Demo team
The Demo Team (internally dubbed DT) is a fun and challenging program for Northern Shaolin Kung Fu students who have passed the Beginner Level test in Our Curriculum.
Demo Team members have the opportunity of advancing their Kung Fu knowledge and skills through this regular event. Consider this: regular Kung Fu students, who come to their regular classes, get a certain amount of training. Hopefully, they’re training outside of class as well. But the Demo Team members also get additional training times.
Not only that, but they also have the opportunity to learn advanced or additional material. For example, during 2017, our Demo Team learned some Chang Quan or Longfist movements.
We have some minimum requirements for membership on the team. We don’t want DT members to have their usual studies, practice, and progress messed up by the Demo Team. Members have to keep everything in their respective mental boxes.
What is the Demo Team?
Northern Shaolin Kung Fu Demo Team“Demo” is short for Demonstrations and Team…Well, I think you’re familiar with that one.
Having secured a good Kung fu foundation in their Beginner Level training, Demo Team members meet a couple of times per week, outside of regular classes, to learn, practice, and prepare for upcoming Demonstrations, for example, Chinese New Year celebrations.
When does the DT meet?
A Brief History
Throughout his martial arts career, Sifu Kiessling has given many Kung Fu demonstrations, by himself, with his Sifu, with his fellow students, with his students.
He’s given them at a variety of locations: local public and private high schools and colleges, for various news media, tournaments, local community fundraising events, martial art school openings, friendly exchanges with fellow martial artists, meetups, and more.
And as you may have guessed, for a variety of celebratory gatherings.
During his time with PATHS Atlanta Kung Fu, Sifu Kiessling has continued the Demonstrations tradition.
Check out Video Time Machine! Back to CNY 2013.
Friends who were also Kung Fu teachers invited us to join in CNY (Chinese New Year) celebrations at schools, by showcasing bits of our Kung Fu, via Demonstrations.
These demonstrations would consist of Sifu giving a short explanatory speech and demonstrating a form or two. And with the aid of a student, we would then show a few martial applications from those forms. This format is simple, as it needs no practice nor set up. However, it’s not all that special.
And then we started getting more and more invitations for many events. It was clear that our current format would have to adapt to become more organized and that we’d need to have some strategies and choreography.
Sifu met with the senior students and, together, they created a new Demo Team concept
Goals
To have a reliable and consistent group of students as members of the Demo Team. To have several choreographed “sets” to use for different reasons, in differing locations, with different set-ups (audio? indoors? outdoors? small, or large area?). To get to a point where we can start saying “YES,” instead of no, to the vast array of invitations and requests we get for Kung Fu demonstrations.
We
In short,
We want to Up our Game. 🙂
Demo Team Video
To see what fun our Demo Team has, check out this video compilation from a Chinese New Year celebration and Demo Team Kung Fu performance from 2018. You can also read all about it: Chinese New Year 2018.