Laoba Desmond Murray
The key points in this article are:
- Our Grandmaster, Laoba Desmond Murray, visited China in 2003 to have the Lee Family Taoist Arts examined by those with the skills and knowledge to do so.
- Following this visit, the Zhejiang, Weihai, and Shandong Associations, and the White Cloud Temple in Beijing, all recognised the Lee (Li) Family Taoist Arts as an authentic whole body breathing system and that Desmond Murray is the inheritor and part of an unbroken chain.
- The fact that the Arts have survived, despite the tumult of the 20th century is a miracle.
What happened in China in 2003?
Chee Soo never went to China. He was half Chinese, and fought with the British Army alongside Chinese army against the Japanese, but he never had the opportunity to see the place where the Lee Family Taoist Arts, the system he was to inherit, was born.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Chee Soo popularised Chinese martial arts in the United Kingdom and across Europe. His work undoubtedly shaped the landscape of such arts in the west today. When he died in 1994, his chosen inheritor, Desmond Murray, decided to travel to China to find the source of the Lee Family system.
In 2003, he made that journey. It marked the beginning of what has become more than two decades of annual visits. Each year, Desmond returns taking students to temples and centres of learning across the country. China holds many places known worldwide for wushu: the Shaolin Monastery in Henan, Wudang Mountains in Hubei, and others besides. It is through Desmond that our students have access to these places.
Desmond did not travel to China for sentimental reasons. He went to have the Lee Family Arts examined by those with the skills and experience to understand them properly.
On his first visit, he was assessed by a panel of senior wushu masters; experts in the Yang, Chen, Wu and Sun systems of Taijiquan. Each master tested him individually, examining both his personal skill and his understanding of the Lee Family system. The assessment was direct and practical. The form, application with a partner, use of the breath, the structure, and his internal method were all examined.
At the end of the process, the Zhejiang panel issued an official letter recognising that the Lee (Li) Family system as an authentic Daoist Whole Body Breathing System, or Daojia Daoyin Shu.
What happened after the assessment?
Having recognised that The Lee Family Taoist Arts were a Daojia Daoyin Shu (Taoist family whole body breathing system) the panel in Hangzhou and subsequent panels in Weihai and at the White Cloud Temple in Beijing recognised that an ancient Chinese family tradition had survived. It had been passed from the last surviving member of the Lee family, to a half-Chinese orphan in London, to an Englishman who was able to demonstrate highly developed skills. What could have easily been lost had endured.
What does this mean for Sea Cloud Hall?
For Sea Cloud Hall, this means clarity.
The system we practise today stands within a recognised Daoist lineage. The wushu authorities in Weihai, Shandong, and the White Cloud Temple acknowledge our continuity.
It also confirms how the arts are to be taught. Not just as information but as true transmission: structured learning guided by teachers experienced in our lineage.
When we bow as we enter the Hall, or greet one another with respect, or offer the Daoist salutation before our practice, we are not making empty gestures. We are expressing our confidence in the continuity of our lineage and our connectedness to antiquity; a family tradition and a culture that carries knowledge relevant in society today.
Everyone who comes to our classes is part of this lineage and part of an unbroken chain keeping it alive.
#Duanwei #authentictaichi #LeeFamilyTaoistArts
