Mattijs

Mattijs M. van Katwijk

In my teenage years, I discovered Daoist philosophy. I was particularly drawn to Zhuang Zi’s humour, down-to-earth approach and depth. Having grown up with a strong emphasis on the intellect, I found that his stories opened up another way of experiencing life: less through thinking, more through wonder and direct engagement with the world.

When I began practising martial arts and the internal arts, that discovery took on a deeper, physical dimension. Guided by different teachers, I gradually learned to feel and experience what had first resonated with me in the texts. Below, I share that journey and introduce the teachers who played an important part in it.

Teachers

I first encountered qigong in 1998 through Inge Maassen. I was immediately impressed by her intuitive approach, which allowed me to experience the wisdom of Daoism in my own body.

Not long afterwards, I met Reinoud Eleveld. In him, I found, for the first time in my life, a male teacher I was willing to learn from. While Inge’s subtlety inspired me to turn inward, Reinoud brought a firm, directive approach and insights that profoundly influenced my outlook on life. Between 2000 and 2007, I immersed myself wholeheartedly in everything Reinoud taught.

In 1998, I also began practising aikido with Franciska van Leeuwen. Until 2017, I trained with Franciska and her sons at their family dojo, Seishin Seii.

In 2004, I qualified as a qigong teacher at Ren Mai in Rotterdam. In 2005, I gained certification through both Healing Tao Nederland and Universal Healing Tao in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

In 2007, I travelled to China for the first time, spending a period training with Xiao Yao on Wei Bao Shan. The following year, I trained with Hu Xuezhi on Wudang Shan. These journeys strengthened my connection to the Daoist tradition and deepened my understanding of its cultural roots.

My training in yiquan with Peter den Dekker, author of The Dynamics of Standing Still, was particularly significant. I trained with him from 2014 to 2018. Peter had a remarkable ability to explain how the practice relates to life.

Other important teachers in the years before 2018 were Juan Li (I Ching Dao), Masahiro Ouchi (Tao Zen) and Denise Goedbloed (Gevoelsbewust Bewegen).

Other Developments

In 2010, I opened Studio MENG in The Hague. In this beautiful space, I taught my own classes and hosted workshops and training with guest teachers including Dirk Oelibrandt, Barry Spendlove and Sol Sebastian. I also hosted the Tao Congress twice, with talks by respected teachers and writers including Jaap Voigt, Jan de Meyer and Johannes Bloemsma (Nourishing Destiny).

Jaap Voigt giving a talk at Studio MENG during the 2017 Tao Congress.

Seeking to make a broader contribution to society, I also began working as an embodied leadership trainer in 2012, with organisations including the Dutch central government, Philips and the police. You can find out more about this work on the MENG — Elementair Werk website.

I illustrated Bewust Beter Bewegen, a book by Inge Maassen and Denise Goedbloed, both of whom I trained with extensively during that period.

Around this time, I also began collaborating with Judith Pijnenburg (Equitopia) on the Tao of Horses. Natural horsemanship and qigong proved to have much in common, with each enriching the other in practice.

In MANKRACHT (Tao of Men), I combined qigong and men’s work with cultivating a more conscious, natural relationship with sexuality.

Starting Again

Training with Damo Mitchell (Lotus Nei Gong) for the first time in 2018 marked a turning point in my life and work. It almost completely overturned my understanding of internal training. I came to see much of what I had learned over the years as a diluted, Western adaptation of traditional neigong practice.

I began my training again. For several years, this left me in an uncomfortable position professionally: much of what I had previously taught no longer stood up to my new understanding, yet I was a novice in the new system.

From 2023 to 2026, I had the opportunity to train full-time in the Lotus Nei Gong Bali Project. It was here that I first truly developed the qualities that distinguish authentic qigong and taijiquan from mental exercises and mindful movement.

From January 2027, I will be teaching in the Netherlands again.