Interviewer: First of all, I would like to say congratulatons and exend a 'thank you' from your
students for creating such a wonderful web site which says so many things.
Master Hamlin: It is nice of you to say that. It certainly took a long time, since in addition to all
of the design tools, I had to learn the computer language in use, in order to keep up with, understand and communicate with the software architect.
Interviewer: It is also nice, through both this forum and the FAQ section, to have the opportunity to ask
you questions.
Master Hamlin: I have found that students of Tai Chi Chuan often have good questions - The traditional
master Student relationship of many philosophical disciplines has always relied on this method to impart knowledge to the student. Many of these questions will, I believe, also be of interest and of use to the public, for whom this site has been prepared and directed, so I am working at two levels here.
Interviewer: How then do you reconcile this with your teaching philosophy that students should not be 'top heavy' in their learning, collecting facts ahead of their practical experience and personal development?
Master Hamlin: That is a good question and illustrative also of the importance of some questions that are not designed to simply mine for data and information that have no practical value. In the case of this question, the question and the answer are designed to create a greater illumination of what is said already, whereas questions and answers 'about' a subject that offer no advancement in consciousness are not encouraged. In this way the student is helped to discipline their intellect so that it does not sail off into
irrelevancy.
Interviewer: I read that you place a great deal of importance on the even development of the individual, can you elaborate a bit more on this in context of Tai Chi Chuan.
Master Hamlin: Even development of the individual and the way Tai Chi Chuan works are the same. Try to see Tai Chi Chuan as an energy manipulaton system that is compromised when the energy - the Chi - is either 'Blocked' or 'Wasted' and enhanced when it is allowed to flow freely throughout the body. Flowing freely means not only at a physical level, but also through the mind and emotional centres, which are all in continuum and therefore part of the same system.
The free flowing of the Chi, therefore, can only occur when the person is relaxed and when one's thoughts, personal philosophy, behaviour and habits are not obstructive or dissipating in nature.
Similarly, by working in the correct way with Tai Chi Chuan, the practitioner can slowly improve all centres - its a dynamic two-way system. Furthermore, the nature of one's overall personal development will likewise demonstrate how effective ones Tai Chi Chuan training really is.
True development of the individual can only occur at all levels at the same time. 'Development' of one faculty at the expense of another is not true development, but is an imbalance, that can only result in the creation of further imbalances, if one continues to interact from this base.
Interviewer: This raises at least a dozen more questions...
Master Hamlin: ...and at this point I would say it is best to work at achieving this all round development and not to get too bogged down into theory.
Interviewer: That may take a long time.
Master Hamlin: Maybe, however it is the right way forward. Any thing else would result in retardation of one's development, however self-assured one may feel with the extra theory on board. A lot of these questions will disappear once you begin to create a more balanced development within the body.
Interviewer: Were you trained in the same way?
Master Hamlin: Yes, although my master explained the same principles with less words, but with no less importance attached to this idea. I found it had an enormous impact on my attitude to training and the results I gained. My training was very hard, which many other students either turned away from or failed to see the point.
Being of Western culture, with English as my native tongue, I am able to reach my students at the intellectual level sufficiently, in order to communicate the traditional methods of Tai Chi Chuan to the Western mind, whilst staying true to the traditional ways of teaching and learning.
Interviewer: For us as students, we always long to hear more of how you came to do Tai Chi Chuan and your early days whilst training at Drummond Street - can you share with us some of your personal experiences of your time at Master Chu King Hung's school before it closed.
Master Hamlin: I came to Tai Chi Chuan via an indirect route, having first qualified in a number of key alternative medicines. After the tragic early death of my father I had began looking for answers in other medicines that were not answered by the allopathic medicine practiced in hospital. I had heard that Tai Chi Chuan was a healing art and began to investigate this system. Having reviewed all of the 'Tai Chi' around that I had heard of at that time, I sat on the idea for a while, before actualy taking it up.
Interviewer: The mid-eighties?
Master Hamlin: I think more like the early eighties.
Interviewer: So you took some time before you took up Tai Chi Chuan?
Master Hamlin: Well I just wasn't impressed - Something was missing in the 'Tai Chi' that I witnessed. Then one day I saw a demonstration at a healing fair by someone who, as it later transpired, was a student of Master Chu King Hung, although I think he no longer follows Master Chu's system now.
I got the address of Master Chu's School, which at that time was in Drummond Street, North West London and went to their open day which, I remenmber, was on Mondays at 6:00 pm. I arrived late due to train delays and found myself at the entrance to the hall, with Master Chu talking to the class with his back to the door.
I am sure he knew I was there, but he carried on talking, leaving me outside. I could not squeeze past into the hall, even though there was enough room to do so. I felt an energy come from this man that I have never felt before in my life, it simply presented an impenetrable barrier. Eventually Master Chu moved to the centre of the room and proceeded to get everyone to pair up to test a posture under his direction. I was then able to go in - there was only a few minutes left to the lecture/demonstration, which as it transpired was enough for me. I was now hit by a second bombshell. Such a seemingly unstrong position, with a minor adjustment that seemed, in my opinion at the time, to do nothing to
the position, immediately became very strong - I felt somehow connected and strongly rooted to the floor. I was lost for words. Everything I had believed in to be strong before evapourated, my eyes were opened. I enroled then and there and never looked back.
Interviewer: What was your first class like?
Master Hamlin: Well, I as very lucky I started with about 23 students and being the tallest I was at the end of the line in the back row, holding my positions, waiting for my structures to be corrected - I remember my legs trembling and arms quivering unlike anything I had ever experienced from any other physical activity.
Interviewer: You said lucky.
Master Hamlin: The group soon dwindled as people moved away, according to some who talked to me - to easier 'Tai Chi'. I always thought that strange reasoning, to me this was the best thing I had ever done, it was such a high standard of teaching and demonstration. So after a while, I was getting some close attention. Master Chu always taught every new move, giving personal correction, before moving on to the next group. The senior student at the time would then reinforce what Master Chu had taught. Master Chu always made sure he saw and taught every student, most often twice every evening. It was a very rich time and looking back, Drummond street days were viewed by all who were lucky
enough to be there, as the golden days. From my own personal experience It had an enormous energy around the place and incredible atmosphere of mystery, expectation and of limitless possibilities. I think everyody there knew they were experiencing something very special - that they were part of history being made.
Interviewer: Did you get to see what the senior students were up to?
Master Hamlin: The School was actually in a partitioned office - I used to peak through into the senior side on my way in, practicing moves I had not yet learned. As a beginner, in my first year, whilst still learning the Form, I remember that I was constantly in
awe at what I saw. However the most exciting thing to me was when Master Chu used to test applications with his seniors in the adjoining room - he would send students hurtling towards the room divider. All we could experiece on our side was the whole partition shaking with a loud boom - the rest was up to our imaginations. After a year or so I of course
migrated to the senior side. Those awe-inspiring first experiences have been with me ever since.
Later we moved to The People's Hall - A really nice, bright hall with our own entrance and by the time Master Chu closed down his school to dedicate his time to teaching privately and travelling to his European schools, I was a senior student, assisting Master Chu at his school and seeing him also as a private student at his home.
Interviewer: What are your thoughts now 15 or so years on?
Master Hamlin: I think the closing of the school was a natural thing for Master Chu to do, it was a natural progression. He had taught his British students so much and dedicated so much of his time over here in England, the rest was up to the students to put into practice what he had taught. I personally feel that Master Chu has not recieved enough open credit and public recognition for his enormous contribution to Tai Chi Chuan in Britain. Without a doubt he is the father of Yang style Tai Chi Chuan in the UK.
Interviewer: How do you propose to take Tai Chi Chuan forward in your lifetime.
Master Hamlin: I am one of the few students of Master Chu who has stayed solely with his teaching without merging it with the teaching from other masters or teachers of the Yang style and even other styles of Tai Chi Chuan and other martial arts. In this capacity I therefore have a unique and important role to play in preserving that which I have learned from him. For me this is not difficult since. I recognise it as a superior way which is in every way part of me and in what I do. It is a system of training from which I have benefited countless times through its practice.
My aim is to share these personal experiences with my students in order to help them also gain the benefits that I have derived from this system and through the Association, to bring awareness of this ongoing history of the Yang style Tai Chi Chuan to the public, so they have a true record of this art.
Interviewer: Will there be a place for Tai Chi Chuan in this modern globalised corporate world?
Master Hamlin: As long as there are people, there will not only be a place but a need for Tai Chi Chuan. The important issue is keeping this traditional training method and the whole concept of the Internal martial art alive, in the minds of people and in existence in the imagination as a possibility.
The past has taught us so much, however, like mathematics and the other sciences Tai Chi Chuan can be refined even further within its own traditional context. I will continue to research into its mysteries using these old methods, pushing its boundaries, whilst rendering it useful and relevent to the needs of my students.
Interviewer: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. It has been quite enlightening with a lot to digest. I look forward to continuing this interview at a later date when you have time.
Master Hamlin: Thank you. Thats fine, it will probably have to be after the launch of the web site when I am less busy.
Copyright © Richard Hamlin 2007
Interviews - National Tai Chi Chuan Association (NTCCA) UK