Tom McLean is a Fifth Degree Black Belt practitioner of Shotokai Karate with 25 years of experience. He is a lecturer in Accounting at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

"Having trained in karate for many years, I found that I was increasingly disenchanted with its emphasis on physical drills and its very limited concern for the real personal development of the individual. I stopped training in karate, but briefly attended or observed several aikido and Taiji schools, but felt that they did not offer the way forward for me. Then I was recommended to contact Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje.

I began to attend Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje's Taiji classes and was astounded by his ability as a martial artist; this ability was on a different, far higher plane than anything I had ever seen in many years of training in the martial arts with very high level instructors. As I continued to attend Sifu's Taiji classes, I began to understand more of the true depth and breadth of his extraordinary ability in a whole range of classical disciplines. However, I also began to realise that Sifu's ability was based on much more than physical form alone. Sifu uses Taiji and other martial arts merely as a means to introduce the efficacy of universal truth to his students. In Sifu's teaching, physical, spiritual, emotional and mental development are very much inter-related. Sifu does not advocate the use of gross physical energy. His energy is much more subtle, and is based on the cultivation of spiritual quality. Sifu does not ask anyone to have blind faith in him. Constantly Sifu demonstrates the physical manifestation of what he teaches so that his students can judge for themselves the validity of his approach. This physical manifestation of ability far surpasses anything that I have ever seen or experienced. Sifu's energy flows as a continuous stream that he can transform into an endless variety of manifestations. For example, the energy from "the hurricane" sweeps one around and off one's feet; the energy of "the wave" literally washes over and overwhelms one, while that of "the black hole" crushes and compresses.

However, in all of the many times I have experienced and watched the demonstrations of these applications of phenomenal energy forms, I have never seen anyone hurt or injured in any way. Sifu treats even his attackers with compassion and regards them as "honoured guests". His response to an attack is to treat his attacker with loving kindness and thoughtfulness so that the attack can be dealt with in such a manner that no injury would come to the attacker.

Sifu is capable of utilising very subtle energy to deal with an attacker without having physical contact. There is no need for Sifu to have physical contact with an attacker in order to subject them to "the hurricane", "the wave" or "the black hole" - the effect is the same, with or without physical contact. These things are very difficult to comprehend if one has no experience of them, and they seem to be impossible or extraordinary. Yet to Sifu these things are not only possible, they are an ordinary part of life and a demonstration of what a human being is capable of with sufficient work and application."