May 2026 Newsletter
- May 1
- 5 min read
Hello students,
Please give a warm welcome to our newest students, Oliver (Beginners) and Kelli (Dual Beginners/Evening Taiji)!
We also have a bunch of birthdays this month, so please share some birthday wishes for Amy, Dimanche, Logan, Li Gong and Brad!
Congratulations to the following students on their most recent testing in April:
Cody (Beginners) has earned his White Sash
Logan (Kids Class) has earned his Green Sash
Brad (Beginners) has graduated to the Advanced Class and earned his Orange Sash
Disciple Li Pin has earned his BROWN SASH, the second Brown Sash given by the school
Here's our calendar for this month - be sure to double check your class dates:
Morning Taiji: Wuxing Qigong (no class on May 11th and 13th, 6 classes only)
Evening Taiji: Taiji 28/Wuxing Qigong (no class on May 4th and 13th, 6 classes only)
Beginner Gongfu: Disciple Li Jie's pick
Kid's Gongfu: San Cai Jian (Sword form)
Advanced Gongfu: Taolu Review
THANK YOU FOR HELPING US ACHIEVE BEST OF STATE AGAIN
Students, disciples, parents, families, and friends - I don’t have the words to fully express how grateful I am for your support. When we received our first Best of State award four years ago, it felt unreal. What we had built together meant something. But each year since, holding that title has only gotten harder.
We’ve had to keep evolving. Improving how we train. Elevating the space we practice in. Showing up in the community. Taking on new challenges that push us to become sharper, stronger, and more unified as a school.
It’s not lost on me where we started. Just over four years ago, we were training out of a former flower shop in West Valley. Before that, we were rotating between parks and free community centers, just trying to find space to grow.
Last year was another defining moment. We stood as the only school representing Chinese Gongfu from the state of Utah at the Golden State Tournament. And we didn’t just show up, we performed, and we held our ground. This journey is built on all of you, and we’re just getting started. 感恩有您，一路相伴。
REPORT CARDS & TRAINING BOOKLETS
Be sure to stay on top of your training by tracking your progress, students. I'm a firm believer in progress tracking and that every class, you're maximizing your training by ensuring you're doing 1 more rep, 1 form, 1 second longer on holding those stances or 1 inch stretch to splits better than the last time. Check your report card monthly and challenge yourself to improve your score. If it's a skill stopping you from progressing with your grade, dedicate yourself to mastering that skill. Use the tools provided to you, and after every class, take those notes and push yourself each time you come to class.
SLOW DOWN AND TRAIN WITH INTENTION
While ferocity and swift movements rule tournaments and impress crowds, let's slow down for a moment. As students start getting more comfortable, there’s a natural tendency to speed things up. Forms get rushed, movements get sloppy and the focus shifts toward finishing instead of understanding. That’s not where real progress happens and ironically it's also where you'll get docked the most points when you're trying to impress judges.
In our system, every movement exists for a reason and every transition has intent. When you move too quickly, you don’t give yourself time to feel what your body is doing or understand what each technique is training. You end up memorizing choreography instead of developing skill, and your movements start to look more like a dance instead of something rooted, connected, and intentional. I've had to correct some students doing a chop in Fu Xing Quan Er that ended up becoming a useless hand movement due to not asking "What am I doing with this hand?" At that point it was pointless posing.
I’ve been emphasizing this more in class, especially in Taiji. Even there, I find myself reminding students to slow down, not because they don’t know the sequence, but because they’re not fully present in the movement. Taiji, more than anything, exposes whether you’re actually connected or just going through the motions. There’s also something empowering about it. For once, you are in full control of everything happening in that moment.
In everyday life, we’re constantly pulled in different directions by our phones, schedules, work, and responsibilities. We’re always reacting to something. Taiji gives you a rare opportunity to step out of that. It’s your time to slow down, to pause, to connect your breath with your movement, and to stay present.
We also talked about how our system developed. Over time, it became a combined system with more than 50 forms. That might sound impressive, but it spreads your attention too thin. That’s why we refined it and reduced it to about 20 core forms. The goal is not to collect as many forms as possible, but to make sure you are truly investing in the ones you train. I want all students to become experts at every form they know.
What I want you to start doing is simple. Slow your forms down and take the time to ask yourself why each movement exists and what it is training. Many times you'll even catch me questioning the purpose of some movements. There are still plenty of movements where I still don't fully know what the original artist intended but at least I try to give intention to it. You don’t need to run the entire form every time. Take five movements at a time and work them until they feel natural, connected, and controlled then let speed develop naturally.
There’s also something important to keep in mind. What we do here is not something most people ever experience. Most people go through life without learning how to move with intention, without ever holding a weapon like a sword and training it with discipline and control. We have that opportunity every time we step into class. We get to experience something meaningful that has been passed down through generations. And honestly, not many people get to say they train with weapons, especially incredible weapons we get to play with.
Don’t rush through it. Take your time. Ask questions. Pay attention to the details. Record yourself and look at your own movements. Pick any of your favorite forms and ask yourself how you can make it better. Watch others and how their movements are different. This is where real skill is built, and it’s what separates someone who knows a form from someone who truly understands it.
-Shifu
HOUSEKEEPING & POLICY ITEMS
Students with small lockers - feel free to use the changing room to hang your uniform to prevent them from mold, as well as keep them tidy and wrinkle-free (they wrinkle easily)
Parents - please share these newsletters with your kids. It's a great way to connect with their training and ensure they're learning the same things the adult classes are learning.
SCHOOL SCHEDULE
Comments