Little Nine Heaven trip to Ecuador…Julie Jackson

In 2002 I spent time at the L9H retreat in California learning Shih Shui with Master McNeil.  Many years later, in 2010, I learnt the full Chen Tai Chi form when I joined the L9H group trip in Ecuador.  This was an opportunity to learn an internal Chinese martial art that originated as a fighting system but is also practised for health and its meditative qualities.

I’d started training in Chen Tai Chi in 2004 but only learnt part of the form and I wasn’t sure I’d ever grasp it.  I’d never done anything like this before.  However, I wanted to challenge myself and overcome self-doubt so I was determined to conquer this.  

Joining the Little Nine Heaven group in Ecuador gave me an opportunity to train in a more relaxed way, without distraction from everyday life and with a group of people at different levels and abilities in their training.  It was a step towards having more confidence, taking on board the different ways students responded to criticism from our teacher and learning from the experience.  Everyone has different styles of teaching which made me feel more comfortable and led the way to me finishing learning the first form (although of course this was only the start!).

For me, waking up to warm sunny days gives a feeling of contentment and made the experience of learning so much more enjoyable.  Each day, morning meditation brought inner peace and spiritual connection which seemed easy to cultivate, sitting on the beach as the sun rose and again in the evening as it set.  My real journey learning Chen Tai Chi began here, with other L9H students, all at different stages in our practise, each offering ways to help try to figure out moves of the form together and always under the watchful eye of our teacher.

We stayed at a beach hostel in Puerto Rico, Ecuador, on the edge of the jungle by the beach on the Pacific Ocean with endless waves breaking on the shore.  The resort had a dining area which was a built from beautiful wood in the style of a ship, the pool was in the centre and the rooms were separate buildings built around the resort with straw roofs.  Each morning, we met for early meditation and Tai Chi before breakfast in the restaurant, the group then ate together and trained for a while until lunchtime.  We had a structured training programme over the two weeks but this was mixed with lots of fun.  Dancing is a big part of Ecuadorian culture and it complements the amazing landscape, beautiful blue ocean and wildlife.  We didn’t have to venture far to experience the people’s sense of fun with dancing and laughter all around.

We visited the Isla de la Plata know as the "mini-Galapagos" of Ecuador which is an island in Machalilla National Park.  We saw unique species of wildlife you would see on the Galapagos Islands like the blue-footed booby, frigatebirds, and albatrosses, sea turtles and dolphins.

Learning the moves of the form was only the first step!  There would be years of perfecting and to this day I am still doing that, however, I am proud to say I have kept up my practise and it is fifteen years since the trip to Ecuador.