Idle Moments 
Idle Moments
This page covers anything that comes to me or happens which doesn't quite fit in with any of the other pages. Some of it is ideas for the future, some of it a diary and some of it are just random ramblings (I have a lot of those !).
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Hollywood Beckons ! 14/10/02
Just after my birthday, I got this E-mail from Nancee LaFayette of Viking Quest Productions. Sadly in the end, I wasn't quite what she wanted but, hey, who says I'm not the future Jean Claude Van Damme ? (OK, maybe I'm without the moves, muscles or hair, but apart from that I'm a dead ringer !). Overall, Nancee turned out to be really nice and helpful, even taking the time to let me down gently for not being the prettiest instructor on the planet. I think she could see the humour in the situation; know I did !
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Dear Sifu Doug Wagstaff,
Did you write an article for 'Inside Kung-fu' Magazine, Feb. 2001, titled
" A Secret Worth Sharing?" I am putting a film project together
and if you would take a look at my website www.vikingquest.com , go to the
projects and information page you will find "Treading Water",
a synopsis, other actors attached and bio of my background. Have you ever
acted in a film? You seem to be the correct age (38 to 44) and have the
physical appearance to play the Kung-fu Master role. Let me know your thoughts
on the project.
Best regards,
Nancee LaFayette
Viking Quest Productions
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Dear Nancee,
many thanks for your recent E-mail and please accept my apologies for taking so long to reply. I've been away on business and have never quite got the hang of remote access to my account !
In answer to your questions, yes, I did write an article for "Inside Kung Fu" a while ago but didn't know that it had actually been published; thanks for letting me know it has been in the mag. Peaceful Fight Kung Fu is a very simple idea but always takes a lot of explaining until people understand its simplicity. Trying to get the essence into 600 words was very difficult but hopefully the readers got something to think about out of it. I'm sure there must be similar problems with trying to pitch a film. At least I get more than one chance to get my message across !
The "Treading Water" project looks like a very interesting idea and the masters you have to perform certainly sound good. I tried to have a look at Master Tan's movie but sadly it wouldn't run on my PC. Looks like a search for a new codec might be in order ! As for my involvement with films, it's solely limited to the weekly club video that I use to make sure I've not been talking rubbish during the lesson ! As to whether I have the physical appearance to play a Kung Fu master, most of my students say I don't look anything like a martial artist so I'm not quite sure whether I'm what you would be looking for. There are various videos on the club website (www.peacefulfight.org.uk) if you want to take another look to check that you've not confused me with someone else (in the videos, I'm the tall one with the receding hairline !). If you do look at the videos, you'll notice that there is nothing "flashy" about Peaceful Fight, more a matter of getting the fight over with as soon as possible. Not quite sure if this is suitably cinematographic or not as a lot of the work is rather subtle. The real objective of the style is to show how Taoism works and feels and help students find their own way towards applying the feeling of Taoism in their real lives (if they so wish). For me, this is much more useful for students than just learning to "kick and punch". It's just a coincidence that I happen teach it within an effective Kung Fu fighting system ! If your film gave me an opportunity to put across some of these ideas to a larger audience it would be of interest to me. Philosophy is too often lost in martial arts films by giving way to the more obvious violence; combining the two in your project might help redress the balance (depending on your target audience).
If you are still interested in talking more then please feel free to get back to me. If not, I wish you every success with this and also with all of your other projects.
Kind regards
Doug (not a Sifu as I've no need for any title at this time ! Just call
me Doug and we can stay as friends !)
Peaceful Fight Kung Fu
www.peacefulfight.org.uk
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Dear Doug,
Here is a free Quick Time Player you can download to Play Master Tan's movie...
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ or www.quicktime.com Your Videos
are very interesting...if you can open the picture I sent you of the photograph
they ran with your article in Kung-fu Magazine...if this isn't you, who
is it??? I may get back to England one of these days and I hope we get a
chance to meet. Let me know if the picture is one of your students. Best
always, Nancee
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Dear Nancee,
many thanks for the fast reply and the link for the quicktime viewer. Looking at Master Tan's video it came to me that I had seen it before (think it may have been on Sky) but was good to watch again. He seems like a very gentle man and that is always good to see within the arts and should add a lot to your film. Please send him my regards and best wishes for continued success on his Kung fu path.
Sadly, the photo you sent through isn't me nor one of my students. However, I can understand the confusion if the magazine ran his picture with my article. Quite flattering really; he certainly looks much more like a master than I ever will ! All of the readers now think I have a firm muscular body and a full head of hair. Great advert for the club (until they actually meet me !). As for who he is, I really don't know. His body shape looks like that of a Wing Chun practitioner but nowadays, there is so much mixing of styles that this is likely to help track him down. Sorry I can't be of more help.
If you are ever in England, please do feel free to pop into the club and we can chat about how the project went. You'll always be welcome. If nothing else, it'll give me a chance to regale the students with stories about the time I was almost a Hollywood star !
Take care and my very best wishes for all of your future.
Doug
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Dear Doug,
I hope to make more than one film and who knows you could be in one of my
projects ...Looks are highly over rated...I've met very beautiful people
and after talking with them for a bit...they don't look so great...and I've
met people, who at first glance, would be considered not soooo beautiful
and after being with them for bit, become the most beautiful people you
could ever meet. It is the heart, mind and soul of a person that counts.
I'll send your greetings to Master Tan, that movie was from a TV special
on the Martial Arts.
Best always,
Nancee
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Dear Nancee,
thank you for your kind words and I agree that the "internal beauty" of a person is what really matters however much we are taken with the external. One of those "perfect women" who have balanced both internal and external beauty passed my way a few years ago but at the time it was me who wasn't ready for her. Stupidity wouldn't let me see past the external and enjoy the meeting of minds on the deeper level. Thankfully since then I've grown up and changed a lot so if it happens again hopefully I'll be able to let things unfold as they should (very Daoist !). I still see her once in a while and she grows even more beautiful (in all ways) as the days go by, but the moment for us is gone. Thankfully though we are still friends and still laugh a lot together. Hopefully next time it happens everything will show more synchronicity ! In some ways your film synopsis seems to touch on similar themes of internal beauty and finding the right moment and I hope that it is able to capture the spirit of your thoughts. Let me know how things go.
Take care until we speak again
With best wishes to you and your family
Doug
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Toilet Training (15/11/02)
Well, it had to happen. There have been various parts of the human experience discussed on the website but thus far I had avoided all aspects scatological. However, the time has now come to discuss my view of the application of Taoism on the toilet ! One of the problems that I recently noticed with my toilet habits was that, whilst trying to void the system (that's a polite way of saying "taking a shit") that I had developed a habit of tensing the muscles of the lower abdomen to try to force the faeces (another polite turn of phrase!) out. This in turn lead to redistribution of that pressure throughout the rest of the internal system. It lead to a lack of breathing and a tightness within the head, neither of which felt particularly aligned with the Dao. Bearing in mind the possible lack of validity of the statement due to its source, Scully (of X-files fame) once remarked that "the toilet is one of the most likely places to have an aneurysm (brain haemorrhage)" and, if this is true, then maybe this internal pressurisation is to blame. So, I decided to try to be more Taoist about how I went about this vital part of my life (voiding the system is vital for stabilising both emotional and internal qi balance). This item is not listed here to act as a recommendation for this method, more to highlight my continued adventures within Taoism. If you want to try the method then that's your choice (and let me know any success / problems but please don't send me samples or ask for a more detailed demonstration!)
Firstly, all things within Taoism happen at the right time and in the natural order so there was the question of whether it was the right time to void the system. There is a tendency within the rush of modern life to try to force things to happen outside of the natural order and going to the toilet is no different. This rush leads to a degree of "timing" of the motions that does nothing to help achieve success. So, my first change was to work out whether it was the right time or not to go. Doesn't sound that difficult does it,and it isn't. If you sit down and you want to go, then go, otherwise don't. However, if you do want to go, then what do you do then ? Well, I think it might come back to one of the lesser explained functions of the lung. The lung and large intestine are a matched yin / yang pair and so the action of the lungs has a direct effect on the large intestine (and vice versa). Think this may be why compressing the lower abdomen causes a pause in the breathing process. However, the lungs have a function which they apply on qi called "shenghua zujian" which means "spreading / descending". This is the function I think should control the voiding process. So, you are sitting there and have decided that it is the right time to void the system. Assuming that you have been eating right and so have no excessive constipation, the voiding function should be smooth and essentially feel right. (As an aside, if you are constipated, raise one arm up, firmly pinch Large Intestine 4 and then draw the pinch back towards the body until it is loosened by the body contour. Repeat as required on either arm. If this doesn't work, try simultaneously rubbing the fingers quite firmly down the outside of each thigh along the channel formed by the muscles. Finally if neither of these work, try squatting as this is a better position for voiding the system. I would also eat some very sweet material (eg Lyons Golden syrup) at this point to overload the spleen but that might just work for me so maybe see if it works for you or not). To initiate the voiding function, instead of pressurising the lower abdomen by muscular contraction, breath in by allowing the diaphragm to push downwards. Feel qi enter the system, the position of the diaphragm and the slight pressure change caused within the lower abdomen. When you breath out, internally maintain the pressure in the lower abdomen and focus your thoughts downwards (to initiate the "descending" function). Repeat this process until voiding is complete. The process as a whole feels like a series of small, smooth pressure waves caused by breathing superimposed over the main initial pressure wave. However, all of these waves are significantly less than the over pressurisation needed during my "old method" and there is none of the internal excess present in methods that "force the issue".