"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell"
~ Buddha
13th May 2024
Nam Yang Success Story: Simon from Isle of Wight
Simon’s story is one of a rapidly growing number of Nam Yang success stories. HIs dream was to retire to the Isle Of Wight and start his own Kung Fu - Qigong group. He succeeded and he is now living his dream as a popular teacher in a quiet, rural community.
For many years Simon worked as the head of graphic design at Croydon Council - the local government for London’s most violent Borough. It was a job that he despised but he dreamed of moving away from London to the Isle of Wight - a fairly small island off the southern coast of Britain which lacks fast modern roads and is, in many ways, 30 years behind the mainland with a quiet, slow pace of life. It is somewhere he loved as a child and always wanted to return to. His dream was to say goodbye to offices and graphics work forever and begin a new life as a teacher of our ancient arts of health and wellbeing; an asset to his local community.
When the opportunity arose for Simon to take early retirement he acted decisively and fearlessly, stepped out of his comfort zone and embarked on his true life path. He sold his house on the outskirts of London and bought a beautiful but somewhat run down house in a small rural village on the Isle Of Wight with an amazing garden and its own pond. To this day he is still renovating the house - his garden already looks amazing! Both house and garden have space for him to teach a few students - something very important.
Having settled in to his new home Simon, like the rest of us, had to go through lockdown and all that was associated with it but as restrictions eased and people started to emerge from their homes and begin exercising again he struck a deal with his local village hall to open a Shuang Yang/Qigong class there. He soon had a great class going.
Two years later, Simon is running classes daily Monday to Friday at 2 different venues - plus his home gym and the beach when weather permits. He has 18 students. He makes enough money to pay his domestic bills and put fuel in his car. This may not be a huge amount but in the middle of a ‘cost of living crisis’ it makes a huge difference. And all this for working just 90 minutes a day! As Simon says, though, he does it because he enjoys it, not for the money, he is training more than he ever has before and this is keeping him fitter than he would ever be otherwise.
So who is Simon?
As a child he practised gymnastics, and as he grew older he took up springboard and highboard diving. In his late teens and early 20s, he competed at county level in the UK and even took part in an international friendly competition between Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
At the turn of the century, he first became involved with Nam Yang, training under Master Iain Armstrong in Epsom, and in his own words, soon became “hooked“ on the esoteric Eastern disciplines. Over the following years, Simon achieved many great feats with Nam Yang and Master Iain:
- He was fortunate to meet GrandMaster Tan Soh Tin multiple times when he visited the UK, as well as attending training camps with both GrandMaster Tan and Master Iain at Holmbury.
- He took part in Chinese New Year celebrations performing lion dance and on stage at Trafalgar Square.
- He participated in a demonstration at the London film premier of ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ in Leicester Square and performed on stage at Manchester Arena in front of thousands as a small group of Nam Yang practitioners.
- Won a silver and bronze medal at the BCCMA National Championships.
- Taught Shuang Yang and Qigong Lessons at our Nam Yang Epsom Branch.
Lisa, on the left, is a ‘serious’ yoga teacher having started yoga as a young child with her parents. Lisa started learning Qigong some 5 years ago dedicating Covid lockdown to learning even more online and now teaches both yoga and chi kung. Since Covid Lisa has studied weekly with 3 other Kung Fu teachers here on the island but has now dedicated her time to Nam Yang greatly enjoying our Shuang Yang and finding that our Sum Chien training has developed a strength she did not have before.
On the right, Graham has well over 30 years of martial arts training - starting Judo as a teenager and later Kung Fu under three different Kung Fu instructors to Black Sash 1st Duan.
"I feel very lucky to have met my teacher, friend, Kung Fu brother Simon, who teaches me at such a high level. You don’t get to meet many teachers like this in a lifetime. So I am truly grateful. The Tiger Crane Combination and Shuang Yang are profound systems which cultivate internal power. Shuang Yang and tiger - Crane: the Yin and Yang. I look forward to training in this beautiful art for many many years to come. Kungfu - hard work over a long time." - Lisa.
“Some years ago my then Kung Fu teacher told me he was in touch with a Martial Arts instructor called Iain Armstrong who was coming over to do a demonstration. This was my first experience of what I now know as Nam Yang Pugilistic Association. That day Iain demonstrated and taught us his version of Sum Chien which I thought was amazing but didn't know how I could learn more! After Covid I heard of a Tai Chi instructor called Simon who was starting a local class. Initially I didn't see the connection between Simon and Iain Armstrong but when I did, I just couldn't believe my luck.
I've been training Shuang Yang since the early part of March 2023, also private Kung fu lessons for about 5 months. Honestly, the last year has been the best times for me and I regard Simon as one of the best instructors that I've ever had the privilege of knowing. His knowledge and 25 years of experience he's gained from his Master Iain Armstrong and Master Tan Soh Tin is absolutely incredible and I'm so glad that this is now part of my new journey. Simon's teachings is at your level, he can make it hard or full on or soft and gentle, he never makes you feel inadequate, degrading or undermines any student, which I've had to put up with for years and got sucked in by it all thinking that this is the way that it should be." - Graham.
Chris, pictured above, has a decade plus background in Karate, Jujitsu and Kung Fu.As a student he is very dedicated taking time to train diligently on his own between classes and has a keen, intellectual, inquisitive mind always wanting to delve deeper into every aspect and move. He loves the depth of our art and the syllabus Nam Yang has to offer.
Finally, a highlight of his journey from Simon himself:
“Iain has encouraged, supported and guided my training for over two decades, always guiding my personal goals and development with and through our art. I now live and teach five times a week here on the Isle of Wight. Teaching Kung Fu and Shuang Yang is very different from the 50 hour week I endured for decades when working in a pressured office in South London. Early morning lessons on the beach at sunrise are a highlight of summer training here.” - Simon.