Welcome!

Welcome to the website for my fifth book, Ride Backwards on Dragon: a poet’s journey through Liuhebafa.  Nominated for Canada’s Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, Ride Backwards on Dragon is a collection of 66 linked poems following the 66-move sequence of Liuhebafa, a 1,000-year-old martial art from China that I have been studying since 1997 (with thanks to my teacher Josh Crossley).

I also include 30 pages of endnotes in the book to help decode the metaphysical symbolism of the ancient names of all 66 moves, since they are purported to be a hidden recipe for internal alchemy, longevity and even immortality.

So have a look around here. In addition to information on the book, I also have some further information on Liuhebafa and the other internal martial arts from China (Tai Chi, Bagua, Hsing-I), plus Taoism and Chi Gong.

And check out my creativity workshops involving these practices in my Pen & Dragon: Kung Fu for Writers series.

You can find me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter @KimPigSquash. And don’t forget to check out my Pig Squash Press blog for all the literary goings on.

May you be river flowing, never ceasing,

Kim Goldberg  

 

 

Qigong Course Starting in Nanaimo

Five Clouds Hold the Sun: Qigong for Health & Creativity

Supercharge your body and your creative powers in this extraordinary six-week course using Healing Sounds Qigong and related writing exercises amidst the majesty of forest, river and sky.

I am very excited to be offering this course in Nanaimo! I hope you will join me Tuesday mornings, 10:00-11:00 a.m., beginning March 6. Cost: $95 ($75 if paid by February 23).

As we journey through the five principal organs of our bodies, we will simultaneously make an external journey upstream in a wooded setting. Experience the ultimate fusion of mind, body and spirit as you discover the vastness of your creative energies.

Each session will be devoted to a specific organ and its associated properties, and will occur at a different location along the river. (The river in the outer world corresponds to the river of energy coursing through our own bodies.)

The riverside location chosen each week will embody the particular qualities of that week’s organ. For example, the liver’s element is wood, its colour is green, its virtue is kindness, and its deficiency manifests as anger or envy. So a grove of cedar trees is a massive expression and extension of liver energy.

Your writing will arise from the different energies you set in motion within your own body each week using the Qigong and nature itself. I will guide you in this creative process by providing specific writing prompts tailor-made to fit each week’s organ and its special properties.

Your in-class writing can be poetry, fiction or journaling. You need not be an experienced writer. Anyone can benefit from this course. (“First thought, best thought,” in the tradition of the Beat poets.)

Healing Sounds Qigong is based on Five Element Theory, which is the underpinning of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This course has the potential to change your life! Read some testimonials from previous students here.

This is an outdoor class. If it rains, we will work under trees. Dress warmly and bring something to sit on while you write (a mat, towel or campstool). We will walk a short distance each week.

DETAILS:

Time: Six Tuesday mornings, 10:00-11:00 a.m.

Dates: March 6–April 17, 2012 (no class March 27)

Cost: $95 for six weeks, or just $75 if you pay by February 23.

HOW TO REGISTER:

1. Make cheque payable to “Kim Goldberg”, and mail to: Kim Goldberg, 35 Prideaux Street, Nanaimo BC, V9R 2M3

2. Or send your tuition by Paypal to  goldberg@ncf.ca

3. Be sure to include your phone number and email address so I can contact you with details about location.

For more information, email me at  goldberg@ncf.ca

This course is part of my Pen & Dragon series, which I teach in Nanaimo, Victoria and beyond. I have been studying Qigong and the related Taoist internal arts of T’ai Chi and Liuhebafa for 15 years. I am the author of Ride Backwards on Dragon and other books.

May you be morning sunshine filling ears,

Kim Goldberg

Kung Fu For Writers – Galiano Workshop

WORKSHOP

When: Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Time: 11:00 am – Noon.

Where: Galiano Oceanfront Inn & Spa 

Host: Galiano Literary Festival 

Cost: $20

Join me on beautiful Galiano Island for this special workshop combining martial arts movements from Liuhebafa with Qigong and creative writing prompts to awaken your body, unleash your mind and stimulate the flow of words!

Discover what happens to your creative powers when Angry Horse Turns Head Around or Green Dragon Stretches Claws!

Liuhebafa is a 1,000-year-old martial art from China. The 66 flowing movements of this ancient practice are purported to be a recipe for internal alchemy and even immortality.

Tap into your hidden creative powers. Explore your spontaneous writing abilities (“first thought, best thought,” in the tradition of the Beat poets) that are alive to the moment unfolding around you and within you.

Join me in this exciting journey into mind-body connection! No prior background in martial arts is necessary.

This workshop is part of the 3-day Galiano Literary Festival, which runs from February 24-26. You can register for just the Kung Fu For Writers workshop ($20), or take in other festival activities too.

For full festival details visit: http://galianoliteraryfestival.wordpress.com/

One Grand Circle

Sometimes you have to head off in the opposite direction to reach your destination…

The Tao of Totem Poles

Mushrooms are sprouting from the old totem poles, now laid to rest in the forests of Nanaimo’s Bowen Park. Sprouting from eyelashes, jawbones, armpits, wingtips…

I am reminded of T.S. Eliot’s epitaph (which he chose himself) inscribed above his interred remains at St. Michael’s Church in East Coker, England. Lines he selected from his famous Four Quartets:

In my beginning is my end.

In my end is my beginning.

~

This simple expression – by mushroom, by Eliot – of the Tao.

Photos (c) Kim Goldberg, 2011

4 Commandments of Master Jou, Tsung Hwa

1. Know yourself.

2. Do your best.

3. Don’t overdo it.

4. Make a little progress every day.

~Master Jou, Tsung Hwa (1917-1998), author of The Tao of Tai-Chi Chuan

Kung Fu for Writers – Class Photo

What a GREAT bunch of students in my first Kung Fu for Writers course at Victoria College of Art’s School of Writing! I couldn’t ask for a better or more enthusiastic group.

I will be starting a new Kung Fu for Writers course on November 10, 2011 at Victoria College of Art. Six Thursdays, 7-9, pm, $195. Join me! There is no other Creative Writing course like this one.

Martial Arts + Qigong + Writing Prompts = Kick-ass Creative Writing!

Kung Fu for Writers – Victoria

I will be offering a new Kung Fu for Writers course starting November 10 in Victoria, BC. Please join me if you live near Victoria and are interested in tapping into your body’s energies using Qigong and Liuhebafa to expand your creative writing abilities. There is no other course quite like this!

“Body Talk: Kung Fu for Writers” will run from Nov. 10–Dec. 15 on six consecutive Thursday evenings from 7:00-9:00 pm at the Vancouver Island School of Writing housed at Victoria College of Art (1625 Bank Street, Victoria BC). Cost: $195.

Please join me in this exciting journey into mind-body connection! During each class we will combine martial arts movements from Liuhebafa with Qigong and spontaneous writing exercises to awaken your body, unleash your mind and stimulate the flow of words. Read what past students have to say here.

Each week, we will explore one of the body’s five principal organs (heart, spleen, lungs, kidneys, liver) using Five Element Qigong along with a corresponding movement from Liuhebafa – an ancient martial art that purports to hold the key to immortality. In the sixth and final week we will focus on the San Jiao, or Triple Burner, to balance all the energies we have set in motion.

Creative writing exercises will be linked to specific qualities of each week’s organ for the ultimate mind-body experience. Writing will be shared but not critiqued. The goal is to develop a Spontaneous Writing practice. (“first thought, best thought,” in the tradition of the Beat poets) that is alive to the moment unfolding around us and within us.

Discover what happens to your creative powers when Angry Horse Turns Head Around or Green Dragon Stretches Claws. It’s all one grand experiment! There’s no telling what will arise. The only thing you can know for certain is that your life and creative practice will be changed in some way by this experience.

This course is well suited to people currently writing poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction, or for writers who are stuck and need a creative kick-start, or for people just beginning to explore their creative abilities with writing. No prior background in martial arts is necessary.

More details on the transformative (alchemical) powers of Liuhebafa and Five Element Qigong can be found in my book Ride Backwards on Dragon: a poet’s journey through Liuhebafa.

To register for the course, contact Victoria College of Art.

May you be five clouds holding sun,

Kim Goldberg