About
John W. Ellis IV is a martial artist and meditation practitioner based in Oakland, California, where he directs Ananda Martial Arts and Fitness Academy. He has over 35 years of experience teaching martial arts and self-defense to diverse populations, including children, seniors, athletes, and people with physical disabilities and autism. Ellis has practiced meditation for more than 40 years across Christian, Zen, Vipassana, and New Thought traditions. He teaches Five Realms Meditative Movement and has written about martial arts, spirituality, and alternative health for major publications.
Teaching focus
Master John Ellis's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. Several threads come up: steady attention to body and breath; the relationship between ethics and meditation; and short, direct teachings rather than long talks. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Master John Ellis works with whatever shows up in the room rather than reading from notes, which is part of why these talks land as conversational instead of scripted. Short pauses, longer sits, and questions that come back to direct experience are usual. Listed specialties on the source profile include in-person, teens, seniors. The bigger move Master John Ellis keeps making is back toward attention itself: what's happening, how it's being held, and what gets in the way. That keeps the teaching close to practice rather than drifting into commentary about practice. For talks, schedules, and longer essays, the affiliated organization's page is where the live material lives. Master John Ellis's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. Master John Ellis's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on.
Background
Master John Ellis teaches in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. The teaching home is East Bay Meditation Center. From the teacher's own profile: Master John W. Ellis IV is a martial artist with more than 35 years of experience in helping people strengthen the connections between the body, mind and spirit. He teaches toddlers, youth, adults, senior citizens, athletes, the physically challenged, and autistic children. He has more than 40 years of meditation practice in Christian, Zen, Vipassana and New Thought traditions; and has written about martial arts, spirituality, and alternative health for major media. Master Ellis leads Ananda Martial Arts and Fitness Academy in Oakland, where he teaches traditional martial arts, self-defense and Five Realms Meditative Movement. www.FiveRealms.com. In the Insight stream Master John Ellis works inside, the emphasis is on direct attention to body, feeling tone, and mind, alongside the brahmaviharas and an ongoing investigation of how clinging and aversion arise. Talks tend to be conversational rather than scripted, and there's room for sila and ethics to be talked about as part of practice rather than as a separate topic. Master John Ellis's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Master John Ellis's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Master John Ellis's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Master John Ellis's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Master John Ellis's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Master John Ellis's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Master John Ellis's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography.
Lineage
Master John Ellis teaches as a monastic teacher in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is East Bay Meditation Center, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. The Insight lineage in the West runs through teachers like Mahasi Sayadaw, U Ba Khin, Anagarika Munindra, and Dipa Ma into the founders of IMS, Spirit Rock, and the regional centers, and most contemporary Insight teachers position themselves somewhere in that broad family.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Master John Ellis, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. The container is shaped by East Bay Meditation Center, so format details, fees, and access policies follow that organization's norms. Expect plenty of silence, less talking-at-you than you might think, and an emphasis on letting the practice do its work rather than chasing experiences. For exact dates, registration, and any sliding-scale or scholarship information, There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice.
