"It is my goal to share these practices with others to the best of my ability and treat our very existence as a form of cultivation and practice."
BIOGRAPHY
Jeff grew up in Rhode Island and as a youth had a strong interest in Eastern cultures, recognizing the discipline and depth of its thought, arts, and martial traditions. Alongside this existed within him a natural inclination towards the visual arts and a kinship with the natural world. It was during his early years of high school that he began to also develop a strong interest in Daoist culture after first encountering The Zhuang Zi 庄子(a pivotal Daoist text from the Late Warring States period [476-221 BC]).
Jeff began learning traditional Chinese martial arts in Providence, RI under Master Wu Wenqing 吴文庆, a Taiwanese Emei and Taijiquan Master. Training soon became the dominating aspect of his life as he sacrificed more of his time to it while also studying Mandarin Chinese. This undeniable yearning eventually led him to the Wudang Mountains and to his path as a Daoist.
Jeff garnered an intimate master-disciple relationship over his many years immersed in cultivation under Master Yuan. During his years in Wudang, Jeff single-mindedly devoted his time and efforts to personal study, cultivation, and training in Wudang Daoist practices, culture, and study of the Mandarin. During his years of cultivation, he has learned all of the traditional Daoist wushu and cultivation practices of the Wudang Sanfeng Lineage as well as various other aspects of Daoist culture such as singing and chanting, scripture, philosophy, holistic lifestyle harmonization, medicine, etc. Alongside the different practices he is proficient in, Jeff is also well versed in the theory of each practice and as a teacher does his best to help students deepen their practice via applied theory.
Jeff was captain of the International Traditional Class – a 5 year long traditional training format for international students. Since leaving Wudang in 2014 to begin his years of ‘cloud wandering’ 云游 as an itinerant Daoist teacher, he has built an international following of devoted students.
Combining his years of experience immersed in the Daoist tradition with his international teaching Jeff has been able to gain great insight into teaching. From this he has been able to create a unique variety of evolving pedagogies for teaching students of all walks of life – guiding them to cultivate the inspiration necessary for cultivating their personal goals and paths. He helps students build the internal fire of inspiration within themselves – the inspiration necessary for deepening their practice and greater improving the quality of their lives and cultivation.
ABOUT JEFF
INTRODUCTION
Jeff Reid, Daoist name Rui Mao Zihe 芮懋资和, has been devoted to wushu (Chinese martial arts) practice for over 10 years and has been studying under Master Yuan Xiugang 袁修刚 since 2007. He is a 16th generation disciple of the Wudang San Feng Lineage of Daoism and one of Master Yuan’s closest disciples – spending most of his years training by Master Yuan’s side as his assistant and shadow. He is devoted to his personal practice, cultivation, and sharing his knowledge and experience with the rest of the world.