When I was 24 years old, I took off to Taiwan to find a teacher of traditional Chinese Martial Arts i.e. Kung Fu, Tai Chi etc...I had spent 7 years with an American teacher and unsatisfied, felt it best to go to the source and try to find someone who knew the art I was looking for (it is called Ba gua). Moreover, I wanted the adventure and had realized in order to understand an art it required intense training WITH a teacher. So I had in my mind a silken robed, venerable old pale monk with refined manners and many eccentricities. I visualized intense mystical training in an isolated temple being carefully groomed to become the next Jedi!

The first thing that happened was my first choice of teachers died a month before I left the country! Still my friends in Taiwan insisted I come over anyway and look for a teacher after I arrived. So with a return ticket, $150.00 of travelers checks, and a job as an English conversation teacher awaiting, I left.

After arriving in a sea of Chinese faces at the airport I was called to by a British gentlemen who said, “You are the only person here who I think understands English-can you loan me $10 for a taxi? I'll pay you back as soon as my money comes through!” I hesitated with my precious $150 plus small change. But finally did loan him the $10. A difficult decision - but well rewarded; he repaid me a month later, with and threw in a free apartment for four months! Sometimes Karma returns quickly!

Later I met with an old friend who was in Taipei teaching English and he said, “I've found a man who can help you find a teacher.” I thought, well maybe, but I'm looking for very specialized stuff and I doubt it. When I met the man I realized I had read some of his articles years before- In England! The articles were obscure, specialized and involved some intense translation work and I had wondered for years about this author. Moreover, he had been a long term student of the teacher who I wanted to study with but had passed away!

We ended up attending his teachers' funeral together as his body had been entombed months before but was awaiting the correct time for burial (Feng shui rules had to be met)! So the man I could not honor in life - I could honor in death. There was indeed a karmic connection to the deceased teacher through his student. Eventually I studied with this student - who had learned well and was an excellent scholar of Chinese who has since become a close life-long friend. The information and training I received from him formed significant background for my first published book (Ba Gua, Tuttle publishers co-authored with R.W. Smith). So - an unplanned meeting with a karmic link - that changed everything - and linked it all back together!

This same student had also heard about another teacher who we both went to see. This teacher was definitely the opposite of my expectations. He had no robes and was tanned dark as walnut by the sun. His uniform was a pair of shorts and tennis shoes. He kept a cigarette hanging from his lips, and his nearly bald head gleamed in the sun. He had a wild aspect and I really thought he might be crazy. He did not meet my expectations at all. He looked too wild, too unkempt; unrefined and crazy!

My friend said to me, “You want to study with him? He knows the art you wish to learn.” I was on the spot. Here was a man who knew the art yet did not appeal to any of my ideas of a teacher. He also frightened me! I had heard that he had killed several men with his skills! I thought he might kill me! I could see news headlines “American Found Beaten To Death by Tasmanian-Devil Man.”

But something in me said, 'What if he is the only man left who knows what you want to learn?' I knew the art was rare and nearly extinct.
So I took the chance. I told the “Wild Man” that I wanted to study with him. I felt like a shadow passed over my grave. It was a strange sense of fear and curiosity - mingled with hope that shot through me when I made this decision.

This began a two-year process with a teacher of opposing temperament to mine. It has been among my greatest and most valued memories.

He was both a healer and street fighter. He had fought in the South Pacific during WWII. His son once told me that after two years of island hopping during the war, his father no longer feared death. I found him to be the most intensely alive man I had ever known. What I took for wildness was awareness and spontaneity. And he didn't care what other people thought of him - he was open, sincere and incredibly honest. If he taught you a tactic and your form was not right he would knock you down (but not hurt you) then help you up and explain “It must be this way - understand it.”

He turned out to be the carrier of the entire system of movements I wanted to study. He had few students by the time I met him. He was an intense man, fearless, with a great love for his family.

Had he killed many men in street fights?

I am not sure - but I do know the whole neighborhood knew of his leaving about 20 unconscious men in the street the night the gangs tried to threaten his apartment building!

From this man I learned something about fighting, meditation and self-defense, but I also assisted him in bone-setting (like a Chinese Chiropractor/Osteopath) and later, tended to his grandson, taking him to the bus stop. I carried bags of rice, helped his daughters bake bread, and taught his in- laws English.

Before my second year of training he explained that he and I had a predestined relationship and he was willing to pass the entire system to me. I was overjoyed but awe-struck. “Now,” he said, “You are like family.” So every a.m. in the park, I met in the predawn with this man , while the old ladies played badminton and danced to disco with tape players blaring and toddlers crying and laughing . I learned about community and old people and little children while my “Master” -and he was one- without trimmings-put me through my paces.

He was not my first choice for a teacher and I did not like choosing him. He had no silk robes, and did not appear refined. He did not spout wise phrases nor did he promise supernatural powers. He did not meet my expectations, stereotypes or imagined needs. But I decided to try studying with this teacher who was not like me, nor did he fit my image of a Master. It was in my time with him that the world opened up. He taught me about life in the most practical ways (“life is an unfolding process-keep watching, keep thinking, you will understand it”) and death (“when someone comes back from the dead and tells me what's going on - then I'll know what is next!”) I was enlarged. I grew into the local community, and bonded with the people. I recall after I left one of the locals sent me a message saying “The old badminton ladies miss you!” And I missed them too!

Years have gone by. My teacher passed away last March. My hair grows gray. Still I am glad I took a chance. It was unplanned, karmic, risky and even went against my own grain! Some of the most heart- awakening and physically arduous time I've had on the planet! So remember, those of you who want to learn - your real teacher may not be who you want, or who you think you need. And your real teacher may not teach you what you think you need! But if conditions are right and you keep your dream alive, have faith in Providence, The Fates, Destiny, Karma - there are many ways to see it... And you may indeed get what you REALLY need!