Monthly Newsletter – January Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! Let’s work hard, have fun and make 2016 an amazing year. From seminars, to competitions, demo’s and other activities, you won’t want to miss out on the action!
School Closings CMAA Holiday Dinner Party Recap Sash Test Master Ching Yin-Lee (2 x USA National Team Member) Seminars Junior Instructor Leadership and Teaching Program The Chinese Community Center Student(s) of the Month – A Family that Kicks Together, Sticks Together Two Paths are Really One: Martial Arts For Health or Fighting Black Belts Never Quit Stretch and Study CMAA Team Jackets and Hoodies For Sale Star Wars Kungfu The Lost Testament of Karate (Tai Chi)
School Closings
To accommodate our special guest instructor and a series of amazing seminars, all classes will be cancelled on Saturday, January 23rd. Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to train with a world class martial artist!
Additionally, with the winter weather looming, please stay tuned to inclement weather closings. I will post school closings on the websites homepage. However, it might not display on certain mobile devices which automatically default to the mobile site. Please call (518) 755-7512 if you are not sure!
Holiday Dinner Party Recap
What a special get-together. With delicious food, good company and some fun games, it was a wonderful evening of eating, drinking and being merry. Although not everyone could make it, it was wonderful to get our long time students together with the new generation just beginning at CMAA. In the spirit of the holiday season, it was very special to spend our time together with our other family – the CMAA family. I look forward to celebrating with you all again next year.
Kungfu Sash Test Please note that we will be holding our quarterly Sash Test on Sunday, January 17th, at 10:30 am.
You know exactly what we will be testing but if you have any questions, check the Sash Requirements page on the website and feel free to clarify things with me during class. http://www.martialartsalbany.com/kungfu-sash-requirements/
If you are unsure whether or not you (or your child) are ready to test, please speak with me before or during class, via email at AlbanyCMAA@gmail.com or by phone (518) 755-7512.
Remember, you will not “get” your sash at CMAA – you will EARN it! There is a big difference. It’s important you (your child) learns the value of their sash- the value of hard work! Let’s stay focused and step up our training so we’re fully prepared for the test! White/Yellow/Green/Blue: $25, Red/Purple/Orange: $50, Light Brown/Dark Brown/Gold/Black: $75
Master Ching Yin Lee Seminars
CMAA is proud to announce that GOSU Wushu head instructor Ching Yin Lee will be traveling to CMAA to offer several seminars. With over 20 years of training, Ching Yin Lee is a 2 x USA National Wushu Team Member (2003-2005, 2005-2007), Pan-American Games Medalist, amateur kickboxer, and internal stylist. Ching Yin Lee will be offering 4 unique seminars for all levels and interests!
Master Lee in Action!
Saturday, January 23rd Tai Chi Fundamentals: 9:30-11:00 am, Cost: $30. With over 20 years of internal martial arts training including standing Qigong, Taiji, and Xingyi, Master Lee will be bringing a wide range of skills and knowledge to our Taiji and Qigong practitioners. This seminar will focus on developing Taiji fundamentals of relaxation and body alignment through various standing and repetitive exercises.
Kungfu Foundation building and Individual Stylization : 11:15-12:30, Cost $25. Changquan (Northern Style Longfist) basics with individual style (flavor) and jump kicks. This seminar is perfect for beginners, intermediate and advanced students looking to not only solidify their basics, but also learn how to stylize their movements to make their movements unique to their body types, skill sets and personality. In addition, we will focus on skills and drills for jump kicks development!
Advanced Kungfu training, and competing: 12:30-2, Cost $30. Advanced individual Wushu forms coaching and the competitors approach to training. This seminar will be geared toward advanced student’s ranked orange sash and higher. Master Lee will correct student’s forms individually. In addition, Master Lee will address the competitor’s mindset and approach to training and competing.
Sunday January 24th, 10:30am- 12pm. Nanquan (Southern Tiger Crane Style) basics and combinations! Cost $35. This seminar is perfect for intermediate students looking to explore southern as an option for when they earn their orange sashes, advanced students looking to sharpen their southern style fundamentals, and gold sashes who are looking for individual forms combinations and choreography!
Junior Instructor Leadership and Teaching Program The Chinese Martial Arts Academy is proud to present the Junior Instructor Leadership and Teaching Program. Developing group management and interpersonal communication skills are the cornerstone of the programs agenda. In addition, the study of learning theory and education play a pivotal role as the students become teachers and take theory to practice.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” – Theodore Roosevelt. To find out more about this program please come speak with Shifu about how to qualify for this select program!
The Chinese Community Center
Some of your children have shown great talent for the martial arts, others have shown great interest. As a teacher, I assure you that your children have ALL shown great POTENTIAL! I see a healthy, confident, and focused martial artist in each and every one of them. Looking forward to an awesome 2016, year of the Monkey!
Student(s) of the Month – A family that kicks together, sticks together! Kamil, Adam and Lina. Starting out as "average students" these three siblings have really stepped their training up a notch. Coming in almost daily, often for back to back classes, they have put in the time. In addition, they've done it with enthusiasm. For your consistency and hard work the three of you have been chosen for be featured as January's "Students of the Month"!
Shifu: “Why did you start Kungfu?” A/K/L: We Started Kungfu becuase we wanted to learn how to defend ourselves and improve our strength. Shifu: “What is your favorite thing about Kungfu?” A/K/L: Our favorite thing about Kungfu is meeting with our friends, training and especially having fun! Shifu: “What are your goals in Kungfu for this coming year?” A/K/L: Our goals in Kungfu for this coming year is to do an aerial, a butterfly twist and a walkover and to improve our strength and flexibility :) Shifu: Do you have any advice for anyone looking to get better at Kungfu? A/K/L: Our advice for anyone looking to get better at Kungfu is: Never give up and always try your best! Shifu: “What is your favorite food?” A/K/L: Our favorite food is pizza, ice cream, pears and raspberries! Shifu: “What are your favorite marital arts movies?” A/K/L: Our favorite martial arts movie is Kungfu Panda. Shifu: “When you guys fight at home is it like a kungfu movie scene with spears and swords?” A/K/L: When we fight at home its more like wrestling and pillow fighting:) Shifu: “When you’re not training at CMAA what do you like to do in your free time?" A/K/L: In our free time we like to read, play board games, wall ball and play games on our iPad. Shifu: “Anything else about yourself you’d like to share with everyone?” A/K/L: We hope everybody will achieve their goals and have a great year.
At this rate the sky is the limit. Stay the course, and I know you three will accomplish great things in Kungfu! Look forward to seeing you all soon.
Two Paths are Really Just One: Martial Arts for Fighting and Health. Today, the vast majority of students who study martial arts have no desire to be “fighters”. Many may want to learn “self defense” but in reality, the major benefit of martial arts today is learning proper movement and the improvement of health. From the Yang family’s evolution of Chen family fighting art to public health method, to Swedish fencer Pehr Henrik Ling’s “Swedish gymnastics”, to Judoka Moshé Feldenkrais’ healing movement method; there seems to be a natural evolution to find from combat method a form of healing and corrective movement.
Read more here: https://nysanda.wordpress.com/2015/12/15/two-paths-are-really-just-one/ Black Belts Never Quit A black belt is just a white belt who never quit. All the reasons you should keep going! (… even when you want to quit, sometimes). 1. Learn what it really means to be a martial arts master. You won’t ever know if you quit now. 2. All your friends at practice miss you when you’re not there. 3. Sometimes you’re teammates are having a tough time in training and they could really use your motivation and support! Every practice you miss might have been one that a teammate needed you. Find out all the other reasons here! http://www.martialartsalbany.com/never-quit/
Stretch and Study Did you ever wish you could just sit back, relax and learn Kungfu from the comfort of your couch? Well, now you can! “But how much does it cost?” NOTHING! That’s right, you can learn more about Kungfu, for FREE from the comfort of your own home:) With all the Holidays coming up (and probably a few snow days) you might be finding yourself spending a little more time at home. Check out this link to find some awesome documentaries on the tradition, techniques and history of Chinese martial arts! http://www.martialartsalbany.com/807/
CMAA Team Jackets and Hoodies For Sale Please ask about our various styles of CMAA Team Jackets. We have the windbreaker warm up, the soft warm up and coming soon - the hoodie! Jackets are $65, and we will be putting in an order for hooded sweatshirts toward the end of the month ($35). Ask Shifu to see the sample! You can order in any color!
Star Wars Kungfu!
For you star wars and martial arts fans - check this out!
The Lost Testament of Karate (Excerpt)
Tai Chi comes from Wu Chi and is the mother of yin and yang. In motion, Tai Chi separates; in stillness yin and yang fuse and return to Wu Chi. It is not excessive or deficient; it follows a bending, adheres to an extension. When the opponent is hard and I am soft, it is called tsou [yielding]. When I follow the opponent and he becomes backed up, it is called nian [sticking]. If the opponent’s movement is quick, then quickly respond; if his movement is slow, then follow slowly. Although there are innumerable variations, the principles that pervade them remain the same. From familiarity with the correct touch, one gradually comprehends chin [intrinsic strength]; from the comprehension of chin, one can reach wisdom. Without long practice, one cannot suddenly understand Tai Chi. Effortlessly the chin reaches the head top. Let the chi [vital life energy] sink to the tan-tien [field of elixir]. Don’t lean in any direction; suddenly appear, suddenly disappear. Empty the left wherever a pressure appears, and similarly the right. If the opponent raises up, I seem taller; if he sinks down, then I seem lower; advancing, he finds the distance seems incredibly long; retreating, the distance seems exasperatingly short. A feather cannot be placed, and a fly cannot alight on any part of the body. The opponent does not know me; I alone know him. To become a peerless boxer results from this. There are many boxing arts. Although they use different forms, for the most part they don’t go beyond the strong dominating the weak, and the slow resigning to the swift. The strong defeating the weak and the slow hands ceding to the swift hands are all the results of natural abilities and not of well-trained techniques. From the sentence ‘A force of four ounces deflects a thousand pounds’, we know that the technique is not accomplished with strength. The spectacle of an old person defeating a group of young people, how can it be due to swiftness? Stand like a perfectly balanced scale and move like a turning wheel. Sinking to one side allows movement to flow; being double-weighted is sluggish. Anyone who has spent years of practice and still cannot neutralize, and is always controlled by his opponent, has not apprehended the fault of double-weightedness. To avoid this fault one must distinguish yin from yang. To adhere means to yield. To yield means to adhere. Within yin there is yang. Within yang there is yin. Yin and yang mutually aid and change each other. Understanding this you can say you understand chin. After you understand chin, the more you practice, the more skill. Silently treasure knowledge and turn it over in the mind. Gradually you can do as you like. Fundamentally, it is giving up yourself to follow others. Most people mistakenly give up the near to seek the far. It is said, ‘Missing it by a little will lead many miles astray.’ The practitioner must carefully study. This is the Treatise
Summary
As usual please stay tuned for more exciting action at CMAA!
Best,
Shifu