May, 2001

meditation in haiku

I sit on a rock
wondering how many times
my teacher sat there.

I light the incense
wondering how many times
my teacher lit them.

I follow my breaths
wondering if my teacher's breaths
are still in the air.

His voice still lingers
coaxing me to sit quietly
and stop wondering.

And so I resolve
to truly quiet my mind
and stop wondering.

Listening, waiting,
wondering if at last I am making progress.

All Peaceful Dragon students should review the numerous articles and valuable information that Grandmaster DeMaria has on the American Center for Chinese Studies website, www.kungfu.org. If you haven't visited lately, or have never visited, take some time to discover the roots of your training and family lineage. You can go to the site directly, or follow the link from The Peaceful Dragon ås home page.

Medical Chi Kung Workshop, Saturday, May 19th and Sunday, May 20th
Sifu will lead an intensive two-day workshop that will teach you to take care of your own mind and body through the simple movements, meditation and breathing methods of medical chi kung (qigong). This 5,000 year old Chinese medical system is more popular than ever in China, and is a leading alternative therapy in the West due to it's ease of application and proven effectiveness.

Emphasis will be placed on practical techniques for health maintenance as well as ways to overcome current illnesses. You will discover how the mind impacts the health and balance of vital organs, and how the condition of these organs affects your state of mind. You'll also learn why many symptoms may really be indications of greater illness or imbalance in the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys or digestive system, and you'll learn specific exercises and meditations to help you overcome such ailments.

Sifu Sbarge will draw from more than two decades of experience with chi kung (qigong), tai chi (taiji), meditation, and other internal martial arts. Many of the exercises he will introduce are those of Master Liang Shou-Yu, a "coach of excellence" in China and author of the supremely authoritative book Qigong Empowerment. Master Liang has practiced chi kung (qigong) for more than fifty years, traveling extensively in China to learn the most effective methods. Sifu Sbarge holds a medical chi kung teaching certificate from Master Liang.

The workshop on Saturday is from 1-5pm, and on Sunday, 10am-5pm. The very reasonable cost is $129 for students, $159 for members and $189 for the public. Register before May 16th and save $15.

Sifu recommends that interested students buy Qigong Empowerment before the workshop. The book is available from The Peaceful Dragon , major bookstores and the internet. Master Liang's videos will be available at the workshop at a discount.

Pakua Summer Training Camp
All students are welcome to join Master Park Bok Nams pakua training camp along with Sifu Sbarge from June 8-12. Space is very limited and will likely fill up by the end of March, so reserve your spot now with a 50% deposit. Details are posted in Studio A, or see Sifu. Also, remember to mark your calendars now for our 3rd Annual Mountain Tai Chi retreat on September 21-24.

CACMA Tournament, Saturday, May 12th starting at 9am
The Carolina Association of Chinese Martial Arts will host an all-day tournament that is part of a larger Asian festival in uptown Charlotte. Hosted by the Adams Mark Hotel, this is sure to be the best tournament yet, with something of interest for everyone! Peaceful Dragon students are competing, so come out and lend your support (and please wear your school uniform). If you aren't competing but want to be involved, tournament organizers are looking for volunteers to help run things. For directions or more information, call The Peaceful Dragon.

Annual Peaceful Dragon Barbecue, Wednesday, July 4th starting at 2pm
Back by popular demand, The Peaceful Dragon summer barbecue has been scheduled at Johnston Community Center in Pineville. Come for the day, friends and family welcome. Donation is $10 per adult, $5 for children 6-10, and 5 and under free. Bring a dish. Play football, Frisbee, "brush knee and twist step" around the lake-or enjoy doing nothing, but please join us for a wonderful afternoon!

Volunteering
Cleanup Day is Sunday, May 6th and we need your help! Come for a few minutes or a few hours: there are many details to be taken care of. Help clean the kitchen and tea house between 9am and 11:30; then until 1pm, help clean and repair bathrooms and studios; and finally, we need 6 or 7 people at 5pm to clean carpets. Bring your tools if you're handy. Classes will continue as usual from 1-5pm!

For sale by Sifu Eric Sbarge: 1988 Toyota 4x4 long bed pickup truck.
Runs great, new tires, just tuned up. 180K miles. Body has some rust, but so what? It's only $1,000! Complete with Peaceful Dragon bumper sticker. See Sifu or call him at 704.504-8866.

J. Eric Kindberg
Gorman & Kindberg
Attorneys at Law
704-544-2500
* Real Estate (loan closings, purchases, leasing, tax free exchanges, etc.)
* Small Business (incorporation, LLCs, contracts, partnerships, etc.)
* Wills, Trusts and Estates (wills, power of attorney, living wills, trusts, estate planning, etc.)

Now vitamins and herbal supplements are a Peaceful Dragon best buy!
We place orders for these excellent products on the first of every month. There is nowhere else you can go to get quality supplements at these prices, PLUS 20% off.

Often we are reminded in class to be attentive during our various exercises. We are encouraged to watch our minds and when our thoughts go astray, we are advised to let them go and to remain mentally present in our work. If we practice this enough, perhaps we will not be taken away on mental journeys when we should be at practice. Some of our routines or techniques are taught as new, or are re-taught with a more refined teaching. In such cases, the attentive mind may be one that uses the intellect and it's reasoning powers to register and comprehend the teaching. Certainly, the intellectual process would involve concepts and comparisons as we measure our own performance with the model set up by the teaching. Otherwise, how would we self correct our practice and improve?

At other times, we are also asked to practice with a meditative mind. What does this mean and is it different than the hard mental work of applying the attentive focused mind to correction, application and execution of the art? In most cases, the meditative assignment is made during yoga postures, or tai chi and shaolin chi kung. How would the mind operate in this case? Consider that the powerful use of the intellect is not involved. If this is true, then the involvement of concepts, judgments, comparisons and other cognitive constructs are likewise omitted. What is left? As we have been taught in our formal meditation classes, the assignment of a technique such as focusing on the breathe or some other object, seems to rest on just placing the attention on the one thing. Go nowhere!

Expect nothing! Release the normal mental processes! We simply relax but maintain a focused mind in alert observation (not a trance or state of "spaced out" relaxation). What would this experience be like in yoga practice? The object of the focus or the "technique" for the meditation would be to place attention on the body and it's position. The gentle but alert observation would be on the true experience of the yoga position but without the mental cognitive processes. This certainly means the exclusion of comparisons, analyses, opinions of performance, emotional responses relating to performance, and value judgments. It would mean to intensely feel what is occurring as it occurs. What may be left is simply an experience of self-awareness by the employment of the physical body. This experience would grow out of the direct connection to the body's voice within the yoga.

What is your experience with meditation in yoga or tai chi practice? Do you have a different result with movement versus the static postures? Are the mental processes active or is the mind somewhat still? It seems to this student that the first step in any work with our art is to let distracting thoughts go without being taken into a state of distraction. When the work involves learning, intellectual dialogue that is focused on the task at hand is absolutely necessary. When the work involves meditation, even the most valuable tools of the intellect and reason must be released in the same way as unrelated thoughts are released. It may be fruitful to notice the mental states as we practice. What do you think? What has been your experience?

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Several students shared their experiences this year, and certainly provided insights and enjoyment for many others. Will you be the next to fill this column? Length can be up to 400 words and the editor will be happy to help spruce up your creation. Give your copy to Wes or Michael, or email bmk@carolina.rr.com

Top Ten Signs You're Spending Too Much Time At The Peaceful Dragon
10. You wake up at least 3 days a week still wearing your uniform.
9. You've just replaced all your living room furniture with a Pakua pole.
8. You can't wait to get home and have a few more swigs of Debra's tonic.
7. Your supervisor writes you up for practicing slant flight in the bathroom.
6. Those pink lady things don't look quite as ugly as they used to.
5. You missed your kid's birthday party because you wanted to spend a couple more hours perfecting your box stance.
4. You've just invented a new two-person Qigong form called "Monkey Polishes the Rhino's Moon."
3. Instead of driving to work, you decide to tai-chi step all the way. Arrive 2 a.m. the next morning.
2. When George and Debra start arguing you can actually understand what they're saying.
1. You just can't get enough of that funky Chinese music!

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The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
—Eden Phillpotts(1862-1960)

To contact The Peaceful Dragon:

Call: (704)-504-8866

Write: The Peaceful Dragon
12610 Steele Creek Road
Charlotte, NC 28273

E-mail: comments and suggestions to staff@thepeacefuldragon.com