The 50’s in Soviet occupied Hungary was far from a cheery place, not ideal for a happy childhood and definitely not a perfect breeding ground for Shaloin monks. As a lad growing up in the communist era in the Eastern bloc, Laszlo Demmel found that instead of being full of wonder and boundless limitations, his childhood years were rather closed and restricted.

Laszlo used to escape though, and he remembers being about six when he first started reading Asian travel books and stories and daydreaming of far away places and of different cultures.

“It {Asia} got me immediately and after a while I became interested in martial arts. I started with judo before moving onto different forms of martial arts.”
Laszlo winces when he says martial arts, because to him it is so much more than what most people think of when they hear those two words; to him it is a philosophy and more like a way of life.

In 1985, Laszlo’s job as an electrical engineer enabled him to travel and work in the spiritual home of his pastime, his interest and his love; China and it was there that his interest in Kung Fu, tai chi and meditation burgeoned.

Fast forward twenty years and I am sat, cross legged of course, with the quietly spoken Laszlo, who arrived in Phuket a few months ago, and talking with him about what he and Rick Attix at the Tai Chi Centre Phuket intend to do to help us reach an internal balance.

In the interim he has opened over 40 Shaolin schools in Hungary and in 2000 graduated as a natural healer. Laszlo is also an official member of the Shaolin temple. He has spent intermittent periods there and hopes to bring what he has gained and learned from his time meditating and living with the monks.

“I received three ‘tangible things’ from my time, I was registered in the logbook at the temple, received official papers and given a Chinese name.”

Considering the nature of Buddhist spirituality however, it is not surprising that the most important thing that Laszlo considers he gained cannot be grasped or touched.
“I got a new life when I accepted the real values and meaning of being a Shaolin Monk” he said.

Laszlo appears once again dissatisfied with having to explain and pin-point exactly what he has learned and in fact how he and Rick will be able to help those who join the Tai Chi Centre.

One of their aims is to bring the internal and external aspects of existence together and considering his qualifications and experience only few would doubt his capability to do just that. And those who do would do so would caution considering his many years of training in Kung Fu and developing his ‘tiger style.’

“The main difference between Western and Eastern healing, is that Asian is preventative. We have got to create a balance, a dietary and nutritional balance,” Laszlo explains.
He will be teaching ‘Shaolin life method’ at the Tai Chi Centre Phuket, something that he describes as, “A complex management of the life where you combine internal and external forces through the 8 brocades (breathing/energy exercises) and active meditation.”

Active meditation in this sense is the practice of Branade (a type of Reiki), which I was fortunate enough to try. So not only was I to be meditating with a registered Shaolin monk, but I was also doing it in the Tai Chi Centre’s specially built pyramid.

According to Rick and other researchers, the shape of a pyramid has been found to harmonize molecular structures and aid in the healing process.

The four sided pyramid recreates the dimensions of the thousands of year old pyramids of Giza faithfully and is really quite beautiful to behold. On the outside is the architecture inspired by the most ancient of buildings, while in the inside the pyramid has taken full advantage of all that the technology of 2010 has to offer, including air conditioning and a great sound system!

It is this technology combined with the pair’s extensive knowledge of ancient Eastern philosophies and teachings that will be able to treat and guide the senses to become balanced and ultimately provide such a rewarding and unique experience.

Within the pyramid is a square section of cushions on which the students will sit or lie, the roof of the pyramid is glass and therefore exposed to the day’s light. A meditation session will be tailored to incorporate and lead the individual’s journey to a balanced state using recordings of chanting and relaxing music that changes and coincides with the changing colours of four crystals that are placed in each corner of the room. Aromatherapy will also be used.

Rick and Laszlo will be alternating training sessions throughout the week in order to provide their students with the best of what each can offer. Rick explains, “Sounds, smells and lights create frequencies and we align these sounds with a calm state. We are simply trying to create a balanced molecular state.”

As I lay there, listening to the music, taking in the smells and sensing the sights of the changing crystals, Laszlo hovered above me, and although I had my eyes closed I could genuinely sense when and where he was moving his hands. I could feel a heat and genuinely feel myself becoming more relaxed.

On the ride home, and as I was zipping between the traffic, there was a brief moment where the sounds of beeps and horns gave way to serene silence, and it was at that precise moment when I had a realization that seemed as simple yet as plain as can be; Why don’t we set aside a specified amount of time per day where we do nothing, where we try to empty our minds and try to enter a calm and relaxed state?

To be relaxed, to be happy, to feel balanced should be the easiest and most important thing in the world, it should be our number one priority. Then my mobile phone started ringing...

Kamala Nathong House, Villa no. 99/148, Kamala Soi 10
Kamala Beach, Kathu, Phuket
Tel: +66 (0)81 728 9980
Email: info@taichiphuket.com