A CRASH Course in Daoist Shapeshifting!
One of the coolest things I learned from my Shaolin Kung Fu master, Dashi Baugh, was the 'Hungry Tiger Crashing Down the Mountain' style of practice.
In this training, he told us to practice our Shaolin form (which should already be well memorized and embodied) like a hungry tiger chasing its prey. The form will get a little sloppy just like a tiger will crash through bushes and even small trees on its way down the mountain. The point is to get that spirit of immense power and focus despite all other considerations.
This is one example of the arts of "shapeshifting" encoded in the martial arts traditions of ancient China. In this drill, you're using the mindset of a majestic creature to change the orientation of your own awareness - and even the organization of your body's tissues.
The same training is utilized in the animal styles of martial arts and qigong. The secret used here is that you take on the hand, paw, wing, or claw of the animal and this helps you to assume the energy or "spirit" of that animal. Because the hands and face take up so much real estate in how our brain tracks our body - any shapes we make with the hands have a big effect on our mind and our state of being.
Traditionally, we start by learning the sets as our normal human self, then we learn the hand shapes and the various animal styles. Finally, we use taking on that hand shape as a key to put our mind into the "Spirit" of that animal. What we find is that the body moves in completely new ways and we even discover new applications to our familiar art - all bubbling up from the subconscious as we play with embodying an animal archetype.
This has profound benefits psychologically because we are then able to adopt different aspects of our own spirit according to the needs of the moment. Everyone's animal archetypes are different, one might have a wise old owl, where another has a deep swimming turtle. The point is to bring them to life as vehicles for our deepest self to play through.
Coming up next month we'll explore these animals in a unique venue in the workshop Daoist Sensual Shapeshifting. This class was inspired by my recent studies of the ancient Chinese lovemaking manuals, which contain advice on healing-love postures called by mythic animal names. In addition to being a poetic way to describe the shapes that our bodies create, these names hint at the practice of psychological shapeshifting applied to the arts of love.
The workshop will consist of two parts. The first part goes over the shapeshifting practices in general, and the second is the application specifically to the Dao of Yogic Intimacy. Hope to see you there!
Also coming up this fall is the Autumn semester of Tai Chi class. I'm leading my first ongoing live class since the pandemic here in Grass Valley, but will also zoom-stream the course for those who'd like to sign up from afar. Tai Chi contains much of the animal Kung Fu tradition in its forms like "Crane Cools it's Wings" and "Monkey Steps Back". It's a great way to begin learning this subtle psychological art through the vehicle of our bodies.
