DUNCAN WONG

In the mid-1990s, Duncan Wong was living large. With two successful yoga studios in New York City, he acquired a celebrity clientele that included Madonna, Bjork and Sting and a fat bank account.

But the American realized that living in what he describes as "extreme high-end luxury" was not enough. He decided to downsize and streamline his life, packing his bags and heading to Asia, where his father comes from.

"In New York, I was learning about the high life and the good life, whatever that is," he said last Saturday before giving a class at the Ritz-Carlton, Jakarta. "But now, at 40, I have gone full circle. I now realize that the good life is the simple life."

A few years ago, he left New York to set up a school in Shanghai, which he continues to run. He now has a new base in Kyoto. He says he has become something of a "star" in Japan through his unconventional yogic arts practice.

Not for the faint-hearted or rigid purists, the discipline is a synthesis of yoga, martial arts and massage, with elements of dance and Pilates thrown in.

The lithe, tattooed Wong conducts his classes as a chatty but firm taskmaster, cajoling his students to follow his instructions and always, always "look at me*".

And he is very hands-on; sessions end with a massage that may be a bit too up close and personal for those who like their space. "Just say, 'Get away from me, creep' if you don't want me touching you," Wong tells the class.

"I spill it all out: Hip-hop, kick-box, dance-hall, fearsome original warrior poses, modern urban dance," he said earlier during a breakfast of miso soup, an egg-white omelet and wholewheat toast.

"Everybody wants to move and feel sexy, the original thing about intimacy is getting in touch with your base chakra, and I'm very controversial with that. You either love me or you don't. I have all kind of concerns across Asia about touching ... (But) I will not stop doing that."

With his tattoos, a bit of attitude and that different take on yoga, he jokes that he is the "bad boy" of yoga. He says he merely wants people to get in touch with nature, their wilder, animal sides that have been lost through "domestication".

But Wong, who will be at the Bali Spirit Yoga Festival from March 13-16, argues he is not trying to refine or overhaul the ancient discipline.

"Martial arts is complete unto itself, yoga is complete unto itself, but they interact to complement each other, not necessarily to complete each other. Anyone who practices martial arts needs yoga, and anyone who practices yoga and martial arts definitely needs a good massage."

A native San Franciscan, Wong was born to parents of Chinese and Scottish descent. His family later moved to the city of Davis, where Wong fell in with the gang life.

He never went to prison (his tattoos including Marilyn Monroe, a dragon and tiger and Tibetan mantras are a legacy of teenage experimentation with a budding tattoo artist friend), but he notes that most of the people he grew up with are "gone".

He was fortunate that his childhood love of martial arts led to a move to New York City, where he set out to learn and develop yogic arts.

Although the Madonna-Sting connection trails him everywhere, featured prominently in promotional materials for his classes, he groans when it is mentioned. But he says he did learn the difference between them and mere mortals.

"They relied on yoga to deal with the stress levels of their lifestyles and to remain connected to their spirituality and maintain their creativity. To live the high life, the big life, they have to keep it simple. And they have a small team around them -- it's almost like the mafia -- it takes a lot to be able to get into that inner circle. I was lucky to be able to get into that circle," he said.

"(But) it's about not giving up when you fail and showing up early and not being late. It's the simple things that make people successful, not just drive and talent."

Wong says moving to Asia has been therapeutic.

"When you're of mixed descent, you are never really accepted by anyone, ever, because you are not entirely accepted by one side of the blood or the other, or the country you live in ..."

He rented a bicycle in Shanghai to get to work and, with a language book by his side, tried to communicate with the locals. He has learned more about his identity from the experience.

"I realized that I'm built like them and I'm pretty darn Chinese, and yet very not."

He enjoyed his time in the celebrity cycle -- he still keeps in touch with the Mrs. Ritchie and jokes that she once mistook the Monroe tattoo for her -- but he is more grounded and down to earth today. He was particularly enthusiastic about teaching a workshop for street children at the Ritz-Carlton last Sunday.

"I came from the street, I know what they're going through," he said. "I'm able to give back. I know that a little look or some positive affirmation is what you need to keep going when things are going bad."

i-box:

For more information on Duncan Wong, visit www.yogicarts.com.

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