An Interview

with Sam Masich by Ronnie Robinson

Sam Masich, originally from Canada, is now based in Berlin, Germany and regularly teaches in Europe, North and South America.

He has studied Taijiquan since 1979 working with a number of noted Masters including Liang Shouyu, Yang Jwing Ming & Jou Tsung Hwa.

6 Tai Chi Chuan & Oriental Arts What was your introduction to Taijiquan? 1 In 1979, when I was 17, I lef my hometown in north-western Canada and moved to Vancouver. I was passionate about drawing, oriental philosophy and sports - especially soccer. When I frst discovered martal arts I saw right away the chance to fuse the essence of all these interests into one actvity.

Which martial arts did you begin with? I began with judo with Brien Gallagher but it was his taijiquan that I really wanted. I more or less tricked him into teaching me taijiquan. Once we got going with the taiji however, we trained both arts together. I actually learned the Yang long form in a judo gi afer judo sessions.

I trained three tmes a week at one club and 2 three tmes a week at another - all with Brien. I Images: (Clockwise from above lef: Sam with...) also trained with him from 10am to 5pm, one- 1. Brien Gallagher and Raymond YM Chung on-one for more than fve years every Sunday. 2. Jou Tsung Hwa and Sam We never missed a Sunday session except for 3. Yang Jwing Ming, Liang Shouyu & Sam Christmas.

Can you tell us a little about your teachers and what it was you 3 specifcally trained in with them? Brien was an ex-police ofcer and champion pistol shooter. Even now, in his seventes he is a champion archer. He’s been a natonal level judo and kendo compettor and won provincial championships in these and in karate sparring. He can ‘read’ people in push-hands with a few light turns of the circle. He has the sharpest eye and the fastest, yet sofest hand of any martal artst I’ve met. He’s also proudly Irish and comes from a long line of bare-knuckle fghters. He frst learned boxing from the priests who taught at his school. He is a superlatve martal arts trainer having coached all of his seven on to me. I felt a very strong connecton to toward the practcal pondering that informs nephews to provincial championships in judo. Master Yang and his teachings even before my work today. Finally, by his epic example, meetng him some years later. he gave me a sense that I have a responsibility With Brien I learned about martal arts in toward leaving the art in a beter state than I a general sense. Because his background While I am a tudi (formal disciple) of Master found it. included western, Japanese and Chinese Yang, I never learned his complete system. He martal arts, he easily navigated between the taught me deeper, principle-based material You also worked with Liang Shouyu? three worlds with ease. I had exposure to judo, as he knew I was already sitng atop a very I met Master Liang Shouyu in 1985 at an karate, kendo, boxing, Yang, Chen and Fu styles solid curriculum. Rather than messing with it, event to choose the Canadian natonal of taijiquan, and police self-defence training he had the foresight to help me fll in the gaps Chinese martal arts team to compete in the before I met my Chinese teachers. in my understanding and the means to take frst Internatonal Wushu Championships in me deeper and further in the directon I was Xi’an, China. I was there with Brien who had In taijiquan he is one of only two practtoners already going with Brien and Master Chung. managed to get me into the tryout through the certfed as Master ‘high-level’ by his teacher We focused on qinna, sword and bare-hand recommendaton of Master Chung. Grandmaster Raymond Y. M. Chung. Master applicatons, push-hands and neigong. He Chung had been in the same academy and helped me to beter understand the Chinese Brien and I were sitng watching the various trained alongside Yang Shouzhong (Yang characteristcs of Chinese martal arts - the wushu athletes and I was - not having seen Chengfu’s eldest son). He is a master of the full history, philosophy and the cultural meaning modern wushu performed by caucasians my curriculum of Yang-style taijiquan as well as and ‘feel’ of what I was doing. own age - completely impressed. As a former being a high-level baguazhang, xingyiquan and long jump, high jump and triple jump athlete I Wu-style taijiquan practtoner. A young hot-shot tournament champion does thought, “These guys are great - I’d like to try not automatcally possess humility regarding that!” You worked closely with Dr. Yang Jwing Ming, what did you learn from the vast scope of the art. Master Yang helped him? me to see things in perspectve and thus I did my form (and made the team) and was a Brien and I would refer to Master Yang’s frst temper the pride I felt in my achievements. bit fustered when I sat down. Then, a forty-ish Yang-style taijiquan book as the curriculum He would always say, “The higher the bamboo year old Chinese man stood up to perform. He which was very similar to the one Brien had grows, the lower it bows.” He taught me to moved for about ten seconds and Brien leaned learned from Master Chung and was passing respect the classical writngs and the symbolic over to me and said, “That’s real.” That was the concepts within taijiquan lore and steered me frst tme I saw Liang Shouyu move.

Spring 2014 7 to distnguish between I know not every student will master every general Chinese martal arts move. But I also know that they can all make concepts and those unique satsfying progress and be fulflled in their to taijiquan. It is therefore practce. This is rewarding to me. Its very easy to misconstrue, important how I address and encourage them. exaggerate and undervalue They have to be made aware that they not aspects of the training. The only can do taijiquan, they can master it, even upside to this is a lot of if only some parts. I was fortunate with my creatve innovaton in terms teachers to have learned with each of them of approach and descriptve privately, behind closed doors. Although my language. The downside is classes are usually in seminar format, I try to a tendency to wander away talk to each student as if it were a lesson tailor from the root of the art. made for them.

In what ways did he What can you tell us about your motivate and direct experiences with Jou as a martial your learning and how artist and as a person? has that impacted on Master Jou understood beter than anyone your teaching? that taijiquan and the internal arts thrive best Master Liang completely in community. He didn’t believe in cliques and defes categorisaton. He secretve teachings. By his very presence he is in every way a genius broke down the barriers erected by the self- in the feld of Chinese important and the manipulatve in martal arts martal arts: physically, society. One might have been tempted, on martally, intellectually, frst impression, to dismiss him as a harmless, civilly, spiritually. It's really kooky eccentric and something of a lightweight only when one reaches as far as martal concerns go. But he is to something of a high level in date, the only person to have bounced my this work that appreciaton head-top on a doorsill while pushing-hands. of Liang Shouyu can He practsed taijiquan with the fervour of an meaningfully begin. idealistc young student yet was one of the Like many individuals of most renowned fgures in mathematcs and enormous capacity, he has educaton in Taiwan. Yang Jwing Ming grew up developed his own way of studying Jou Tsung Hwa’s textbooks in high- organizing his understanding. Master Liang and I connected well on the 1985 school and in university. Master Jou taught trip to Xi’an where he was the team coach and me to be as serious as an eagle in my hunt for Master’s Liang’s personal system—in many I was one of the athletes. He helped me out understanding and mastery but not to take ways an homage to his martal arts master/ of a difcult jam at one point and set it up for myself too seriously, no mater what accolades grandfather— is called Shushan Wuji me to train push-hands in Beijing. When I came or critcisms might come my way. Xiaoyaopai. Shushan is a regional nickname back to Canada, Brien prepared me for about a for Sichuan Province and refers to the mystcal Which of your teachers had the most year, enabling me to study Chen-style taijiquan martal arts mountain Ermeishan. Wuji is infuence on you? privately with Master Liang who then trained the pre-primordial to taiji—the state of un- Depending on which aspect is in foreground, me in a very diferent way than I’d been used beginning and a reference to the fact that any of my teachers could be considered to. Stance structure, alignment, fexibility and Master Liang is now acknowledged in China the most infuental. Master Jou Tsung Hwa favour—he taught me the secret passages as the only living grandmaster of the actual impressed on me very deeply the noton between styles and opened up new ways of wujiquan system. Xiaoyao means something that, ultmately ‘taijiquan is the teacher’. My grappling and weapons use. He frst taught me like ‘footloose’ or ‘freestyle’. I think this is instructors have been like diferent lenses, each Chen-style taijiquan (both of the traditonal a perfect summary of Master Liang: open- allowing me to see the art in diferent ways. My routnes, push-hands and sword) then later minded and free, yet deeply rooted in his work is not so about reconciling these difering Ermei bafa, xingyiquan, baguazhang, liuhebafa, natve traditon. views but in seeing clearly as I polish and refne shuaijou, kuaijou , chojiao and a lot of sword, my own unique lens. spear and other things. One tme I was training baguazhang at his house and trying to master a partcularly tricky You visited China a few times what did What do you mean when you refer to gesture. I kept making new mistakes in trying ‘secret passages’ and why were they you discover there? to ft myself into the constraints of the form. The frst visit was in 1985 for the competton in ‘secret?’ By secret I’m referring to knowledge that I’d solved hundreds of these types of problems Xi’an I mentoned earlier. It was only nine years comes with broad perspectve and deep before, but this eluded me entrely. Master afer Mao’s death so everything was prety understanding born of experience. Within Liang showed it to me again, slipping with much like it was a decade before—thousands Chinese martal arts there are certain qualites easy familiarity into a vortex I hadn’t yet even of bicycles, very few private vehicles. Taxi understood to be common to all styles. For identfed as existng. I made one of those half- drivers were the richest people because they example, ways of stepping and of linking in-frustraton, half-in-awe comments like, “Gee could get tps, overcharge foreign clients and the body internally to generate power—a Master Liang, I’ll never be as good as you.” trade foreign currency on the black market. basic corporeal and energetc language that He stopped and looked me squarely in the enables one to ‘get it’ no mater the style. eye. “Sam, you think about wrong. Everybody There were statues of Mao everywhere and Many taijiquan practtoners, because they thinking this way. You just practse this one people stll spoke slogans like. “The sun is red, are focused entrely on taijiquan lack these movement 15 minutes every day—one week, the sun is great, the sun is our party. We love sensibilites and consequently spend a lot of two weeks—you got. Nobody do. Everyone say Chairman Mao. We love our party.” Training tme ‘reinventng the wheel’. They are unable like you. Why learn if you cannot get?” foreigners in contact aspects of martal arts had been recently forbidden. A jackass

8 Tai Chi Chuan & Oriental Arts American visitor in 1984 had decided to ‘try’ Gu Liusheng and Zhang Wenguang as well as unprepared. For the next three years I dove Chen Xiaowang in push-hands in an awkward mid-generaton people like Chen Xiaowang. whole-heartedly into the tournament world in impromptu public match. It was an impolite There were young wushu stars such as Zhao North America. I went to events where there ambush that led to some unproductve Changjun and Zhang Hongmei as well who was someone to learn from (e.g. when Master scufing and the ban on teaching foreigners. were like young gods on springs. Meetng all Liang or Dr. Yang were there) and where I I was however, fortunate enough to have these people and seeing them do their thing could be assured there would be serious an introducton card from the head of the made me feel like my obsession with taiji might judging. While I always went in obtain the best sports university’s wushu department Zhang not be so strange afer all. Where I grew up possible result, my goal was to master myself, Wenguan to whom I was introduced by Master every kid wanted to be Wayne Gretzky—not Fu especially my nervousness and fear of being Liang when we were in Xi’an. With that and Zhongwen. judged. Eventually I was able to overcome this some stubborn persistence I managed to get and go onto the competton foor or into a past the 24 movement simplifed taiji instructor What I realized afer the sword event, was how performance environment free of anxiety with to a meetng with Master Men Huifeng (the much standard basic work I stll needed to do the idea of actually sharing something with assistant director) a top fight push-hands to match the other compettors. Although I those witnessing what I was doing. master and creator of the standardised 48 actually knew how to use a sword, I didn’t know movement taijiquan. At frst he explained how to move with it in a way that connected that he couldn’t teach me due to the ban. In to deeper taijiquan principles and good jian How do you introduce your students to response I leapt up into the air, fipped, then basics. I placed sixth or seventh I think. The Push Hands? landed on my back on the stone foor. Bouncing day before I was to perform my solo form, I The earliest of the twenty-fve fundamental up I said through the interpreter, “See, I won’t badly twisted my ankle running down a fight jin or ‘kinetc energies’ in taijiquan is called get hurt.” He laughed and said, “Tomorrow of stairs afer I’d heard there was a guy selling zhan-nian jin or ‘stck-adhere energy’. It is the meet me in such-and such room. You come swords outside the tournament venue. My foundaton upon which taijiquan is built— alone. No translator.” Afer that he gave me ankle swelled to about the size of my calf when forms, push-hands drills, weapons, fghtng— two weeks of three hour one-on-one lessons I performed (the Chinese doctor atending everything. In my view most of the prevailing on push-hands and qigong. I didn’t understand me insisted I not put ice on it and rubbed it approaches to this topic are superfcial. People a word he said but he reshaped my push-hands vigorously, telling me to put all my weight on believe they are ‘stcking’ when, in reality, they enough to set me on a trajectory that to this it immediately) and I hid the fact from Master are ‘following’. The diference between riding day defnes my work. Liang and most of the team because I didn’t a bike and following behind one, no mater want to miss my chance to demonstrate. I was how closely, is whether or not you are actually You competed in a Chinese martial in screaming agony but got to compete in a on the bike. Taiji’s push-hands or tui-shou, arts competition. How did you fare world championship. as traditonally taught, generally starts with and what thoughts did you come away pushing paterns which, while intended to help with? The tournament itself made me realize students develop sofness, tend to generate Amazingly, the Xi’an World Chinese Martal many things about myself—things I wanted anxiety. ‘Pushing’ as such, can be detrimental Arts Championships was my frst actual forms to understand and master. I was shaking to the development of foundatonal qualites. competton. For me it was a revelaton. I met uncontrollably when I walked onto the carpet However, the early energies—stck-adhere older generaton masters like Sha Gouzheng, and, for all my practce, stll completely energy (zhan-nian jin), listening energy (tng

Spring 2014 9 jin, comprehending energy (dong jin), receiving practce ego-less taijiquan in one’s back yard Secret Transmissions’ lived in my packsack for energy (zou jin) and neutralising energy (hua or with dotng students and another to deal ten years. I gave a copy to Men Huifeng In 1985 jin)—have no direct martal intenton (as with personal hang-ups in the fnal match of and he was amazed that we knew that much compared to later energies like na, ‘seizing’). a push-hands competton or with fve judges outside of China. It completely changed how scrutnizing your every tremor. There is no he saw me and what he was willing to teach. Unfortunately, the past masters provided no reason why partcipatng in such actvites When I started to learn taijiquan China had codifed or explicit methodology for addressing cannot contribute in the self-cultvaton not yet opened. It was a few years later that these early energies. They are usually applied endeavour. people like Master Liang Shouyu came to North in a patchwork way, conceptually speaking America, opening a portal into the mainland although they are the fundamental energies Others poo-poo competton in favour of no- taijiquan world. required to learn push-hands proper. They are nonsense, ‘real’ martal arts. However, it might the energetc atributes of what might broadly be wise to remember that short of war or life Taijiquan scholarship has advanced greatly and be described as ‘sensing’ (jue), a term used threatening combat, all martal arts practces we’re constantly learning from translatons, by Yang Chengfu to describe the underlaying are at best simulatons of the real thing. teachers and what new media brings us. The nice quality in push-hands. Although the most serious martal training in thing about being around a while is being able taijiquan is directed toward the idea of a ‘real (usually) to recognise the diference between I therefore use jue-shou concepts to get fghtng situaton’ with one or a few opponents, older variatons of the art and new fads. Taiji- students started on a ‘deep stcking’ path scenarios stll tend to exist somewhere in the come-lately forms are usually prety easy to as compared to a ‘shallow stcking’ path. cracks between martal-contest and martal- spot. This isn’t always easy though. When I was This begins with the clear establishment of combat. The more real things get, the more the young I would have gone to almost any length the ‘point-of-contact’ via ‘restng-in’ and rules go out the window and the less relevant to fnd out more about Chen-style taijiquan. ‘supportng’ and with the mastery of fve formal martal training becomes. When things Now it’s everywhere—original stuf and new ‘operatons’. This provides students with a real get most martal, it is fexibility of mind and variatons. It takes a lot to sort out what’s method toward mastering the all-important calmness under pressure that triumphs. If going on in some areas of the art, Wudang early energies that tend to elude taiji players. one can’t be cool in the comparatvely safe Taijiquan for example, and older players like environment of a competton foor it is myself who developed during a period of What are your views on competition? unlikely they will be at ease when it counts in a limited informaton have our own biases and My competton phase lasted for three years real self-defence situaton. misconceptons about what’s going on. I think between 1985 and 1988 untl Master Liang and it is more difcult for newcomers though, Yang suggested I stop in order to allow others Compettve taijiquan form and push-hands especially with the confaton of taijiquan with the experience of winning and to encourage events are organised around the world qigong and a general permissiveness around me to pursue deeper aspects of the training. with varying goals, rules and results. The mixing anything together indiscriminately. It can be said without exaggeraton that, actvity brings together practtoners of the during the late eightes and early ninetes many diferent schools and styles and ofers Overall I see potental. In the past, people 70% of tournament medalists and natonal a possibility for strengthening the art by talented in movement went to sports like team members in North America had studied assistng individual players in furthering their football and basketball or to dance. Now to some degree with one of or both of these development and by forging bonds for a more there is enough actvity in the taijiquan world teachers. During that tme I became well cooperatve and interactve community. These to hold the atenton of individuals who want known as a compettor, especially in ’88 potental positve benefts, coupled with the to master the art in its fullness. There is a when I was grand-champion in three natonal popularity of the push-hands game encourage lot of informaton and opportunity and, if level events. While its true that I grew up in a us to think seriously about refning the rules in players aren’t too distracted by every new sports family—my father was a track and feld such a way as to serve future generatons of thing coming down the pike we might see the coach and the Olympic Games were virtually a taijiquan practtoners. traditonal art thrive rather than drown. My religion in our home—I wasn’t really interested focus is on getng students well prepared for, in competton for its own sake or for the sake It is important to note, that while the push- then mentoring them through a full curriculum of winning medals (my son likes to play with hands game is widely practsed even by serious training. I’d like to see more taijiquan players my taiji medals nowadays). I was interested taijiquan players, it really only exists outside of involved in all aspects of their style—not just a in overcoming some personal limitatons what might be defned as ‘traditonal taijiquan’. short form, a bit of sword and endless hours of and improving my overall understanding of This form of play does not appear in the free-style push-hands. taijiquan. Out on the competton ‘circuit’ records of any traditonal taijiquan curriculum people thought of me as a modern taiji/ nor in any classic writngs of past masters. It is What does the future hold for you? wushu type of player and had no idea about just something that taiji people do—and they As a creatve person much of my expression my intense traditonal work in Master Chung’s do it everywhere. comes through this art. I view myself frst and Yang-style with Brien and with Master Chung foremost as an artst. I draw, paint, write, flm- himself. I did go back on the foor once again What changes have you seen in the make, song-write, perform as a musician as in 1994 in an internatonal competton in taiji world during your involvement well as express myself through martal arts. I Shanghai and was pleased to win seven gold with the art. How would you like to don’t consider myself partcularly talented but medals. see things unfold from here? I persist untl I can do a thing well. In martal Almost all of the popularisaton of the art has arts this tendency expresses itself through Even as a serious traditonalist, I recommend taken place since the late 1920s. I’ve been teaching and writng. I consider my teaching the competton experience. Critcs of taiji as around for about a third of that tme and have to be an essental part of the research for my competton ofen cite the egotstcal nature had mentors that have seen most, if not all of writng and believe it’s important to see what of the actvity as a reason for avoiding it. it. There are always pros and cons with any people really respond to and what actually While there may be truth to this noton, it evoluton. The best thing I’ve seen during my furthers their progress before writng anything could also be argued that partcipaton in the tme in the art is an increase in access. When I defnitve about it. This is part of the reason my art’s performance, portrayal and compettve frst started there were few really good books writng takes such a long tme. modes can provide real tests of one’s ability to on taijiquan available and home video had express the art in situatons where one’s ego barely emerged. I did and stll do cherish my taiji As of this moment my main writng project atachments are made clear. It is one thing to library and in my twentes always had a copy of is a two volume overview of the 5 Secton something on me. Douglas Wile’s ‘Yang Family Taijiquan (Wuduan Taijiquan) curriculum and

10 Tai Chi Chuan & Oriental Arts philosophy. This is a program I began co-creatng twenty or so years ago and which has practtoners around the world. The 5 Secton program is a modular, progressive preparaton for the study of traditonal taijiquan that focuses on the necessary and sometmes missing building blocks a taiji player must have in place if he or she is to truly succeed as a serious taiji player. Examples of important fundamentals include: clear core- principles, stance based form-work, sensing based partner-work in bare-hand and weapons modes and bare-hand and sword applicatons routnes. The books I am currently writng will cover all the material in the basic program and make clear how practtoners can save years of training tme in their overall goal of mastering traditonal taiji and get a beter result in the process.

The next big goal publicaton-wise, is a fve volume series on the shisan shi or ‘thirteen powers’ (ofen incorrectly described as the thirteen ‘postures’) of taijiquan. Past masters deem an understanding of the thirteen powers to be essental in understanding the art. In all my work I try to address what is missing in pedagogy and address the gaps. Today, it is rare to fnd taiji players that are serious in their approach to this fundamental and defning subject. The shisan shi is the basis for all parts of traditonal taijiquan curricula—bare-hand, sabre, sword and spear—each with its own thirteen energies collecton yet informaton on the subject is not widely available and what is out there is woefully incomplete. I feel as the tudi of the two most prolifc martal arts authors in the world today, it is my job to honour my teachers by (hopefully) advancing these themes a step or two that others have something substantal to work with. These and other volumes are meant to form parts of an eventual encyclopedia.

My” focus is on getng students well prepared for, then mentoring them through, a full curriculum training. I’d like to see more taijiquan players involved in all aspects of their style—not just a short form, a bit of sword and endless hours of free-style push-hands.”

www.sammasich.com

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