A quote from the preface of my book “Of Fire and Water: Alchemy and Transformation”
(Tambuli Media: 2023):
A last cautionary tale. The Western Procrustean Bed. The Eastern paradigm of the human being and the world includes not just the physical and material but also the energetic, mystical, intellectual, emotional as well as the spiritual. But much of Eastern culture is often perceived and practiced through the framework of the materialistic West. Yoga has been reduced to an exercise for physical fitness and flexibility, meditation as a mode of relaxation, and nothing more. Martial art, a temple discipline among monks, has become just a system of fighting, sans philosophy, compassion, and virtues. Sunzi’s Art of War, the classic of warfare, is just a manual for capitalist business and gamesmanship. Eastern disciplines often pass through the procrustean bed of the West. We have a long way to go to reach the heart of authentic Eastern culture.
From the Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology:
Procrustes (proh-KRUS-teez). A host who adjusted his guests to their bed. Procrustes … kept a house by the side of the road where he offered hospitality to passing strangers, who were invited in for a pleasant meal and a night’s rest in his very special bed. Procrustes described it as having the unique property that its length exactly matched whomsoever lay down upon it. What Procrustes didn’t volunteer was the method by which this “one-size-fits-all” was achieved, namely as soon as the guest lay down Procrustes went to work upon him, stretching him on the rack if he was too short for the bed and chopping off his legs if he was too long.
When I was in high school, my father talked to me about Procrustes. He said: the character from Greek mythology owned a bed that he offered to pilgrims to sleep on. When the guest was too short, he would stretch him to fit th bed. When he was too long, he would cut off the legs. The word Procrustean came to mean fitting something to fit a box, a concept or an approach. Later, when I had access to a good library, I read about the myth.
In the West, Tai chi chuan has become a victim of Procrustean practitioners.
It has been chopped here and there to fit Western culture and lifestyle. Sometimes exercises that are not even remotely considered related to Tai chi chuan are peddled as essential parts of it. They are advertised as some kind of magical solution to obesity or stress while photos of muscular men with 6-pack bellies are displayed. One advert even claimed that in 6 months, you’ll be like them.
Teachers with little knowledge of Tai chi chuan parlay their methods into a business. They have scarce training and in their websites, in a lack of transparency, they do not clarify what they studied, for how long and with whom. One teacher did not go beyond stating that he studied karate and Tai chi. Another teacher said she started studying Tai chi in 1985 and became an instructor the following year. And the public, not knowing what to ask for, do not question their expertise.
There are also teachers – the academic and scholarly type –who can quote endlessly from books. There was a Tai chi teacher in Boston, who often threw the name of Cheng Man Ching in conversations, you would think he knew the master or studied with him. In fact, he did not and he knew very little about the art. He was my student and when I got tired of his name-dropping I terminated the lessons. I concluded that his cup was not only full, it was overflowing! He has since convinced the community that he is a Tai chi chuan master. But name-dropping is only one of the common tactics. The claims are varied and infinite. I’ve heard many of them in my life: from vague suggestions of indoor training to huge curriculums.
I would expect somebody who is interested in studying Tai chi chuan to ask certain questions like:
What is the style?
What was the teacher’s credential?
Who was his teacher?
How long did he study?
What was the curriculum?
Perhaps, the important question: What is the lineage?
These are the essential threshold questions to ask if you are to invest time and money in what is supposed to be a lifetime commitment. The credential of the teacher is of capital importance. Some teachers have a doctorate in philosophy, art or science but they do not know much about Tai chi chuan.
Some academicians get away with the little Tai chi chuan they know. They would offer a bunch of intellectual gobbledygook and that’s that.
Usually, it should be easy for the teacher to be able to show their lineage. Who did they study with and what was the curriculum that was covered? The internet provides much information about Tai chi chuan. Goggle the name of the style and you’ll get a quick answer.
But nowadays, mainly because of ignorance, hardly anybody bothers to question the credentials of teachers. So these teachers can get away with their outrageous claims. I think it is about time we scrutinize their credentials and methods.
As a practitioner who has studied Tai chi chuan with Chinese masters since 1968, I often feel that there are teachers – usually white American males – who have colonized the art and converted it into a basically western physical system. It is a form of imperialism like the US conquering the Philippines and imposing American culture and values on it. In 1898 the US military was sent to the Philippines, concocted a mock war with Spain on August13, and eventually bought the country for a measly $20 million in the Treaty of Paris.
Missionaries – Methodists, Presbyterians, Espiscopalians, Baptists — were brought in to convert the Christian population and the tribes. The Thomasites and other teachers organized schools based on US standards and models, including the teaching of baseball and basketball and the English language. Of course, there was always the military to quell any disturbances and protests.
My suggestion to those who are interested in learning Tai chi chuan : Get as much information about the teacher. Visit the school and ask the students there about their experiences. It’s what I have done often. I’ve observed schools, sometimes identifying myself (correctly) as a writer who is interested in writing about martial art. I visited Gin Soon’s school a few times before I signed up and made a commitment. Impressed with his fame and books, I also visited Cheng Man Ching’s school back in the early 1970s. Actually, I did not see him teaching. The first time I saw him, there were about 50 students who were practicing or chatting while the master sat at a table giving herbal consultation. The same thing happened in the second visit, except that if I recall, Cheng did some sword techniques with one of his students. The third time, Cheng was not there. I heard he had gone back to Taiwan.
Perhaps somebody from Cheng’s school would know and provide the facts, but from the information I gathered, he taught maybe 5 or 6 privately and they were the ones who taught in his behalf. I learned – from Herman Kauz and Bataan Faigao – that, although many students claim to have studied with him, Cheng Man Ching taught only a few students. Herman I met one morning in a park behind the Kings County Hospital where I was practicing Shaolin forms. He stopped to say hello and asked me what it was I was doing. I told him. In the course of our conversation, he said he was a student of Cheng Man Ching. He also said Cheng taught only a few students. He did not provide any details but I noticed that he was terribly disappointed. As for Bataan, I met him and his wife Jane at a Philippine culture workshop for children at the LaMama ETC in the Bowery in New York City. His 2 daughters and my 2 sons were attending the workshop. Bataan said almost exactly what Herman said. So, who will come out and tell us the true story of who actually studied with the famous Cheng Man Ching? How many lessons did they take and what did they learn?
The US is plagued with false advertising, Bait and Switch, and exaggerated claims. Proliferating in the media, they can be intimidating to people who do not know much about the facts. I have seen it happen many times. I’ve met people who were duped into believing in Chair Tai Chi or Easy Qigong: they believed that this is authentic, ancient teaching and not modern invention. That’s how dominant the colonization of the culture has become.