Hey family! How are you?
If you haven’t had a chance to check out our recent biweekly update, you can do so here. It’s another great way to stay in the loop plus get to see member video critiques when we can share them with you. It’s a creating training tool for you, so make sure to utilize it! Thank you again Alphonse for allowing us to share your critique brother! 🙂
One thing I was praying I’d have done for you by today was the switch over to our new affiliate program with Clickbank. However, after going through setting it up we found they have changed a lot of how they operate and sadly their method of operation is not going to work for how we need our affiliate program to run. 🙁
I am not going to lie, I was a bit bummed out. But then I started doing some research and found two other platforms that will be great alternatives. Unfortunately we could not find one that like Clickbank takes care of all the paperwork for us, however that is a small price to pay for having the functionality that we need.
So I will be working on going through these other options and testing them out to see which will work best for us long-term. For those that are already affiliates, feel free to keep sharing your links with others as we will keep everything functional until the switch and when we do you will be notified.
Now on to some more fun stuff! 😉
Here are the highlights from Enter Shaolin this week shared on Twitter and Instagram:
“The Principle of martial arts is not a thing that can be learned, like a science, by fact-finding and instruction in facts. It has to grow spontaneously, like a flower, in the mind free
from emotions and desires.” – Bruce Lee
I really love this quote, because the majority does not think this way. They think they need all the facts and specifics, often times over thinking rather simple principles. This makes them more concerned and consumed so much with their thoughts end up overwhelming them and they miss the point all together.
We are all guilty from this from time to time, but as you empty your mind and become more calm and centered this happens less and less. If you keep practicing your martial arts, you will find your mind becomes less busy. I’ve shared and joked a bit about how Sifu Larry, Hector and myself have ADD and also have shared how my Kung Fu practice has significantly reduced the chatter in my mind thankfully!
I find if I slack just a bit, my thoughts start racing again. So what do I do? I just get back on the saddle and get back to being more consistent. The good news is while I may fall down, I keep getting back up faster and faster. My times between training become less and less and with consistency as always there are many rewards. Not just in mental clarity, but also in skill, health and overall well-being!
More on that another time. 😉
Now for some laughs, because laughter is good medicine. And while there is some laughter, there is also a valuable lesson in simplicity.
Check out this simple counter offensive technique aka the lip lock:
One of the easiest counter offensive techniques. #liplock #kungfu #martialarts #selfdefense #locks #pressurepoints pic.twitter.com/5LntGaNdOP
— Enter Shaolin (@EnterShaolin) April 22, 2016
Ouch! You know that hurt! Have you ever had a lip lock happen to you? Oh man it hurts!!! You can even do it to yourself and if done right, it will hurt.
You can find the whole lesson on the lip lock for member’s here.
We also shared a quick tip on what to do when someone comes at you with a knife and you are unarmed. Sifu Phu is using weapon strikes which when executed properly are extremely painful with little effort.
Here’s one way to defend against a knife attack:
Defense against a knife! #kungfu #martialarts #knifedefense #karate #selfdefense #martialartslifestyle #shaolin pic.twitter.com/G8ZzlpQkSH
There is a longer version of this as well as what to do when you also have a knife in this week’s new training below. If you are interested in more knife techniques, check out our past webinar on knife defense and offense here. And get some more basics on knife fighting here.
We plan on having many more weapon training in the future, so there is much more to come! 🙂
In this next clip you will see me working on push hands with one of my training partner’s Kevin, another of Sifu Larry’s students. If you are not familiar with the term push hands, it is a training game used in Tai Chi.
Check out Jamie and Kevin working on their push hands:
Doing some Taichi . #Taichi #pushhands #health #wellness #kungfu #martialartist #qi #chi #martialarts #twitter pic.twitter.com/iF3CpqmZ5U
As you may have noticed from the clip, I am not in typical training gear. It is intentional and I suggest if you wear other clothing besides training gear on a regular basis that you switch up your training too. This includes types of shoes and even going barefoot from time to time! The reason I switch up how I train is because the reality is I am probably not going to be attacked while I am in training gear. Generally if an altercation is going to happen, it is going to happen when you are out and about running errands, going to and from work, going out for the evening, on vacation, etc., etc.
Because you just never know, it’s a great idea to be comfortable moving in all of your clothes and in the various types of shoes you might wear or not wear for that matter. Train for all cases, train for people that may be taller than you, your height, shorter, your size, larger and so on.
Some people don’t get this and get really offended when I don’t follow their made up rules (especially on YouTube), but at the end I’m not training for the ring or a competition, I am training for life.
What about you? Do you switch up your training and how you train too?
Last but not least we shared a great quote spoken by Jackie Chan in the remake of The Karate Kid (2010). I’m not sure why they chose to call it the Karate Kid, when it is clearly Kung Fu and takes place in China… But hey, what do I know!? 😉 Regardless, if you haven’t seen it, it’s a great movie for the whole family with many gold nuggets throughout.
Here is by far my most favorite quote from The Karate Kid (2010):
“Kung fu lives in everything we do. It lives in how we put on a jacket and how we take off a jacket. It lives in how we treat people. Everything is kung fu.” – Jackie Chan (The Karate Kid 2010)
This by far is the one thing that has permeated over and over throughout my training and my life while I’ve been training… Everything is kung fu!
Not just the aspect of being disciplined or not, whether we are dedicated or not, how much time we invest on something or not, it is also our mindset and attitude towards things, relationship, work, etc. and even down to the physics principles and the movements, all can be used in your daily life from walking, cutting up vegetables, cooking up a meal, dancing, to exercising, to making love and everything else.
Not only can it be used, it should be. Kung fu is in everything and everything is kung fu. If we master this, then we will master ourselves and our life moving through it with ease vs. resistance and pain.
Essentially we will be able to go with the flow vs. forcing and be able to respond to the energy vs. react to it. Now that is truly living!
What have you noticed your kung fu is in since you’ve been training? Share your story in the comments below!
Now on to your training… 😉
Here’s Your New Enter Shaolin Training:
Ngo Dac Na
Tai Chi
Blessings & Happy Training,
Jamie Pelaez
& The Enter Shaolin Family
P: 1-844-9-KUNGFU
(1-844-958-6438)
Good stuff! I like the lip trick, gives new meaning to the term “monkey bite.” We were just doing a drill in Kada Anan with sticks similar to Jamie’s chi sao. We call it “listening.” Jaime appears to be listening to her partner. In the drill one (the attacker) will put pressure on the other. The defender will “listen” for his turn to attack and the attacker now becomes the defender. Thus, our Kung Fu techniques, such as chi sao can be applied to other arts.
Be safe everyone…
That’s one of things I love about training sensitivity as you get better at it you really begin to understand the meaning of listening hands 🙂
Hey Desert Dragon (love the name), that sounds like a cool training technique using the sticks. Just looked up some videos on it, I think we need to get some sticks to play with now! 🙂
Energy is energy and all the principles we teach are universal and can be applied to any art, great job on noticing this and applying it!
Good point Jamie on how Kung fu applies to everything. I noticed how neat it is to apply the principles to your everyday chores, movements, etc. It makes you more aware of proper body alignment, economy of motion, relaxing your body and mind in whatever you are doing, etc., which as a result makes everything work better. The list goes on to how beneficial Kung fu is to your life in general, body and mind. When I first got into martial arts, like most people, I figured anything I learned would only benefit me martially, it wasn’t until studying the internal arts that I realized it was making a difference in my life in general. Keep up the good posts.
Hey brother David!
That is awesome that you have been seeing how to apply your skill to your everyday chores. That’s how it first started out for me as well. It’s been really amazing to see how it works into everything we do, if we allow it of course!
I’m so happy that you found the internal aspect of kung fu, as you know first hand many are sadly missing the key element. Thank you for the kudos brother and keep up the great work!
I for most part train in just casual clothes since one I’m only training my girlfriend two I’m not permitted to wear my gi outside the dogo I can wear the pants but not the jacket and belt and unfortunately there’s no karaho kenpo schools in vegas plus most of the time if possible we go to the park and train her taichi I teach inside mostly cause not a lot of room is needed but her kickboxing I do outside just so I have room to run and get away
That’s one thing I like about our clothing line it borderlines normal casual wear. I remember when I use to wear a gi when I was in Goju Ryu I never wore it unless I was going to the dojo although that might have something to do with being a kid. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Awesome brother! Glad you both are getting training in and in different elements! That is as equally as important as varying up your clothing.
I’m sure you know the Chinese fighting or warrior dragon has five fingers. The Gila monster that roams our Arizona desert has five fingers, it is Arizona’s dragon. Two species are poisonous so it must be respected. It just so happens I came with factory installed five fingers and I practice the rare ancient Chinese art of Kung Fu San Soo; hence, Desert Dragon.
As for the stick training, the sticks are actually simulated swords. The sticks train us to turn our wrist slightly to keep from damaging the sword edge. Footwork is very important also. We have to step in way so the opponent’s sword does not cut the vitals on the inner side of the leg. The body must be positioned to eliminate the possibility of getting cut also.
Our other hand may have a short sword (knife); we have to defend against or counter that possibility also. Sunday we were using the long sword techniques with a knife so we are closer and more personal.
The Instructor, Michael Butz transferred his Tai Chi training of sticky hands (listening) to the stick, sword, and knife. I study with Micheal in addition to San Soo practice because I appreciate all the arts and I can incorporate techniques from the various arts into San Soo. Besides, San Soo is a compilation of other arts.
Look for, Michael Butz Kada Anan on Youtube.
If you ever come to Arizona you might look us up.
Be safe.
Thank you for sharing how you came upon your name!
I figured the sticks were to simulate swords, granted sticks are also great weapons and are generally much more accessible and less conspicuous to carry around in these times. 😉
That’s great you hold an importance on footwork, a great martial artist isn’t about how one moves with his hands but also his feet and mind. Sifu Larry and I watched some of your instructors videos on YouTube. Great job!
Stay in touch and if we are ever over that way, we will let you know. Blessings!
Great new lessons, still would like videos on dealing with upper cuts and roundhouse kicks generally used often these days. Would be interested how you deal with these, I.e is it use of elbows to deflect/defend yourself against roundhouse kicks and trap the leg while doing a snap kick or other variations of counters. Uppercuts I find quite hard to deal with in general without moving side and chop down the attacking hand. Just pondering if you could add these. Thank you in advance.
Hey brother, absolutely we can. We are far from done with new training and techniques. 🙂
Thank you /bow 🙂
Thank you! (bow) 🙂