Master Jou Tsung-Hwa was an important figure in my taijiquan journey and taught me much about the art, it’s history, theory, and much more.
A new website devoted to Master Jou’s life and legacy has just gone live. Written and produced by Dr. John Painter, this online memorial is generous, informative, and tasteful.
The article to follow conveys, in text and video, my impressions on this world-influencing taijiquan master.
My friendship and learnings with Grandmaster Jou Tsung-Hwa. —by Sam Masich
‘Master Jou,’ as he was known to thousands, was a highly-accomplished taijiquan practitioner, a ground-breaking author and an inspiration to countless taijiquan enthusiasts. His three books, The Dao of Taijiquan, The Tao of Meditation, and The Tao of the I Ching have been published in multiple languages. A renowned Taiwanese academic in the field of mathematics, Jou Tsung-Hwa was highly personable and made everyone feel like they were an important member in an important community.
I first met Master Jou in July, 1988 in Winchester, Virginia at the U.S.A. All Taijiquan Championships. We had an immediate rapport and began an ongoing conversation that would continue until his tragic death ten years later.
For several years, at his annual ‘Chang San-feng Festival’ at the ‘Tai Chi Farm’—a 108-acre rural facility he had purchased for the promotion and study of taijiquan—Master Jou allowed Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming and me to stay in his little house while others camped in tents. The two masters instructed me on how to lead a traditional daoist ceremony at the beginning and end of the weekend-long event. The ceremony was intended to welcome and release the spirit of Chang San-feng (張三丰; pinyin Zhang Sanfeng), the mythical founder of taijiquan, so that the spirit could see our progress for the year.
When I was at the Tai Chi Farm Master Jou would give me private instruction on practical and theoretical aspects of taijiquan and neigong. I would also see him once each year at the A Taste of China event in Winchester, Virginia and he would always invite me to his room to discuss taijiquan methods and encourage me to ‘break through’ in my understanding. He is the only person I have experienced that could bounce my head off a door-sill using ‘uprooting skill.
Master Jou loved Hexagram 43 (䷪ 夬) of the Yijing—‘Breakthrough.’’
Master Jou believed intensely in traditional elements of the art such as cultivation of qi, strengthening of the dantian and the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment through practice of taijiquan. He believed that ‘Taijiquan is the teacher’ and had little use for traditions that seemed to him slavish in their devotion to form. Something of a genteel rogue, he valued exploration above all else and made no qualms about sharing his experiences and opinions—even with celebrated masters. Jou Tsung Hwa’s example of confidence, curiosity and conviction has had great influence on how I have defined and created my own unique path in the art.
Master Jou’s life is a testament to difference one can make in the lives of others by being dedicated to one’s own learning, practice, and sharing of the art of taijiquan.
This film, ‘Master Jou & Me’ is also featured on the new website.