Cheng Hsin has been so well-received in Geraldton already.
A few things stand out from the experience of preparing, offering and running the first few training sessions.
Grounded Openness — Everyone including PCYC staff, experienced martial and tai ji practitioners, professional athletes, yogis, school-teachers and friends have all been so interested, open, inviting and accepting of this new art to Geraldton.
Inquiry and Insights — It’s the nature of Cheng Hsin practices and principles to yield fresh insights into being and interacting. However it’s one thing to experience that yourself, it’s another thing to be able to share a simple game and find that others have similar insights. Whether it’s relaxing, yielding, or simply feeling the constant pull of gravity, undertaking these simple ‘physical’ investigations has lead to insights into those that doing the inquiry.
Play (for itself) — Participants so far seem to be open to the possibilities of Cheng Hsin as a martial or physical practice, but also sense the value of doing the “playful” investigations for themselves. That is, each game, principle or structural point we investigate and play with is of value on its own to have an authentic and direct experience of a different way of being or relating….even if no additional work was done to make it a purposeful martial technique.
Gratitude — Without Peter Ralston, there would be no Cheng Hsin. Without the enthusiasm and hard work of previous apprentices, we wouldn’t have the books, videos and history. Without the books and videos, we wouldn’t have the forms to discover the essence. Without the workshops and e-courses with Peter we would be mistaking forms for essence. And without the continued (remote) support of Peter and his apprentice Brendan it would be much more difficult to experience, communicate and share the practice.
It’s with this sense of There also seems to be a very strong spirit of appreciation amongst those who are attending.
It’s wide open for everyone at the start of this journey. We have a mix of participants and are able to address body being, effective interaction and martial studies in each training session. The breadth of applications are ultimately inseparable as a singular singular experience that is Cheng Hsin.