Mike Hart
Head of Chanquanshu Wales
Mike currently teaches at the Dojo in Swansea. The classes are taught informally, but self-discipline and respect where due is required to study. There is still a large element of traditional methods and teaching at the school and students are expected to practice, study and research in their own time to advance their skills, abilities and understanding of the arts practiced and advice is available for this.
Mike started training in 1979 at the age of 12 in Wado Ryu karate, progressing to the Li (Lee) family system under the late Prof. Chee Soo. At 16 became the youngest teacher in Chee Soo’s association throughout it’s international branches. After some 10 years learning and teaching Li family arts including Feng Shou Kung Fu, Li Style Taijiquan, Chinese Yoga, massage and weapons, work forced a break of 4 years and in 1993 met an old student, Tony Court who was teaching Erle Montaigue’s taiji system. He qualified as a teacher of this system in 1996 and set up a school in Swansea.
After a few months he felt there was something missing in his teaching and practice and set about researching different styles and methods of internal arts, at the same time exposing him material on Taoist meditative disciplines. Further research revealed the Healing Tao system of Master Mantak Chia, but where to find a teacher?
A visit to Tony Court’s shop was to bring to light Gordon & Maria Faulkner of the Chanquanshu School of Daoist Arts in Scotland. After much planning and talking over the phone, Gordon kindly agreed to come to Swansea for the first Healing Dao workshop and has been a visitor ever since to pass his knowledge on to students in the South Wales area.
Mike has now found, through Chanquanshu, the “missing link” in his training and teaching of Daoist arts and is very proud to represent Chanquanshu in Wales. He continues his studies with Gordon Faulkner realising there is still much work to be done.
Mike has also studied Aikido, Wing Chun and has researched into many other combative arts. He is Vice President of the Scotland & Wales Daoyin Yangsheng Gong Association for Wales and is a member of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU).
In July 2003 Mike became an official Cheng Hsin Trainer (not official teacher status) and a new Cheng Hsin Class is now available in Swansea
In November 2004, Mike became a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and in July 2005 gained his Degree One in Cheng Hsin T’ui Shou from Master Peter Ralston (Cheng Hsin Degree System)
It should be noted that Mike does not hold official instructor status at Chanquanshu - he simply runs the Welsh side of things. In taijiquan Mike holds the level one qualification, (beginner to intermediate) and the same in Quanshu martial arts practices. Mike holds level one in three Daoyin forms: Daoyin Baojian Gong Shujin Zhuanggu Gong and Yiqi Yangfei Gong (Daoyin Training & Study Guide). He is studying towards level one in Chinese Therapeutic Massage and Daoist Meditation. He has been authorized to teach by Gordon Faulkner due to his previous experience but in Laoshi Faulkner’s eyes he is level one in the Chanquanshu system no matter his experience in other styles. Mike would also like to point out that Chanquanshu, although having five levels for Taijiquan etc, has only one student grade. Progression through the system is not linear but the levels are learnt in parallel. This being the case it takes a long time to become an instructor at Chanquanshu (minimum 15 years) but it’s well worth the wait! (Quanshu Taijiquan Syllabus)
Please visit www.quanshu.co.uk for all instructors biographies, including Principal Instructor, Gordon Faulkner
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