Seattle Shuai Jiao

[Orpheus]

I received this email and I offered to repost it here for anyone interested. This will be a new shuai jiao group starting in Seattle.

hi everyone,

I am very excited for training to begin on Monday, I hope you are all ready! I wanted to send out details again to make sure everyone has them. It may be a good idea to show up a couple minutes early since we will have to get everyone signed up (waivers etc) and to give you a couple minutes to warm up. I put some more detailed descriptions of the classes in the bottom of this email, check them out if you like. Also, we have a basic website up at www.EvergreenKungFu.com

what you need to know:

where: Jun Hong Kung Fu & Sports Association
4878 Beacon Ave S. at the intersection of Beacon Ave S and Columbian Way S. Off I-5, take the columbian way exit and follow columbian way to beacon ave. building is just south of the gas station on Beacon.

class schedule: monday evenings
7:15pm-7:45- tai chi
7:45-9:30pm- kungfu

what to bring:

It is traditional to wear black and/ or white (usually black) when training. If you have them, black kung fu pants and a black tee shirt. If not, just wear clothing that is comfortable and loose enough to move around in (sweats or a track suit etc). In our tradition we wear plain color shirts that don't have any vulgar or political or religious messages that could offend anyone.

As far as shoes, kungfu/ wrestling shoes are ideal (because they are light and thin and you can easily feel the ground beneath your feet), but any shoes are fine.

We will include what is called belt cracking in our training (requires a belt), but not the first day. I will look into getting belts (probably pretty cheap) so you can train at home. But for now I have several extras lying around so I can bring in some for in-class use.

membership rates with a 6 month enrollment agreement: if you sign up by (or at) the first class (may 16th), it will be $20/ month for tai chi only, $50/ for both classes. I strongly encourage you to do both classes as they are complementary and provide different benefits.

After the 16th, dues will be $30/ month for tai chi, $60/ month for both classes.

monthly dues with no enrollment agreement: $40/ month tai chi only, $100/ month for both classes.

Introductory class- $25 (can be used towards membership if you decide to sign up).

I will also offer an occasional weekend workshop in addition to the regular classes which will be included in the monthly dues (no extra charge).

Please come hydrated and nourished and ready to sweat!


7:15-7:45 Tai Chi class. This class will begin with some basic qi gong exercises to warm up and then we will focus on learning the taichi form. The form I practice is sometimes called Chang style because it is a variation/ refinement of the Yang style form by GM Chang Teng Sheng. GM Chang just called it taichi, but out of respect for his expertise that went into the "corrections" we sometimes refer to it as Chang style. There are 3 sections, and we will learn one at a time. Each section can be practiced alone as a complete form (what is termed "short form taichi"), or as a sequence of 3 they create what is sometimes called the "long form tai chi."


7:45-9:30 Kungfu/ Shuai chiao class. This class will incorporate a lot of different material and may vary from week to week, but the basic format will be a warm up, conditioning/ strength building, basic movements, shuai chiao forms, kungfu forms, applications. Depending on how things go, we may do more or less of any particular component and sometimes we may focus on just one or two components. The path to mastery is repetition and discipline (there is a saying that 1000 repetitions make a master, and this means that to master a movement or technique we have to practice it correctly 1000 times- this goes for anything in life, not just kungfu).

My primary objective for this class is to provide you with a solid foundation in conditioning, body awareness, proper movement, and effective self defense. My lineage is from GM Chang Tengsheng via M Alexander Knight, and the training we will use comes largely from Chang's tradition of Bao Ding Kuai Chiao (a style of shuai chiao). GM Chang studied, taught, and exchanged knowledge at the Nanking Institute (National Kuo Shu Institute) and in his experience decided to incorporate some taichi and hsing yi into his training, and so we do the same. He also established much of the curriculum for the Central Police Academy in Taiwan, and our training includes a lot of the same material. M Gene Chicoine is another source for much of our training material, and GM Chang reviewed many of the elements that we retain in our practice today that come from other lineages that were passed down through M Chicoine.

Please feel free to call me anytime with questions or if you are having trouble finding the space the day of.

best regards

Keith 206 419 3868

[Michael]

$20 / month? That's almost $5 per class! Outrageous.

[nianfong]

Alexander Knight is a good guy--he's brought teams to our cleveland national tournaments several times. He has broken away from the Chicoine's "politics" within SC, so he's unbiased in that sense.

I don't know keith well (may have met him at a cleveland tourney at some point), but I can say that Mr. Knight is a stand-up guy, so his student probably will be too.

-Fong