September 2025 Newsletter

Hello students & parents,

First and foremost, happy birthday this month to Kaia and Dianne!

Here are the focuses this month. Please double-check the days off for your classes:

• Morning Taiji: Taiji 13 (Still 8 classes this month - an 8th class will be voted on for a Tue/Thur morning)

• Evening Taiji: NO CLASSES (Please wish Li Pin a speedy recovery)

• Beginner Gongfu: Back in session! Jibenquan Wudang

• Kid's Gongfu: Sanda (throws/counters focus)

• Advanced Gongfu: Review month (back to uniforms/tank tops)

We still have 1 final match in the Kids Division but congratulate Disciple Li Gong on him winning the Adults' Sanda Showdown!

For now please bring your own pre-filled water bottle; our water-bottle refiller station at the studio is having problems (of course) and may not work at all times.

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"Remember your training"

That's a phrase I tell my kids’ class often. It is not just an echo of my military background, it is a reminder to every student that the work they have put in matters. Every stance drilled, every punch taken to the face, every sweep and throw they have endured, it is all training the mind as much as the body.

As kids recover from bruises and nose bleeds and move into more training in September, this is a friendly reminder that they're learning so much from these experiences. For kids, it is more than throwing kicks and fists at each other. It is building confidence. It's teaching them how to be a good sport and staying humble. It's also showing the reality of how the world can be rough and needing to be thick-skinned.

It is knowing that while most kids their age have never been pressure-tested in this way, they themselves have already faced the fear of getting hit and pushed through it, leagues ahead of their peers in terms of mental and physical toughness. They're learning the same techniques that the adults learn. That experience stays with them, and if the day ever comes where self-defense is necessary, they will have that moment to remind themselves "I've done this so many times that this doesn't scare me," and have the resilience to hold their ground.

For the adults, the same wisdom carries weight, but also in a different way. Our Sanda Showdown was not only about testing skills against an opponent, it was about facing yourself. Adults carry years of habits, self-doubt, losses, anxiety and are afraid of engaging and moving forward because of fear of getting "hit." To step into the ring is to willingly confront them head-on. You get hit, you fall, you get back up. You think what happened and what you need to do better next time. You get up knowing you really only have two options when you're on the floor and cornered. That is where the growth is. The bruises fade, but the lesson remains: you are stronger than the voice in your head telling you to quit.

Our martial arts is never only about fighting. Remember your training, remember the hours of sweat and setbacks, remember the moments you thought you could not go further but did. Kids and adults alike walk away from the fight not with trophies or titles, but with something more lasting - proof that they can overcome themselves.

That is the real victory.

-Shifu Lei

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS

• Report cards will only be given when you're near testing for your next sash. To save the trees and printing, a digital version that will be located on your school portal is currently being tested.

• All gongfu classes, USE your training booklet. Even for 5 minutes on break or after classes. Track how much you're growing as a martial artist. Every day I want you to recognize one thing that you did better than the last class and make goals. Write it down, train with purpose, and watch discipline turn wishes & dreams into results.

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SCHOOL SCHEDULE