Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Adam Chan coming to Walla Walla.

We are planning to have Adam Chan come to Walla Walla to teach a seminar at the end of July.  Check in with me at class to register for the event we are limiting the event to 15 people.  Fee is 200.  

Two Day 5 hours each day.


Monday, May 27, 2013

Pierre Hartmann of the Swiss Chinese Boxing Association to Present NCKF at Infinity Martial Arts in Mukilteo, WA

Tim Wang of Infinity Martial Arts in Mukilteo, Washington (just 30 minutes north of Seattle).  Pierre Hartmann will be teaching NCKF (Non Classical Kung Fu) for the two day seminar.  Pierre Hartmann was a student of Ed Hart, Jesse Glover and trains with Steve Smith in Fook Yueng Chuan (Pierre is the European Head of Fook Yueng Chuan).

I am very excited to see Pierre teaching a Seminar here.  He is a world class teacher and proponent of Non Classical Kung Fu.

This event is not to be missed.

Tim Wang teaches Fook Yueng Chuan in Mukilteo and is accepting students.

Seminar Sign Up Page

Friday, May 24, 2013

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is a time to be grateful and to reflect on the sacrifices paid.

The Little Dojo will be closed in Remembrance.

Thank You

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Jiang moon by Adam Chan


Jiang moon 

  I grew up reading Martial Arts magazines  when I was 10 years and on . And I notice a leader of a system is call "grandmaster" in North America, in Chinese the word is Si gung ( literally "teacher"-"grandfather") Si Gung iin Chinese does NOT signify a LEADER of a system but rather your "grandfather" , your teacher's teacher , that all . Personally I don't care about labels of grandmaster or si Gung. Its my teacher's teacher, nothing more. 

   A leader of a system on the other hand is a big deal , a "inheritor". In Chinese , Canontese, a inheritor is call a " Jiiang moon"  literally this means " Senior gate" . This has significant meaning. Senior is the leader and gate means a door to a PATH not a dead system, it is living, evolving. In another words , the inheritor , Jiang Moon historicially had the absolutely right to change the system anyway he sees fit.

   Aside from the founder and ancestor, the Jiang Moon is the highest ranking member of a style/system/path. No one in the style had the legimate right to take the art in a new direction , any direction without the Jiang Moon/inheritors permission. Because of this structure ingrained in the Chinese 4000 year old culture , martial artist and even commoners understand all this . This tradition was in place not to gather more student or cash but to make sure the art would not be water down. 

    A Jiang Moon is not just chosen for his obvious exceptional Skill and fighting ability but also for his understanding of an art. The truth is every style have more than just physical movements and tactics. Every style has a flavor to it , a personality , after all , an art is the experssion of the founders heart. Fighters, great fighters of a clan might be deadly but it does not guarantee that this person truly understood the art - that is why they say in CHinese , if  you really wanna understand an art, strive to feel what the founder actually felt in his body when he created it . The person that can do that was histoircally chosen to be the Jiang moon inheritor .  Aside from this exceptional ability , a Jiang Moon is chosen if his master feels that he's the one that can pass on the art in its true essence. You see, anyone can learn something spoon fed , train hard and get good. Thats merely fighting ability but if you just learn a system and develop fighting ability without getting the essence , it runs the risk of meeting its expiry date.  Society changes , fighting changes, if a art does not change with it , it is dead. But if someone can capture the essence of an art , he will have the ability to change with the times - hes not just a great fighter , but he has the ability to modify , re-discover, change an art because he has capture the essence of the art. So the more it changes the more it stays the same , this is what the Ba kua triagrams around the yin and yang symbolizes ... 

    ABOVE ALL ELSE, a jiang moon is chosen for his CHARACTER , his compassion and virtue. You have to remember that in feudal CHina, hundreds of years ago , Gung Fu was strictly look upon as a weapon in the society. As such , measures was taken to make sure that Gung Fu was only given to the good hearted so not to do harm to the villages. 

   One thing is for sure, a inheritor Jiang Moon can NOT be self-appointed hahah like todays MA community were ppl can self proclaim themselves as "grandmasters" but rather the inheritor Jiang Moon can only be chosen by the last Jiang Moon when he is about to "close his hands"  .  It is the chosen one not the  self pro-claimed one....... and unless someonei is a complele idot , they should know that a real  Jiang Men inheritor is someone who has the " feel" of what the founders wanted , not someone that the self proclaim should try to mess with. 

Friday, May 10, 2013

Women's Self Defense

I have taught hundreds of women over the years Self Defense clinics and in our regular classes.

Women have the same abilities to learn real and effective self protection skills as with any gender it takes real and dedicated practice to develop the skills necessary to effectively defend one's self.

As Bruce Lee stated knowing is not enough.  Learning moves in a short specialty class gives a basic overview of what is possible to do then real practice is necessary to develop this knowledge into the skills needed in time of emergency.  I am not a fan of these classes as they do not provide the time to develop.  They are a snapshot.

I have developed a course that takes 8 weeks two hours a day to get that level of skill and there are many others that have that duration or longer that are also effective.  Quick fix ideas are never of value when you take into consideration the way that we as human beings learn skill sets.  We learn by doing consistently and over a period of time.  It takes time and repetitions to develop neural pathways for anything whether that is tennis, golf or self defense skills.

Women for the most part will be defending themselves against men who are much of the time bigger or stronger there fore what they learn should be on a higher order than what is typically taught.  They should be learning skills that will give them the tools to safely escape and or disable an attack.  Typical "self defense" classes are dumbed down and are insulting to peoples intelligence and are a black mark on the Martial Arts community in my opinion.  Shop well who is teaching you do they know what they are doing and do they have the skill to bring you to a highly skillful place.

If you are interested in learning to defend your self and your loved ones I would highly recommend finding a program that goes into sufficient depth and over a long enough period of time to make the knowledge useful to your body.  When done correctly this is fun, a great work out and a invaluable confidence builder.  When done wrong it builds false security and can be dangerous.

Look at various programs and invest.  It is not inexpensive to learn good material it takes time it takes money and it takes focused attention.


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Adam Chan Seminar in Tofino, B.C. `

Adam Chan of Pragmatic Martial Arts will be conducting a seminar in Tofino, B.C. Canada.  Event details can be found HERE.

Adam is a very good teacher.  I highly recommend getting to see him at a seminar soon.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Sifu Andrew T. Dale teaching a Tian Shan Qi Gong and the teachings of Master Fook Yueng Seminar

This session will go through the movements of Tian Shan Qi Gong and the teachings of Master Fook Yueng. Tian Shan (Heavenly Mountain) is a Taoist Qi Gong emphasizing greater energy awareness, healing, and control. Pre-pay and registration required. Cost: $45

Andrew Dale is a widely respected teacher of the Internal Arts and Student and Friend of Master Yueng for many years.

Seminar Link




A favorite Poem of mine The Dreamer By Robert Service

The Dreamer visioned Life as it might be, And from his dream forthright a picture grew, A painting all the people thronged to see, And joyed therein -- till came the Man Who Knew, Saying: "'Tis bad! Why do ye gape, ye fools! He painteth not according to the schools." The Dreamer probed Life's mystery of woe, And in a book he sought to give the clue; The people read, and saw that it was so, And read again -- then came the Man Who Knew, Saying: "Ye witless ones! this book is vile: It hath not got the rudiments of style." Love smote the Dreamer's lips, and silver clear He sang a song so sweet, so tender true, That all the market-place was thrilled to hear, And listened rapt -- till came the Man Who Knew, Saying: "His technique's wrong; he singeth ill. Waste not your time." The singer's voice was still. And then the people roused as if from sleep, Crying: "What care we if it be not Art! Hath he not charmed us, made us laugh and weep? Come, let us crown him where he sits apart." Then, with his picture spurned, his book unread, His song unsung, they found their Dreamer -- dead. Robert Service Found on http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-man-who-knew/ It is easy to find fault in ourselves and in others. There is power in seeing beauty.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Master Fook Yueng at A Seminar Last November

This is a tribute to my teacher Master Fook Yueng who came by to a seminar I did in Seattle. My friend made this video tribute to him as he passed away a few months later. Master Yueng was a quiet and compassionate genius.