Six Sealing Four Closing – A video clip and an explanation…
Here are some videos from CNY 2010 hosted by Sifu Gary Mitchell’s Chien Hong Kung Fu School here in Atlanta. Enjoy!
Picture by isfullofcrap / CC BY 2.0
To go ahead and cancel class tomorrow. (And no Northern Shaolin on Sunday) Sorry to do it on Chinese New Year, but you can’t argue with weather.
Stay safe and warm.
Check back here about Xingyi on Sunday.
To be clear: no Ba Gua or Xing Yi classes tomorrow morning. And no Northern Shaolin on Sunday. Practice on your own anyway!
Picture by Clearly Ambiguous / CC BY 2.0
Just a reminder to all students — we may have heavy weather coming in today, so watch this space for cancellations.
We will let everyone know as much in advance as possible if tomorrow is too nasty to get everyone out for class, but if we are going forward with it I will post that as well.
Cheers, Atlantans! Go build a snowman!
Previously, we took a look at Understanding and implementing Wu De (武德). In this installment, we’re going to look at some of its different manifestations.
There are three aspects of Wu De that are commonly misunderstood, but can in many cases fall within the same category: School / Kwoon / Guan Rules & Guidelines, General Virtues and Martial Virtues. In this installment of Wu De, we will look at common school rules & guidelines and try to understand why they exist and what relationship they have with Wu De. In the next piece we will look at specifics of the next two categories of General Virtues and Martial Virtues.
PATHS Atlanta adds more martial arts classes this year, including a new Northern Shaolin Kung Fu class:
We at PATHS Atlanta are proud to be expanding our class offerings this year, and as promised, here is the lowdown on the new Gao Ba Gua class:
PATHS Atlanta Martial Arts expand and minor adjustments to fees…
PATHS Atlanta is proud to announce the addition of two new Martial Arts classes this February!
Why Study Chen Style Taijiquan? There have been many answers to this question since the development of this theoretically simple, yet methodically complex "art of yin and yang."
I am going to play it safe for everyone and go ahead and cancel tonight’s Ba Gua class, mainly because with the temperature as low as it is any snow will melt and then re freeze on the road after dark. Sorry for the late notice but I didn’t want to cancel on a 40% ‘chance’. I hope you guys are all on the RSS, but I will call everyone whose number I can find. Bruce—I don’t have your # so give me a shout if you see this. Every one else, please comment on this post or call to let me know you got the message.
Thanks,
Dave
Well, it’s been a long time since I was able and motivated to do one of these posts. Newborn babies and all the other vagaries of life have kept me, shall we say, distracted. But, things are starting to settle in around here, and as I’m going to be undertaking a much larger writing project in the new year I suppose I should get back in the practice of actually doing some. So, without further ado, #4 in our series of basic Ba Gua concepts:
Change!
The New Year is coming upon us, and with that PATHS Atlanta will have some new Martial Arts changes.
For you Northern Shaolin Kung Fu students, it’s time to have your say in how classes are run.
Previously, we looked at a general definition of Wu De (武德). Let’s now take that understanding a bit deeper.
Hi everyone! Just a quick post to remind you that there will be no Bagua Class this Thursday, the 26th, due to the holiday. Everyone feel free to load up on triptophans and football, and make sure to take an after noon nap! We will be having Bagua class Saturday the 28th as per usual. We’ll see you then, fed, rested, and ready!
Dave
After my troubles with RCsandmore, I decided to use one of the suppliers I’ve trusted for years, Asian World of Martial Arts, and was exceptionally pleased.
I’d like to take a moment, and ask that you join me, in wishing a most heart-felt Welcome to PATHS newest family member, Olen G. Jones!
Our very own David and Thais Jones brought this lil wonderful joy into the world on November 9th, 2009.
Welcome Olen, and Congratulations Dave and Thais!
PATHS Atlanta sends congratulations to Jay, who recently passed his Northern Shaolin Kung Fu test earlier this month. Jay would later remark "…that was the hardest class yet!"
PATHS Atlanta sends congratulations to Philip and Aiken, who recently passed their Northern Shaolin Kung Fu tests on Sunday, September 27th, 2009. It was quite a day. As one of the first sessions with the new time starting later in the day, the session was long and hard.
PATHS Atlanta is proud to present Allen Pittman and his Tai Chi seminar.
PATHS Atlanta is now accepting donations to our cause. The road to 501(c)(3) is a bumpy one and we could use your help!
Allen Pittman, renowned author and Bagua / Xing Yi instructor, is coming to Atlanta!
PATHS will be hosting his two martial arts seminars, one on Bagua and one on Xing Yi. Details below.
Congratulations to Northern Shaolin students Blake and Hanh, who proved their introductory martial arts skills recently and now joined the Tan Tui ranks!
Great job everyone, and good luck walking down the martial roads of Tan Tui!
We know the term “” (武術), refers to military or martial art. And the title of a philosophical book you’re no doubt familiar with is the Tao Teh Ching, or (道德經), which translated, roughly means The Classic of the Virtuous Way.
Broken down into its parts, Dao or Tao, means the way or path. De or Teh means Virtue and Jing or Ching means Classic, as in a “literary classic”.
Wu De (武德) then, means Martial Virtue.
Wu De, the often misunderstood Cultivation of Character in traditional martial arts, is an important topic.
As we learned in Is Kung Fu a Martial Art?, the term "Kung Fu" can relate to martial arts, yet truly applies to the cultivation of any skill – a level of mastery in a skill through hard work.
This does not mean, however, that one must be a "master" of the martial arts; simply walking the proper path will do the trick.
However, there’s more to improve than just the physical and mental skills – there is the character.
New classes have been added throughout the week for Northern Shaolin, and a brand-spanking-new Qigong class has been created as well.
Increase your martial arts training and achieve true kung fu with these new additions!
See the Classes and Calendar of Events pages for more details
In his own words, "I’ve always wanted to learn Tán Tuǐ…"
Congrats! to Kayvan, who recently passed his Phase I test, and is now moving on to train Tan Tui.
Searching for a Chinese martial arts weapon, with specifics in mind, is difficult enough; performing this search online is like tip-toeing through a minefield. And I made a mis-step.
The time has come to look into offering more classes for Northern Shaolin, so there will be a schedule-shift. Depending on my next projects, this may change in the next month or so.
Recently a few of us old timers decided to add the Chinese “Big Sabre” or “Da Dao” to our practice. However, finding reliable, reasonably priced practice versions of the Da Dao was not as easy as we had hoped.
Most of what we encountered fell into two camps: lightweight and sometimes poorly constructed “wushu” swords, or swords in the $200 to $500 range; sturdy enough but too heavy and razor sharp. Neither camp fully fulfilled my desire for an inexpensive, durable, and realistic yet safe practice weapon.
The unrealistic balance and potential risk of the weak “rat tail” tang made the former camp undesirable; and the risk of practicing new material with a heavy & sharp sword should need no elaboration 
.
It may not be not be 1776, but in recognition of Independence Day, all classes are cancelled for the weekend of July 4th.
Take a break, have fun, and enjoy the fourth! Feel free to continue to practice on your own of course 
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth…
PATHS Atlanta sends congratulations to Philip and Jay, who passed their tests on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009. It was quite a day. A feeling of nervous excitement filled the already thickly humid air as we began the warm-ups, having just been announced that Philip and Jay would be testing.
CPL Bagua workshop @ Roots Farm this Saturday, April 25, 3-5pm. Intro level, all welcome.
This came together at the last minute so I’m getting the word out a little late. If you are in the Athens area and have been wanting to try out some Ba Gua, now is your chance! We will be looking at the first four changes in the Chen Pan Ling Condensed Ba Gua System. Most of the time will be spent on introduction to the forms and proper circling, but we will also touch on basic application of the forms. These forms are very adaptable to different ability levels and are comparatively easy to learn, so no one should fear that the material will go over their heads. Conversely, the accomplished martial artist can use these forms to quickly integrate Ba Gua methods and strategies into their existing practice.
Sorry again for the late notice, and I hope to see some new faces as well as old friends there!
For more info call 678-999-6436 or email Dave@pathsatlanta.org.
Yes and No. And yet your Martial art can either have Kung Fu or not.
Technically speaking, the term "Kung Fu", sometimes spelled Kongfu or Kong Fu, comes from the Chinese words 功夫 (gōng fu), and means skill, art, labor, or effort. Put together it means a skill or art derived through labor and effort.
Saturday and Sunday Class Location Has Changed!!!
PATHS classes location has changed, so be sure to attend your class at the right location. Sorry to everyone for the short notice, but we didn’t get a whole lot of lead on this ourselves. All Atlanta weekend classes will be held at Academe of the Oaks campus until further notice.
Read more…
That’s right kung fu kids! There’s the possibility of a new Northern Shaolin class starting for you martial arts fans out there, but…
I apologize for the recent down-time folks. We suffered some errors and a bit of an attack. We’re back in full force now – and log-in functionality should be back up to par. Thanks for your patience!
As Many of you know Philip, our Northern Shaolin brother, please send him some good vibes and thoughts, as he will be missing quite a bit of class for a while. Being in the military, he’s been shipped off to “fight the war”. As brothers in the martial arts, we should all send him warrior-ly good vibes.
Be well, my friend. And come back in one piece, or else!
Spring Forward With A New Ba Gua Class!
You asked for it (well, at least a couple of you so far ), so you’ve got it! I am offering a new early evening class in Gao Ba Gua. Here are the details:
I’ve had a few people ask how to subscribe to comments on posts, as they want to be involved in the conversation, but without having to visit the site and navigate to a certain post and refresh every so often.
There are now several options to do this.
More Basic Circle Walking
When I last wrote to all of you (far too long ago, I know) we spoke about the Bagua basic walk from the ground up to the legs. This time we will address the rest of you—torso, arms and head. Please refer back to Ba Gua Training Tips #2 if you need to catch up.
Ever wanted to test yourself at home, but finding it difficult to create more of a random pull for memorizing your martial art techniques?
Me too. But I came up with a cool solution…
Northern Shaolin comes from the Northern part of China, right… So then, what’s with all the Cantonese terminology?
Congratulations to Northern Shaolin students, Philip and Trina, who were married on Valentine’s Weekend!
As you know, the recent holiday was the Chinese New Year, and some of you may have heard some Chinese greetings during this festive time. Did you know that none of those greetings actually mean “Happy New Year”?
Got a Question?
If you have a burning, nagging, or even loaded question for us, we would like to hear it! We are hereby encouraging students or other interested parties to send in questions they have about any of the arts we teach or about PATHS in general.
Just a short note to let you know that the morning martial art training sessions throughout the week have changed…We are now doing Northern Shaolin on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and Bagua and Wednesdays & Fridays. Same time: 7:30 – 8:30am.
The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven.
What’s up with the way these Ba Gua guys walk around in circles all the time? As our Xing Yi instructor likes to say, “those guys look like they know what they’re doing, they just don’t have any idea where they’re going.” Well, as usual, he’s half right . Ba Gua walking is a little strange at first, but don’t worry. There is a rhyme and a reason to it all. Read on… Read more…
Martial arts in the frigid morning = kung fu kills ya! 
Just an open invitation. If you’re in the Decatur area, Hosh & I are training for an hour in the mornings.
More year & More kung fu!
PATHS Atlanta is adding another Northern Shaolin martial art class.
Hey, it’s great to have video! Now I just have to find a camera…
In the mean time, here’s a little promo video we did for the Black Mountain seminar last year.
Just another clip I thought I’d share…From our Phase One five animals in Northern Shaolin, here is the second snake drill, done with a partner.
Northern Shaolin Martial Arts – trapping hands of the Kung Fu variety
Just a quick shout-out to say Congratulations to Philip, who passed his Northern Shaolin Phase I test this past Sunday.
Great job, Philip!
Philip says “This seems like a lot longer than 3 minutes…”
Now that we have this wonderful forum to use, I feel obliged to make the most of it. One thing I intend to do regularly is post on subjects directly related to the Gao Ba Gua we teach here at PATHS. I will try to focus on areas that are generally pertinent to any student at any level, or to address frequently asked questions (FAQ). So, for this first post in the “Training Tips” category, allow me to digress for a moment on the subject of Basic Conditioning:
A fellow instructor of mine started receiving calls from a prospective student not too long ago. The caller would ask lots of technical and “If I did this… what would you do?” type questions. Said instructor answered these queries as best he could for a while, but at the end always admonished the caller to come out and try for themselves. This exchange built up over a couple of weeks to this question: “So, could you beat up Chuck Liddell?” My friend, fed up with this and without a moments pause, said simply “Hell No!” The response was, “Then why should I waste my time studying with you?”
Originally written as an article for online Martial Arts magazines, I thought I would share this with our PATHS students and readers. Improving and speeding up your learning of the martial arts.
