(Arranged
in order of most recent at the top - scroll down for earlier news items)
Congratulations to Sempai Adam and Kerrie (posted 14 December 2004)
Wonderful news of the birth of Noah Adam Pawlowski. He was born 5:50pm on 6 Dec 04 weighing 8lb 8 and 51cm long (not so small). Both mother and baby are well. We hope to see Noah at the Kids' class in about 6-7 years!
Sempai Natalie in China (posted 14 December 2004)
Following on from Tim Brown's recent trip to China, Black belt Sempai Natalie has travelled to Harbin in Northern China to teach English and learn Chinese martial arts. She is teaching at Harbin university and is employed by the "Harbin Sunshine Language School".
Nat in Harbin, China.
Keeping fit China-style: taiji and exercise in the park.
Her first impressions were (in her own words):
"Putonghua (Mandarin) is spoken here and it is nothing like Cantonese. It is a very different place in every respect to what we are used to in Australia which appears to be South Chinese dominated. This place would be really strange for Trev, a Canton (Southern) Chinese (eg. the food is very different - I ate barbequed cocoons on the cook's one night off - it didn't taste very nice). They also don't do much Kung Fu here for this reason. There are a lot of kick boxing and Tai Kwon Do schools. I was even considering joining one [if I could find nothing better]."
Eating Cocoons.
One of the
first things Natalie did was spread the word around the staff and students that
she was interested in tai-chi or kung fu. Eventually one of the students approached
her a few days later and spoke to her via an interpreter. In her own words:
"He told me that the school is very strict and that I need to be able to do cartwheels and the splits in order to even think of joining. When I told him I could do that then he asked me to show him so I did. Now he is going to ask his laoshir and I will find out on Friday perhaps. Everything happens very slowly in China and there are so many things to do but finding out where things are is a problem. There is no yellow or white pages here and there are a lot of back alleys that lead to interesting places. "
A day or two later Natalie was given an introduction to the laoshir who invited her to try out. At the end of a 3 hour lesson he offered to teach her for free. In Natalie's words:
"Simon (the interpreter) told me that Sifu believes that I have the basics to be very good. He believes that since I have a foundation I will be able to do a backflip after 2 months of diligent training. Simon says that Sifu thinks I can make a career out of this and did I know about the Beijing Olympics?! Sifu wants me to train as often as I can and if I train well then I can train for free. If I am planning not to take it seriously then I am to pay. So of course I am planning to train seriously even though it was hard work! The three hours went by quite slowly even for a first lesson so it will only get longer I think.
The training session was actually a lot easier in a way than a Wu-Wei class since it was all the things I like to do: cartwheels (that is what the class started with, I think I did close to 100), high kicks with moving, spinning kicks with jumping, then an empty hand and two weapons forms and jo practice. The jo practice focussed on moving the jo in the sinawali fashion (you know how Sam and the other kids do). I never mastered that in Australia either but after Sifu showed me I was much better and will easily improve, at least with that. Wu-wei concentrates on the whole body workout but this place emphasises with legs and the arms tend to just flail around. Sifu told us all off at the end of the lesson because our arms need more focus and better technique. I just had to try and keep up. It is a shame I didn't get those butterfly kicks in Australia that Eddie does because they are highly prized here!"
A student at the kung-fu school.
Once her training began in earnest Natalie said of training with the laoshir:
"It felt like that scene from Kill Bill 2 especially I don't speak Mandarin fluently and the English-speaking student seems to have disappeared. Laoshir has started teaching me the start of the Chen style Tai-chi and a sword form which is very beautiful. The sifu is a very good teacher but he can get quite angry if he does not get the results he wants."
Laoshir (middle), Nat and another student.
Whenever he is frustrated with our technique he would get up and demonstrate and he is fantastic, especially for an injured (he was recently in a car crash) 65 year old man. He doesn't appear so when he does kung fu. He is especially good at weapons. We did a sword form then a jo form. Sifu thinks that the sword suits me better. I am not so sure about that. The emphasis is predominantly on flexibility, high kicks, splits, flips etc. I do want to be able to do those backflips, but I am unsure. When I told them I was er shi qi (27) on Sunday they said that was very young. Maybe they thought I said er shi yi (21?). This is going to be quite a committment!
Laoshir: sword form.
Laoshir and Nat: taiji.
Well I am consistently going to Kung Fu twice a day at least 3 times a week. I am about 1/4 of the way through the free hands form which I think I will be able to show you when I get back. My sword form and jo form may take a bit longer though. We will see. The tai-chi is very complicated for me and that will take the longest."
Nat practises a empty hand form.
Natalie will be back in late December for about a week before returning to China for another 4 months or so.
David Zimmermann completes 100 man randori challenge (posted 2 December 2004)
David, our expatriate student in the UK, who returned briefly in September to grade to Brown 4 and complete a black belt promotion course, just added another achievement to his martial arts CV: In his own words:
I have
been meaning to write to you this week to tell you about my weekend
training experience. On Sunday our club held its 100 x randori day. The
format involves a nice long warm up then 50 one minute rounds of randori, a
3 minute break for water and some quick bandaging of wounds and the off on
the next 50 rounds. Midway through the second round we had knives
introduced and some of us also had to doa little 2 on 1. It was a very
challenging event after which I needed two hot baths and a massage from my
loving wife. The massage did take some whinging and begging, but, along
with some deep stretching, helped to get movement back into my muscles.
Filipino Kali Ilustrisimo Seminar (28 November 2004)
On Sunday November 28, Brown belt students Trevor Aung Than, Jed Handmer and Tim Brown attended a training seminar on Filipino knife and stick fighting held by Master Raymond Floro of Floro Fighting Systems. By all accounts the seminar was very worthwhile and the material covered fits in well with the Arnis knowledge that is already a part of the Wu-Wei Dao Martial Arts Curriculum.
Photos of
Master Floro from http://www.florofighting.com
Gashuku 2004 Report and Photos (10-16 October 2004)
Photos from a recent Tai-ga class (posted 16 September 2004)
Photos of Tim's kung-fu training in China added (posted 6 September 2004)
Check out the photos added to the story about Tim's kung-fu training in China - see below
Photos of David Zimmermann' s European gashuku (posted 5 September 2004)
Check out the photos added to the story about David's Hungarian gashuku - see below
IAOMAS Choy Lay Futt Seminar report (posted 5 September 2004)
Following on from the first two IAOMAS seminars of 5 and 12 June of this year (see below) Wu-Wei Dao has just hosted the first of a series of 4 follow-up seminars, each to be taken by a different instructor.
The first seminar was held on Saturday 4 September and was taken by Sifu Vincent Cordeiro who has over 30 years of experience in the Chinese martial arts. His background is in the Buck Sing Choy Lay Futt system, and he offers personal coaching in both Kung Fu as well as the Wu style of taiji.
In his seminar Sifu Vincent taught punching and striking techniques and showed how to coordinate arm, hip, body and leg movement into the techniques both to add power to the strikes and to close the gap to the opponent. It was especially interesting that the push hands drill taught by Sifu Vincent is so very similar to Goju-ryu's Kakie. Clearly Choy Lay Futt and Goju-ryu have common links as Southern Chinese based martial arts systems.
Above: Sifu Vincent instructs the class
Above: Students practise strikes on focus pads.
Above: Sifu Vincent and Sempai Jeremy Clark practice a push-hands drill reminiscent
of Goju-ryu's Kakie.
Sifu Vincent's friendly and easygoing manner, his clear instruction and his obvious martial arts ability made it a very enjoyable seminar. It is just a pity we did not have more time.
The next seminar will be held on Saturday 11th September 2004 9.00am - 10.30am by Sensei John Gallager of Wado Ryu Karate. These seminars are a must for the serious martial artist an provide an excellent opportunity to cross-train with other like-minded people in a friendly and open learning environment. It is not easy to "empty your cup" and step outside of established comfort zones but every now and again it is essential in order to to seek the truth that lies at the heart of all martial arts.
News from Tim Brown (posted 26 August 2004)
At the end of June Tim Brown left the comforts of home to travel overland from Hong Kong to Delhi. On the way he has passed through China, Tibet, Nepal and is on the way to India. Here is some news from him:
Hello everyone,
Right now I am in Kathmandu after coming through Tibet.
First, send my congratulations to Sempai Malcolm and Jeremy for passing their respective [Nidan] gradings.
Second, it is stinking bloody hot in Kathmandu!
Third, I, unfortunately, have not been able to do as much trekking as I would have liked (so even if I can come to Gashuku I am not sure how in shape I will be for it ... I still have two weeks to prepare though ... if I can come, which I do not think Sara would like!). I have done plenty of walking but no trekking. That said I have been doing plenty of training. In Yangshuo in southern China I spent a Week Training twice a day at a kungfu studio. Since then I have been practicing the kata/form I learnt since then along with sanseiru when I can (though it was quite difficult to do that in Tibet, with the alititude everything became a Sanchin Kata-esque!). The form is called Hong-quan and then Master that taught it to me (being a 79 year-old man who can still do Kart-wheels!, along with his sons whom at 48 move like Olympic gymansts!) says that the form is about 800 years old. It is not a bad form, quite athletic, but needs quite a bit of refinement, not in the least because it does everything only on one side.
Fourth, I have uploaded [a few] photos (they are to big to e-mail as I have copied them on to CD at Hi-res, and cannot really be bothered trying to reduce them with crappy Nepali computers! It is amazing I have found one with a cd-rom with which to up load them!).
Here are some photos from the Kung fu Studio I trained at.
The old master is 79 and is quite fond of showing off his skill with the Staff, a trait inherited by his sons (the one pictured is George) who are 48.
The Photos below are from the Guilin - Yangshuo Region of China:
Eventually, if I can find a better computer I will upload more Photos of China and some of Magical Tibet the land where even bad photos turn out good!
I should say something about my Holiday so far. China is amazing. The people are extremely nice an helpful, the food excellent and incredibly cheap (if you want a cheap holiday go to China, I have found genuine articles, as in not the cheap fakes one usually finds throughout Asia, for less than half the price of what they cost in Australia). And the scenery is stunning as (hopefully) the photos will show.
And, as amazing as China was, it is nothing in comparison to Tibet (Yes, they are two different places ... Bloody Mao and his Red Guards). Let me just say Tibet is amazing. I will try and put some photos on the net, don't hold your breath. I'll let you know. Everything about it was beautiful. The Mountains the rivers, the sand dunes (it has some of the biggest sand boarding runs I have ever seen, mountain sides covered in nothing but sand), the monastries (those of which have been rebuilt, or survived. The aforementioned Red Guards destroyed over 6000 monastries, to say nothing about the 1.2 million Tibetans Killed). The prayer flags which provide vibrant colour amid the barren landscape. And the people are fantastic, so happy and peaceful despite the recent history. The toilets, however, are some of the worst in the world ... in many remote locations the outdoors is much preferable!
I am not staying long in Nepal. It is the wrong season for trekking, rather I am going to India to do a bit of Yoga for a week or so, before spending a couple of weeks drifting around the North.
Otherwise, send my regards to everyone at the Dojo.
Please send my best wishes to Aaron, I hope he mends through.
[Aaron has had an accident and broken his leg(spiral fracture of the fibula).
He was running back to his car in the rain after delivering a pizza and slipped
and fell as he was running around to the driver's side of his car. He has had
to have an operation to put in a plate and two screws but is on the mend and
will have no lasting disablity. Apparently the people he delivered the pizza
to rescued him and offered him a slice of pizza before he went to hospital.
- Kancho]
Oh and send my thanks to Martin for the socks he gave me! Apart from the liner socks the ones he gave me are the only ones I have now! Fortunately I most certainly do not need two socks as it is stinking bloody hot in Kathmandu!
Regards,
Tim
Wu-Wei Dao's loss is the Army's gain (posted 26 August 2004)
For all those Wu-Wei Dao students who were wondering "what happened to Sylvia?" here is an email from her that explains what she's been up to:
Hi everyone,
Well I did it, I actually passed everything and have enlisted in the Army
Reserve. [She even attached her certificate of enlistment to prove it! -
Kancho Nenad]
I'm off to Kapooka, NSW for 45 days for my initial training on 30th November.
Sylvia
I am sure you will find the army a 'cinch' if the way you handled karate classes and gashuku is any indication! Good luck, have fun and don't forget all your friends at Wu-Wei Dao! - Kancho Nenad
News from David Zimmermann in Europe (posted 3 August 2004)
Here is the latest news from our expatriate brown belt David Zimmermann who has just returned to London after attending an international gashuku (training camp) in Hungary.
Left: David in Shisochin kata practise
My trip to Hungary was excellent and I met some great people. Kancho Rony was an superb instructor with great energy and eye for detail. As he said he has been doing this full time since 1972 and he still travel once a year to Okinawa to train with his instructors and improve himself.
Above Left and Right: David and fellow gashuku participants before and after
The week was very very hot so as you can imagine I nearly melted into the floor, but it was great training with over 200 students, including several 4th and 5th Dans and about 40 black belts from 3rd to 1st Dan. The main emphasis was not on any new and wonderous techniques, but loads of reinforcing the basics. A lot of time spent on the importance of foot, hip and then hand, followed by drills to move the process into a seamless motion. Apart from hip power and speed we did lots of basic kata and talked about the hidden and varied techniques within kata. Kancho Rony sees each kata as an endless catalogue of techniques and that as students advance they should be able to unlock more and more from each kata.
I was able to watch some gradings whilst I was there and the emphasis is very much on kata. Students at all levels have to start with Heian [Shodan - aka Fukyugata]and work their way through every kata up to the one appropriate for their level and then show Bunkai for any of these kata as instructed. Unfortunately they don't seem to commence a weapons emphasis until the Dan grades for grading purposes and the Bo is the weapon of primary focus.
On our last afternoon session (each one being 2 hours long and in 35 degree heat) all of the grades below black belt did some randori training and which ended in 45 minutes of randori with different partners. Based on some peoples reluctance to train with me during the week for some exercises (due to [my] size I think) I thought I would have trouble getting a partner. This was not the case. Every Hungarian and Israeli brown belt had been secretly dying to try out some randori with the tall Aussie bloke known affectionately as High Tower (police academy must have been big in Hungary). I was dripping with sweat at the end of this session, but enjoyed it a great deal. I informed people that I know a black belt at home bigger than me and that I may unleash him another time, so please tell Malcolm to have his bags packed for next years camp.
If during your [Kancho Nenad's] travels to Europe you are keen to take in Budapest (or for some crazy reason Israel) then there are plenty of people that you could meet up and train with. I am sure Sensei Attilla in Hungry would be very welcoming and I think I may have to come over with you. Budapest is a great city and I have promised to return and bring Flik with me for the trip.
As usual please pass on my regards to everyone and please ask Starsky (aka Sempai Jeremy) not to have a hair cut until I get back and get a photo.
Speak to you soon
David
Nidan Grading (3 July 2004)
Congratulations to Sempai(s) Malcolm Reeson and Jeremy Clark who were awarded their Nidan 3 and Nidan 1 respectively on Saturday 3 July. This milestone marks the end of a long phase of preparation and pre-requisites for Malcolm and Jeremy and also marks the beginning of next phase for them - that of preparation for 3rd Dan! As an aside, Sempai Jeremy attained another milestone recently - he attended his 1000th lesson on 10 May 2004.
The following videos were taken at the Nidan grading:
Video: Seiyunchin (kata) tuide - wmv file,468kB, duration: 14 sec.
Video: Juhachi Bokken Embu wmv file, 306kB, duration: 10 seconds
Above:
Mal & Jeremy in embu action during the grading.
Left: Shihan Dan demonstrates a fine point.