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updated 4/2/10 We will have class this Easter weekend, Sat, April 3! We are now taking students into our beginner tai chi program on an ongoing basis. Missing class: To the students out there who have missed a few, or more than a few classes lately, please don't get frustrated or embarassed. Everyone has interruptions in their training from time to time, and we're always glad to see you back and ready to encourage you to get back on the ball. The Mon/Wed/Sat classes are for beginners and are always a good place to start if you've been out for an extended period. News Archive Austin Events: Saturday 27th Tournament Sunday 28th 2nd Road of Meteor Fist, Cannon Rock Leg with Grandmaster Sin (morning) Sunday 28th Black Belt Banquet (evening)
On Saturday, Aug 29, 1:45-3pm Mr. Brian Adams, 2nd degree black belt, will teach Chuei Tao (Drunken Broadsword). The drunken style of kung fu is very fun and challenging. This is a relatively beginning-level drunken form, and is open to all levels. It is free to black belts, as this is one of the optional forms taught at 1st black. These extra seminars are a way to challenge yourself with higher-level material. Once you have learned an advanced seminar form, you'll accelerate your ability to learn the forms at your level. You increase your movement "vocabulary" by taking on more intricate techniques and longer sequences. The cost for each seminar will be $25, or $10 if you've taken the form with me before June and want a review. You can also volunteer 1 (for review) or 2 hours (for first-timers) of your time to help me clean up or work in the garden in exchange for taking the seminar. Beginner Tai Chi Seminar starts Saturday, 8/22 3-4:30pm and runs for six Saturdays (taking off Labor Day weekend) through Oct 3. If you are interested in learning tai chi, now is a great opportunity. Students will learn the entire 24 Posture Tai Chi form, the most popular tai chi form world-wide. Once you have learned this form, you will have the most essential tools for a life-long tai chi practice to realize the benefits for joint health, balance, flexibility, inner strength and mental tranquility.
Austin Trip 8/21-23.
We are still organizing students to go to Austin for Master
Don Duncan's tournament. We typically carpool up and students
are welcome to share hotel expenses. These are always fun and inspirational
trips. Let me know if you're interested or need more info! Pa
Kua Chang (aka baguazhang) starts August 11, Tues/Thurs 8-9pm Austin
Seminar & Tournament, 8/22-23 Let me know if you have any questions, and
I look forward to seeing you in class!
The seminar will focus on sparring, sweeps, and throws. The sparring principles taught in the seminar will be drawn from the internal martial arts of tai chi and pa kua. You do not need to be familiar with tai chi and pa kua in order to learn these techniques. However, if you are a student in the internal program, it will be interesting to see how Master Schaefer applies these arts to sparring. Master Schaefer is one of the most respected upper level black belts in our system, among our best fighters, and one of our most dynamic and effective instructors.
Please register as soon as you are able so I have
an idea of how many people will be taking part. All students are
welcome, even if you've been out of class for awhile. Use this as
an excuse to mark your return, or a chance to stop in and refresh
your abilities.
Sunday, October 26, 3-4:30pm we will begin teaching a 6-week introductory tai chi workshop. Over the course of 6 Sundays, students will learn the entire 24 Posture Tai Chi form, the most popular tai chi form world-wide. Once you have learned this form, you will have the most essential tools for a life-long tai chi practice to realize the benefits for joint health, balance, flexibility, inner strength and mental tranquility. The seminar will run at the same time on the following Sundays: 10/26, 11/2, 9, 16, 23 and 30. If you have to miss one of the classes, you can either pick that section up by watching the instructional video, or you may want to schedule a private lesson, which I would discount for you. I may schedule additional practice sessions if necessary. I am also flexible on some of the dates and times if participants would like to suggest changes. The $150 seminar fee will include the six Sunday classes plus an instructional DVD to help you learn and practice the 24 Posture Form with proper posture, stance, breathing, and movements. Once you have learned the form, you are welcome to join our tai chi program (classes Tues/Thurs 7:30-9pm) for further instruction in the health and self-defense aspects of tai chi, or to take private instruction with me for pursuing your individual goals in tai chi training, or even just practice on your own with the video until you feel ready to move on with more instruction. If you have taken our beginner tai chi workshop previously, you are welcome to attend these classes as a free review. I'm also taking new students in our kung fu program. I generally recommend that people with an interest in fitness and/or self-defense get a foundation in martial arts via kung fu, before or at the same time as tai chi training. Beginner kung fu classes meet Monday/Wednesday 6:30-8pm and Sat 12-1:30pm. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to reserve a spot in the workshop or classes, or with any questions or concerns. Hope to see you soon!
The class will have a dual focus: for beginners, the class will focus on teaching proper form for doing the kettlebell exercises safely and effectively. The class will also teach you how to design workout programs to meet your goals for strength, weight loss, aerobic conditioning, and explosive power. For those who are somewhat familiar with kettlebells and other forms of weight training, the class will show you how to safely and effectively train others to use kettlebells. This could be a path for you toward a career as a trainer. The class will meet Saturdays 10/ 18, 25 and 11/8, 15, 22 from 2-3:30pm at Powerful Fitness Gym, 4210 St. Claude Avenue. This 5-week, 7.5 hour class costs $150. Contact me if you need to arrange a work-trade discount. What is a kettlebell? (click for more info) Beginner kung fu
classes now open for new students Time to set goals for your
training 11/1/08 - New Orleans Halloween Festival & Tournament I now have a blog on kung fu, self-defense,
health, and functional fitness training. View it here: http://neworleansfitness.wordpress.com/
I'll be posting some more updates soon. Hopefully it will spur some
thought and give you some ideas for taking more control over your
life, setting goals, and optimizing health and happiness. I welcome
any questions and feedback. Our Grandmaster Sin Kwang The' now has his own personal website! Check it out at http://www.shaolingrandmaster.com/
--Boxing, kickboxing & kung fu techniques, Chinese yoga, & the evil power of Russian Kettlebells!
Current Class Schedule : Mon/Wed
Tues/Thurs
Sat
Click here for information or to schedule a free introductory class. News Archive Lone Star Challenge Tournament
Recap Congratulations go out to Dr. Dennis Kay and Andrew Kay, who successfully tested for second degree black belt at Master Don's school Friday night. The time and effort it takes to progress from first to second degree black belt is approximately equivalent to going from white belt to first degree black belt, so this is a very significant achievement. The other students taking part in the competition on Saturday were second brown belt Mark Gallant, yellow belt Gustavo Montanez, white belt Khalil Ferdinand, and Sifu Joseph, third black. Gustavo and Khalil were in a very competitive white/yellow belt division. It was clear that nearly all the other competitors had a significant amount of martial arts training prior to starting with Shaolin-Do. Their sparring was very aggressive, though controlled, with crisp kicks and punches. This makes it all the more impressive that Gustavo and Khalil had a respectable showing, with Gustavo taking fourth place in the forms and Khalil third place in sparring. Mark did a great job in the brown belt division, winning third place in the weapons competition. In sparring, he narrowly lost his preliminary fight in a tie breaker round against the competitor who ended up winning second place in the division. Sifu Joseph won first place in tai chi, second place in black belt forms, and first place in black belt weapons. He won his first point sparring match, then lost his second match to Sifu Paul Davis, 3rd black from South Austin. I encourage all students to take some time in the next couple of weeks to reflect on what they want to gain out of their martial arts training. I'll be contacting everyone soon with a goal-setting exercise to help you plot out a path for achieving your goals. It is important that you take an active part in directing your own training. If you are consistent in pursuing your goals, you will see great progress. If you have only a vague idea of what you want, please contact me and I can give you suggestions for bringing greater clarity to your goals. Hope to see you in class this week! 6/18/08--Congrats to all who tested last night for green and brown belts!
On Saturdays June 14 and 21, 1:30-3pm, I will teach "Dance of the Dragon King," the 7 section chain whip form. A chain whip is a chain with a handle at one end and a steel dart on the other. If you are interested in learning this form, practice your nunchuck swings over the next few weeks. If you don't know nunchuck swings, talk to me and I'll get you started. The cost of the seminar is $50, including the chain whip, but I need you to pre-register in advance of taking the form so that I can purchase the exact number of whips and have them ready for the seminar. These extra seminars are a way to challenge yourself with higher-level material. Once you have learned an advanced seminar form, you'll accelerate your ability to learn the forms at your level. You increase your movement "vocabulary" by taking on more intricate techniques and longer sequences. This Sunday, June 1, 11am-12:15pm I will begin teaching
a 6-week introductory tai chi workshop. Over the course of 6 Sundays,
students will learn the entire 24 Posture Tai Chi form, the most
popular tai chi form world-wide. Once you have learned this form,
you will have the most essential tools for a life-long tai chi practice
to realize the benefits for joint health, balance, flexibility,
inner strength and mental tranquility. Iron Palm Training Next Monday, June 2 at 8pm, I’ll hold the first introductory iron palm training class. If you’re interested in iron palm but can’t make that class, let me know and I’ll schedule an alternative time. Iron palm training involves striking a wooden
post and bag of gravel, thrusting hands into a bucket of dried soybeans,
and rolling an iron bar on your shins to harden up the body’s
striking and blocking surfaces. The cost for the training is $125
for 6 months, including all the Chinese medicine you will need for
healing bruises and strengthening the tissues. I’ll show you
the routine, and you will train on your own schedule in the 30 min
before any class, or 30 min after class on Mon/Wed/Sat. More importantly for the modern martial artist, it toughens your resolve and helps develop focus and determination against the most difficult obstacles. After doing iron palm for several months, you will begin to sound like Elder Master Bill Leonard (Grandmaster Sin’s senior student who runs the original Shaolin-Do school in Lexington, KY), when he says, “Pain is mostly irrelevant.” Elder Master Leonard and his top students (5th & 6th degree black belts) are on the forefront of iron palm training. They roll 90 lb steel bars up and down their shins for 400 reps, strike a solid hardwood trunk with their fists, and thrust their fingers into barrels filled with large steel ball bearings. We will start off a little easier than that, with 30 pound steel bars, a redwood 4x4 with slots cut into it, and dried soybeans in a bucket. By striking the iron palm post, we put a controlled level of stress on our limbs & joints that create denser bone mass and harder, stronger tissues without altering the outward feel or appearance of your arms, hands, shins etc. Not only is this important to help prevent injuries, and for self-defense, but it can help you age better. Here's some sports science jargon to back up my claim: Drs. Verkhoshansky and Siff state in Supertraining, “…joints subjected to heavy impact are relatively free of osteoarthritis in old age and those subjected to much lower loading experience a greater incidence of osteoarthritis and cartilage fibrillation. . . . It appears that the cartilage of joints subjected to regular impulsive loading with relatively high contact stresses is mechanically much stiffer and better adapted to withstand the exceptional loading of running and jumping than the softer cartilage associated with low loading. Thus, joint cartilage subjected to regular repetitive loading remains healthy and copes very well with impulsive loads, whereas cartilage that is heavily loaded infrequently softens… the collagen network loses its cohesion and the cartilage deteriorates." When you use the 3-part iron palm herbal medicine that is unique to our tradition of kung fu, you get a training regimen that really helps strengthen you up in these often vulnerable areas of joints and connective tissue. I am offering 6 months of iron palm training, including all the herbal medicine you need, for $125. This includes initial instruction in how to use the equipment, an information handout on training, and any follow-up instruction you need. I'll give you bottles of the tinctures & bags of the internal medicine to use as you need. Each bottle should last you at least 2 months, and I'll refill them up to 3 times as you need them. You can train on your own schedule, using the iron palm post, rock bags, bricks and iron bar in the weight room before or after class as often as you like. Contact me if you're
interested in signing up. On Saturday, May 31, 1:30-3pm,(and again the following Sat at the same time) I will teach Entwining Dragon Staff (Pang Lung Pang). This is one of the most advanced staff forms Grandmaster Sin has taught to date, with many interesting striking techniques from all angles. It is a favorite of many of our Senior Masters. The staff form is open to students of all levels for $25, or for $5 each if you have learned the form from me before and want an intensive review. Alternatively, first-time takers can volunteer 2 hours per seminar (1/2 hour for review students) to help me with various cleaning, painting, repair, and landscaping projects around the school. 2008 Shaolin-Do Spring
Festival--Recap Six New Orleans students, ranging in experience from white to black belt, made the trip out with me to take part in the weekend’s events. Congratulations go out to J.T. Palacio who successfully tested for 2nd degree black belt. For a complete
recap of the Spring Festival, visit my blog http://neworleansfitness.wordpress.com/
Click here to see pictures from our 2007 New Orleans Halloween Festival!
I'm
very excited to announce that my teacher, Master Joe Schaefer, 6th
degree black belt from Austin, TX, is coming to the New Orleans
school in 10 days to lead a seminar on sparring skill and how to
use a meditative mindset to take your sparring to a whole new level. click
here to see Master Joe sparring against 7th degree black belts in
the Master's Sparring Division New Orleans Halloween Tournament. Three years ago I started an annual tradition (skipping '05 for obvious reasons) of holding a tournament on the Saturday closest to Halloween. We started out with sparring competitons in the first year, then expanded to add empty hand forms competitions for the various belt levels as well as divisions for weapons and tai chi forms. Each year, we've had senior black belts come in from Texas schools to perform demonstrations, teach seminars, and compete. This year's tournament will be held at the school on Sat, October 27. It's fun, inspiring, and educational for all levels, and I'd love to see everyone participate. Free introductory
kung fu class Wed, Oct 3, 6:15-8pm: School News
for September The broadsword (tao) is one of the most popular of the traditional Chinese weapons, It is a thick, single-edged sword with a curved blade. It was the standard-issue weapon for Chinese soldiers for centuries. Drunken style kung fu is a very fun fighting style to learn. It is based on unpredictable, erratic, unorthodox movements, evasion, surprise attacks, cross stepping, and flexibility. Drunken broadsword employs some very odd movements, such as passing the sword from hand to hand, kicking with the sword between your legs, and wielding the sword by pinching the back of the blade. Most drunken forms are very advanced and require extensive conditioning to perform the movements. This drunken broadsword form is an exception. It is a first degree black belt form, and kung fu students of any level will be able to learn and perform it. Let me know if you would like to purchase a broadsword. They range in price from $20 for a wooden sword, $65 for a good aluminum sword (recommended), to $120 for combat steel. The tao is probably the most versatile weapon in our system, so you will definitely be using it a lot in the future. Just off the top of my head, the broadsword forms in our system include: Night Battle Broadsword (a required form at 3rd brown), Drunken Broadsword, 4 Faces 8 Directions Double Broadswords, Shaolin Broadsword, Second Level Broadsword, Tai Chi Broadsword, Tai Chi Broadsword 2 Man set, Green Dragon Broadsword, and Chain Whip and Broadsword. This will be the first in a series of optional Spring seminars, and will cost $25 (free for black belts or students who took this seminar before). I will also accept a work-trade if you can commit 2 hours of your time on a weekend to help me clean, paint and/or make small repairs at the school. Just let me know if you want to go this route. Shaolin-Do
Spring Festival in Austin, TX
New
Orleans Shaolin-Do Halloween Festival, Sat Oct 28 10am-3pm We've had several
sparring tournaments at the New Orleans school, and now it's time
to "kick it up a notch." Are you a New Orleans student,
and you haven't had the opportunity to travel to Austin or Lexington
for the events there? Or maybe you have, and want to "spread
the love" and show those who haven't gone how fun & inspiring
it is? Or maybe you are a student in Texas, Kentucky, or elsewhere
who's itching for a fun getaway with a little kung fu thrown in
for the bargain?
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