Scott P. Phillips began training in Chinese martial arts and qigong in 1977, first under the guidance of Bing Gong - a senior student of Kuo Lien-Ying, one of the first Chinese 'internal' martial artists to begin teaching in the United States. From Bing he developed a life-long interest and foundation in the Northern Shaolin (Chanquan) system, as well as training in Yiquan and Guan Ping Yang Taijiiquan. After a decade of study, Bing introduced Scott to George Xu (Xu Guo Ming), with whom he formed a relationship that has spanned twenty years. Xu is a widely respected practitioner and teacher of Chen-Style Taijiquan, Xinyiquan, Lanshouquan and Baguazhang and a major force in the preservation and transmission of Chinese traditional martial arts. Scott has also studied extensively with Zhang Xue Xin, Ye Xiao Long and Bruce Kumar Frantzis. He has been teaching for the last 18 years, including 5 years at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and 10 years with Performing Arts Workshop.
Scott views many martial systems – and the Chinese systems in particular – as having roots in both contemplative traditions and dance/theatre arts. In other words, yogic traditions, theatre, ritual dance and martial arts have a primordial relationship – they developed together and continue to inform each other. To that end, Scott has studied and performed in several dance traditions, including in the Congolese system taught by Malonga Casquelourd and in the Kathak (Indian Classical) tradition of Chitresh Das. In terms of contemplative practice, Scott studied religious Daoism for 9 years with Liu Ming, the founder of the Five Branches School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and is a lineage holder in several styles of Daoist meditation. Finally, in terms of anatomy, physiology and modern movement systems, Scott spent years training with Rebecca Haseltine (Body Mind Centering) and John Ingle (Alexander Technique).
Studying with Scott is a unique experience. Classes are marked by an easy going informality and a complete lack of pretense and new age veneer. They are also a major departure from the current trend of teaching qigong and Tai Chi “sets” to large groups of people with little to no individual instruction. Scott is “traditional” in the sense that his teaching style is familial. Each student is given teachings, qigong exercises and form sets specific to their needs. This level of teaching also requires a certain maturity on the students part - students must have an appetite to practice on their own and be comfortable conducting their own experiments. Work with the teacher can then become an ongoing dialogue that transforms the students movement patterns and overall sense of embodiment, as well as their relationship to eating, breathing, sleeping and stillness.
