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Sibok Lloyd Fridenburg

Editorial

by Sibok Lloyd Fridenburg

Nothing is static; all things are in a constant state of flux.  In terms of Kung Fu training, I contend that if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. 

Now before you get discouraged let me explain.  We are training in the martial arts; we happen to have chosen Shaolin 5 Animal Kung Fu where, more than many others, we place as much emphasis on the “art” (which for simplicity we can think of as our forms), as we do on the “martial” (which, again for simplicity, we can think of as our techniques and self-defense).  The art strings together sequences of martial techniques.  You can either look at forms as nothing more than a sequence of moves that must be learned, or you can look deeper for the martial meaning hidden in the form and use that to enhance your understanding and to personalize the forms.

It’s quite natural to have learned a form, or a technique, or some self-defense releases and want to move on to learn more; but be sure to practice what you have learned.  Grandmaster Pan used to say “you only truly know a technique or a form after you have practiced it correctly at least 1,000 times”.  There are others that say 10,000 or even 20,000.  We have 16 compulsory forms; it takes 6 years (if you’re dedicated) or longer to attain the rank of 1^st Degree Black Sash; so let’s look at that in terms of only the Short Dragon/Two Door.  If you practiced that form alone 5 times a week (correctly) it would take nearly 4 years to boast that you have performed it 1,000 times.  That would mean that you have attained, or nearly attained your Brown sash before reaching the 1,000 milestone…and that’s only one form.

Kung Fu is a lifelong discipline that doesn’t stop with the attainment of your Black Sash.  In fact, you can equate the attainment of a Black Sash with a university degree.  The school provided you with the tools, now you must gain the experience and the wisdom to utilize the tools properly and to develop the knowledge and skills that will allow you to pass those skills on to others.  Your training doesn’t end when you acquire your Black Sash; it begins!

If you go a few weeks without practicing a form, technique, or self-defense move your skills have not remained static; they have regressed.  Your sharpness is gone, and you may even have to think about how to execute the release or technique.  Even though you may have increased your volume of knowledge over that period, your overall ability to execute your previous requirements has decreased.

At WKFA you are not only expected to learn new forms, techniques, and releases, you’re also expected to continuously improve all of your previous requirements.

So, what do we do about it?  PRACTICE…PRACTICE… PRACTICE; and not just in class. Progress in the martial arts is never linear, it looks more like the peaks and valleys of a bush saw than it does a straight line, but when you join the peaks, you should see a constant upwards progression.

Commit to your Kung Fu training and constantly hone your skills.  Kung Fu really is an endless journey and whether you’re just beginning or have attained a high rank; if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.

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Sifu Michael Prudencio-Brunello

Youth Student’s Corner

by Sifu Michael Prudencio-Brunello

Welcome back everyone! With the leaves falling and the weather getting colder, we head towards another fall, and another school year. In Kung Fu, this means classes will be back inside. After doing classes outside and on Zoom for so long, I wanted to remind everyone about our Kung-Fu etiquette: the rules we must follow to show respect and have a good class. Here they are!

Tip 1: Before Class

When waiting before class, remember to be respectful to your fellow students learning Kung Fu! It can be exciting to talk with your classmates but remember to wait quietly and away from the main entrance. Better yet, use those extra minutes to practice corrections from a past class, work on your strength requirements, or start stretching so you’re ready once class begins!

Tip 2: Bowing In and Out of the Kwoon

Each time we enter or exit the kwoon, we do a short bow. This is to show respect for the space that we are using to train. If you forget, that’s okay! We can all be forgetful at times. When this happens, or if an instructor reminds you, just go back to the entrance and bow.

Tip 3: Talking to Instructors

All the instructors have worked hard to learn Kung Fu, and now we want to help you on your journey! As such, we show respect whenever we talk to them or hear instructions. For black sashes, this is “Yes Sifu!”. For our brown sashes, we use Sihing or Sije, depending on if they are male or female. For all other instructors, we address them as Sir or Ma’am. Showing this respect lets the instructor know you are focused, listening, and ready to learn Kung Fu!

Tip 4: Paying Attention

When listening to the instructor, stay in your best closed stance! This means eyes forward, hands chambered back, feet together, and standing tall. When instructors see a strong closed stance, they know you are focused one hundred percent on Kung Fu.

Tip 5: Following Instructions

There are two different types of instructions in Kung Fu. The first one is when you are asked to do something – going into a stance, starting a form, or any other instruction to do Kung Fu. Make sure to get into position quickly and wait for the next instruction! The second type is when you are asked to move somewhere. For these, you say yes to the instructor (like “Yes Sifu!”), then move as fast as you can.

Tip 6: Working with Partners

When we work with partners, we always bow beforehand as a sign of respect. This tells the other person that you are going to work together to practice Kung Fu, using the teamwork and collaboration skills of the dragon!

The respect we have as Kung Fu students should extend beyond the kwoon, and into other areas of our lives. Make sure you know the rules of your school, of your home, and of other places so that you can always be respectful and show good etiquette.

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by Sifu Charlie Romeo

The ability to complete your full push-ups is often one of the most challenging aspects of a student’s requirements. This article will give some tips on how to better meet these requirements. As someone who used to struggle with push-ups, I hope these will help you in your training.

Tip 1: Develop Proper Form

It’s common for students to develop the strength to complete their full requirements, but to be doing so with improper form. This only creates more of a challenge: to unlearn and relearn how to do a push-up. A good way to develop proper form is to watch yourself doing push-ups. Try filming yourself, and while watching back, make sure your back is straight, your hips are aligned, your head is up, and your hands are underneath your shoulders, and fingers pointed straight ahead.

Tip 2: Develop Strength

I’ve never been a fan of knee push-ups because there’s no easy way to transition from knees to full body. Instead, use an incline to build your strength. For example, start doing push-ups on stairs, with your feet on the floor and your hands a few steps up. Ensuring you have proper form, work your push-ups on this incline and you’ll find there’s much less weight to push up against. When you’re comfortable, move down a step, and repeat until you’re able to do your full requirement on the floor.

Tip 3: Develop a Practice Schedule

You’re not going to improve by ‘winging it’, structure is essential for improvement. Set up a schedule so that you can keep track of your progress. For example, you can set up a schedule to work your push-ups three times a day: before breakfast, after school, and before bed. Consistency is key!

Tip 4: Patience

The last and most important tip is patience. You’re not going to drastically improve your strength in one week; this is a long process that takes effort and perseverance. Your instructors are here to assist in your progress as a martial artist, but only you hold the responsibility to improve yourself.

Sibok Lloyd’s Tip

You don’t have to be able to do your full set of new push-up requirements the day after your grade. It is better to build up to the new requirement gradually, with proper technique, than to cheat by doing improper push-ups.

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by Sifu D’arcy Langois

When you spar at the Academy, do you favour techniques that are strong and aggressive, or are you more reactive and defensive? Do you rely on quick hands and feet to move away from harm, or do you use your movements to put your opponent off balance? Our style of Kung Fu draws inspiration from, you guessed it, five animals and it’s only natural that inspiration appears in our sparring as well. It should also be no surprise that everyone defaults to a specific strategy, usually coinciding with one of those animals. Being able to recognize what animal you and your opponent default to, will surely improve your sparring game.

Pause for a moment, to think about the animal you might embody in the ring. Then, when ready, continue reading about the various animals. Although a full article could be written about each individual sparring style, here is a synopsis of my personal observations.

Tigers typically favour straightforward, strong attacks. They focus heavily on offense and try to maintain control of the round by keeping their opponent under constant pressure. With such a focus on linear attack, they can be susceptible to deception and angular counters.

Leopards favour a wide variety of attacks, mixing up their combinations to remain somewhat unpredictable. When one combination fails, a Leopard will often try something new. They can sometimes put themselves into an unfavourable position when a creative combination fails.  They exude the power of the Tiger, but with more agility and angular movement.

Snakes adopt an elusive fighting style, using speed to keep ahead of their opponent. Generally, they only throw attacks on a sure thing as a way of conserving energy. By using evasive footwork, their opponents can often dictate the pace of the round.

Cranes tend to focus heavily on defense, particularly evasion and deception. The hallmark of this animal is the fast, accurate, counter-attack, following up on a miss by a more aggressive partner. They may lose the initiative in the round by ceding the first move to their opponent.

As you become more comfortable with your sparring, you’ll find you can incorporate a wider range of strategies into your rounds. If you find yourself able to move smoothly between the more typical “Animal” strategies, then you are sparring like a Dragon, the animal that embodies the other four, but is distinct from them nonetheless.

Remember, sparring at the Academy is a partner exercise and you should never feel afraid to spar with anyone (we’re not out to hurt each other after all!). Never be afraid to let your partner know to tone it down if you are feeling overwhelmed, but on the other side of that coin, don’t be afraid to push yourself a little! Next time you’re sparring, think about a strategy you’d like to try, and give it a go! See what works best for you and work it into your future rounds.

Wanna feel like a kid again? Have some fun reading these Youth student posts with videos about the Kung-Fu Animals:

Embodying the Five Kung Fu Animals: Scales
Fu-For-You Winter 2022, Youth Student’s Column
In our style of Shaolin Kung Fu, we specialize in styles associated with our five animals; let’s explore soaring through the air like the dragon!

Embodying the Five Kung Fu Animals: Feathers
Fu-For-You Fall 2021, Youth Student’s Column
In our style of Shaolin Kung Fu, we specialize in styles associated with our five animals; let’s explore moving like the crane with fluidity and grace!

Embodying the Five Kung Fu Animals: Spots & Slither
Fu-For-You Summer 2021, Youth Student’s Column
In our style of Shaolin Kung Fu, we specialize in styles associated with our five animals; let’s explore the leopard and the snake!

Embodying the Five Kung Fu Animals: Stripes
Fu-For-You Spring 2021, Youth Student’s Column
In our style of Shaolin Kung Fu, we specialize in styles associated with our five animals; let’s explore the tiger!

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by Sifu Laurent Bernardin

After looking at some details of Forms and Sparring in the past two columns, let’s dive a little deeper into the third pillar of our Kung Fu curriculum: Technique.

In many ways Technique is the most fundamental component of what we teach at WKFA. It starts with stances, which describe the way we stand and position our feet. A good, solid stance is the prerequisite for being able to execute any other technique effectively. We often talk about the concept of “rooting”, where we use our stance to firmly connect us with the ground, making it harder for an opponent to dislodge us and providing the base for a strong kick or punch. Students will be introduced to a variety of stances, which are taught individually as well as in sequences, which also teach how to properly move in those stances and transition between them. Proper footwork being just as important as the stances themselves.

Some of our stances, like the “Horse Stance” (also called “Basic” or “Square” stance) would merit an article of their own.

Blocks, kicks and punches are of course the most well-known (and popular) techniques that students will learn. However, there is a lot of variety. Our Youth and Junior curriculum counts eighteen different hand formations to perform a strike. Likewise, students learn sixteen different kicks, not including turn, spin and jump variations. In addition, they will learn elbow and knee strikes, sweeps, rolls and a whole lot more. These techniques are then put together into sequences like the Basic Sequence of Blocks or the Basic Sequence of Kicks. As students move up the ranks, they will encounter increasingly more advanced versions of these sequences.

Frequently, two, three or more techniques are put together into a combination, to be executed in line, and frequently to the count of an instructor. As students progress, those combinations become more advanced and will include spinning and jumping components. Combinations train not just the technique itself but also the coordination of all limbs involved. As well, they challenge the student’s ability to recall multiple moves in a sequence and commit them to muscle memory. At higher levels a combination, perhaps involving spinning and jumping techniques, and done in quick succession, will definitely also be a cardio challenge.

“Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, and a kick, just a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick.” ~ Bruce Lee

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by Sifu (Dr.) Rikin Patel MD

Each June, I spend time reflecting on the years of learning under our school’s founder Sigung Bob Schneider. In addition to being an outstanding martial artist and teacher, his strong character that he inspired in all of us, I feel was his biggest contribution to society.

In a recent article, I had described the 7C’s to foster resilience in children and character was the most important. It’s important to understand a child and even an adult can be very competent, confident, and deeply connected but without good character will not be prepared to thrive contribute positively to society. Character can be thought of in a few ways. Simply it’s a basic sense of right and wrong. It is the ability to rise above self-interest for the sake of others. Character is who you are when others are not watching.

Our fast paced, technology run society greatly challenges our ability as parents and teachers to raise people with character. Today our culture values personal success and independence more than cooperation and sharing. It fosters winning the prize (even by taking shortcuts) rather than how we play the game that defines us as humans. Since most are encouraged to follow the masses, many have weak character because they lack courage to be bold and stand up against negative opposition and support truth.

While character development is a process it cannot be left to chance. It is taught by what we say and more importantly how we interact with others and what we do. Good character does not develop over a weekend workshop or even a few months but over years of nurturing, testing and time spent with those strong character. Thus, as parents and teachers, the onus first rests up on us.

Sigung Bob was that type of leader. He imbibed and exemplified the change he expected of all of us. Amongst many, here are some of the approaches he lived by to inspire good character that we can apply to our lives and encourage in others:

• He always maintained a student mindset, reading voraciously and studying and cultivating relationships with those of strong character – who we spend time with is who we potentially become
• He was extremely hardworking and self-controlled — delayed gratification as it is known today was his everyday way of being
• He noticed and appreciated kindness and good behaviours in others – he genuinely acknowledged and appreciated others
• He was committed to honesty and this built trust in his students and families tied to the school
• Continuously tried to simplify and keep life simple
• If something was difficult (ie. in his Kung Fu training), he leaned into it, worked hard to improve and also acknowledged his limitations
• He was very giving with his time without expectation — always approachable
• He was bold and courageous, always willing to call “a spade a spade”
• He was passionate about keeping high standards in the curriculum and at the same time compassionate recognizing each individual student’s trajectory and capability
• He promoted accountability and responsibility of himself and of all his students
• He was inclusive, personal, and respectful with every student or parent he met – gifted at remembering names and student numbers his attention to detail was something to aspire for

Moral, responsible, kind, hardworking, humble, and honest; qualities in Sigung Bob’s character that I have remained inspired to uphold and share with others. My respects to Sigung Dave for his dedicated efforts over the last sixteen years to continue the culture of strong character that Sigung Bob tirelessly dedicated his life to exemplifying.

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Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

What your habits, they become character.

What your character, it becomes your culture.

B.T. Swami

Author, Leadership for an Age of Higher Consciousness

(Continued from Sifu Rikin’s article.)

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