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Cheng Man Ching

by Team | 3030,Jan, 2021 | Life paths

The master of the “five excellences”

Of all the modern Tai Chi masters, none has had as much impact as Professor Cheng Man-Ch’ing. He passed away on March 26, 1975, in Taiwan. He is remembered today as the “Master of the Five Excellences” for his mastery of five arts: calligraphy, poetry, painting, medicine, and Tai Chi Chuan.

Cheng Man-Ch’ing was born on July 29, 1902, in Yongjia, China. As a young man, he fell seriously ill with tuberculosis. A local doctor suggested that he practice Tai Chi Chuan as a means of healing. Cheng therefore began studying and practicing Tai Chi. As a result, he completely recovered from his illness.

In his thirties, Cheng became a student of the great Tai Chi Chuan master, Yang Ch’eng-Fu. He studied the Yang form with him from 1928 to 1935, enduring many difficulties to learn this art. Although he himself became a great Tai Chi master, Professor Cheng, with his legendary modesty, always belittled his own skill compared to that of his teacher. He used to say, “If Tai Chi were a human body, all I have is my thumb. My teacher has my whole body!”

Man-Ch’ing created his own form, the 37-step form, inspired by the traditional 108-posture Yang form he had studied with his master.

A Tai Chi School in New York

After a distinguished career as a doctor, senator, and martial artist in Taiwan, Professor Cheng, like many other Chinese martial arts masters and intellectuals, was forced to emigrate to Taiwan. There, he founded the “Shr Zhong,” or “Right Rhythm,” school of Tai Chi. He then left for the United States in 1964, where he opened a Tai Chi school in New York’s Chinatown district.

He returned to Taiwan in 1974 for the publication of his commentary on Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, a work particularly dear to his heart. Once his work was completed, he declared to his loved ones, “If I die, I will have no regrets.”

Today, Cheng Man-Ch’ing’s legacy lives on through his poetry, his paintings, those he healed, and those to whom he taught his teachings, who in turn teach them to students around the world.

The 37-step form

Cheng Man-ch’ing is known in the West primarily for his t’ai chi ch’uan. Here are some of the characteristics of his “Yang style short form” or “37-step form.”

It eliminates most of the repetition of certain movements in the Yang long form. It is much shorter than the Yang long form, taking about ten minutes to complete, compared to twenty to thirty minutes for the Yang form.

The hand and wrist are open but relaxed, what Cheng calls the “beautiful lady’s hand.” The Cheng style is characterized by the “swing and return,” in which the momentum of one movement initiates the next.

These modifications allowed Cheng to teach a larger number of students, including many Westerners, in a shorter time. His short form became extremely popular in Taiwan and Malaysia. Finally, he was one of the first Chinese masters to publicly teach t’ai chi ch’uan in the United States.

Mariéva Gruffat

by Team | 77,Oct, 2017 | Life paths

Passionate about osteopathy

Mariéva Gruffat grew up in an environment centered on respect for human beings and their interaction with nature. She learned to observe and listen at a very early age from her mother, a horticulture teacher. With her father, the director of an organic produce cooperative, she developed her sense of vital energies.

As she grew older, “helping people” became increasingly important to Mariéva. She therefore chose to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the social sector, which she supplemented with training in psychology. She understood the influence of emotions on behavior, posture, and sometimes even pain. She then sought a model of care that connected the body and mind.

Holistic medicine seemed most appropriate to her because it respects the patient’s integrity through the use of natural methods. She therefore chose osteopathy, a therapy that allows her to use her hands, already full of vital energy. When she was little, her mother told her she had magic fingers.

Training at the Andrew Taylor Still Academy in Lyon

Marius Gruffat studied at the Andrew Taylor Still Academy, an osteopathy school in Lyon, France, where the emphasis was on the humanistic aspect of osteopathy and individualized student support. A great adventure began for her! From her first year, she learned to develop the sensitivity of her hands through listening and touch. Little by little, she became familiar with the various theories of the human being and the cosmos.

She perfected her techniques and engaged in various clinical experiences both inside and outside of school. For example, she participated in sporting events with physical therapists; she also spent several months attending a class at the Lyon Conservatory of Music, working with a team of several osteopaths.

Her passion for her profession took her to Senegal for a humanitarian mission, where she met other osteopaths, who introduced her to other techniques that broadened her scope of practice.

Teamwork

At 26, she chose to continue her journey in Cambodia. “Practicing osteopathy in Cambodia is a way for me to combine my passion with discovering other cultures,” explains Mariéva, who enjoys combining travel and work.

“As an osteopathy student, I had a plan to work as part of a team,” explains Mariéva, who is now seeing this project come to fruition with the collaboration within Essence de Santé. There are many similarities between Chinese medicine and osteopathy. Both are holistic therapies aimed at restoring balance and restoring the body’s capacity for self-healing and full health.

What is osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a therapeutic approach that helps the body regain its adaptive capacity and full mobility by acting on tissues (muscles, tendons, bones, ligaments, arteries, etc.) whose balance has been disrupted by accidents, physical, or psychological trauma.

Osteopathy has a very broad scope. It can treat lower back, neck, and sciatic pain, as well as digestive disorders such as chronic constipation; sleep disorders, anxiety, migraines, and sinusitis. And many more…

For athletes, musicians, or singers, regular follow-up can prevent injuries and relieve certain pains. Osteopathy is particularly useful for treating women during pregnancy, after childbirth, and for their infants.

Different techniques can be used depending on the differentiated needs of each person. “I always favor treatment that listens to the patient and uses tissue techniques, or more commonly known as gentle techniques without cracking,” explains Mariéva Gruffat.

Thu Tran Hoang

by Team | 77,Jun, 2013 | Life paths

A model of will

Thu Tran Hoang was an assistant at Essence of Health for five years in Vietnam, then for three years in Cambodia.

Thu was born in Hoi An, in central Vietnam. Her family faced many painful experiences related to the war: exile and dispossession of their property. These events left deep scars on her family and had repercussions on the psyche of the young child, who was born just after the war.

Before she was three, Thu’s family moved south of Saigon, where she spent her entire childhood in the countryside, living a very simple life where they grew rice and shared whatever food they had with their neighbors. There was no money at the time.

When we met her, she was working at the Victoria, a French resort in Hoi An, where she had managed to rise to the position of chef de partie in the kitchen. A cheerful and dynamic young woman, she had acquired excellent cooking skills. She learned Western cuisine, among other things, from her successive chefs. And unlike many colleagues, who don’t even want to taste what they cook, Thu’s curious nature leads her to taste and appreciate this cuisine.

Alongside her career, she also worked hard to study English.
And it’s as a translator that we meet her, because her husband’s grandfather is a traditional healer. At nearly 80 years old, he harvests his own plants and grinds them every day in a huge mortar with an energy that many would envy. Dominique uses his healing powers, and the old man doesn’t speak English, so he summons his granddaughter so he can communicate with us.

We hit it off, and Thu invites us to share lunch with her family for the Tet festivities. We then lose sight of her for a while. And when we met her again, we offered to help us settle in Hoi An, as it was very difficult to get by without speaking Vietnamese. This would be the beginning of an eight-year friendship and collaboration.

Due to her family environment and the simple life she led, Thu has always been interested in natural medicine and the healing power of plants. Furthermore, she demonstrated an innate ability for spiritual activities such as meditation, yoga, etc. In this context, she received instruction in hatha yoga, meditation, tai chi, qi gong, and reiki. She would become a Reiki master.

In Phnom Penh, she rediscovered a hobby she had enjoyed as a child: making paper flowers. She was gifted with her hands, and we encouraged her to develop this talent. She perfected and developed her flowers, using other materials such as fabric. She then created her own creative business: “Eternal Flowers” in Phnom Penh.

Thu Tran Hoang will return to live in Vietnam permanently in 2017.