What is Wujifa?
In my 11 years with Wujifa, it has been many things to me. It's been a place I've called "home" as well as a pathway to a deeper sense of "home" within myself. Over these years, many people have asked me the question "So what is Wujifa?"
One reason I've held out for a little while on writing this article is that any explanation I could think of for Wujifa has turned out to be either so simple that I feel it would not be helpful, or else excessively complex, to the point where it's hard to see the forest for the trees.
Part of the reason for this difficulty is that Wujifa is something that's meant to be understood by experience, by doing. In this way, Wujifa is more like swimming than it is like math. If someone who had never done or seen it before were to ask you "what is swimming?" would that be an easy, or a difficult thing to help them understand?
You could say, "Swimming is a way of moving through the water," or you could try to explain the ways the arms and legs move, and what muscles are involved, and even the physics that allow swimming to take place. Neither would give the person a very good sense of what swimming is. Probably the best way to do it would be to show them. Even then, they'd have to try doing it one their own before they would really understand the feeling, the experience. That's how it is with Wujifa.
You could say, "Wujifa is a way of exploring connection." That would be a true, accurate, and fairly complete explanation, but saying it that way would probably raise more questions than it answers.
If you wanted to elaborate, you could also talk about all of the exercises and methods of Wujifa, how it encourages the development of the body in a way that helps dissolve chronic tension and dysfunctional physical patterns to cultivate more internal openness and connectedness. Or, you could talk about the ways in which Wujifa helps develop more ease and relaxation not only in the physical systems, but in the mental and emotional dimensions as well. If you were to really do this kind of presentation of Wujifa justice, it would be so complex that it would take a book to cover it (and one will be coming out soon). For now, if you're interested in this kind of information, you can check out Wujifa.com.
Wujifa is a way of exploring connection that makes use of many methods and practices, and helps to cultivate (as a starting point) a deepening awareness and understanding of the body. This deepening feeling, understanding, and awareness reflects in the mind and emotions of the practitioner as well, leading to increasing harmony - both inside and out.
You can't stay dry if you want to understand swimming. You've got to jump in! If you're curious about Wujifa, I offer a free public class as well as private lessons, and I'd love the chance to share this practice with you.
Wishing you health and happiness,
Dan