Catching the Way: WWS Legacy Continuing
This summer Laoshis Erlene, Edith, and Bob Rosenbaum are leading two WWS-certifid DYQG instructor intensives. The first one was in August. The next will be in October. As an introduction to comments from workshop attendees, and in preparation for Wen Wu School’s Teacher’s Day celebration, I asked Dr. Bob Rosenbaum if he would share a few words to shape our understanding of lineage and legacy. Enjoy!
Cynthia Eaton
Our teachers Masters Y.C. Chiang and Hui Liu - Sifu and Shimu - gave us classes and instructions, books and videos, critiques and encouragement. More than anything, though, they gave us themselves. Beyond any specific technique:
Teaching without a word
Practicing wuweidao
Wholeness personified, completely themselves
acting with ease beyond effort.
Moment by moment, nonstop flow.
How can we honor them? By our practice. By our sincerity and whole-heartedness. By our gratitude for their gardening, for how they watered our spirits. There is a saying
“From ancient times wise people and sages have often lived near water. When they live near water they catch fish, catch human beings, and catch the way. For long these have been genuine activities in water. Furthermore, there is catching the self, catching catching, being caught by catching, and being caught by the way.”
Doesn’t this describe Sifu and Shimu? Living by the waters of San Francisco Bay, far from their native land, they produced us, their successors. Is this not catching a fish, catching a person, catching water, catching the self?
Robert Rosenbaum
brosenbaum1@mac.com
www.robertrosenbaumphd.com
www.meadowmind.net
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From Peggy Dey:
We had chilly and then gorgeous weather. The setting and food were excellent and helped cultivate a convivial atmosphere of mutual respect among our intimate group of teachers.
We had four structured sessions using Grandmaster Hui Liu’s 2011 audio/video tapes. Watching first at regular speed, then in slow motion, we observed and practiced one section at a time, asking questions only after we practiced first. The idea was to methodically work our way together through the entire video tape series to eliminate teacher interpretations and allow everyone to be on the same page at the same time, following the same instructions directly from Grandmaster Hui Liu. This teacher’s retreat provided a way for WWS-certified instructors to communicate with each other about our practice and to collectively hold the spirit of the Form to our highest standards.
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From Diana Keena:
We enjoyed doing the Form with Master Hui Liu’s video of the First Set in slow motion. Dr. Bob Rosenbaum pointed out Grandmaster Liu’s focus and fluidity. He said the video and the book are like two eyes - together they present a well-rounded view of the Form.
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