Master Brien Gallagher
Part One: Martial-arts Biography of Master Brien Gallagher
One’s first martial-arts instructor holds a special place in the heart of a practitioner. When ideas and possibilities that had never entered one’s mind are presented for the first time, the impact can be enormous, not only in that moment, but for a lifetime to follow.
My first teacher was Master Brien Gallagher, a master with pure dedication to the spirit of martial arts. He gave shape and impetus to the trajectory of my life during a time when I was drifting with no particular direction visible to me.
Part One of this two-part piece deals with Master Gallagher’s own path in the martial arts. Part Two will feature some of our shared experiences as he patiently and generously mentored and moulded me into of the next-generation masters.
Martial-arts Biography of Master Brien Gallagher
Master Brien Gallagher, born July 9, 1939 in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, was called ‘Prince of the Clan’ by his paternal grandmother. Born Patrick Warren Brien Gallagher, his family travelled by steam train to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1944 and he has lived there since.
As a youth, Brien learned western boxing from a Catholic priest and in 1958, while still in secondary school, took up body building at World Weightlifting Champion Doug Hepburn’s gym.
Judo
At the Hepburn gym, Brien began his training in judo (柔道) with British born instructor (sensei 先 生) Malcolm Jones, who was a judo 1st degree (shodan 初段) black belt. Another early instructor was Gary Gunter, a Kawaishi Method Judo-Jujutsu (柔術) 1st-level (ikkyu 一級) brown-belt instructor.
He went on to receive tutelage from such Canadian judo pioneers as Tomoaki ‘Tom’ Doi (Canadian Judo Hall of Fame inductee), T. Inouye (7th degree black belt, shichidan 七段), Fred Matt (1960 Canadian and Pan American judo champion, Canadian Judo Hall of Fame inductee), and Sumiyuki Kotani (10th degree black belt, judan 十段).
In 1961, Brien joined the Vancouver Judo Club led by Satoru ‘Tom’ Tamoto (8th degree black belt, hachidan 八段, Canadian Judo Hall of Fame inductee, 1911-1997). The Vancouver Judo Club, originally called ‘Tai Iku Dojo’ (體育道場) was the first judo dojo in Canada. The Vancouver club was opened in 1924 by the ‘Father of Judo in Canada,’ 7th-degree black belt (shichidan 七段) Shigetaka ‘Steve’ Sasaki (佐々木 繁孝, 1903-1993) who had been sent from Japan by the founder of judo Jigoro Kano (嘉納 治五郎, 1860-1938) for this purpose. Brien ultimately became the Senpai (先輩, ‘Senior Classman’) of the Vancouver Judo Club on 1133 Hastings Street, and remained with the dojo until Sensei Tamoto’s death.
In 1966, Brien was promoted to 1st degree black belt (shodan 初段) in judo and, that same year, he represented the province of British Columbia at the 5th Canadian Judo Championships in Edmonton, Alberta. In the following years, he fought at the national level in the 7th, 8th, and 9th Canadian Judo Championships, losing out on the gold medal and a spot on the national team in 1968 due to a technicality.
Throughout the late sixties and seventies, Brien upgraded his refereeing and coaching skills, eventually being certified as a national level judo referee (1978) and Level 3 coach by the Canadian National Coaching Certification Program (1981). In 1985, he was promoted to 4th degree black belt (yondan 四段) in judo by the Kodokan Judo Institute (公益財団法人講道館) in Japan.
Taijiquan
Brien began his taijiquan training with Grandmaster Raymond (Yam-Man) Chung (鍾蔭民) at the Vancouver Tai-Chi Chuan Association (Yungaohua Taijiquanshe 雲高蕐太極拳社) in 1964. Some time before this—while trying to escape from a judo opponent’s ‘stomach throw’ (tomoe-nage 尾投) by means of a ‘dragonfly cartwheel’—he dislocated his elbow. A friend at the judo club suggested Brien join a ‘Tiger-style Gongfu’ club he’d heard about and that maybe it could help the injured elbow.
When Brien went to what was actually Master Chung’s taijiquan club he thought that the ‘not very tiger-like’ movements looked like some sort of physiotherapy and nothing like a martial art. He decided to give the unusual activity a try even though his elbow was highly restricted in its movement. One day, when starting to practice ‘Repulse like Monkey’ (dao nian hou 倒攆猴), his arm ‘suddenly, loudly clicked and full movement returned to the elbow.’ Believing he was permanently cured he stopped attending the taijiquan classes—but the frozen elbow returned. After returning to class, the elbow clicked again, and again, he experienced relief from the condition. Reflecting on this he was later to say, “The cure I discovered demonstrated that I had to constantly devote myself to continual practice and advancement. I have been practicing Yang-style Taijiquan ever since.”
Owing to his extraordinary practice ethic, and his foundation in other martial arts, Brien soon became one of the best practitioners of the 108-movement ‘long form’ (太極長拳) in the school. He was then invited to train in the back room where push-hands (tuishou 推手) took place. This room was always a mystery—off limits to junior students—and a constant source of curiosity due to the thumping sounds that reverberated throughout the small home studio of Master Chung. Brien quickly became the most skilled push-hands player in the school, absorbing Master Chung’s teaching with enthusiasm and trying his push-hands skills out in judo ‘groundwork’ (newaza 寝技).
Brien’s rapid improvement and trustworthiness led Master Chung to take him on teaching stints outside of Vancouver. From 1969-1972 Master Chung taught classes in the Seattle, Washington Chinese Benevolent Societies. Brien was sometimes asked to accompany the master, assisting in demonstrations of push-hands, weapons, and applications—and acting as a physical presence. During the time Brien was assisting on these expeditions, he received extra training and insight from his teacher.
On September 19, 1971, Brien was certified by Master Chung as ‘Yang Tai-chi High-class Rank’ (taijiquan bangaojizu 太極拳班高級組) and officially allowed, as a master, to teach students and promote the art as taught by Master Chung. The certificate is written in English and in Chinese.
Master Chung sinicized Brien’s name as ‘Jia Bairen’ (加百仁) which means something like ‘Canadian of 100 Benevolences.’ Master Chung also appointed Brien as ‘Push-hands Research Assistant’ of the club. Some time after issuing the certificate, he had Brien to go to a Chinatown jeweller to be sized for a gold signet ring with the yin-yang symbol enamelled onto it—identical to the one that Chung himself wore. This was intended to demonstrate Brien’s status as senior student in the Vancouver school.
Training and teaching
For many of these years, Brien trained in the martial art kendo (剣道) and competed at provincial and national levels. In 1973, he was graded to 1st degree black belt (shodan 初段). He also trained in shotokan karate (松濤館流) and successfully competed at the provincial level. Also, for many years, Brien was the head instructor of four judo clubs—Kitsilano Judo Club, Marpole Judo Club, Point Grey Judo Club, and Burnaby Family YMCA Judo Club. At the same time, he was a member of the Vancouver Judo Club, Vancouver Kendo Club, Powell Street Academy of Karate, and the Vancouver Tai-chi Chuan Association. To augment his martial-arts training he ran and lifted weights. In order to implement this training he set up a weekly schedule built around his full time job.
In 1989, at age 50, Brien Gallagher ended his involvement with judo, karate, and kendo but has maintained his practice of Yang-style Taijiquan until the present.
After retirement from the three Japanese martial-art disciplines, Brien became serious about his practice of archery. In 2008, Brien competed in the World Archery Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has competed provincially on a regular basis garnering gold, silver, and bronze medals. In 2016 he won bronze in the 2016 American Masters competition.
Instruction on ‘Taiji Commencement’ by Master Brien Gallagher
Seek the social reality of T’ai-chi Ch’uan—the ‘civil.’ You already have everything you need to live a long, happy, and healthy life. Nourish and cherish it. Do not miss out on life. Be diligent. Use your ability to think. Know who you are and where you are—and what you are about to do. Do not let your mental and physical attention be divided or drawn to anything else. Leave your baggage at home.
Find a quiet spot on level ground, a place where you can identify the directions—north, south, east, and west. Observe and remember visual reference points so you can orient yourself in the forms. Choose a commencement position aligned to the centre of a room or something in it. If you are outside, the commencement position could be related to a mountain, a building, a tree, or a shrub.
When you have established your commencement position, stand in quiet for a few moments with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Relax, and do not move until you are truly prepared to commence.
Breathe with normal rhythm as if the breath is passing through your back and lower ribs. Open to the incoming breath. Do not breathe upward as this will cause the upper chest inflate and make you ‘float.’ Do not breathe downward as this will cause your stomach to swell, inhibit your body movement, and dissipate your flow of vital energy.
Use your inner awareness—feel where your mind is oriented. Observe the emergence of ‘intention.’ Do not rush your search—it will appear naturally. Only after the presence of intention has been established, do you move to the next stage.
Let your awareness move downwards seeking the heart—the metronome of your body. Feel its persistent beat and its great influence. Do not rush, rather, relax and continue down further in your thought journey to the point below the belly button called the ‘tan t’ien.’ This point must become, as far as you’re concerned, the absolute centre of your universe. All incoming and outgoing sensory movement is felt and controlled from the tan t’ien.
Stand alert, erect, and tall, keeping your hands at your side. Do not slouch. Pull back your chin and draw your head back to where it sits above the neck without strain. Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth, leaving a space below your tongue where a small pool of sweet fluid can form. Do not expect this result immediately—the sweetness comes only after a number of years of diligent practice as the body requires time to cleanse itself.
Now, move your attention to your shoulders. Relax and lower the shoulders, removing all tension. Do not draw back your shoulders, rather, allow your back to become round like a turtle shell. Let the chest drop and become concave. Be natural. Firm the buttocks slightly. Draw your stomach in slightly. Your comfort zone will change as you gain deep-core strength.
Be prepared in, and responsive to, the eight directions. Do not lean forward or backward, rather, seek perfect balance. Like wind, move with and follow all movements. Do not force things to happen. Relax, breath, and be natural. Do not overthink or worry.
There is no magic—just practice, practice, and more practice.
Really nice. Looking forward to reed part 2
Such a great story of commitment, I am keen to read the second half. What great commencement advice too.