Once I saw what I was getting into with Gaspar Garcia and Chen Xiao Wang I knew my lifestyle was not sustainable for where I wanted to go. I was living on Whidbey Island and the commute was getting worse and worse. Additionally, my rent at The Moving Space was going to go up considerably. My school was growing, and I wanted to teach more and expand the Moon's offerings to include children's programs, teacher training programs, Luohan Qigong and now Chen Taijiquan.
So, in 2003, in one fell swoop I decided to incorporate my business, sell my house on Whidbey Island, move back into Seattle and open a dedicated school. It was a bold choice, but I was driven with a singular intention. I had also decided to stay in Seattle.
My house sold overnight, and in a month, I was back in Seattle, living in an apartment in Belltown and shopping for space. Fairly quickly my realtor found the space that would, for the next 15 years, be the home of Embrace The Moon. There was a catch, however. There was a lot of work to be done; the landlord's condition for the then cheap rent was that he would do no improvements. I said, fine. It was the right space, the right location (only 4 blocks from where I had been). I'll do it.
Having sold my house I had money in the bank. However, no one would give me a loan to fund the improvements because I had no house to serve as collateral! I was finally able to procure an SBA loan - for 16% interest. I said forget it. I instead funded the endeavor with a combination of cash from my house sale and several low interest charge cards. Interest on cards at that time was around 2%. All in all, it cost $70,000 to renovate that place. I'm sure few people have any idea it was that much.
It took 5 years to pay it off. I gave myself no salary for 3 and lived off my house sale proceeds, spending them down to almost zero. For the naysayers that say Tai Chi has turned into a commercial money making endeavor, I challenge them to do what I did! It was absolutely worth it.
The design came to me in a dream. Open, spacious, plenty of room for practice and for social bonding. It was simple and elegant with calligraphy I had collected through the years, including from my trip to Chengdu. Everyone loved that floor - a hardwood reclaimed pecan floor. People came from all over town to just see that floor. I choose hardwood because in CXW's first workshop at the other location, he broke a plank on the soft floor doing Buddha's Attendant! That floor itself was quite expensive but it was my priority. I learned in one fell fajin that you can't have a Tai Chi/Qigong school without a good floor.
Unfortunately, the finish the installers put on was extremely toxic. They told me it was the lowest available finish and the odor would off-gas in 3 days. It took 6 months - with commercial air filters and fans running for much of that time during the time the school was closed. I had left the Moving Space with 80 students, but many of them were unable to take classes because it was so bad. Any hope I had for building the school up on the buzz of its opening collapsed. Classes were sparsely populated; I think 50 students all total over all the classes offered for the first few months. I had piercing headaches all the time. I had no salary. I had a five-year lease.
I also had a lot of help and support in pushing my vision into the world. A long time student was instrumental in helping this Moon’s beginning and worked along side me day and night. She and Andrew Walker sat with me for hours and days and weeks visioning and implementing. In the early days even when people could not come for classes, they still came by, offering me moral support. Andy Walker and Joyce Broderson helped me with the initial fundraiser, which gave the Moon enough money to keep going. Mark McCormack worked for years on computer set ups getting us into the electronic communication age in ways we needed to be. Christy Fischer was our first big renter getting her own Yoga school going. Karin and Derryl taught along with me during those first couple of years, together we built the initial student base. Several students continued through the years to stay with me from the first days of the Moon to now; the aforementioned and also Megan Cornish, Miriam Effron (RIP), Lynette Woerne. Their love & support kept me steady and hopeful.
Sam Masich and Gaspar Garcia offered the initial workshops, which also helped to build the scene. I remember in Sam's workshop, on the Moon's opening weekend, I was so utterly exhausted I nodded off during one of his demonstrations. Those of you that know Sam, know how exhausted I must have been to do that! I began dating Kevin Fetherston, who kept me having fun during this extremely stressful time and also lent his shoulder to the wheel of the Moon.
Among all the calligraphy, there was one very special one. I actually designed the back wall to accommodate it. It was made specifically for the Moon by Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang. He even paid to have it shipped from China for the School’s opening. He said on the phone to my surprise, “I have something for you, ‘To make your dojo strong.’” A month later, it arrived.
As tenuous as those beginning months felt, they were strong and intentional. Despite financial hardships, toxic floor finishes and ambiguous days of wondering if anyone would show up, Embrace the Moon School took root and began to become the place in Seattle I had envisioned it might be. It did over the years, as Chen Xiao Wang prophesized, become strong.
Enter Lisa & Larry Spangler and their son Eli. Eli stayed for several years. Lisa & Larry continue to this day and are strong students and supporters of the Moon. Larry is a certified Luohan teacher and teaches Luohan and Yang Taijiquan around Seattle. Lisa is in the home stretch of the Luohan training program.
