct from a story
practice), is concerned with releasing unconscious tension. It uses ex-
tremes of movement and stillness to trigger these sorts of releases. Once
one becomes aware of unconscious tension, it can either return to uncon-
sciousness, or simply resolve itself.
Understood as a story practice, daoyin is about freeing oneself from
the constraints of the stories we tell ourselves. Our identity will resist
with unconscious tension any movement not part of who we think we
 Phillips & Mroz, “Daoyin Reimagined” / 155

are. Any movement not part of the story we tell ourselves about our-
selves, in turn, has the potential to trigger a release from our story, i.e.,
letting go of identity.
These movements are often asocial, like ferocious self-slapping or
rolling around and snorting like a pig in the mud. As a body practice,
they distort felt experience: slapping causes the feeling of qi and heat to
float off of the skin. As a story practice, the asocial nature of the move-
ments push the boundaries of who we think we are.
Daoyin viscerally integrates our imagination with our sense of
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space or empty openness (xu). The space referred to here is the specific
function of our perception, which acts unconsciously and continuously
to orient itself and in kinesiology is referred to as perception-action
ot

(Committeri 2007). We move in space, but we also experience space mov-

ing. Daoyin uses our imagination to mimic our experience of space in the
t

real world, until imaginary felt-space spontaneously links up with real

Pa

felt-space. Thus, the imaginary world has an unrestrained and spontane-

ously supportive effect on the way we move, while the real experience of
our physical body asserts no psycho-spiritual limitations.
rk

Conclusion
Ph

Specialists who regularly perform ritual, theater, or martial arts, routine-

ly have experiences that may sound mystical to outsiders but in practice
are quite common. For instance, repeating a given movement over and
over makes it possible for the mind to float off the body and view it from
illi

another angle (above, in front, behind), take an imaginary journey, or

conjure up and hold complex visualizations. It is not surprising that in-
ps

tricate visualization practices are interwoven with ritual; it is simply

what happens naturally when we do the same dance over and over.
Daoyin may have started as a remedial exercise, transformed into a
solo-ritual meditation practice, later infused into martial arts and devel-
oped into a form of theater training. For someone who has done all these
practices individually, such integration can occur without much effort.
Child-like playfulness, like performing, is an intensely stimulating
form of conditioning. Martial artists distinguish between conditioning
and cognitive learning, because the latter is inaccessible under intense
stress while skills conditioned through play can be accessed even during
156 / Journal of Daoist Studies 9 (2016)

violent encounters. Giddy, happy, child-like feelings are a sign that we

are training correctly, that we are remaking ourselves. This feeling is key
information. It tells us that we have accessed the part of our being which
can shed identity, rigidity, conformity, subservience, devotion, arro-
gance, and certainty. This is the essence of daoyin.
The reason for the vast amount of variation in daoyin is that the ac-
tual practices are not specific physical actions like “rub the temples.” In-
stead, they are active visualizations done from a body that is empty and
thus endlessly variable. Whatever is experienced as real or full (zhen 真)
Sc

is made fake or empty (xu 虛); whatever is experienced as imaginary is

made real. The practice of daoyin has the capacity to reveal that the body
ot

does not actually condition memory of itself as a body. Rather, it condi-

tions memory of visualizations of movement through space. This embod-
ied realization unlinks our bodies from our stories, revealing the uncer-
t

tainty of our fate (ming 命) and the unbounded meanings of our daily
Pa

actions and decisions (xing 性).

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 The Immortal and the Angry Baby...
General Qi Jiguang was coughing up
TAI CHI, BAGUAZHANG blood, near death in a field hospital, when
he received a visit from the Sage Lin
and Zhao'en. The Sage performed a martial
exorcism with explosions and a talisman to
THE GOLDEN ELIXIR capture pirate ghosts who blamed General
Qi for their deaths. General Qi was
Internal Martial Arts completely healed. The Sage then taught
Before the Boxer Uprising General Qi the Golden Elixir, cementing a
lifelong bond.
Sage Lin claimed that he learned the
Golden Elixir in secret night-visits from
the Immortal Zhang Sanfeng. The
Immortal was a theatrical character,
known for defeating twenty-four palace
guards with thirty-two moves while
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snoring like an earthquake and smelling of

booze and vomit-thirty-two moves that
General Qi wrote about and later
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became known as Tai Chi!

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The dragon-killer Nezha cut his flesh

from his bones and returned it to his
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parents. He was done. Or so it seemed,

until Nezha's secret father Taiyi descended
from the sky and gave him a new body
made of lotus flowers and the Golden Elixir
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-making him invincible.

Nezha was China's most important hero­
Scott Park Phillips god-so important that caravan guards
and rebels nicknamed Beijing "Nezha
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City." In 1900 thousands of Boxers

Completely new and meticulously researched, possessed by Nezha died fighting foreign
guns. Blamed and ridiculed for this failure,
erasing a hundred and twenty years of confusion martial artists who practiced the dance of
and error to reveal the specific theatrical and
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Nezha hid their history and gave their

religious origins of Chinese Internal Martial Arts. art a new name-Baguazhang!
ps

Scott Park Phillips has a reputation for making his students

stronger, smarter, richer, funnier and better looking. He lives
in Colorado, where he mixes martial arts with improvisational
theater, dance ethnology, and Daoist studies. He is also the
author of Possible Origins: A Cultural History of Chinese
Martial Arts, Theater, and Religion.

Buy this Book

NorthStarMartialArts.com
 ps
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Buy this Book

rk
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Goodreads Review by Kyle Fiske

In Possible Origins: A Cultural History of Chinese Martial Arts, Theater,

and Religion, author Scott Park Phillips takes on the daunting task of
outlining the general history of Chinese martial arts from their early
origins to the present day, and he has a rather unique take.

His main premise is that in the early 20th century, in the wake of the
Boxer Rebellion, China drastically altered its own martial arts,
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intentionally stripping them of their religious and theatrical trappings and

creating a somewhat dubious history that the “pure arts” were just about
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noble, righteous, practical fighting skills. Curiously, he argues, this

approach was subsequently adopted both by the Chinese communists as
t

well as the Chinese anti-communists to varying degrees, and the result is

Pa

that a great deal of the historical Chinese martial arts tradition has been
lost. 
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I've been a casual practitioner of various martial arts most of my adult

life, and have practiced Taijiquan for almost twenty years. When you first
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start training Chinese martial arts, one thing that stands out to most
westerners is the colorful names for many of the techniques, like “Fair
Lady Weaves Shuttle,” or “White Crane Spreads Its Wings.” Why is that? I
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practiced western sport fencing for many years, and a lunge is just called a
lunge, not something like “Brave Knight Stabs Dragon.” The author lays
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out the case in this book that prior to the 20th century, the Chinese
martial arts were suffused with religious, symbolic and theatrical
traditions, and although much of that has been lost, there are still
remnants of that in the arts today. He gives many specific historical
examples to support his argument, and he details many extremely
interesting historical tidbits and outlines of Chinese social, political and
military history which I was not aware of. 

It's quite common among Chinese martial arts “purists” to denigrate

martial arts movies, and I got a kick out of the author arguing that the
people in the Hong Kong film industry were actually true heirs to an
admirable historical tradition of mixing fighting arts with theatrics,
storytelling and performance. 

From reading the book, I was impressed with the author's vast body of
experience, which ranged from very combat-oriented Chen Taijiquan and
Northern Shaolin, to participating in various theatrical groups, to Indian
and African dance studies, and several other Asian traditions. He also
seems quite versed in many of the common arguments and debates within
the modern Chinese martial arts community. And I appreciated the fact
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that while the author was respectful towards all of his former teachers, he
doesn't just mimic their outlook—he has no problem pointing out how his
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own views differ from theirs.

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Given the almost unfathomable depth and scope of the history of Chinese
Pa

martial arts, some of the author's specific links between martial arts,
religion and theater might be a bit questionable, although they're always
well-argued. And I think the author himself recognizes the challenge of
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coming to conclusive answers and that's evidenced by him titling the book
“Possible Origins.” And if I was to quibble with the author, I might argue
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that with some of the disastrous events of the Boxer Rebellion, maybe the
modern reformation of the arts was not a wholly bad thing, and in fact
made the Chinese arts much more accessible to the rest of the world and
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greatly contributed to their spread. 

ps

Sometimes it's hard for us in the west today to step back and realize that
we live in a hyper-materialistic, hyper-secular culture, and that this is a
fairly recent development, historically speaking. For most human cultures
throughout most of human history—including Western civilization—this
was not how it was. I think this is the author's broad point, and I would
argue that it's really important. He makes the case that China of old was a
much more violent place than most of the modern western world, and
that fighting, religion and art (especially theatrics) were all intertwined;
the modern western culture that generally separates violence, religion and
entertainment into separate spheres is something very different from the
environment that produced Chinese martial arts.

The book is well-written and edited, and the author's writing style is clear.
The book is also extremely well-sourced, with a detailed bibliography. I
would highly recommend this book as a fascinating and thought
provoking read for anyone with an interest in Chinese martial arts.
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