What makes Still Mountain Unique
There are many taiji teachers and martial arts schools in the Philadelphia
and Boston areas, but Still Mountain stands out as a school devoted to taiji, alone. Bede approaches taiji as a discipline and a way of life that addresses the needs of the whole person: body, mind and spirit. What truly makes Still Mountain unique are the students and their involvement in The Heart of the Mountain.
The Heart of the Mountain
The Heart of the Mountain (HOMe) is the umbrella organization that covers all of the things that is enabled by the practice of taijiquan at Still Mountain. Still Mountain develops martial artists, whose role has changed over the course of history.
In antiquity, the martial artist was an ordinary citizen of the community, who was called upon to defend the community from those who would steal crops, kill men and enslave women and children. These men were farmers or irrigation workers who worked the land and defended it. Over time an organized, professional military developed. This was relatively recent in many parts of the world including China. Throughout the military's development one thing has remained constant: the role of the martial artist to protect and serve society.
Still Mountain's martial artists realize that the goal of martial arts is not to overcome others, as is often portrayed in movies, magazines and martial arts tournaments. Nor is the goal to overcome oneself or self-mastery insofar as it is self-mastery for oneself. Martial arts is for the mastery of oneself, the fulfillment of ones potential for the service of others.
Thus far this has been in the form of donations from the constituents of Still Mountain to the needy from feeding, sheltering and providing health care for the homeless to fire relief for some students who were burned out of their apartment.
While HOMe continues to provide material support to those
who need it, HOMe has an outreach program that aims at
defending that which has no voice: the Earth. Relieving the
lot of the poor is a noble endeavor, but it is the Earth
that clothes, feeds and shelters. Only recently has the
Earth been taken seriously as a social justice concern.
HOMe's martial artist are involved in clean-up efforts and
environmental improvement in urban areas of Philadelphia and
elsewhere. Thus, HOMe's martial artists are returning to the
ancient tradition of martial artists being ordinary people
protecting the land.
There is nothing like this at any other martial arts school. It distinguishes the members of Still Mountain as men and women of strength, courage and unusual integrity and compassion put into action through service.
Instructor Bios
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