Moy Lin-shin

Moy Lin-shin(Chinese:Mai liền tiện;pinyin:Méi Liánxiàn) (1931 inTaishancounty,Guangdong– June 6, 1998,Toronto, Ontario,Canada)was aTaoistmonk, teacher andtai chiinstructor who founded TheTaoist Tai Chi Society,theFung Loy Kok Institute of Taoismand theGei Pang Lok Hup Academy.

Moy Linshin Mai liền tiện
Born	Guangdong,China
Died	Toronto,Canada
Style	Neijia Tai chi Liuhebafa Xingyiquan DaoistQigong
Teacher(s)	Yang Liu Liang Zipeng Sun Di
Rank	Founder ofTaoist Tai Chi

Early life

As a sickly youth Moy was sent to a Taoist monastery. There he was trained in the teachings of the Earlier Heaven Wu-chi sect of theHua ShanSchool ofTaoismand regained his health. Moy reported that he studied the religious and philosophical side of Taoism and that he had acquired knowledge and skills inChinese martial arts.

Ahead of theCommunist Revolutionof 1949 Moy moved toHong Kong.There he joined theYuen Yuen Institute,inTsuen Wandistrict in theNew Territories,continued his education and became a Taoistmonk.

The Yuen Yuen Institute was established in 1950 by monks from Sanyuan Gong (Three Originals Palace) inGuangzhou,Guangdong province, which in turn traces its lineage to the Longmen (Dragon Gate) sect ofQuanzhen (Complete Perfection) Taoism.The Yuen Yuen Institute is dedicated to Taoism,BuddhismandConfucianism.In 1968, Moy co-founded, together with Taoist MastersMui Ming-toand Tang Yuen Mei, the temple for the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism (FLK; Penglai ge, Bồng Lai các ) on the grounds of the Yuen Yuen Institute.

In addition to his studies and education in Taoism Moy Lin-shin learned a range of internal martial arts includingliuhebafa,tai chi,Xing yiquan,baguazhangand Taoistqigong. Moy's main teacher was Yang Liu ( dương sáu; Cantonese: Yeung Luk), a Daoist hermit teaching qigong and tai chi. Moy was the most senior disciple (of only 5 disciples) of Yang Liu. The second disciple was Ng Pak Shing, who opened a school in Canada after Moy died but has gone back to China since. Another one of Moy's main teachers in Hong Kong wasLiang Zipeng,an instructor in liuhebafa and other arts, who was in turn a student ofWu Yihui.Moy was taught liuhebafa in Hong Kong by Liang Zipeng.Moy also trained in Hong Kong withSun Di,a fellow student of Liang Zipeng, who Moy said had developed skills in xing yiquan andPushing hands.After 1975, Moy would travel back to Hong Kong on an annual basis to keep learning from Yang Liu and Sun Di. He would bring some of his senior students along on occasion.

Move to Canada

Moy went overseas with a mission of spreading the understanding of Taoism and its practices. After some travel, he settled in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and in 1970 began teaching a small group of dedicated students. In those early days, Moy taught both the health and martial arts aspects of tai chi. Upon moving to one of Toronto's "Chinatowns"a few years later, he changed his focus, emphasising mainly the health promoting and personal development aspects of tai chi, although Moy still did place strong emphasis on tai chi push hands practice and sometimes demonstrated other self-defense aspects of tai chi as well.

Moy started with a standardYang-style tai chiform, also saying he had mixed in elements of other internal arts, and taught it to condition students to learn Lok Hup Ba Fa later. Moy called this modified formTaoist Tai Chi.Moy emphasized the non-competitive nature of his style of teaching and of the form. A teacher of Taoist Tai Chi is asked to conform to and live by what Moy called, "Eight HeavenlyVirtues":

• Sense ofShame
• Honor
• Sacrifice
• Propriety
• Trustworthiness
• Dedication
• SiblingHarmony
• Filial piety

In accordance with these virtues, Taoist Tai Chi is a form that is taught by volunteers.

Organizations

To promote his understanding of the Taoist foundations of tai chi and to facilitate understanding between eastern and western cultures, Moy helped to set up a number of organizations. Initially he established the Toronto Tai Chi Association, which, after Taoist Tai Chi chapters were formed across Canada, became the Taoist Tai Chi Society ( Đạo giáo Thái Cực quyền xã ) of Canada.After expansion into theUnited Statesand later intoEurope,New ZealandandAustraliathe International Taoist Tai Chi Society was established in 1990.

In 1981 Moy Lin-shin and Mui Ming-to established a Canadian branch of the Hong Kong-based Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism, which became the religious arm of the Taoist Tai Chi Society. This occurred with the opening of a Fung Loy Kok high shrine at the Society's Bathurst Street location in Toronto. They subsequently established other branches of Fung Loy Kok in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. This Institute maintains altars to the Taoist deities, i.e., theJade Emperor,Guanyin(one of the female Bodhisattvas in Buddhism), andLü Dongbin(one of the eight Taoist "Transcendants", who becameImmortalsvia "Inner Alchemy" ).

Initially Moy concentrated on teaching just tai chi forms and later emphasized other internal arts. In 1988 Moy established the Gei Pang Lok Hup Academy, which is dedicated to the memory of his teacherLiang Zipeng.It was established with the intent to teach the internal martial arts other than tai chi, mainly liuhebafa. Over the years, Moy Linshin not only taught tai chi and liuhebafa but alsoTaoist meditation,yiquan,zhan zhuangand qigong, a hybridXing yiquan-yiquanform fromSun Di,Yang-style tai chi sword and Yang-style tai chi saber, a long list of Foundation exercises (Jibengong) and somebaguazhang.

The organizations since his death

Since the death of Moy Lin-shin in 1998 the three organizations he founded have been amalgamated, with the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism as the main organization and the Taoist Tai Chi Society and the Gei Pang Lok Hup Academy as part of the Institute. This brought together the financial and administrative management of the three organizations.

In order to broaden the emphasis on health and vitality, the Taoist Tai Chi Health Recovery Centre was established in 1997 near Toronto, atOrangeville,Ontario.On the same grounds a Taoist Cultivation Centre was built between 2005–2006.

Criticism

Moy Lin Shin has been criticized by one Tai Chi practitioner for being unqualifiedand for teaching a version of tai chi that is "not generally recognised as an authentic style of tai chi"although that same critic admitted that his efforts "did a great deal to introduce thousands to tai chi".

References

• Henderson, Paul J. (January 29, 2008)."Learning to relax".The Chilliwack Times.Archived fromthe originalon March 26, 2008.Retrieved2008-02-11.The founder of the Taoist Tai Chi Society, a volunteer-run registered charity, Master Moy Lin-Shin, said that those doing tai chi should practise together and eat together...Lin-Shin formed the society in 1970 and it now has more than 500 branches around the world, including seven in B.C.