ERLE MONTAIGUE

Earlier this year, a world-renouned Qigong master from Australia Erle Montaigue passed away. The international community of Internal Martial Arts suffered a significant loss of the most prolific author on such subjects as Dim Mak and martial applications of Tai Chi. To honor Erle, we are featuring him as the Master of the Month in the next issue of Mastery Journal and replaying the interview with him I took last year.

Erle Montaigue began his "internal" journey back in 1967 when he met and trained with a Chinese teacher at an electronics school that Erle was attending. The Chinese teacher would teach a strange slow moving art that was virtually unheard of in Australia back then. The teacher told Erle that he would become "superman," which of course turned out to be not so true but at least it kept him learning. The system turned out to be Taijiquan, which Erle believed was the quintessential Qigong method of movement and breath. Erle's search from those early days took him all over the world in search of teachers of this illusive "superman" art.

Strangely, it was back in Australia where Erle met his main teacher Chang Yiu-chun, who turned out to be one of only 3 special students of Yang Shou-hou. Chang taught Erle, after much badgering, what is now known as The Old Yang Style of Yang Lu-ch'an.

Erle Montaigue preferred not to be called lofty names such as Sifu or Master as he believed that we are all equal and one's "students" must also be one's friends. With over 380 DVD titles covering every possible aspect of the Internal Arts of Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Qigong, Dim-Mak, and Wudang Arts, Erle taught thousands of students throughout his remarkable life.