Dear Friends, If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth ten thousand and this month’s newsletter is full of them. I’ve come across so many interesting things that I wanted to share with you all. Whether you practice Kungfu or Tai Chi, I think you’ll benefit from keeping an open mind and watching a few of these videos. And as always, from seminars, to competitions, demo’s and other activities, you won’t want to miss out on the action at CMAA!
School Closings KungFu Sash Test Recap Tai Chi at CMAA Protective Gear WuDang Kungfu and Tai Chi Documentary Dragon Girl Documentary Flashback to Shifu Performing Kungfu at the United Nations! Tai Chi Resource CMAA on Instagram Policeman Disarms Man with Knife 8 Sections Brocade Qigong
School Closings Please note CMAA will be closed on Tuesday, July 4th for Independence Day. All other classes will be held as regularly scheduled.
KungFu Sash Test Recap Congrats to those who tested! We had many new students testing for the first time. I was very impressed with your level of preparation, focus and effort! In addition, I was proud that two highest belts who participated (Max and Riane) were actually not testing, but wanted to come support their kungfu brothers and sisters. I think that sets a great example of what CMAA is all about. Great job everyone, you guys did awesome! I'm excited to see you progress.
Tai Chi at CMAA Tai Chi in the Capital District! For anyone interested in Tai Chi please check out CMAA’s Tai Chi dedicated page. I will be posting interviews, seminar info, articles and videos etc. Remember to "Like" and "Follow"! https://www.facebook.com/TaiChiatCMAA/
Protective Gear For those who attend Tues/Thurs 7-8pm and stay after class to grapple, I highly recommend wearing some protective gear (mouth guard, and cup (groin protection). See below where I will provide some links for the specific items you could look at. Most come in Youth/Adult sizes, so just select based on your needs. In the near future we will be adding specific classes to the schedule that will focus on sparring and having protective gear will be very important. Stay tuned for more details! Mouth guard for kids with braces: http://a.co/gbp7aG7 Mouth guard: http://a.co/a9Uesjg Men’s/Boy’s Cup: http://a.co/bfVnR9Q Women's pelvic protector: http://a.co/0V5dFsf
Dragon Girl Documentary This is one of the most powerful documentaries on martial arts in China I’ve come across. It is very real and very raw. It shows not only the real conditions which many martial arts kids are exposed to in China, but it also offers great insight into Chinese culture. I was greatly moved watching this documentary as it reminded me of several of the schools I trained at in China. While I trained with very small, elite professional teams in China, they were actually very similar in terms of the sincerity of the students and harsh conditions.
WuDang Kungfu and Tai Chi Documentary Wudang Mountain is famous for its relationship to Daoism and Martial Arts. Check out this interesting documentary on martial arts of WuDang!
Interested in watching more? Check out many more documentaries on our website! Kungfu Documentaries: http://www.martialartsalbany.com/807/ Tai Chi Documentaries: http://www.martialartsalbany.com/stretch-and-study-tai-chi/
Flashback to Shifu Performing Kungfu at the United Nations! “Lucas Geller, owner of the Chinese Martial Arts Academy in Colonie, was among 35 American athletes and more than 20 of the top wushu (literally martial arts) champions from China’s national team who performed at the United Nations on August 18th. The event, with the theme “Peace, Friendship and Health”, marked China’s 40th anniversary as a member of the UN.
Some 1600 people from diplomatic missions and other invited guests watched the two hour martial arts performance in the General Assembly. Among those in attendance were world famous actor and kungfu film star Jet Li, the UN Secretary General Asha Rose Migiro, film director Ang Lee and Weng Min, the Chinese ambassador to the UN”. Shifu's Kungfu sword routine starts at 6:35
Read more about the event here! http://www.martialartsalbany.com/shifu-geller-united-nations-kungfu-performance-with-jet-li/
Tai Chi Resource I highly encourage those of you interested in Tai Chi and Qigong to spend some time on this website http://www.egreenway.com/ It may take some time to navigate, but once you are familiar with the layout, you will find an abundant amount of information on Taiji and Qigong (among other things like Chinese philosophy, massage, and other healing/wellness practices). From translations, to posture lists, commentaries and links to instructional resources, I think this website should be bookmarked and frequented by anyone interested in internal martial arts!
CMAA on Instagram For more check out CMAA on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/chinesemartialartsacademy/
The Scholar - Warrior. "A society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools". "Strive to be a warrior scholar. Forged by fire and tempered by knowledge. If not you will lack the courage to fight for your ideals or lack ideals worth fighting for." "????“ (wen wu shuang quan). In traditional Chinese culture this phrase is used to describe a unique person skilled in both literature/academics and combative/military arts. They were the Scholar Warriors who were equally adept in wielding a pen as they were a sword. In the west, during the enlightenment you had Renaissance men who sought to develop themselves in a similar way: intellectually, artistically, socially, and physically. In today's day and age we are all given an opportunity to receive an education. Some choose to accept it and understand that learning and knowledge is a beautiful thing, we usually call them nerds or dorks. Others reject it and focus on athletics, we call them jocks. However, there is an alternative. That is to be the Scholar Warrior (or more often "Student Athlete", though I personally feel there is a difference between the typical athlete and a practitioner of combative arts). I hope my students don't limit themselves. I hope they will expand their identity to include both academics and learning as well as their martial arts. Let your identity be inclusive and allow for growth in all areas. Let your identity be that of the Scholar Warrior.
The sport of Modern Kungfu or Wushu (???is two part Taolu (??) Forms and Sanda (???Free fighting. Most people refer to Taolu as Wushu but that's incorrect as Taolu is only half of what Wushu offers as a competitive sport. Most competitors for focus on one area or the other to concentrate their time and energy on what will have the greatest return on investment. However, to be well rounded and understand the style to its fullest, practitioners should be familiar with both My dad once told me "fear is a great motivator". Don't think of fear is a negative emotion. Let your fear of failure be a source of motivation. Train harder when you fear sparring/rolling with someone in gym. Study harder when you're afraid of not doing well on an exam. Work harder when you fear the consequences of not doing so. Just remember fear is not your enemy. Fear will be your companion on the path to success!
"Be the hero of your own movie"- Joe Rogan. Believe in your dream and never stop working for it. It will become a reality.
Be obsessed. Be crazy. Be a fanatic. Don't over complicate things. If it's all you think about then it's all you do. This is a part of self actualization, or the fulfillment of ones talents and potentials.
"In martial arts it's not about who's the best, it's about who's left. " - Chris Haueter. Whether it's small breakthroughs or big breakthroughs, we are often closest to making them when we are ready to quit and just walk away. Temporary setbacks, injuries and plateaus are just opportunities to grind through and grow from.
Policeman Disarms Man with Knife When I first saw this video posted I automatically imagined a knife wielding attacker, out skilled and disarmed by a well trained cop. I imagined a Jackie Chan style flurry of blocks, and strikes leading up to a wrist lock and the knife being stripped away. I even started to Rolodex a variety of knife disarms I was familiar with the see if I could predict the way in which cop got the upper hand. Well, I was quite shocked to see just how he did it. It was a simple and powerful reminder of how love, humanity and empathy can be powerful and used effectively in even the most dire of circumstances. Take a look!
8 Sections Brocade Qigong For those of you who practice this Qigong set on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9am, enjoy this simple GIF I came across!
Summary As usual please stay tuned for more exciting action at CMAA!
Best,
Shifu