Rene J. Navarro is an acupuncturist, herbalist, martial artist, healer, alchemist writer and poet. His first martial arts masters were Johnny Chiuen and Lao Kim, two famous Shaolin Hong Kuen teachers in the Philippines in the 1960s. Rene has been studying the curriculum of Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, including Solo Form, Sabre/Knife, Sword, Staff-Spear, 2-Man Sparring Set/Sansou, Tai chi chuan Chang Chuan/Tai chi fajing form, and Push hands under Masters Gin Soon Chu and Vincent Chu, lineage masters of the system. As a senior instructor of the Healing Tao, he has written the manuals of Kan and Li internal alchemy for GM Mantak Chia.
Rene graduated from the New England School of Acupuncture with a diploma in acupuncture and a certificate in traditional Chinese herbology. At NESA, he pioneered a course in chi-kung/qigong including Tai chi, Microcosmic Orbit meditation, and Buddha Palm. His poetry and essays have been published in journals and anthologies. Rene holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science (MLQ University in Manila) and a Bachelor of Laws (University of the Philippines). In an earlier incarnation, he worked as a lawyer for indigent clients. He has taught in four continents.
Ascension and Return
This collection of heartfelt and insightful poems and a few prose poems was written over a 45-year period as the author traveled the world: from Egypt to Bali, from Thailand to Istanbul. It features the poet’s involvement with Daoist transcendent practices and earthly engagement that transforms experiences into dream-like and ecstatic meditation.
“The strength of [Rene’s] poetry is the brilliant image embedded in the context of the poem, the very same quality I admire so much in Li Po’s and Tu fu’s poetry, as well as in some of Gary Snyder’s earlier poems (and in some of Rexroth’s)." —From a letter by the poet Len Roberts
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Of Fire and Water: Alchemy and Transformation
For over six decades, Grandmaster Rene J. Navarro has been on a mission, traveling the globe to learn from extraordinary masters of impossible skills, and to then develop those skills within himself. From the depth of Yang family Tai Chi Chuan to the refined and arcane techniques of Internal Alchemy, from poetry and music to deadly kung-fu, from meditation to discovering the Great Dao, Of Fire and Water brings alive the astonishing travels, discipleship, teachings, and commentaries on life of a man traversing the lonely and difficult path of energetic, cultural and spiritual self-cultivation. Through 32 inspiring essays, Of Fire and Water will change the way you think about yourself, your body, and the interconnected nature of reality.
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