Biography - Ray Pawlett Ray’s earliest memory of studying anything remotely attached to Energy Arts or Martial Arts is studying Yoga with his brother, Mark as a boy. The word “study” would be to over state the nature of what was happening though. “Play” would perhaps be a better word. What had happened was that the two brothers had found their fathers old Yoga book and were trying to achieve the positions. After completion or even partial completion of a position, the new position would be practiced and swapped at school with some of the other boys who had the same idea of fun. Whilst at college, Ray again joined his brother Mark to learn Tae Kwon Do in a local club. Ray enjoyed the fact that he was learning a traditional martial art and the training was clearly improving his self confidence and fitness levels. However, at the time Ray could not find in the Tae Kwon Do any of the aspects that related to Energy or deeper work that had been hinted at in the old Yoga book or mentioned in the books, films and magazines. This was to change when Ray moved to Nottingham Trent University to study a degree in Engineering. Ray had heard of the ancient Chinese art “Tai Chi”, but had not had the opportunity to learn the style. At Nottingham University, he met the highly skilled teacher, Chunshen Zhu of the Universe Tai Chi School. This was what Ray had been looking for. The training combined all of the martial aspects, energy building and meditation that Ray was seeking from the martial arts. At the time, Ray continued with the Tae Kwon Do training and also took up Yoga classes. Engineering seemed to have become a second priority but he did pass the degree! Ray also came in as a runner up in some local and national Tae Kwon Do tournaments. After the degree finished, Ray moved away from Nottingham. In this period he tried several other martial arts such as Karate, Judo, and Aikido. Whilst enjoying all of these arts for what they are, Ray still wanted to get back to the Tai chi training. In the mid 1990’s, he achieved this when he met Chris Pei of the US Wushu Academy and Shelagh Grandpierre of the Tai Chi Alliance. They taught him the traditional Yang style of Tai Chi which he practices and teaches to the present day.
Ray then started to learn Shiatsu with Sue Hix and Tom Litten at the Rosewell Shiatsu centre in Lincolnshire. In Shiatsu he found a discipline that worked with the mind, body and spirit in a similar way to Tai Chi, but the focus was completely on healing. Along with giving and receiving treatments, Energy building exercises and meditations, Ray’s world was opening up in a way that he very much enjoyed. In 1999, it was suggested to Ray that he entered some Tai Chi tournaments. Although Ray had been keenly practicing the Tai Chi, the idea of tournaments had not been on his agenda. Nevertheless, he decided that there was no harm in entering and it could even be fun. With this attitude, he entered the Tai Chi Union of Great Britain’s tournament in Oxford and became a UK champion for traditional weapons and also the EuroWirral tournament in the Wirral and won second place in another UK open tournament. Tournament success bought Ray increased recognition in the martial arts and Energy world. This recognition was to give Ray the opportunity to write his first book. Ray took the opportunity and the first book was published. The book was successful and it lead Ray to writing and publishing several books and magazine articles about martial arts and Energy arts. Writing has continued to be a passion for Ray and he is writing books to the present day. By this time Ray was teaching several Tai Chi classes which he regarded as a thoroughly enjoyable experience as it was giving him the opportunity to both make a positive impact on people’s lives and improve his own levels of skill and understanding of the art. He has now had the opportunity to teach many people of every skill level, fitness level, age and culture. During these days, Ray was very enthusiastic about Tai Chi and the Energy Arts but still felt that he needed to understand the concept of Energy more deeply. He was introduced to Mike Webster, who taught a system called Waveform Energetics. In Waveform Energetics, Mike teaches the participants how to feel and sense Energy in a way that is understandable by all and is non subjective. To the pragmatic engineer in Ray, the fact that it was non subjective and verifiable by all who had the skill was very important as this indicated to him that the perceptions were not illusory or self deceptions. Mike also taught Ray how to feel Energy at a distance and go beyond the boundaries of time and space. Ray is now a teacher for Waveform Energetics and has devised many of the exercises that form part of the teaching program.
Mike introduced Ray to Joy and Mary. Joy and Mary are the two extremely talented healers and teachers who taught Mike the information that he needed to know in order to devise Waveform Energetics. Joy and Mary run the Pathways Healing and Teaching Centre on the Black Isle near Inverness and in the Orkneys. Key to their philosophy is the idea that all nature heals and that we as parts of nature can use the forces of nature for our own healing. Over the years, Joy and Mary have taught Ray how to feel the Energies of nature, connect with ancestral energies, understand and feel the Chakra system through direct experience and many other priceless pieces of information. Whilst training with them in 2010, they assisted Ray to create his own Chi Gung system. Under their encouragement Ray teaches people how to have this direct connection to their Energy and to the Energies of Nature. Other teachers who have made a big impact on Ray are Paul Lambeth who taught Ray how to understand the Energetics of food and the effect that it has on our whole system and also Rex Lassalle who taught Ray an ancient oriental system called “9 star Ki�, which he uses to evaluate a persons Energetic constitution. Over the years, Ray has been fortunate in having some of the best teachers of modern times. There are many others in the mix but the strongest influences are mentioned.
The biggest lessons that we have though are from life, not from our teachers. For much of 2009, Ray spent much of his time helping his mother who was ill with cancer and supporting the rest of his family and friends whilst they mutually supported him. This proved to be both a difficult year and a year of learning where many of the practices and philosophies that he had learned would be put to the test. 2010 was a difficult year for Ray during which, his mother passed away, he had a divorce, he moved house twice, he changed his job and having decided that the job was not for him – quit the job. Ray is quite convinced that the practices and philosophies that he had learned over the years helped him to not only get through the year but to get through the year with the courage to break away from his old career path and set himself up as a Tai Chi and Energy Arts teacher.
Experience Martial Arts To date, Ray has studied the following martial arts:
Tai Chi Chuan o Bare hand o Sword o Sabre Coaches – Christopher Pei (USWUSHU Academy), Shelagh Grandpierre (Tai Chi Alliance, 1997 onwards), Chunshen Zhu (Universe Tai Chi School, 1990 to 1994, Nick Scarr 1995 to 1997)
Hsing-I Chuan (Five Elements Kung Fu) Coach – Peter Warr (Wu Kung Federation)
Tae Kwon Do Coach – Tony Slaney 6th Dan (BTCB)
Karate Coach – Sensei John Van Weenen 8th Dan (TASK)
Judo Coach – Ray Walker 6th Dan
Aikido Ju-Jitsu Hapkido Fencing Archery
Energy Arts/ Healing/ Meditation Ray has studied the following disciplines in Energy, healing and meditation:
Shiatsu (Five Element and Zen Shiatsu) Waveform Energetics Chi Gung Yoga Pathways Healing Taoist meditation Do-In 9 Star Ki Macrobiotics Buddhist meditation (Theravada and Zen traditions)
Books Ray has written the following books that have been translated into at least 8 different languages and sold worldwide:
Tai Chi – A Practical Introduction A Beginners Guide to Tai Chi A beginners guide to Martial Arts An Introduction to Qigong Shiatsu – A Beginners Guide The Tai Chi Handbook The Karate Handbook The Tae Kwon Do Handbook (with Mark Pawlett)
Ray has also written several magazine articles and assisted other martial arts authors to have material published. Ray has also been written about in the following book:
The Ultimate Warrior – by John Ritchell