Reflections on September and October Workshops
Over the years I have attended many classes, introductions, events and workshops with Michael. There is a thread between all of them that seems to be present; his dedication to working with people where they are at, not giving things out that can't be understood yet (unless that's the lesson you need ), and not confusing people with linear details. If you look at the lineage page you'll see an excerpt about Michaels' teacher which I find particularly relevant to this discussion:
"Mr. Zhou performed master level phyiscal transposition theories of the spherical trigonometry (named Ba Gua), and interactive Yin/Yang transformations (Tai Chi), within the I-Ching (one of the oldest classic Chinese texts on the principles of changes). He has made revolutionary breakthroughs in the understandings of the transforming internal practice. He also bridges the meaning of this Internal practice to contemporary society by teaching the primary methodologies and principles."
So what does that even mean? It means that our entire environment can have an energetic presence in it that is showing us what we need to see. Lots of people from time to time say that Michael has the ability to "directly speak to them like he was reading their mind". There's a simple explanation for that - we're all connected, in feeling. Some of us have antennas that have less reception or have a kink in them. In general, the message is that we can all have great antennas that receive all the channels, it just takes a bit of repair work. Thus, Michael is following his teachers teachings by "teaching the primary methodologies and principles". Well, what are those?
I'd like to again point to another section of the site, the Tai Chi curricumum. It states:
REQUIREMENTS FOR TRAINING
- Self-Sincerity
- Willingness to Heal
- Desire to become Self-Responsible
- Regular Attendance
Not that these necessarily come in order of value or importance, but if one or many of these are missing we're kind of missing the point or dropping the ball. The acquisition of facts, details and forms is just stage one. I'm saying this from a place of just possibly being at a point of beginning phase 1.
Lots of the experiences we have when at workshops are a energetic transferrence that occurs between teacher and student, and they might go unnoticed if we are focused on acquiring new moves or have an agenda driven framework with acquiring information. My personal experience has been that all the information is out there! Just picking it up and using it is really the trick, the point, and of course the challenge.
In case anyone is curious, I recently revisited a blog post I made in 2011, "Four Years of Impressions, Each Topic a Lifetime", and was completely taken away by how little progress I have actually made on any one of these points! In fact, if we just did the following, our experience with practice would be so much richer:
Take the aforementioned link, and apply each line to each practice we have! Ok, now we have at least 10 years of work.
Now, to the actual event(s) review:
The event was a great success. It was pleasant to come down to Ashland, be put in a spot of a beginning instructor, and learn in front of everyone and actually be ok with it. The Q & A session was very nice, there were some great questions and support from the community. People were interested in Tea and Chinese Herbs and lifestyle change topics. That's the kind of world I want to live in! It was great to go over the movements again, and introduce the Baduanjin (8 Brocades) to everyone and see how something I learned was interpreted. We're all just learning, and we definitely can do that in front of each other, even though we're good/bad or angry/happy.
Sincerely,
Zachary Krebs, instructor in training