Brandi’s Martial Arts Bio

贝懋资自的武术传记

Everyone asks little kids what they want to be when they grow up. Sure, there were times when I said things like helicopter pilot but I still remember the reactions when, for quite a while, I was replying with “hermit”. How will you live? Alone in the forest of course. How will you get money? I’ll make pickles and sell them at a market. Won’t you be lonely? No. 

I don’t think there is anything remarkable about my life story but I do think there are signs of some kind of predestination or affinity if you’re willing to entertain that possibility; in Daoism we call it yuan fen 缘分.

I come from a family of female healers. It’s in my blood. Massage therapists, reiki practitioners, a physiotherapist, and others. I thought I would be a healer too so I studied Holistic Healing in college, and immediately started working with clients upon graduation. It took less than a year to realize it wasn’t the right fit. I didn’t want to heal people, I wanted to teach.

I started learning kung fu with my mom and my sister at the age of 14. The community at our school (Silent River Kung Fu) was supportive and there was a great atmosphere, slowly shifting me from sedentary bookworm to nerdy athlete-I discovered I had a body and it felt good to move it. I kept training throughout college and young adulthood, eventually earning my black belt, when one day, a friend returned from a long trip to China and he told me about Shifu Yuan’s school in the Wudang mountains and right away I decided to go. I invited my sister and we started planning, saved money and trained like crazy in preparation for the trip. 

The plan was to take a 4 month kung fu vacation of sorts. It was an attempt to live out the fantasy of “travel to the mystic orient” and learn the secret kung fu skills, just like the plot in a cheesy movie. When we arrived at the school, we joined the “free” class, a class for foreigners staying for whatever length of time. At that time, the school was buzzing with the news of something coming up; Master Yuan was going to run a class the following year for foreign students to go through 3-5 years of training in the traditional manner, learning the entire Wudang curriculum.  We gave it a lot of thought and decided to go home, borrow and save up as much as we could and enroll in that class. Call it coincidence, good timing, or destiny, we were on the path now. 

Getting through those 5 years was a tremendous struggle. Training at the Wudang Traditional Kung Fu Academy was very different from what I was used to. We trained all day 6 days/week, while trying to learn the language and adapt to a different level of comfort. I kept a journal during that time http://easternshruggery.blogspot.com/  You can read all about my experience there but here is  a random quote that I found while scrolling through it:

“ I am not the fastest, the strongest, or even the cleverest, but I am still here “

I started the blog as part of a martial arts challenge with a promise to post weekly. I kept the habit up for the rest of the time I was there. Now I reread it and wonder how I managed to persevere. Although obviously, it was physically exhausting to deal with over-training, injuries, etc, the biggest challenge was mental. Our evening meditations kept me sane by providing me with time and space to rest my body and calm my mind. One type of Daoist meditation is called ‘Sitting and Forgetting” or zuo wang  坐忘 and it’s an excellent help in challenging times.

Another way I coped was by learning to draw in Chinese ink and brush style. I found a teacher, Bi Lao Shi 筆老師 who taught calligraphy and painting and each week I would walk to his apartment to learn landscape painting. I never considered myself much of an artist until then, but it became yet another way to connect with Dao. Now I can see a deep love for art and Daoism as the thread tying together my interest in Kung fu, singing, art, and herbal medicine.

If I didn’t have those painting classes, or the support of my sister-Mel, or Simon with me through it all, I doubt I would have made it through all 5 years at the kung fu school. Yet, I grew so much and I continue to find deep meaning, wisdom, and plenty of laughs buried within the memories. In my time there I found my place in a lineage of Daoist hermits and I stumbled upon a lifestyle, a healing practice, and a purpose. 

I continue to study Daoism and practice and teach martial arts. I do feel the weight of responsibility to pass on the teachings of my lineage, however I also know that people raised in western cultures engage with them differently and that we need to find a way to translate what we learned. We do our best to provide an authentic experience of Wudang martial arts and Daoism, in a digestible form.