Above: Tim on an earlier adventure - atop Ellen Peak (Wu-Wei Gashuku 2002)
(Arranged
in order of most recent at the top - scroll down for earlier news items)
Wu-Wei in the mainstream media (posted 30 June 2004)
Unless you associate with (thinking) martial artists and/or students of Oriental philosophy Daoism (also written Taoism), and one of its core principles, Wu-Wei, are not topics that you would expect to encounter every day. This is why it was simultaneously surprising and pleasing to come across it in Australian author John Marsden's latest childrens' book. The book, While I Live: The Ellie Chronicles, is the sequel to the fabulously successful Tomorrow When the War Began series (which is well worth a read by people of all ages by the way).
On page 133 of the book, the heroine Ellie (who, at 16, has been through a war, has lost both parents and is left to look after a younger brother and the family farm) comes across a girl at the markets who sells her a balaclava and gives her some food for thought. In Ellie's own words:
I talked
for quite a while to the girl who sold me the balaclava. She was into Taoism,
which is a [philosophy] I'd never heard of, but it's all about how everything
has its own nature and the more you try to interfere with stuff the more you
mess it up. That's more or less what I thought she said anyway. The bush and
the ocean and everything from elephants to buttercups have their own inner rightness,
but humans keep wanting to improve them, or change them into something that
will be useful for humans, but this isn't actually a great idea. And she talked
about wu wei, the Chinese name for the idea that you let things follow their
natural laws.
She said something which
struck home with me. She said, 'It's only humans who believe in mistakes. Nature
doesn't have any understanding of mistakes. If a branch falls from a tree, it
doesn't mean the tree has made a mistake. Nature just reorganises itself around
the fallen branch. So now it becomes a home for the insects that live on the
ground. Its leaves rot down and make the soil richer. If the branch falls into
a creek, fine, the water now flows a different way.'
'Yeah I guess that's
true,' I said.
'So life goes on. Things happen. If you let things happen, they do.'
'So,' I said, feeling myself go a little red, 'if people you love die, or get
killed, what does Taoism say about that? How are you meant to cope with that?'
I waited on her answer as though it would be very important.
'You do nothing,' she said. She shrugged. 'This has happened. It doesn't matter
in the long run how they died. They've died, so your life reorganises itself.
It will affect you in different ways. So, let it affect you. Feel what you feel,
do what seems right to you. Don't imagine there is a right way to act or a wrong
way. Just let you life continue according to its own inner nature.'
'OK,' I said.
I turned away to leave.
'Hey,' she said,
'good luck.'
'Bit of an angel encounter, that one,' I thought.
Bon Voyage to Tim (posted 29 June 2004)
Shortly after achieving his Brown belt 4th level, Tim Brown is off to travel the world. He will be away for 3 months and is going to travel overland from Hong Kong to Delhi. On the way he will pass through China, Tibet, Nepal and finally, India. Sounds like a great trip! Safe Journey Tim! Hope you stay healthy and have fun!
Above: Tim on an earlier adventure - atop Ellen Peak (Wu-Wei Gashuku 2002)
Letter from Rowan in Sydney (posted 16 June 2004)
Hi all,
I hope things are going well over in Perth, I just wanted to write a quick
email to say how things over in Sydney have been going.
My course in engineering has been going well and is very interesting, and
college life has also proved to be very fun and interesting. I've started
up Taekwondo at the local campus dojo here, and managed to receive my yellow
belt a few weeks ago. I find it fun in the amount of sparring it has but
frankly I think it lacks the amount of attention of detail taught in Wu-Wei
Dao which I miss.
I hope to return to Wu-Wei Dao in the holidays, if it is running in the
holidays (I'm not sure), however I have hurt my hand quite badly over here
which has put me out of action as far as Taekwondo goes, but hopefully it
will be better for the holidays. Otherwise I hope you all have an enjoyable
second half of the year.
-Rowan McAllister.
Tai-Chi Course (posted 15 June 2004)
Wu-Wei Dao's Sempai(s) Nat and Trev are currently holding a Yang style Tai-Chi course for a Seaview golf course in Cottesloe. The class is held every Wednesday morning and the participants seem to be enjoying themselves. Here are some photos from one of the classes:
IAOMAS seminars (5 & 12 June 2004)
On Saturday 5th June 2004, Wu-Wei Dao and Hikaru Ryu Gendai Budo had an IAOMAS (International Alliance of Martial Arts Schools) cross training event for which Kancho Nenad was the guest instructor. The following Saturday 12 June our groups got together again and this time Sensei Colin Wee, IAOMAS Technical Advisor and Principal of Hikaru Ryu Gendai Budo (otherwise known as Team Wasabi!) took us through a seminar titled "Doing Magic with the Martial Arts: making your hands and feet appear out of thin air surely to annoy and astound your sparring buddies".
Sensei Colin's seminar on 12 June covered the issues of visual perspective and the assumptions and expectations made by attacker and defender during martial arts sparring. Sensei Colin's astute observations, practical suggestions and demonstrations gave us much food for thought on ways to improve our sparring ability. In particular, Sensei Colin demonstrated and explained why timing is more important than speed when it comes to success in sparring (of course it also helps when you have kicks as fast and as sneaky as Sensei Colin!).
Photos from the 12 June event below:
Sensei Colin Wee had this to say about Kancho Nenad's seminar on 5 June:
Sensei Nenad Djurdjevic and a large number of students from the Wu Wei Dao MA Academy and a smaller number from my school (HRGB) got together for the first time today for a cross training opportunity.
The newest member to join IAOMAS Australia, Sensei Nenad is an experienced MA and instructor, and is very knowledgeable in his Goju Ryu Okinawan art and discussions of other arts. Please visit their site at http://www.wuweidao.com/ for more information.
Sensei Nenad and I have already started talking about activities that can be done during IAOMAS month in September. Due to this initial talk, I've gotten buy in from two other IAOMAS members here in WA who will participate in the IAOMAS month. Given that WA has a spread out geography, and that we only have 5 members, this is very good!
Today's session lasted over 2 hours where Sensei Nenad went through the basics of his art, killer exercises, more training, and more killer exercises. It was a lot of fun.
I have taken some photos and a little video which I'll make available online in the near future.
Next week I'll be presenting a seminar 'Doing magic with the martial arts: making your hands and feet appear seemingly appear out of thin air, surely to astound and annoy your sparring buddies'.
On behalf of the IAOMAS, I took the opportunity to welcome Sensei Nenad and the Wu wei dao clan to our organization. It is a boon to us all having another very open-minded leader join our group. Also as an aside, he is apparently due to travel to the UK some time in the next year.
Regards,
Colin Wee
IAOMAS Technical Advisor
IAOMAS (Australia) Member
Photos from the 5 June event below:
Video
of the 5 June Event
Below is a video
put together by Sensei Colin Wee of Kancho Nenad's seminar (warning: broadband
connection recommended):
IOMAS Australia event 5 June 2004 - wmv file, 4.59Mb, duration: 2 min 47 sec.
Sensei Ravey Course (27 March 2004)
A group of students from Wu-Wei Dao recently attended a seminar hosted by Goju-Ryu Sensei Terry Lyon and held by Sensei Graham Ravey, 6th Dan Chief Instructor of the Traditional Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate Association (TOGKF).
Sensei Ravey has been practising Traditional Okinawan Goju Ryu karate for over 35 years 12 of which were spent in Japan and Okinawa training at the infamous Yoyogi dojo with Master Morio Higaonna. At one point Sensei Ravey was described in a martial arts magazine as the most dangerous man in Australia if it came to a real fight (or words to that effect - unfortunately I have long since lost that magazine - Kancho Nenad).
The link between Wu-Wei Dao, Sensei Terry Lyon and Sensei Ravey dates back to 1988 when Wu-Wei Dao's Kancho Nenad and Shihan Dan were first introduced to Sensei Ravey. Sensei Ravey visited Western Australia regularly in the late '80s and '90s and his methods and realistic approach to martial arts have had a significant impact on the evolution of the Wu-Wei Dao Martial Arts College. Sadly his visits of late have been few and far between so it was our great pleasure to once again train and learn from him.
(for a description of the photos please place your cursor over the photo)
