On August 8, 2009, I was inspired to create Dragon Free Flow – a spontaneous moving meditation – to commemorate my 60th birthday. An auspicious day according to Chinese tradition, completing a 60 year lunar calendar cycle. I’ve devoted half a century to a quest for martial arts mastery. This is perhaps my most important video to date: for those initiated into the secret keys to form, it encapsulates the history of Chinese martial arts and expresses a culmination of my life’s work. Now, at 60, the martial way has transformed into the Way of Movement.
It is a holistic path integrating three parts of our being: physical, mental and emotional: the warrior, the scholar and the monk. Dragon Free Flow was not a traditional form, nor was it a “do your own thing” martial dance devoid of technique and understanding.
It was once in a lifetime. Just me letting go, moving freely, inspired by the zen moment, allowing my qi – the life force energy, to creatively express itself through hard, soft and internal martial art moves hard wired into my being after a lifetime of kicking, punching, imitating animal techniques, breathing and meditating.
This unstructured flow was unorthodox, blending classic and contemporary. I hope it resonates with all martial artists. Reality combatants may detect the warrior: techniques, strategies and tactics that can injure, maim, blind, emasculate or even kill, veiled behind the graceful moves. To the initiated, Dragon Free Flow encompasses layers of secret meaning, internal and external.
As exercise, Dragon Free Flow promotes health and longevity. Another layer expresses the scholar. The physical motions express Eastern philosophical principles like yin and yang, balancing of opposite forces – fast/slow, linear/circular, hard/soft, stillness/action and explosive/flowing. It also reflects Western sciences like physics, physiology and psychology.
When combat is transcended, awareness shifts. The inner peace of the monk self is experienced. The Way of Movement integrates the three energies of the warrior, scholar and monk into a flow of dynamic energy circles transforming in time and space, like a dragon coiling in the ocean or soaring in the sky.
At 60, I’m entering a second cycle – my last. I’m rethinking things. As the so-called “old master” I must dig deeper into what I thought I knew already. Like I thought I knew that dragons do not exist.
To penetrate the hidden realms of the martial way, connect with the mysteries of nature. To the Chinese, the dragon that lives in sky, land and sea, is supreme among all animals. Concealed in clouds, or playing with the forces of wind, water and qi, it controls the weather to live in harmony with life’s unknowns. Strong and supple, it symbolizes nature’s hidden power.
For the Evolving Martial Artist, dragons are real…. awake to the Way of Movement, become a dragon.
Lawrence Tan
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Tags: chinese lunar calendar, jeet kune do, JKD, kung fu, Martial Arts, sixtieth birthday, tandao
Thank you Sifu Tan for sharing your your 60th birthday with us .Your movements are a gift to the seekers of high level Kung Fu.
I find it fascinating how you say ‘become a dragon’ at the end. To me that means reveal the myth and become more than you are. It is a great thing to always better yourself.