My Brush with Homeland Security

It was educational in ways I did not see coming

Paul arrived early so he could ask some questions before the class started. He was of medium height, muscular, and confident. He was clearly a strong man, and he had a look of, “I’m a no-nonsense dude, so let’s be serious.”

He was a friend of a friend who wanted Paul to start learning the art of Nine Dragon (Jiulong) Baguazhang because he knew Paul was interested in the internal arts and would love Jiulong. So, I spent extra time with him in that first class, answering his questions and showing him some ways the Nine Dragon principles could be applied.

The beginning of each class included some warmups to loosen and connect the body in the particular ways used in the art. Paul struggled to release the muscular tension needed to learn the principles. Simple letting go of tightness was hard for him as he was invested in his equating strength with firm, tense muscles.

Of course, he wanted to know how Jiulong functioned against his attack. So, I took him aside while the class worked on partner exercises. I asked what he wanted to try and he said a punch to my head. “Go ahead,” I said. He looked at me for a moment, surprised that I wasn’t explaining more. Then he punched.

I applied a move we call the “Wedge”. It caught his punch and slammed him into the wall! (It is best to go to the Li Family Internal Arts University to learn more about this). A smile of surprise appeared on Paul’s face as he said, “What the hell just happened? Can you do that again?” He was confident that he knew how to defeat my move. “I think so. Give it a try,” I replied. He punched again. This time, it was a little straighter towards my face than before.

Again, I “wedged” his punch, this time with a small alteration in the angle. Again, Paul bounced off the wall! “That is so cool!” he said. He was delighted and asked for more information. I was happy to answer his questions. However, the tension he was unable to release was a barrier to his being able to learn the principles of the Wedge.

Paul came to more classes. He was fun to be with and very eager, although he was quickly frustrated, slowing down his progress. I asked him about this and the tension that he was struggling with. “It’s probably my job. I’m with Homeland Security, and it can be very stressful,” he explained.

Homeland Security? Here in Canada? He explained that he was currently stationed on this side of the US border, and that was all he offered. I respected his privacy on this topic and left it there.

All this happened in early September that year. I was scheduled to fly to Texas in October for the annual Daoqiquan Founder’s Day ceremonies and subsequent weekend workshops. I arrived at the airport in plenty of time to go through customs, but so did what seemed like every other passenger! The lineup for US customs was one of those that winds around several posts in a back-and-forth pattern. Lots of people. Lots of them anxious to move along.

I finally arrived at the red waiting line and scanned the booths to see which direction I was to go. Behind the booths was an office from which customs officers were coming and going. As one completed a shift and left, another one would take their place in the corresponding booth. I saw the officer in the last booth on the right side leave and, since all the other booths were busy, I guessed that this one was where I would go. The door to the office opened, the officer entered and a moment later, the replacement officer came out and walked to the booth. It was Paul!

For a moment, I felt slightly disoriented. Paul? The guy in my class the previous week was a customs officer! Ah, now I saw. In this case, Homeland Security stationed in Canada meant a US customs officer at the airport. As I made sense of this, the next realization dawned on me. I happened to be traveling to Texas that morning. I happened to be at the front of the line at that moment. Paul happened to be starting his shift at the same moment. Is there a word for multiple coincidences like that?!

I walked up to the booth while Paul was still looking down, organizing his setup. He looked up and started to say, “Morning, sir,” and stopped with his mouth open. “Eric?! What are you doing here?”, he said. “Heading to Texas for Founder’s Day. I can’t believe I’m seeing you!” We laughed and said various versions of “Wow. Amazing. Who’d have thought?…”

Then Paul reached underneath the desktop and pulled out a book. It was “Emei Baguazhang by Dr. Yang Jwing Ming”. My teacher (and consequently Paul’s), Dr. John Painter, had written the forward, and this was enough for Paul to purchase the book. Yellow sticky notes protruded from various sections, and he opened the book to one near the beginning.

He turned the book around on the desk towards me and said, “I’m glad you’re here. I don’t understand what this section means. Can you explain it?” I don’t know what the section was about. I was acutely aware of where I was standing. The eyes of I don’t know how many people felt like they were all focused on me, as I was having a casual conversation with this customs officer. “Paul, there are a bunch of impatient people behind me. Can’t this wait until we’re in class next week?” He glanced at the line of people and seemed to suddenly return to this moment. “Oh sure, of course. I just thought there might be a quick answer. I love this book but some parts are hard to understand. It’s ok though, we can talk next week.”

I’m guessing there were lulls in the customs activities during a shift so he would have time to read, hence the book under the desk. But it was a surreal moment to be standing at US customs in front of a Homeland Security officer being asked a question about Nine Dragon Baguazhang.

Paul came to as many more classes as he could before being reassigned back to the US. My memory of him all these years later is of a sincere, strong, inquisitive man who was so intent on understanding Baguazhang in general and Nine Dragon in particular that he even asked questions on the job…at the airport… at the customs desk…with his Bagua book in hand.

I had to admire such curiosity. I’m not sure the line of people behind that red line shared that admiration.