|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Tag: Washington State
Breathe Life into your Practice — New WuGuan Opening Saturday, April 23, 2022! 🐉
Breathe Life into your Bagua Zhang Kung Fu Practice — in every aspect of training — the deeper and longer your breath the better! 🐉
This will enhance your focus and whole body awareness for more invigorating exercise, and encourage you to breathe more vitality into every aspect of your life, to be more aware, connected and fully engaged!
We often find that shallow breathing is both a result and cause of stress, tension, pain, withdrawal and fatigue.
I see this reflected in both martial arts and in my massage practice — most people have very shallow breathing, and as result are distracted and disconnected from their bodies and what’s going on around them.
This is why I encourage my massage clients to breathe deeper to release tension and pain, and inspire my martial arts students to to breathe deeper to be more present and aware, as well as to reveal their potential and empower them.
Consciously focused deeper breathing is the critical bridge that helps build our awareness of ourselves and taps our potential for healing, growth and creativity. Consciously focusing and coordinating your breathing with your movement is the most obvious and powerful secret hidden in plain sight, because it’s an aspect of life most people take for granted and ignore.
Some of the most essential lessons in training martial arts is enhancement of awareness and sensitivity, both of oneself, one’s environment and in relation to others.
Proprioception is the awareness of ourselves in relation to our surroundings.
This kinesthetic awareness is sometimes referred to as our “sixth sense.” Most of the physical training in martial arts — partner drills, basics and supplemental exercises, forms, equipment training and weapons practice — enhance our sense of proprioception. Distance, balance, timing (our timing and coordination with an opponent’s timing), reflexes and connection are all aspects of proprioception.
Interoception is our awareness of our inner processes.
Interoception encompasses all the physiological tissues that relay signals to the central nervous system about the state of the body. Disconnection from the body’s signals and internal states may be related to anxiety, depression, PTSD, autism and other disorders.
The internal training in martial arts — standing and sitting meditation, Qigong, silk-reeling exercises — moving from the inside — develops our sense of interception.
Our inner-awareness, or interoception, informs and enhances our sense of proprioception.
Deeper breathing invigorates us, increases our focus and awareness — linking our awareness of the inside and outside of our bodies — as well as our awareness of others and our surroundings.
An often overlooked aspect of “Internal” Martial Arts training is inner-work: meaning working on your emotional and mental health and well being. This is in fact one of the most important aspects of our training. Chinese medicine has long recognized the interconnected relationship between balanced emotional states and specific internal organs.
Mental and emotional trauma affect our bodies, just as physical trauma can affect our mental and emotional well-being.
We will be discussing this topic in more detail in future articles and classes, stay tuned!
New WuGuan Opening this Spring! 🐉
Classes returning at our new WuGuan opening this month, on Saturday, April 23rd!
Since moving last November, we’ve been busy settling into our new home and renovating our garage into our new WuGuan. Five busy months later, we are excited to return to training together!
Bagua Zhang Classes are held on
◊ Saturdays 11am-12:30pm
◊ Sundays 11am-12:30pm
◊ Thursdays 7pm-8pm
at:
Towns at Riverfront
(Please register for classes for address)
Everett, WA
United States
Please RSVP to all classes you plan to attend, to confirm location and schedule.
Space limited to 5 students per class for in-person training — please message ahead to confirm your spot!
For students joining remotely via Zoom, we can host classes for up to 100 participants on our Zoom account.
As the mask mandate from the COVID-19 Pandemic lifted on March 11th, masks will be optional for in-person classes. Students will have the option of wearing a mask in classes with the expectation that other’s choices will be responsible and respectful. Proof of vaccinations are strongly encouraged but no longer required for students with medical exceptions. 💉🦠😷
At Mace Martial Arts, we value the sanctity of all life, celebrate diversity, cultivate peace and justice, and accept students who are interested in learning how to improve and protect themselves. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bigotry and will reject any potential or current student who bullies or discriminates against others based on ethnicity, religious beliefs, or gender/orientation.
Forge Ahead — No Going Back! We’re Moving 🐉
Forge Ahead — No Going Back! 🐉
While going over martial applications practice earlier this year, one of my students asked a good question: do we step backwards in Bagua Zhang?
Technically and strategically, the answer is no — in Bagua Zhang, we learn how to pivot around oncoming attacks, turn aside or around to flank and generate turning force, then continue flowing and moving forward.
Circular Stepping in Bagua Zhang solo forms practice starts counter-clockwise, then changes to clockwise, changing back and forth, mirroring cycles of transformation in nature.
But Bagua doesn’t go backwards. Why?
Several martial arts systems incorporate backwards stepping and movements to draw an opponent off balance. While this tactic can be effective, it is always risky to give an opponent your ground. In combat, when one of the combatants is stepping backwards, it’s often because they’re injured, reeling and trying to disengage — this is usually the beginning of the end of the fight.
But in Bagua Zhang training, the concept is to adapt to situations and challenges and keep moving on, going with the flow, taking ground without hesitation or breaking momentum or strength.
Whirling Step
This applies to more than just self-defense and combat strategy.
Like cycles of seasons, patterns repeat, but time keeps moving forward, as our planet Earth keeps spinning forward, around the Sun, as our solar system spins along the outer rim of the Milky Way Galaxy…
🌎💫🌌
The past is a memory, the future is a dream, but the present is a gift. 🎁
If we think about the past too much, be it from grief, trauma, or longing for glory days, we stay stuck in the past, and stagnate. Reflecting on our experiences is necessary to learn from them, especially with our traumas and losses — yet to heal and grow, we must stay present to face our challenges, embrace opportunities and forge ahead. 🐉
We’re Moving! 🐉
Speaking of forging ahead, we are moving!
After 3 years in Shoreline, our family has sought opportunities further North, and we are in the process of moving into our new home in Everett, WA.
I will be taking time off from teaching over the next month to rebuild our WuGuan at our new home. There’s a lot to do!
Starting in January 2022, Bagua Zhang classes will be resume at
Towns at Riverfront
(Please register for classes for address)
Everett, WA
United States
Stay tuned for updates and class start dates!
At Mace Martial Arts, we value the sanctity of all life, celebrate diversity, cultivate peace and justice, and accept students who are interested in learning how to improve and protect themselves. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bigotry and will reject any potential or current student who bullies or discriminates against others based on ethnicity, religious beliefs, or gender/orientation.
Re-Opening Classes for In-Person BaguaZhang Kung-Fu Training! 🐉
Re-Opening Classes for In-Person Bagua Zhang Kung-Fu Training! 🐉
(Updated on September 8, 2021)
Starting this month, since Governor Inslee has reopened Washington State, going forward, you’re welcome to attend Bagua Zhang class in person, if you have been fully vaccinated.
Unvaccinated students are welcome to attend classes remotely via Zoom.
Students that have received their completed COVID vaccinations are welcome to attend classes in-person with masks and no social distancing restrictions.
I still simulcast our Bagua Zhang classes via Zoom for students that can’t attend in person if they live too far away, are unvaccinated, or are traveling.
Private lessons are available for students who are unable to attend during those class times.
If you have any family members or friends that want to train with us, you can split the cost for private lessons for up to 3 students, at the same price, so you can all practice together while I guide you.
Please reply to this email to coordinate and schedule your private lessons.
You can register for group classes via monthly memberships, and sign up for private lessons here:
Vaccination Policy & Classes at Mace Martial Arts
Unvaccinated students are welcome to attend classes remotely via Zoom.
I have received a handful of inquiries regarding our masking and vaccination policies at Mace Martial Arts, and first of all, I’m glad to hear from all of you, and hope you all remain healthy and well through the challenges of the dangerous and tumultuous recent years!
I respect your thoughtful questions and eagerness to return to training with us, I love sharing this art with good students with a passion for learning and self-development.
I also love creating a safe environment for my students to enjoy learning and exploring together, as we polish our skills to become the best versions of ourselves we can be.
This is why I follow the health and safety measures recommended by state and federal officials, as well as medical doctors at the CDC and World Health Organization, hospitals and healthcare clinics, because I also want to see this pandemic end as soon as we can all help to finish the threat to all of our health and livelihood. My family and I, as well as several of my students, also follow alternate and preventative healthcare methods to keep ourselves healthy. All the various allopathic and alternative methods work best when applied together, instead of separately or in spite of the other.
The pandemic has affected me personally and financially. My family and I got COVID-19 early in 2020, my wife and step-daughter have suffered from long hauler symptoms since April last year. I also have several close friends and family members that have also gotten sick from COVID-19, and 2 have died from it.
For over a year, I had to conduct classes remotely via Zoom, reduced tuition and still had a large drop in student enrollment.
I know firsthand that this is not something to take lightly or dismiss the very real threat this virus poses to us, and this adds to my resolve to do all I can to prevent the spread of this disease, the sooner the better. My family and I, as well as several of my students have all been vaccinated, and none of us have had any side-effects (or super-powers) as result of taking the vaccine.
A growing number of businesses and government agencies are requiring continued masking and vaccinations, notably for health care professionals. Especially as we have seen how well the vaccines have performed in prevention of symptoms over the last 5 months.
My requirement of vaccinations for students is a professional and business decision that demonstrates my dedication to the health and safety of my students, my family and my community.
It is a standard that I share with a growing number of other businesses, schools, hospitals, clinics and government agencies.
Vaccinations have been effective in the suppression of Polio, Smallpox, Measles and other diseases — it could be likewise as effective in eliminating the current pandemic, if there weren’t so much disinformation and dismissal of masking and vaccinations, especially in the United States, where we have the resources to effectively end the pandemic.
With freedom comes obligations and responsibilities to ourselves and our community. This moment is a time for all of us to be considerate to the health and well being of all of us as a community, so that we can all survive and flourish.
Unvaccinated students are welcome to attend classes remotely via Zoom.
I hope you will join us in classes again soon, as well as our united efforts to end the pandemic.
From the AMTA:
On August 9, 2021, Governor Jay Inslee issued Proclamation 21-14, which requires health care providers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by October 18, 2021. A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose in a two-dose series of a vaccine, or two weeks after receiving a single-dose vaccine. Because of the lead time needed for the two-dose vaccines, we encourage you to plan now for getting the vaccine.
Massage therapy practices are listed in the Proclamation as a “Health Care Setting” which includes designated areas where massage is administered within non-health care settings like spas and wellness/fitness centers. And, proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 will be accepted in the following forms:
- CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card or photo of the card
- Documentation of vaccination from a health care provider or electronic health record
- State immunization information system record
Exemptions are allowed for disability-related accommodations that fall under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), or any other reasonable accommodation. There is an additional exemption allowed for deeply-held religious beliefs. Please contact the Washington State Department of Health with any questions.
For additional information and updates, you can visit the Washington COVID-19 State Page.
Bagua Zhang classes are postponed next weekend due to Sifu Kisu’s Shaolin Workshop on July 11th!
We hope to see you there for good company and great Kung Fu!
At Mace Martial Arts, we value the sanctity of all life, celebrate diversity, cultivate peace and justice, and accept students who are interested in learning how to improve and protect themselves. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bigotry and will reject any potential or current student who bullies or discriminates against others based on ethnicity, religious beliefs, or gender/orientation.