John Saw

I was born in Burma in 1935. I lived there till I was 29, had to leave everything behind as the country was taken over by the military. I swam across the Mekong river to Thailand in 1964. Started work at the Bangkok Hilton and after 6 years, decided to migrate to Australia.

In June 1970, I arrived Sydney with my wife and infant son and started work in a motel. In no time I got involved in gambling. Life was easy and had so much fun that by the time I was 60, I suffered a stroke due to smoking, bad diet and not enough sleep.  My left side of the body was affected, my speech was slurred and I lost my balance.  Through Qigong, I gained back my health, and I recovered fully after years of hard work.

After 20 years traveling around the world spreading our Qigong system, I felt restless, something missing. Even though I was an International Master of Lohan Qigong, I just couldn’t figure out what’s missing in my life.

Throughout my travels, I’ve met many great Masters and practitioners in Qigong and Taiji, and became friends but nothing really impressed me.

Then in December 2014, I was invited to attend a lecture by Taiji Master Chen Zhonghua at the UTS. I went along as I was free at that time and also curious as to what’s there for me to see. The first time I saw Master Chen, I was impressed by his demeanor, he was a humble man with twinkling eyes.  When he started talking about his style called Chen Style Taiji Practical Method, I was a bit hesitant. I thought another Master promoting their style. The minute he explained the technique and showed us why it’s called Practical Method, I was blown away.

Mind you, I’ve travelled a fair bit and met many skillful Masters, but what Master Chen did with one slight movement of his body was incredible, seeing is believing I should say. He let people touch him and let them feel that he didn’t move his muscle. I was very impressed and decided to join his workshop that weekend. There again, I was amazed with his skill but most importantly, it’s his willingness to share his knowledge without withholding anything, thats got me hooked.

Since then, I’ve been to Daqingshan many times and attended his seminars yearly without fail.

I was accepted as a disciple in 2017 and my number is 257.

I went to Bali last Nov 2019 to join his workshop and again in February 2020 in Sydney. Master Chen never stop to amaze me with his willingness to share and spread this wonderful system.

The last day of the workshop in Sydney was my 85th birthday. Master Chen was kind enough to join my family and friends with some disciples to celebrate this special occasion with me.

Thank you Shifu.

Your disciple,

John Saw #257