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7/25/08

Hello to you as the Vancouver Summer Push Hands Camp begins. How fortunate to be able to work together on this kind of material, with these kind of people in the places in the world where we meet.
Recently, in Brighton on the southern England coast, a great group of taiji folk, including three from Finland and two all the way from Texas (many of you know Christian and Jerri Auger from past Vancouver Push Hands Camps), studied on the 5 Section Taiji Sanshou form. We had a nice, open, breezy space arranged by our lovely hosts Simon and Cher Robinson. Christian and Jerri and I enjoyed London for a couple days and the generous hospitality of taiji friend Caroline Ross. We then travelled up to Stirling, Scotland for Tai Chi Caledonia.

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3/16/08

Spring is here!

For some reason Spring always makes me feel nostalgic. Something about the scent of the awakening season triggers experiences from my yesteryears.

While I was in England teaching recently, I managed a trip up to London to see the 'First Emperor' exhibit at the British Museum. It was exactly half my lifetime ago that I first saw the Terracotta Warriors of Emperor Qin Shihuang in Xi'an China, where I was visiting as a member of Canada's first national Chinese martial arts team.

Xi'an was my first big international cultural experience, my first big exposure to modern and traditional Chinese martial arts as practiced on 'the mainland', and my first real personal connection with Master Shouyu Liang who was to become one of my most important mentors. It is here I received the name 'Maxiqi', a transforming experience!
Now I am poised for another big life change. It seems that I, my partner Julia and our 18 month old son Karl, will settle this year in Berlin, Germany. I have been spending close to half my time in Europe these last few years so for many of you this will come as no surprise.
I will continue to work with my many fine North American students from various locations in Canada, and also continue to develop the work which has begun with many earnest and talented European practitioners.

Content on SamMasich.com will develop accordingly. Expect to see more multilingual material, notices for seminars in interesting locations (eg. a European '5 Section Taijiquan full curriculum intensive' around the end of 2009) and, at some point, a Euro—Taiji event which combines training and touring!

Sam

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12/21/07

Happy Holidays!

Its nice to have a break and start thinking about next year's activities. Lots of taiji, some music and hopefully a lot of writing. I'll be based in Canada the first half of the year and Germany the second half.

We just finished the 5 Section Taijiquan Program Teachers Training and Certification Dec. 17th and it was a great experience! Through all weather—six weeks, four days a week—the group persisted. Congratulations to:

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11/9/07

    Have I said this before? I feel fortunate to have such incredible students and be able to work in such great circumstances with them.

Case in point: The Full Circle. For the last four years I've been invited to mentor a group of incredibly dedicated advanced students who have taken the initiative for advancing their training as a 'practice collective'. The group has been inspiringly democratic and open to one another's suggestions, points of view and needs for support. May I suggest you find a way to do such a thing in your own part of the world?

And now another group of keeners dives into the 5 Section Taijiquan Program Teachers Training and Certification. Six weeks, four days a week—Tai Chi heaven if you ask me.
I've recently put up a 'Seminars & Intensives' page in order to introduce folks to my work. I either have just—or will soon be—putting up the following new pages:
    • Friends & Associates' page.
    • 'Special Intensives' page which will cover current and archived events.
    • '5 Section Taijiquan Program' page with downloadable handouts for all the forms.
    • 'Yang-style Taijiquan' page, which will delve into the Yang curriculum as taught by yours truly.
    • 'Yang-style Taijiquan Full Curriculum Intensive' page, devoted to—are you excited?—next years Yang Intensive!
    • 'Studying With Sam'. An overview of my work with links to special intensives.

A few other things are in the works as well, so stay tuned. We are constantly expanding the site to provide you with more info and inspiration.

Sam

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8/20/07

    This has been the first summer in seventeen years that I have not taught my summer Push Hands Camp in Vancouver — and boy do I feel it! Some of you have become truly excellent practitioners and it is a joy to touch in to such well cultivated energy. I am used to getting a big 'qi-hit' every July/August.

    I have been to a couple European events; Tai Chi Caledonia in Scotland, Rencontre Jasniéres in France and Festival Internacional de Taichichuan en España in Spain. These were well organized, well attended, good spirited gatherings and I met a lot of excellent people.

    As in North America there is a strong tendency in Europe towards what might be called 'double-grabbing' push hands. This problem seems to plague taijiquan practitioners everywhere.

    Double grabbing, an activity characterized by the closure of both hands on another person’s body while engaged in tui shou could fall into the category of si yu energies as a form of ‘double cai’. However, this is a generous categorization as no classical writing appears to support this ‘technique’ and, in the few places where something like double-grabbing exists in what might be deemed traditional forms and drills, it comes in the form of defensive neutralization. If a player simply grabs symmetrically with both hands he or she is not ‘sticking-adhering’ and therefore can not employ the further progressing energies such as listening, receiving, neutralizing, etc.
   
    Double grabbing of one or both of the opponent’s arms is characterized by jerky, yanking movements intended to ‘out-speed’ the opponent in his or her response. Double-grabbers generally lurch forward, keeping their hips back. Their feet tend to ‘skitter’ about nervously, either looking for an opportunity to lunge in or in expectation of having to jump back suddenly. In the worst cases the double grabber’s footwork resembles that of a person at the edge of a cliff anxiously preparing to jump to the other side.

    I have met a lot of practitioners here who, while seeming to be otherwise quite discerning regarding taijiquan forms, history etc., seem to lack the basics of 'sticking' due to the above mentioned tendency. I'm sure there are many excellent players I've yet to meet and I look forward to future sharing.

    It seems that many practitioners around the world are hungry for a different experience of push hands. In the recent four day push hands 'sticking' intensive in Madrid, participants came from all over Spain, from Norway, England and Canada. It was an excellent class with about 30 participants, over half of whom were instructors.

    So, ultimately I feel encouraged, about the work, about the people I'm meeting in Europe and about the future of our art!

By the way, plans for a 2008 Vancouver Summer Push Hands Camp are still on although the dates may differ from previous years.

Sam

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6/1/07

Two years of SamMasich.com!

    It was exactly 2 years ago that we launched the first phase of this website and, aside from a little tweaking, Phase II is now complete! Huge thanks to Hansoo Kim and John Zietlow of ARKIOM for their work on getting the e-commerce part of the site up and running. Now you can purchase DVDs, CDs and more online.

    And it will all get better with Phase III. We plan to have online discussion boards, links to other teachers and musicians, a dedicated FFMmusic.com website, new internal arts products and more.

    One of the big hurdles for me in the past few years has been the completion of 3 of the 'old' videos shot in the early ‘90s. I am happy (and relieved) to announce the DVD release of: the Push Hands Video Manual vol. 2 (Da Lu); the 5 Section Chen Taijiquan solo form; and the Zheng Manqing Taijiquan (Ch'eng Man Ching T’ai Chi Ch'uan) 37 form with Marek Ostapkowicz. Completion of these titles allows the Sam Masich Video Classics Collection to ship in its entirety. Another new Little Productions DVD is the: Yang Style Traditional 54 Tai Chi Sword, the second in the Little Productions Official Bootleg Series.

    Other developments in these past two years have been the re-introduction of the Strange Horse News, preparation for the first ever 5 Section Taijiquan Teacher’s Certification (which will take place in Vancouver through November/December); and a first 4 day Push Hands intensive in Spain.

Thanks for your support of the website and of my work these last two years and stay in touch with me through SamMasich.com!

Sam

PS: Those of you who have been waiting for the 3 ‘coming soon’ titles can expect to see them in your mailbox soon!

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12/14/06

New Beginnings

    What an amazingly fragile thing it is to be here and alive on planet Earth, hurling through space, clamouring about on the 4% of this globe's livable space as if it will all go on the same way forever. Its easy to overlook the incredible priviledge of being alive. On October 5 this year, my partner Julia and I had a son. Karl reminds me everyday how delicate it all is.

    As this year draws to a close, I look forward to an interesting 2007, full of discovery and re-affirmation in my life of the 'rightness' of Taijiquan. I will be home more during the early part of the year so look for more workshops and music events here in British Columbia, especially at  the studio in Vancouver.

    We will be in Europe all summer (mostly in Berlin), so there will be no Push Hands Camps in Vancouver this year but we'll pick up again in 2008!. For the first time, Aug. 11-14, there will be a four day Push Hands event in Madrid. Stay tuned for details. Come one come all!

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10/26/06

Strange Horse rides again

    I'm very happy to announce the return of the Strange Horse News. For many years this was the main way students and fans could stay in touch with what was happening in Sam-land. The only problem was the huge paper load I'd send out for each edition. Now you can download the most recent edition and archives on a dedicated page here on the website.

    In future editions I'll offer more in the way of articles, book reviews and special offers of both video and music.

    The Ontario/Quebec tour is imminent and I look forward to seeing old friends and new faces as we share in this fascinating, ongoing Tai Chi journey!

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9/06

Denkmal

There is a park, a big one, next to what used to be an abattoir the scale of those formerly found in East Philadelphia. The ancient German brick buildings sit empty awaiting new industry, but the park itself is lively, filled with skaters, mothers with prams, a children’s park and, on the far end toward the Storkower Straße S-Bahn station, what seems to be a memorial devoted to the abattoir's history.

The 15 metre high ‘Denkmal’ consists of 100 green concrete posts which support a roof like structure formed of green I-beam steel spans. But there is no cover to create an actual shelter, only the frame. One post, three rows over and one row down from the southwest corner, is different. It is sheared cleanly at the exact height of my navel and on the flat top, the word ‘THINK’ is written in thick black strokes, in English.

It is here that I practice my Tai Chi. The ‘little post’ has become a leg stretch support, a rucksack hanger and a vaulting device. While all the other posts sit on clean, square brick pads as they fulfill their proud duty of holding up the useless roof, the little post sits within a cluster of shaggy grass which grows up its base, tickling it.

I wonder what my son will be like. Will he take his place in society in a well appointed manner, perhaps in one of the more important posts? Or might he, like his father, take his joy in some one-in-a-hundred oddity; a post which is not a post, somehow cut off from the rest of the structure, its only real purpose being the possibility of play and the admonishment THINK.

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7/4/06

I’m back in Vancouver for the summer after a long stay in Berlin. I am truly looking forward to some serious Tai Chi immersion in July and August. The 16th Annual Push Hands Camp... the 12th Annual Prince George Tai Chi Camp... How many times have we turned that circle?

My focus has been on writing lately and, although it’s slow going, something is starting to take shape. The Sam Masich Video Classics Collection is getting great response and plans for some updates to the look and functionality of the SamStore are in the works.

Stay tuned for info on this Autumn's workshops, events and releases!

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4/5/06

I'm in Europe until the summer, writing, practicing, editing and learning. Here are some excerpts from my latest writing. - Sam

Mastering context, mastering self

Tai Chi focuses greatly on efficient use of energy in the accomplishment of appropriate results. Many useless and ineffective expenditures of potential can be avoided by grasping the context in which events take place. By adopting certain qualities of character it is more likely that one will perceive and comprehend these factors.

Know the spirit of the time and the history beneath it. Predicaments are usually forseeable. Recognize what is missing. Revise opinions in light of better information. Suspect all belief.

Give prefence to those endeavours which humans can uniquely undertake. Have noble aspirations and priorities. Let knowledge serve purpose. Avoid being trite but not by pretentiousness or affectation.

Listen first. Remember sources of knowledge. To surpass teachers it is not neccesary to outshine them. Maintain relationships with knowledgeable people. Receive council graciously. Be gracious more than clever, graceful more than dexterous. Rude and bold are not the same. Actions have more effect than sentiments. Begin and complete undertakings. Think, and think ahead.

Do not over-reach, rather, let others approach. Keep one foot back. Avoid all forms of dependency. Distinguish between qualities of character and personality. Act decisively with enemies and flexibly with friends. Be cautious with unhappy and unlucky persons. To abide the envy of others is to let oneself be harmed. Extend mercy but do not expect it. Be grateful but do not expect gratitude. Cultivate tolerance for the flaws of others. In acts of self interest find ways of benefiting others.

In attemping to accomplish self-sufficiency, maintain personal privacy but do not self-isolate. Learn to both respect and challenge personal habits, rhythms and preferences. Practice relaxing in uncomfortable situations. Relax but do not collapse. Embrace adversity. Strive, but without strain. Avoid expending to the point of insufficiency. Store reserves for times of decline. Go slowly if it is not neccesary to go quickly. Be able to keep secrets.

Reputation can eclipse any particular victory or defeat. Consider outcomes but retain spontaneity. Act appropriately for time and place but be not defined by either. It is easier to add a word later than to withdraw one. It is easier to obtain forgiveness than permission. Suppleness endures what strength cannot. Cultivate self tolerance. Know your value. If possible, be likable.

Enjoy beautiful appearance but let delight lead to deep levels of appreciation. Master passions. Cultivate empathy and goodwill. Practice receiving in all things. Choose information over opinion, knowledge over information, wisdom over knowledge, love over wisdom. Find the inherent humour and gravity in all situations. Timing is the final secret in any art.

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3/1/06

The News
Hear the news its good again to care about the suffering of people we don’t know
Hear the news it’s safe again to let a little of your hard won glory go

While the second coming came and went, Richard Nixon said “Get bent”
What does napalm have to do with children anyhow?
The Devil it is said will hide in the most unlikely disguise
This new breed of monsters is the worst we’ve ever seen

Hear the news its of benefit to vote because it will protect people we don’t know
Hear the news it’s wise again to question in fact what they really know

And speaking of the government or that family living in a tent
It seems like bread and circuses are all the rage right now
While the Evildoers hide in caves, the Masters party on our graves
This new breed of Romans is the worst we’ve ever seen

Oh, hear the news its good again to turn our thoughts to comforting people we don’t know
Hear the news but not too loud
They’re listening to what you listen to
— from Cow!

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1/15/06

Hard-power is easy to identify, soft-power seems amorphous. Hard-power functions through opposition, soft-power functions via inclusion. Hard-power is reflexive and instinctive, soft-power is cultivated and often counterintuitive. Hard-power necessitates speed in its expression, soft-power possesses options around the use of speed. Hard-power is domineering and threatens, soft-power engages and allows. Hard-power is short lived, soft-power endures. Hard-power breeds corruption, soft-power requires integrity. Hard-power is egotistical and self interested, soft-power is modest and generous. Hard-power is humourless, soft-power is playful. Hard-power is arrogant, soft-power is humble. Hard-power constructs hierarchical paradigms, soft-power allows structure to form around realities.

Hard-power inevitably injures, soft-power can heal and/or injure as it chooses. Hard-power if persisted in, results in death, soft-power if persisted in, nourishes life. Hard-power is admired initially then resented later, soft-power is discounted at first and valued later. Hard-power consumes energy, soft-power recycles energy. Hard-power is the way of military might, soft-power is the way of cultural influence. Hard-power is compulsive, euphoric and addictive, soft-power possesses the secret to breaking the addiction. Hard-power is unmistakable in its intention but habitually deceives as to what that intention is, soft-power may honestly state its intention while remaining mysterious in its expression. - excerpt from The Tai Chi Manifesto

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12/13/05

Our friends in Peterborough Ont. recently lost a wonderful Tai Chi friend to cancer. Marnie MacQuarrie was as graceful in her Taijiquan as she was gracious in her life, and as thoughtful in her calligraphy as she was considerate with her friends. Here is a short message I was able to send to her in her last days.

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Hello Marnie. 

Things to take for your journey

Take love
Take love from everything and everyone that provides you with love
Take the memory of warm sunshine on your neck and feet
Take your curiosity and desire to learn
Take the ease and flow of your Tai Chi and calligraphy

Do not take anything heavy. Leave it all behind
Take your intuition, it can be trusted as a map
Take your kindness, it may help you if you meet strangers
Take your graciousness which has touched us all

If you can, send us some small sign that you are well
Although you are on a journey you are still much a part of our lives

Much love and thanks for our connection in this world.

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10/20/05

I love being in this part of Canada this time of year. Blazing red, yellow and orange roadsides and Canada geese soaring through clean, soft air. Having just finished my Autumn tour of Quebec and Ontario I'm feeling great about Tai Chi and my students. It never ceases to amaze, impress and inspire me, the work you all put into studying this art.

We've worked hard yet playfully on barehand and sword, solo and sparring forms, and as I watch the skill level grow season after season I think to myself, "I have the best students."

I'm off to Germany and Spain for a month of Tai Chi, music and adventure. Hasta luego, tschüss!

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9/25/06

It's been a fine summer in Vancouver and I'm getting ready to get back on the road. In mid-October I head to Quebec and Ontario, and from there sojourn to Germany and Spain where I have some workshops and a few music events waiting.

You may notice that I don't have any U.S. dates scheduled. There is some buzz around the fact that I have decided not to teach in America so I have decided to post a letter explaining my some of my reasons.

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7/27/05

We've just finished the summer Push Hands camps here in Vancouver and they were great! Imagine 24 dedicated Taijiquan practitioners from Canada, USA, Mexico and Puerto Rico working for 4 days on subtle, advanced energies of Push Hands. As a special treat were joined by Masters Shouyu Liang and Andrea Falk. 

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6/16/05

This is my first on-the-road update. I'm currently in Germany with FFM and the tour is going great. We've played in castles, concert halls and in an ancient club under the S-Bahn in Berlin. We've done some cool radio interviews, a TV spot and are looking at an import and publishing deal for Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

FFM in Dresden at Societätstheater

Next stop Winchester VA for A Taste of China and the USA All Taijiquan Championships!

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6/1/05

 Hi, and welcome to SamMasich.com! It's been a big project getting this site up and running and it wouldn't have been possible without the expertise of Hansoo Kim, John Zietlow and Heather Gardener-Madras. So first off, THANKS Han, John and Heather!

This has been a real transition time for me and launching this website feels like part of a new chapter being written in my life and in my work.

I am on tour teaching and giving concerts as Phase I of this website launches and will give updates as the tour evolves. I look forward to seeing some of you in 3D over the next few months but if not, now we can keep in touch through the site.

Enjoy!
Sam