YOUNG DRAGONS NEWSLETTER

Number 26     June  2011 

www.themarsta.co.uk       realkungfu@talktalk.net       07877 960 799

On FB:  “Isle Of Wight Martial Arts”, “the marsta”, “Young Dragons”, 

“Kung Fu Girls”, “Dangerous Mothers” and “Applied Tai Chi”

 For all Young Dragons and their parents

Ryde School Chinese Week

This month I taught Tai Chi and Young Dragons over three mornings at Ryde School as a part of their annual “Chinese Week”.  These classes – all six of them -went very well.

Gradings

This month is going to be a busy one with a number of YD gradings taking place.

On Monday June 20th I will be grading a number of YD at St. Mary’s Primary School.

On Wednesday 22nd June I will be grading my YD group at “The Priory” (Independent School)and the 5Ways YD class at THE  MARSTA.

On Friday June 24th I will be grading more YD at St. Mary’s Primary School.

On Saturday 25th June I will be grading my West Cowes YD class at Somerton Middle School. 

And on Sunday June 26th I will be grading (at THE MARSTA) my YD students that train under me on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays at THE MARSTA.  Those going for their White Sash and Red Sash will be grading from 2:30pm until 3:30pm whilst those going for the Yellow Sash and above will be grading from 3:30pm until 4:30pm.

The results of the gradings will be posted on this website a few days after each grading whilst the sashes and certificates will be awarded (to those that pass!) the week after the grading.

The cost of the grading is £15 per student and should be paid up the day of the grading.

TINY TIGERS

This brand new class will be starting on Monday 20th June. It will be a 30-minute class (4:15pm – 4:45pm) designed for 3 year-olds and 4 year-olds only.  The cost of this class will be £4 per tiger! Parents can watch. 

TAI CHI

Another Tai Chi class is in the making. Interested? Then please let me know.

Tai Chi video clips

Clips of my Tai Chi lesson content can be seen on my “Applied Tai Chi” Facebook site

Banquet

This I have postponed as there is  a lot going on on the island at this time and I do see this particular summer as being a rather busy one! An update on the banquet will appear in due course.

YD Tee-Shirts

I will very soon be placing  a new order for these so if you need one please let me know. At the same time I will be placing an order for some Sanshangong tee-shirts.

DVDs

A number of titles from this unique range are now available.  Titles include:

Kung Fu training in Fuzhou (Simon and the Guo-Family masters) 

Yongchun White Crane Kung Fu

Tiger Style Kung Fu

Bench form

Hung Fut Kung Fu conditioning

Tai Chi 24 Step Yang Style

More titles to follow next month.

Each DVD costs £10 with a special offer of four for £30.   

Roly Botha

Roly Botha is one of my San Shan Gong (SSG) students.

He began learning from me as  a Young Dragon. Now he is  a teenager who will soon be teaching YD/SSG at his boarding school on the mainland. Already his Headmaster has asked Roly to teach him and his two sons!

With this vision in sight I have, over the past few months, been preparing Roly for the role of “Junior Instructor”. This level of proficiency he has recently achieved by way of a special grading where Jim and Justin (two of my Black Sash SSG instructors) and I recently assessed his ability.

In preparation for Roly’s mianlnad class he wishes to start a YD/SSG class in the Wroxhall/Ventnor area during this year’ school  summer holidays. If you know a youngster (or even an adult) who would like to learn Traditional Chinese Martial Arts then please let me know so I can tell Roly.

I am just about to write a piece on Roly for the Ventnor Blog in the hope that they will put this onto their website.

Standing Order

Starting next month  payment for YD will be by way of Standing Order. Pleasae ensure you get a SO from from me.

The monthly fee will be £20.

You are permitted to train as many times a week as you wish thus you will be able to maximize your advancement within YD and also make up for missing-out on your regular class should you be sick, away, or just unable to attend your regular slot.

Reality check!

Schools do not/cannot give its pupils enough of what they desperately need.

YD fills such gaps.

The national concept of  “Health And Safety” has crumbled whilst the so-called “zero-tolerance” to bullying is, as with most things in Life, merely an illusion.

This country is run by its so-called leaders entirely upon plasticity, incompetence, cowardice  and cosmetics. The only one’s to benefit is themselves!

YD breaks through this nonsense and cultivates a decent individual – strong, healthy, disciplined, without ego and with purpose, focus and direction.

Our government wants us and needs us to be weak so that we become dependent upon it. (And most of us have!) YD is about becoming independent…allowing one’s individualism to grow and without apology.

Kung Fu Parents

In recent months a healthy number of parents have begun training under me as they realize that YD (as a concept) is not just for their child – not just something that mums and dads watch once a week but something in which they, themselves, can practice.

My four adult programmes -”Dangerous Mothers”, “San Shan Gong”, ”Applied Tai Chi” and “Chinese Karate” – are thus open to parents.

To date I have close to a dozen mums or dads training under me, all of whom have realized that what their youngsters are getting from me they, too, could do with having…and are now getting!  

To be disciplined one needs to physically “work” and this work is called “Kung Fu”. During my 36 years of practicing traditional Chinese Martial Arts I have come to know a great deal about psychology and human nature. What I teach is about taking the human being above and beyond the realms of normality as one actively develops one’s true potential.

YOUNG DRAGONS classes at SJA:

Wednesdays: 4pm – 5pm

Fridays: 4:15pm – 5:15pm

Saturdays: 4:15pm – 5:15pm

There is also a YOUNG DRAGONS class from 11am – 12 noon but this class is held at Somerton Middle School in West Cowes

SSG Schedule at SJA:

Wednesdays 7pm – 9pm

Thursday 5:30pm – 6:30pm (with Justin)

Saturdays 3pm – 4pm

Saturdays 5:30pm – 6:30pm (with Justin)

Sundays 1pm – 2pm

Classes at the new THE MARSTA:

Mondays: YOUNG DRAGONS (Yellow Sash and above only) 5:30pm – 6:30pm

Mondays: DANGEROUS MOTHERS (self-defence for mums only) 6:45pm – 7:45pm

Thursdays: CHINESE KARATE 7pm – 8pm 

TAIJIQUAN (TAI CHI) AT SJA:

Sundays 10:15am – 11;30am

TAI CHI IN WOOTTON (Community Centre):

Mondays 11:30am – 12:30pm

 More news, information and updates next month!

When Master Ron Goninan of Australia informed me of his up-and-coming 40-year anniversary celebration in the Chinese Martial Arts I decided to write him a letter of congratulations.

He and I have been friends for some time now and maintain regular communication.

What I wrote appears immediately below whilst what he wrote back to me appears at the end…

CONGRATULATIONS certainly are in order as Master Ron Goninan celebrates forty years of dedication to the traditional Chinese martial arts!

Of the millions that have practiced some kind of martial arts over the past few decades, the over-whelming majority have not lasted four hours, four sessions, four weeks, four months or even four years, so for an individual – and a non-Chinese, at that! – to have been ongoingly active for four decades…now that is a mammoth and monumental achievement that most cannot even begin to comprehend!

Whilst many masters bask within a self-perpetuating ego (though one’s ego is just what the traditional Chinese martial arts are meant to destroy!) Shifu Goninan is not of this mold.

Developing acceptance, understanding and com-passion of a world consumed with cosmetics and quick fixes and where “Health And Safety” is preached yet seldom effectively practiced, Master Goninan has reached a level of martial arts mastery that a only a few, upon a global scale, will ever reach!

Having survived, over the years (as we all do), the criticism and the ridicule, the treachery and the deceit, the lazy students and all their excuses, Master Goninan has come out ‘the other end’ not entirely unscathed, but all the more stronger for it as he refuses to cave-in where others only know weakness and failure.

Continuing to deliver from the heart and with an unbreakable spirit, Master Goninan’s “Way” (his very own and unique perspective – the “He Wu Dao”) is one driven by power, passion and perseverance (the true meaning of “gongfu”) as he carves a certain high quality of student within his following rather than seeking to create a lesser-skilled “army” of individuals.

The Chinese say that the height of stupidity is to look for a buffalo whilst riding on the back of a buffalo. Master Goninan is not “looking” for he knows where he is at. If you, yourself, are a student under Wushi Goninan then you should be looking no further than his teachings. If you are not a student under Wushi Goninan then I suggest that you become one. This modern-day world of ours is upside down and so it is extremely likely that you, yourself, need to be balanced. Hewudao will do this for you!

Have a wonderful evening, Master Goninan. I look forward to your next milestone anniversary – in ten years time! Perhaps I can even be there for that and so support you in person. Indeed, that would be an honour for me!      

Master Simon T. Lailey

May 25^th, 2011

THE MARSTA

Ryde,

Isle Of Wight,

England.

Here are some images of 10 year-old Felix, one of my latest YOUNG DRAGONS recruits.

Felix trains privately under me once a week and is doing very well indeed!

Here he is in action.

These photos were taken by his dad…

Here are some images of my 5Ways YOUNG DRAGONS (and some parents that watch this weekly class) take just this past week…

These youngsters are doing very well indeed and are due to take their first grading  very soon now!

YOUNG DRAGONS NEWSLETTER

Number 25     May 2011 

www.themarsta.co.uk       realkungfu@talktalk.net       07877 960 799

On FB:  “Isle Of Wight Martial Arts”, “the marsta”, “Young Dragons”, 

“Kung Fu Girls”, “Dangerous Mothers” and “Applied Tai Chi”

 For all Young Dragons and their parents

 Apologies!

There was no YD Newsletter last month owing to the fact that I have just been so busy with the new High Street MARSTA. Speaking of which…

The new MARSTA

The new MARSTA at 114 High Street, Ryde is now open! Fot images of this, please take a look at the Sanshangong Newsletter for this month. 

Its first day of trading was Tuesday 3^rd May where it received a healthy degree of interest from the general public. Even from its very first day did it justify its existence and so begin reap a reward!

With its great spiritual feel and ever-growing energy it has already had many hours of teaching usage – to date, roughly thirty hours!

With a new name-plaque (shop sign) which has now been up for quite some time and with a colourful and “busy” window dressing (designed by my wife, Maricris) the new-look MARSTA is looking great from the outside and also on the inside.  

An “Open Day” is now being planned – for a Sunday in June – when the public can come along and see more of what we are about whilst also have an opportunity to talk abpout future plans for THE MARSTA.

Already I am amidst building a healthy team of healers and teachers that will be renting space within THE MARSTA so that they can promote their own specific skills – skills ranging from Reiki to Tarot card reading, from Massage to Meditation, and from to Acupuncture to Angel Workshops.

Also in my mind is to hold talks and presentations with the High Street MARSTA as my premises can easily accommodate twenty or so individuals.

Very soon I will be having 500 flyers printed so that I can launch a huge campaign and so increase the public’s awareness of our programmes and our cause.

With the retail aspect already bigger than I had first anticipated, why not have a look at what I am selling? I am sure you will find something of interest and of value.

Need anything?

Chinese tea? Some decent reading material? A soft training weapon? A Fengshui mirror?

Let me know – and if I do not have I can certainly source it.

“the marsta” on Facebook

There is now an official FB site called “the marsta”. Please visit this site and request to join its database. This site is still in its infancy but will grow in the coming weeks.

SJA Classes

For the time being, all YD classes at St. John’s Annexe will continue to be held at SJA with the exception of the YD Senior class which now takes place at the High Street MARSTA.

The IOW Council tells me that come Oct 1^st this year, SJA will close permanently. Until that time, nothing (as far as we are concerned) will change.

Gatten And Lake Tai Chi

I have recently taught Tai Chi to a number of pupils at G&L Primary School.

This eleven-week course went very well indeed. You may have seen a photo in the IOW County Press. If not then here it is…

Haylands Primary School Tai Chi classes

I am just about to finish teaching a series of twelve one-hour Tai Chi classes to more than a dozen pupils at Haylands Primary. This I have been dong during curriculum time. This class has proven to be very successful. Funding permitting it will continue after half-term.

I would like to thank both “Haylands” and “Barnardo’s” for their support.

Ryde Junior School

Having taught YD, all last term, to a regular group of about sixteen youngsters I have just returned to teach another ten-week block lessons.  

 5ways Young Dragons

 This weekly training session is going very well with a regular seven attending each week. This class is held at SJA.

It would be nice to have a few more attending this class so if you know any youngsters at 5ways please tell them about this class – Wednesdays from 4pm until  5pm.

So far only ONE girl attends this class so a few more girls would be very nice.

Wootton Primary Young Dragons

I have recently completed a five-week YD course at Wootton Primary School – part of their “University” programme. These classes were held in school time.

The Priory Young Dragons

This weekly class is still going strong with a regular sixteen or so training each week.

Outdoor training at The Priory.

After a heavy YD session they grab some shelter in the shade.

Newport C Of  E Primary Young Dragons

I have just agreed to teach a seven-week YD/Tai Chi course at Newport C Of E Primary School. Four of my YDs attend this school so we may well be seeing one or two youngsters from Newport C Of E starting soon at THE MARSTA. 

Gradings

Next month will be the start of…grading season!

You are permitted to grade twice a year – every six months.For all of you that practice in Ryde, your next grading will be held on Sunday 19^th of June at SJA. There will be TWO grading sessions on that day – 2:30pm until 3:30pm and 3:30pm until 4:30pm. Next month I will let you know when, exactly, YOU are going to grade.

If you learn YD in West Cowes your grading will be held on Saturday June 18^th – from 11am until 12 noon.

Maddi Knowles

When Maddi Knowles (of my West Cowes YD Kung Fu School) said that although she had just broken her wrist she would still be down to the YD class, I thought she meant that she would be coming along to watch.

Oh no! What she meant was that she would be coming along TO TRAIN.

Some students – and not just youngsters – stay away from class just because of a cough, cold or headache. But not even a broken bone can keep this highly-spirited and focused girl away. Maddi is doing incredibly well and is the strongest pre-teenage student of this school.

Maddi – you are, indeed, an asset and an inspiration.  

Kung Fu uniforms

I am now starting to receive a healthy interest from a number of individuals regarding the two-piece black Kung Fu uniforms.

I have recently had a request for eighteen of these suits and will be placing another order quite soon. If you would like one then please let me know. The cost per uniform is £35.

As part of YDs ongoing and all-important evolution, this is the way (the Way) we are now going.YD Tee-shirts

Soon I will be placing an order for more YD Tee-shirts. Which colour would you like? Please let me know and I will go with the majority.

TINY TIGERS

This brand new class is now in the pipeline. It will be a 30-minute class designed for 3 year-olds and 4 year-olds only. 

Tiger versus Dragon!

One future Tiny Tiger together with one of my Young Dragons.

For this class to go ahead I need TEN youngsters signed up. Currently I am half way there.

The day and time of this class will be confirmed shortly. TINY TIGERS will be held at SJA.

Banquet

It has been a tradition that each Christmas we have a Chinese banquet. Last year that did not happen for it was a particularly busy time for me with all the murmurs of SJA imminent closure (it was due to close this past February). The banquet was not cancelled but merely postponed. I am now looking to hold that banquet next month.

It will be held at the “Hong Kong Express” Chinese restaurant in Newport. I am looking at Sunday 19^th June – the same day as “THE MARSTA” Open Day – from 7pm until 10pm. For that duration we will have the entire place to ourselves.

This banquet will mark my thirty-six years of dedication to the Classical Chinese (Fujianese) Martial Arts, my elevation to Master-Grade, and to the opening of the new and improved MARSTA.

This will also be a time when respect and gratitude will be extended to all those that support SANSHANGONG and THE MARSTA – be it through training or through teaching. This being the case there will be a number of special guests attending.

Food will be in the form of a buffet with a wide range of foods available. Chopsticks will be provided with not a knife and fork in sight!!

Traditional Chinese music will be played in the background – none of that nausiating and tacky Western music that they normally play!!!

The cost per person is to be confirmed in the next week or so.

Please endeavor to attend this banquet –  it is going to be an exciting night! 

DVDs

Jim Clews (one of my “black sash” adult Kung Fu students) and I are now working on producing a range of instructional and reference-based DVDs. This range will include empty-hand forms, weapons forms and compilations. A full listing will be released next month. Each DVD will cost £10 with a special offer of three for £25.   

YOUNG DRAGONS classes at SJA:

Wednesdays: 4pm – 5pm – “Fiveways” pupils only

Fridays: 4:15pm – 5:15pm

Saturdays: 4:15pm – 5:15pm

There is also a YOUNG DRAGONS class from 11am – 12 noon but this class is held at Somerton Middle School in West Cowes

SSG Schedule at SJA:

Wednesdays 7pm – 9pm

Thursday 5:30pm – 6:30pm (with Justin)

Saturdays 3pm – 4pm

Saturdays 5:30pm – 6:30pm (with Justin)

Sundays 1pm – 2pm

Classes at the new THE MARSTA:

Mondays: YOUNG DRAGONS (yellow sash and above only) 5:30pm – 6:30pm

Mondays: DANGEROUS MOTHERS (self-defence for mums only) 6:45pm – 7:45pm

TAIJIQUAN (TAI CHI) AT SJA:

Sundays 10:15am – 11;30am

TAI CHI IN WOOTTON (Community Centre):

Mondays 11:30am – 12:30pm

 More news, information and updates next month!

“Zhong Guo Kong Shou”

(to give this discipline its Chinese name)

takes the Ryukyu art of Karate

– formerly called “Tote” (China Hand) –

back to its roots in Okinawa,

the main island of the Ryukyu archipelago.

Teaching the history together with the culture in tandem with the physical and mental techniques, my “Chinese Karate” class is an attempt to restore the art of Karate to its former glory as an indigenous Ryukyu (Okinawan) martial art which has its basis in Chinese Kungfu.

Whilst Karate has retained some of its Chinese ancestry it has also lost a great deal.

At first it was pretty-much all there, but as the world changed (and not for the better!) it was only a matter of time before “Tote” became officially Japanized – for the Okinawa islands are now a prefecture of Japan. (At one time and for a long time they were a part of Mainland China.)

Attempts were, indeed, made to keep “Tode” as it first was (whilst allowing for a controlled degree of development and evolution) but as these individuals inevitably passed away the freedom was then there for those that wanted Change to effect Change.

Within my “Chinese Karate” classes I use Japanese terminology along with some native Ryukyu dialect (called Hogen).

So why, you may well ask, do I teach Chinese Karate by way of an Okinawan format using Japanese terms? 

Well, firstly this is to set this discipline apart from my “Sanshangong” (Kung Fu) classes which is purely Chinese and uses, strictly, Mandarin (the Beijing dialect also called Putonghua).

And secondly…where the Japanese language is largely based upon the Chinese language we are thus able to see what lies within and behind the Japanese terms and thus discover their innermost meanings and carefully concealed secrets.

With such a strong linguistic connection I will also be introducing some of the Chinese terms and so explain how the two languages compare and contrast.

In this way, then, “Zhong Guo Kong Shou” should prove to be a fascinating study.

*  *  *

Last Thursday evening saw the very first Chinese Karate class. The hour passed very quickly and I did not even get half-way through my lesson plan!

Six individuals attended – five females and one male. My wife, Maricris, was in the line-up along with five others to whom I am teaching Tai Chi. (They had wanted “a balance” and so asked me to teach them something different yet complimentary.)

Their first lesson began with the ritual, the ettiquette and the warm-up. They then punched, elbowed, kicked and shouted (and groaned!) their way through an intense period of ‘physical’.

Their spirit ran high throughout the lesson and although they did seem to tire quite quickly they still found it within themselves to pull out all the stops and give it their all.

Laughing is the best medicine” (as they say) an as strict a class as I had wished to make it I did give-in to some mirth which went on to stimulate more output – both from me and from  them!

Push-ups, jumping skills and rolling followed before it was time to cool down and bring the class to an end.

The hour had passed all-too-quickly (so I was told and I had to agree) so the next class is going to be a little longer.

Had they enjoyed it?

None of them could say until they were over the shock and had got their breath back. And when they had…would THEY be back?

By all accounts they had all had a great time and were, indeed, looking forward to the next class of CK.

They were also looking forward to their next Tai Chi lesson (the following evening).

“IF we can make it!” they said.

And they did.

 Chinese Karate

@

THE MARSTA

in Ryde

on Thursdays

from 8pm – 9:15pm

wear loose clothing

07877 960 799

We are told that during Mainland China’s turbulent ancient times, dedicated practitioners of kungfu, taijiquan (tai chi), qigong (chi kung) and Daoist (Taoist) arts often ‘retired’ to the mountains or other areas of Mainland China’s vast interior.

This they did in order to hermitize themselves so that they could focus upon what they perceived as being life’s “essentials”.

We are also told that they did this out of humility.

This may well have been a part of it – maybe not!

Personally, I think they retired to the depths of their country in order to remove themselves from the shallows of ordinary life. Read More→

Since its creation at the tail-end of the last century (1998) San Shan Gong has evolved into a complete (Martial) Art.

Whilst San Shan Gong continues to evolve it is already at a peak where it can well-and-truly be classed as “holistic” – a modern-day term which I find to be hugely overused if not blatently abused!

San Shan Gong revolves around the Age-old concept of Sanzhan (Sanchin) -  a physical, mental and spiritual  practice that goes way back…beyond ancient China and into ancient India.

Within its framework, San Shan Gong currently preserves more than twenty-five unique, traditional and classical xing (posture-based exercises) of which ten are sanzhan (sanchin) exercises. Read More→

Recently I decided I would post my Sanshangong and Young Dragons newsletters on this website.

Having received some unhealthy response I now realize that what I have to say is not meant for the general public as they very often just don’t get it!

When many individuals “don’t get” something then, in their eyes, it just has to be wrong!

Now  I realize that what I teach is not for – and can never be for – general consumption!

This is very sad but, indeed,  a fact of life.

Yet every cloud has a silver lining and the silver lining here is that  if I what  teach was for general consumption then it would not be unique, it would not be special and it would not be invaluable.

The original concept of classical and traditional Chinese Martial Arts was to transform ordinary folk from human beings into super-beings. This nucleus was never meant to be big and, to this day, remains very small.

My adult students are all on this path. They are all in this ”Way”. It is a long and arduous path and a never-ending one.

The knowledge I have is meant just for them and so, from now on, it will be just for them. 

Want to be a part of this? Want to join Sanshangong?

Can you take it?

Do you have what it takes?

A new year approaches. An opportunity arises…

07877  960  799