Master Liu Ji Fa, accompanied by Rose Oliver of Double Dragon Alliance recently completed a very successful seminar tour in the heartlands of the USA.
The seminars organized by Sifu Richard Clear, of Clear’s Tai Chi in Tennessee, began with the first weekend seminar on 20th?? and 21st September, followed by a four-day Instructor’s-only day camp and finished with a second weekend workshop on 28th and 29th September.
The seminars, which were well attended by a mixture of both Richard Clear’s students and Taiji practitioners throughout the United States, mainly concentrated on push hands skills, the cultivation of energy and understanding Taiji principles in action.
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Despite the recent economic problems in the US, there was a very good turn out and the atmosphere was extremely friendly, fun and welcoming. The participants ranged from people in their early 20’s to a wonderful couple in their mid-seventies, all brought together by their love and enthusiasm for Taiji Quan.
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Master Liu, on his first trip abroad, demonstrated both the Wu Style slow and fast forms, introducing the elements required in playing and understanding the form, as well as a combination of specific basic foundation exercises which train the student how to connect the body and make the form work. The exercises combine dan tian training, plus precise movement of intention, energy and breathing, with correct structure and movement. (These exercises are also contained on our DVD “Wu Style Training System”, with clear instruction and explanations of what the exercises are designed to work on and attain, available through our DDA website.)
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With the practitioners all coming from varied backgrounds and mostly practicing Yang Style Taiji, Master Liu concentrated on helping everyone understand the essence of how Taiji works and on refining everybody’s abilities and comprehension of Taiji.
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Working around the four energies within “The Grasp the Bird’s Tail” sequence in pushing hands, Master Liu gave detailed and crystal clear explanations of the true meanings behind the energy of “Ward Off, Roll Back, Press and Push”, with plenty of hands-on opportunities and practice.
In terms of his Taiji teaching, everyone was extremely impressed. Most of the participants were practitioners of many years standing and had been regular participants at many seminars over the years and all agreed Master Liu’s humourous and clear explanations and examples, clarified so many areas that had long been hidden or misunderstood.
Taking examples from everyday life, helped to simplify many principles, which are often made to sound far more complex than they need to be and several of the participants stated they learned more in two days studying with Master Liu than they had in years of practice or in attending numerous other workshops.
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Rose Oliver, who acted as translator for the entire tour and helped organize the event in cooperation with Richard Clear, felt that one of the reasons for the great success of the seminars lay with Master Liu’s knowledge, complete openness and willingness to explain in easy to understand examples, and giving everyone a chance to improve their own knowledge and comprehension through constant interaction. Plus, with it being such a relaxed, fun and informal atmosphere and with Richard’s great organization, the whole tour was not only a great success, but a wonderful experience for all who attended.
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Most of the participants attended the entire 8-day camp, which helped to create a real family atmosphere and by the end of the last weekend, it was really hard to say goodbye, with real friendships having grown and blossomed over the time spent together.
Master Liu’s own motto is that people learn when they’re having fun and the classes were a laugh-a-minute, detailed, hard-working exercise with real improvement the prize for all present.
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Master Liu also used some healing techniques to treat several of the participants who suffered from a variety of physical injuries. Master Liu, who trained and graduated from the Shanghai Qigong Institute and also worked at Long Hua Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital, is a top-class Tuina and qigong therapist, with a profound knowledge of how the body works structurally and energetically and is extremely proficient in helping people overcome all manor of injuries and illnesses. His experience also allows him to work with people suffering from long term injuries, like Roy who hadn’t been able to close his left hand in a fist or use it to grip anything for over 15 years, following a combination of serious bone breaks and lacerations in his hand.
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Using a combination of Tuina massage, qigong breathing techniques and acupressure, Master Liu was able to help Roy to be able to regain a tremendous amount of strength and mobility in his hand and fingers and not only be able to tightly close the fist again, but also to be able to use it to grip. Both Roy and several of the other participants, who were treated by Master Liu, were very happy with their recoveries and many attending were moved by the success of Master Liu’s treatments.
His genuine desire to help people, and gentle, yet masterful skills were really awe-inspiring and left everyone wanting to learn more about the power of qigong and energy cultivation in healing themselves and their loved ones.
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Sifu Clear, who is also the official representative for Double Dragon Alliance in the United States, is now busy working with Rose Oliver to organize next year’s follow-on seminars with Master Liu, where we hope that more participants will have a chance to learn from one of the highest level Taiji masters in Shanghai and the fifth generation holder of Wu Style here in Shanghai, (from Wu Jian Chuan through Master Ma Yue Liang.)
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This year’s seminars were a resounding success and Master Liu and Rose would like to express their gratitude to Richard Clear and his family and students for making them so welcome and for taking such great care of them throughout their stay, as well as for his wonderful organization of the seminars, which insured everything went so well; plus a great thank you to the Taiji community in the US for their interest and support and to all the participants for their wonderful company, hard work and friendship that we shared. It was a wonderful experience and we very much look forward to enjoying the same fun and laughter with everyone again next year.?
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For more information about Clear’s Tai Chi and Clear’s Silat and their teaching schedule in Tennessee, and to find out more about Double Dragon Alliance’s USA seminar schedule in the future, check out their website: www.clearstaichi.com