Somatic Primer Podcast Scott Park Phillips: History of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts
Scott Park Phillips teaches traditional Chinese Martial Arts in a non-traditional way. His goal is to access the original intent of the creators of Chinese Internal Martial Arts to get at the core of their inspiration. He is the author of two books: Possible Origins, Chinese Martial Arts, Theater and Religion, And, Tai Chi, Baguazhang and The Golden Elixir, Internal Martial Arts Before the Boxer Uprising. He lives in Boulder, Colorado and has been teaching for over 30 years.
At the age ten Scott Park Phillips began studying the traditional opera style of Northern Shaolin with Bing Gong a noted disciple of Kuo Lien-ying, one of the first teachers of Chinese Martial Arts in the West. He was a disciple of the late Daoist master Liu Ming who transmitted the Orthodox Daoist methods of the Golden Elixir (Jindan), Non-conceptual Meditation (Zuowang), Daoyin (emptying and transforming), and Dreaming.
Scott first studied improvisational theater at age fifteen with the legendary Keith Johnstone. In his twenties, performing modern Dance, Scott was drawn to apprentice in the exquisite high arts of North Indian Dance with Pandit Chitresh Das, and Congolese Dance with Malonga Casquelourd. Living in San Francisco during the height of the ethnic dance explosion, he danced with masters of traditions from all over the world.
In this Episode we discuss:
- History of Daoyin
- History of Wester Somatics
- Theater & The Martial Arts in China
- Ritual in Traditional Chinese Martial Arts
- The Golden Elixir
- Pedagogy in Traditional Chinese Arts