Martial Strategy *Kipping Pull-Ups*

Read a text about any major martial art and you are almost certain to encounter the notion that the art is designed so that a smaller, slower practitioner can subdue a stronger, faster opponent. How is this possible?

There are, doubtless, hundreds of answers to that question but the one we touched on in class today was that of strategy. If you're opponent is bigger than you, they are going to have no problem going toe to toe. They'll stand there and trade punches with you and they'll win. The solution then is not to go (or at least not stay) right in front of them. Angle off, take the weak side, get to their side or back.

Ah! But they are faster too! Every time you try and slide around to the side, they turn! Then the next step is using strategically placed hits to help turn them, so that you have to use less footwork to get around to the back. One easy one is to kick them in the side of the knee. The knee buckles and they turn to the side! Perfect! Now is the time to slide around to the back and keep yourself there.

Continuing on the theme of strategy, we went over the kipping pull up. Why kip? Because all that matters is if you can get yourself up and over the obstacle - in this case the pull up bar. Kipping is an efficient way to do that. Kipping is, therefore, a strategy. Now why did the students have to inchworm up to the bar? That was simply my strategy for giving them a good workout.

Two Step plus Structure

No, not the Texas two step. That's for a different class.

In this two step, you take turns with your partner pushing and receiving. When you push you go straight forward. When you receive you angle off at 90 degrees. The notion is that with your partner's hand on your arm, you'll feel it when they start pushing and get out of the way before they get to your center and push you over.

Normally when we do this drill, it's okay when receiving to let your "bumper" arm fold a bit. The "bumper" arm is the one you've got extended - the one your partner is pushing on. And for the first part of the drill we did just that - let the bumper crumple. But for the second part, we kept our bumper out with the idea that not only were we going to step out of the way but we weren't going to let our partner take any of our precious space.

This class is a filtering of what my teacher has been having us do in evening classes this week, which in turn is a filtering of what we worked on at camp. So the art moves and changes.

Day 5 - Void

The final day of camp this week was all about how much you can see, hear and feel during your training. We played games like "Sifu says" and the classic "run and touch color X" game.

The students, of course, showed us the true meaning of observation by watching an earth worm for 10 minutes as it meandered around the grass in the park.

Our evidence that the theme of the five elements stuck was that today, on the final day, the kids were assigning the colors of the merry go round to the various elements. Red was fire, Blue was water, etc.

Day 2 - Wind

For our half day camp for younger kids, we're going with the five elements as the theme.

Monday - Earth (Strength)
Tuesday - Wind (Speed)
Wednesday - Water (Yielding)
Thursday - Fire (Agility)
Friday - Void (Observation)

Today was wind. In the photo you catch a snapshot of the end of the day activity - Tabata jumping jacks. That means doing as many jumping jacks as you can for 20 seconds then resting for 10 seconds. We did 3 rounds and then 3 more rounds of squats.

If you look carefully in the background, you can see the adults from noon workout helping make the end of camp conditioning drill an all ages affair.

Movement Arts Fair II

It's back! We are hosting yet another Movement Arts Fair, featuring three hours of instruction in four dynamically different classes for the low cost of $15 (Pre-Registration rate) or $20 at the door.

This time the featured classes will be lead by seperate highly-qualified Partner Yoga, Parkour, Kung Fu and Crossfit instructors.

"Okay, those are the names of the classes, but what will the actual content look like?" Glad you asked...

Partner Yoga involves working with other students on poses that will challenge your flexibility, strength and balance. Don't worry, you don't have to bring a partner, but you will have to keep an open mind in trusting and working with your fellow students.

Parkour is the French art of "free running." Basically, it addresses the question of how one can move from point A to point B in the most efficient way. Imagine stepping out of your house and seeing the outside world as your training floor - that is Parkour. Basics include jumping, rolling and climbing - safely. Think Daniel Craig's James Bond or Tony Jaa's Ong-bak.

Kung Fu translates literally from the Chinese as "effort over time". The pursuit of Kung Fu, or any other art, can be a life long journey. With that in mind, for this 40 minute class, students will be exposed to some "dirty moves," or practical self defense techniques that will give them a small taste of what the art is about.

CrossFit is a physical conditioning regimen that scorns regimen. The core belief of the system is that when it comes to getting fit and healthy, variety is king! It is therefore, the perfect match for a mixed movement event, and said workout shall be guaranteed to give participants the sweaty, effort-filled ending they all deserve.

Who are the teachers? Again, glad you asked.

James Grant is leading the partner yoga class. James teaches yoga at Corepower Yoga and Capoeira at Capoeira Regional.

Ramman Turner is leading the parkour class. Ramman is the owner and a coach at Rip City Fitness.

Wally and Lara Jones are leading the Kung Fu class. They are the owners and instructors for Kung Fu Outreach.

Scott Hagnas is leading the Crossfit class. Scott is the owner and a coach at Crossfit Portland.

Free chair massage (tips welcome) will be available throughout the event, courtesy of Clayton Elzinga, LMT. Healthy baked goods (sold at donation rate to benefit PPS elementary after-school fitness programs) will be available throughout the event as well.

Kung Fu Outreach's mission is to provide students, of all ages with quality instruction, and love of learning and open appreciation for all movement arts. E-mail us with any questions, or to secure registration click here.

info@kungfuoutreach.org
503-432-7450

Mo Duk Pai Kung Fu *All-System Workout* Sparring Focus

This past Thursday marked another awesome gathering open to all students of Mo Duk Pai Kung Fu, with an All-System-Workout. Led by Professor Frederic D. King, the focus of the workout was "sparring." An additional highlight of the event, Sifu Kyle Alexander (our teacher) was promoted to the rank of Fourth-Degree Black Belt by his teacher, Professor King. The turnout was big, and everyone came away terrificly sweaty, and full of smiles!

Follow this Youtube link to view video footage of past ASW.

Last Week of School Camp *Archery, Yoga, Kung Fu*

In keeping with the guest movement art of the day, Archery...today's camp focused on the skill of Percision, with attention to detail in structure as well as many skill-based games that required students to engage in fine tuning specific physical techniques in order to "score." We'd like to than Coach Joel of Archer's Afield for showing us the ropes; we had an absolute blast firing away at the targets!