C. Michael Byrne

Memories of my brief military life rush back to me each Veterans Day, when we honor the service of so many men and women who joined up and shipped out for military missions.  I volunteered with the U.S. Air Force to learn Chinese (and some Vietnamese), and fly reconnaissance missions along China’s coast, and over Indochina and the Gulf of Tonkin. Even then, Chinese fighter jets stalked us, flying defensive patterns along our route. It was 1970, before Nixon’s ice-breaking trip to Beijing, and we were not at war with China. But we were unwelcome intruders flying over and around the South China Sea

No, I wasn’t a warrior, far from it. I was simply a young American looking to travel and broaden my universe. I was fascinated by Asian peoples and their cultures – especially in Shu Linkou Air Station in Taiwan, my first post, where I lived off base in Taipei. With emerging language skills, I made friends while searching for English-language books about the 4,000 years of Chinese history, with its cultural and spiritual markers so different from my own. Even in Okinawa, I was like a student in fatigues, socializing in the clubs, and feeling aligned with young antiwar activists who were rallying on college campuses.

I was also proud to play a small role in service to my country, while preparing myself for a much bigger life role when I could return to the United States and cash in the G.I. Bill for college degrees. Like many other working-class high school graduates in the late ’60s, enlisting was my best chance to learn and grow. It was a great adventure, too, my own pedestrian strides in the footsteps of a giant literary adventurer, Ernest Hemingway.

Today, after a career in journalism and labor advocacy, I still fondly remember those formative years in the Air Force, and the fascinating theaters in which I was able to serve. They opened my eyes to possibilities I never would have considered if I had stayed home. And they helped me better understand the world in which we live.

Without that tour of Asia, I would never have pursued East Asian Studies and training in Tai Chi, qigong and Taoist meditation. Over the past 33 years, these gentle, internal energy arts have stimulated me physically and mentally, while enriching my belief in human potential. I believe we all can tap into the power of our vibrating universe if we just stop to feel it. Breathe. Relax. Center. Practice. Train.

The warrior me emerges during my hour-long training each morning, ideally situated outdoors with the tall oaks, squirrels and birds, even in the rain or cold, but not with ice or snow. I stretch tendons and fascia, align my structure and breathe into my center of motion, just below the navel, the dantien. Balancing yin and yang as I circle through Cheng Man-Ching’s Yang Tai Chi short form, I feel the qi energy stirring in my body, elevated by my mind and spirit, and leveled by my central equilibrium, zhong ding. I am a warrior within, whether or not I pose a danger to anyone else.

Lee Burkins was a real-life warrior in Vietnam, leading Green Beret patrols on deadly missions, then battled PTSD after returning home. To get well, Burkins turned to the healing balm of Tai Chi and qigong, and now helps other veterans heal as a senior instructor with Energy Arts, the qigong network created by Bruce Frantzis. His story is told in an award-winning short documentary, The Warrior Within.

The “warrior within” is a positive attitude that helps you deal with the world around you, giving you confidence in developing relationships and solving problems. The warrior is not aggressive; rather, he is centered, balanced and relaxed — but assertive. This is you on Tai Chi.

Despite the historical martial arts connection, Tai Chi and qigong are avenues for peace, not war – a message that resonates around the world each year through the work of Tai Chi evangelist Bill Douglas. Besides promoting the annual World Tai Chi & Qigong Day, on the last Saturday in April, Bill and wife Angela Wong Douglas have created the Global Transformation Project, which seeks to get U.N. support for “mind-body education” in schools around the world.

With the help of participating academics who study the effects of mindful health practices, Douglas recently produced a second edition of his voluminous book, The Gospel of Science, which provides research supporting both the health effects of mind-body practice and its impact on the consciousness of people around the world. He sponsors regular free webinars on Zoom; this Sunday, Nov. 19, he’s hosting a discussion with Len Perlmutter, founder of the American Meditation Institute. If you’re interested, you can register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpcu2vqzorGtfEbAjspMxfBmjmPg2-Sssy#/registration.

I’m working my way through Bill’s 602-page “Gospel”, and hope to review it on this blog in the months ahead.