Master Wu Mao Gui 2008 UK Seminar Tour

Double Dragon Alliance recently conducted its second “Masters from China Seminar Programme” UK tour.
This year’s workshops featured Master Wu Mao Gui of Shanghai’s Tong Bei system.

?Master Wu, who was accompanied by the organizer Rose Oliver, who also acted as translator and facilitator for the seminars, toured several areas around the North and South of England, including Manchester, Birmingham and London.

 

The seminars in Manchester were also co-organized by David Thorpe and Colin Jefferson, who attended both the DDA 2006 and 2007 martial arts training camps in Shanghai; and helped organize Master Ren Gang’s 2007 visit to the UK.

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This year’s seminars in Manchester were again attended by many of David and Colin’s students, as well as several of the UK’s prominent and well-respected Taiji teachers like Chris Thomas of the Tai Chi Union of Great Britain.

At the weekend seminar, Master Wu taught various Tong Bei basic foundation exercises, which are especially good for developing a strong root, hip and leg power, plus help unite and connect the whole body; Master Wu also integrated the exercises into push hands training and sparring training as well as walking through several Tong Bei line drills, so that participants could start to utilize the concepts and principles in movement and ultimately incorporate them into their own practice.

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Master Wu’s training aims to build a full and complete “picture”, building up from basics step by step, so that practitioners can understand and fully utilize their body in their own forms and applications.
His methods take students through a methodical and scientific approach, helping them to fully comprehend and develop skills, so that they can start to feel, develop and harness the correct ‘jing’ or power.
Participants also got to “feel” for themselves the very special and devastating power of Tong Bei Quan, which penetrates through the opponent, applying a dynamic and unstoppable energy.
All were deeply impressed by Master Wu’s tremendous power and energy, even though he was only delivering a fraction of his potential force for them to experience.

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Master Wu’s especially generous teaching approach, also allowed each student the opportunity to learn the basis of Tong Bei’s power and Master Wu himself acted as “receiver” for their applications, so as to gauge whether or not they were applying the energy correctly and making the movements accurately, and where possible problems lay.
His refined and deep understanding and ability to listen clearly to the “jing” meant that he could give very precise feedback to the students and judge precisely what mistakes they were making, plus give the exact corrections necessary in order for them to be able to produce the power correctly.

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By the end of the seminar, everyone had a very clear feeling for what they needed to do to be able to discharge energy and be able to dissipate an opponent’s incoming force.

The Manchester seminar was a very enjoyable experience for everyone involved and the workshop had a wonderfully relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Thank you very much to David and Colin for helping to make the event such a success, for taking such great care of Master Wu and Rose and for extending such wonderful hospitality!

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The second workshop was organized by Ms Eva Golding of Birmingham’s Wu Style Taiji Society.
Ms Golding contacted Rose Oliver and very generously invited Master Wu and Rose to their school in Birmingham, to put on a push hands seminar and introduction to Tong Bei Quan.
The workshop was open to their students, as well as other teachers and practitioners in the local area.

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The workshop was attended by over 30 participants and was very well organized and both the school’s instructor, Master Jiang, Ms Golding and the students were extremely welcoming, cordial and friendly.
The two hour evening seminar was a great chance for all participating to learn more about Chinese martial art’s rich and varied history and culture and an opportunity to “taste” Tong Bei’s individual flavour and special characteristics.

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Master Wu, who’s a very enthusiastic and generous teacher, really enjoyed the informal and friendly atmosphere and loved pushing hands and sparring with the association’s students, who were very respectful and responsive to Master Wu’s training.
The evening, which was tremendous fun, was a great experience for all concerned, and a lesson that those in the martial arts world can all learn, about being open-minded, generous and willing to welcome and accept others.
Special thanks to Ms Golding and Master Jiang and all the Wu Style Taiji Society’s students for their kindness and friendly reception, both Master Wu and Rose had a marvelous time and appreciated their kindness in inviting them and giving everybody the chance to make new friends and learn from each other.

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The evening culminated in a group photo, after which Ms Golding and Master Jiang invited Master Wu and Rose with some of their senior students to a delicious dinner at one of the local Chinese restaurants.
Ms Golding’s Wu Style Taiji Society regularly organizes seminars and “free taster sessions” at their Custard Factory Studio premises in Birmingham, and they are open to everyone interested in martial arts, not just Wu Style Taiji. They’re a chance to practice together, share ideas and meet new friends. For more information about their association and their classes and workshops, check their website: www.wutaiji.co.uk

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The final workshops on the tour were held in London and were co-organized by Danny Fajardo, a very old friend of Rose and Rey’s; who also helped organize Master Ren Gang’s London seminar last year.
This year, our weekend seminar was held in Dulwich and was attended by an international group of participants, including some of Master Wu’s students from Germany, who particularly travelled to the UK just to see Master Wu.

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Master Wu, who has twice taught in Germany over the last couple of years, has a strong student following in Germany and has many international students who’ve followed him for several years, regularly coming to Shanghai to pursue their training.

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The London seminar which was attended by around 12 participants over the course of the weekend was also joined by several of our “old” friends from DDA’s Shanghai Camps and Ros and Rey’s previous UK workshops, including Sheila Gent, Donald Kerr and John Gordon, as well as some “new” participants.

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The atmosphere was extremely relaxed and informal and being smaller in number, everyone got many chances to train directly with Master Wu and have lots of opportunities to spar, push and work with him.
For many it was the first time to experience this kind of training and some of the more “experienced” participants commented that it was one of the best martial arts seminars that they had ever attended, owing to the relaxed and friendly atmosphere, the “tea and cake break” and the amount of time they got to spend personally with the master.

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Master Wu again worked on Tong Bei basics, push hands and sparring drills, as well as a lot of Tong Bei walking drills, aimed to further develop a strong root and connected body.
We all had many chances to push hands with Master Wu and try out our own applications on both Master Wu and each other, all done in a very friendly and non-threatening way, that allowed everyone, including all the women participants (both young and slightly less-young) to feel safely how the power works and how to harness and deliver it ourselves.
It was a fantastic seminar and really was unique in its friendliness and informal style, and had a real “family” feel.
On the Saturday evening, many of the participants also had an evening meal with Master Wu at Leicester Square’s colourful Chinatown, at a wonderful Chinese restaurant, where the staff were very eager to please and take care of our large and exuberant party.

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At the restaurant, we also got to taste some of Master Wu’s personal supply of delicious Oolong tea, which he brought all the way from Shanghai, giving everybody a taste of traditional Chinese culture and was a perfect compliment to the wonderful dinner.
It was a lovely evening and I think added to the fun and friendliness of the Sunday seminar, having cemented relationships and given everyone a tremendous feeling of camaraderie.
The Sunday seminar ended with a group photograph, after which Danny invited Master Wu and Rose for an informal BBQ in their London home garden, which brought the UK tour to a very enjoyable and happy close.

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Many thanks to Danny and his family for their wonderful hospitality and kindness, especially to their daughter in giving up her bedroom to Rose for the weekend!
Their wonderful welcome and care made us feel very relaxed and it felt very much like a home away from home; plus both Danny and his wife’s delicious cooking kept us stocked up with plenty of energy for the seminars!

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Thank you very much to everyone who helped to make this year’s Double Dragon Alliance seminar tour such a success and such a magical experience.

We met many wonderful people, caught up with old friends and visited some beautiful places around Britain, all in all it was a fantastic time and we’re looking forward to next year’s tour. Master Wu also extends his thanks and good wishes to everyone and we hope to see you all again next year, as well as meeting some new friends for seminars in Scotland, Ireland and the South West.

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If you’d like more information about Master Wu Mao Gui, Double Dragon Alliance, the association’s classes and activities, or this year’s martial arts training camp in Shanghai in November, please check out our website, or contact Rose Oliver at: roseinchina2006@yahoo.co.uk

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