The Young Warriors

Last year when my Shi Hsiung di, Yang Shi Ming was here teaching seminars he help me reorganize the SF Wushu Team, for many years now we have always had a Wushu and Taiji demo components.........he added a group tp perform just the fighting aspects of Wushu...his interest of course was to help promote the art of Bagua, and to show the real applications to the American Public.  I just added the White Crane, Marvin the Choi Lay Fut and Glenn the Hawaiian Kajukempo........the young men who joined this group were named the Warriors by Sally one of my Taiji Students.....thx !!  I bring this up to clarify the differences between traditional and modern Wushu training.  My Taiji students have often thought that they were pracitcing Martial Arts......yes you are but also you are not..........if the workout does not include conditioning, power training and stance work it's not traditional training.   That means hitting bags, smashing body, kicking and punching practice, speed drills, lifting weights, and free sparring.  Most people are practicing a Martial Art for health..........not quite the same thing.  Most of the early training of the warriors was spent on stance work....about one hour, then another hour to punching, kicking and conditioning.......rest of the time leftover to practice a form.  Then after this to fighting combinations and speed drills.  I mentioned once that most taiji students do not know how to use their art in combat.........one student looked at me incredulously, and said everyone knows how to apply brush knee and press........well, only for a specific situation.......the form is only a reference for a specific use....but not a general use, nor does it actually prepare you for a spontaneous attack........and without proper training you might well not even be strong enough to deflect a punch or kick from someone who is sufficently strong.  In fact, taiji doesn't even teach you how to train your punch to be powerful enough to stop someone.   Again, while this is important, the training does not show you how to train taiji's most important weapon....the palm,  the punch is a minor technique in taiji.  So for those of you doing contemporary wushu........there is still a ways to go if you want to use your technique.....but you have the basis to make the transition.  For taiji students you must develop the external skills before you can apply the techniques in actual combat.  But does this mean you are wasting your time.....no of course not, you can still get good health from practicing form..........but that is not the martial side of the art........you are practicing for health, performance and as a hobby.

for many tears, I had resisted teaching any of my White Crane Kung=fu....as very few students lasted more than 3 classes....they could not take the hard training.  Michael was the only student who survived so I was surprised to find last summer that a new group wanted to try.....Les, Mike, and John  .They survived the training last year................. I am quite proud of them....they have made great progress.....and as always change will always occur........so last Sunday we sent off John, one of our Warriors to grad School........and had a party at our favorite Korean restaurant....Han Il Kwan.  Food was great as always.....John we will miss you, good luck, and continue to train hard!

Our Warriors group.........John is behind me, to the left is Les, joined in with....Young Mike, Michael the White Crane Guy......and then the Taiji guys Ben and Jason....we're just missing Ely.......the guy with the iron forearms!!

Was in Chinatown to see my student Aaron....he's my acupuncturist....stopped by to look at the progress on the Chinatown YMCA

The new addition on the left is almost complete.

The new addition will contain an Olympic swimming pool, and new classrooms.  the old building will be renovated but will not be earthquake resistant......cost was prohibitive.  The YMCA is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010. This was the home of the SF Wushu Team from 1984-2007.

Simu and I have spent a lot of our summer catching up on movies.........so Inception is a 9.5......but don't blink cause you might get lost in the story...............good Martial arts Movies.......Donny Yen's 14 Blades.....story of Jinyi Wei.....a Ming Dynasty bureau of Assassins....also good his movie: An Empress and the Warriors........and if you haven't seen it John Wu's, Red Cliff 1&2...................!!

Well that's it time to go...cya all!.