Push-up Challenge and New Yoga Classes

Sigung’s Corner

by Sigung David Moylan
Fu For You Spring 2026

I was already complaining about shoveling in my last article (November). It’s February 23rd as I write this and the shoveling continues—but add in lion dancing and push-ups. Today, our team performed our fifth lion dance in support of the Year of the Fire Horse. We’ve taken on the February Push-Up Challenge, again setting an Academy goal of 100,000! My kids just counted out my 3,000th pushup of the month (although not near the mind-boggling tally of Alex, Lily and Owen who have already cleared 10,000!). I’ve spent parts of this winter skiing and biking through forests on top of the regular regime of weightlifting and teaching/training Kung Fu. All these strength and cardio-based pursuits start to take their toll; I find it essential to have a system of physical maintenance: Enter yoga.

For years, the culture of our style of Kung Fu was resistant to “softer” practices like yoga. Before Kung Fu, my teacher, Sigung Bob Schneider, came from a background of weightlifting and high cardio exercise, like running. Once he began his Kung Fu journey as an adult, Sigung stretched a lot more diligently and achieved a very inspiring degree of flexibility; he could touch the back wall with his foot in the front partner stretch!

His sister, Mary, was a well-loved yoga instructor in Waterloo. I was always curious as to whether any of her practices would influence our Kung Fu. Sigung was careful to keep the two disciplines separate, which was understandable at the time, given the culture of martial arts 20+ years ago.

In the years following, oddly enough, the world’s hardest martial artists were the catalysts for embracing the practice of yoga. At a mainstream sporting level, this millennium witnessed the rise of mixed martial arts.  As an important counterbalance to the intense wrestling and striking done by MMA athletes, they started training in yoga. In a way, it opened yoga to a larger and perhaps unexpected following.

I met Maureen, a local yoga instructor, over 12 years ago, as I taught her (now adult) children since Little Ninjas. We had occasional chats exploring the similarities between Kung Fu and yoga – mobility, core strength, proprioception. About eight years ago, acknowledging my need for a more concentrated form of stretching, I took a class with Maureen. I was amazed by how euphoric I felt! As something we could do together, my family and I started taking weekly classes with her and that energizing and grounding feeling continues after each class.

Yoga is a wonderful complement to the hard training I do. I’m meeting my initial goal of more flexibility training, but I’ve discovered many more benefits. I get sore less often and recover better from injuries. The focus on balance and breath work is invigorating and deepens my application for Kung Fu. We now proudly offer the option of taking yoga classes with Maureen at our Academy. If you or someone in your life might benefit from this practice—I’ll see you on the mats!