Testimonials

The following are testimonials from students of the school...

I studied Shaolin Kung Fu for a number of years and was very proud of all of my colored belts, how high I could kick, and how many bricks I could break. After just a few weeks of studying with Master Joe, it became very obvious that I knew almost nothing of substance. I had to "empty my glass," and start learning a genuine traditional martial art from first principles. This experience has definitely been a humbling example of "The more you learn, the less you know." On the other hand, I have learned so much in such a short amount of time and have achieved more than I had in the past.

Master Joe is like a force of nature. At one moment he appears to move like gently flowing water and in the next moment he is like a meteor striking the Earth. Sometimes I simply can't believe what I'm seeing when he applies a technique with such incredible speed and precision. I am so grateful to have access to a teacher who has been practicing the authentic traditional internal martial arts for more than 40 years and who can trace the lineage of his teachers directly to legendary Master Sun Lu-Tang and beyond.

I have never been good enough at any sports to have made the teams at school. I was pretty bummed out about not being involved with sports and was feeling like I just couldn't be good at anything physical. But taking these Kung Fu classes with Master Joe has shown me that with a little discipline I can master anything that I set out to become good at. This gave me new confidence to try my hand at various sports again. Amazingly, my athletic abilities have improved in just about every sport I've tried, especially tennis, which has always been one of my favorite sports (I think the sword classes have really paid off there). I'm going to try out for the team this year and I think I'm going to kick butt! Also, my grades have improved because I am able to focus better and for longer periods of time on my studies. I'm definitely spending much less time in front of the TV.

I started taking this class feeling that the martial arts aspect was secondary to the health, well-being, and intellectual aspects. I never expected to be in a situation where I would really need to defend myself using these techniques. But last July, in the middle of the night, I found myself face to face with a burglar in my house with my baseball bat in his hands. I reacted instantly, without any thought whatsoever. In less than a second, I had disarmed him, broken his nose, elbow, and knee, and he was lying unconscious on the floor until the police arrived. What blows my mind is that I had so internalized the actions that I had learned in class, that they were executed with no thought and before any sense of panic could set in. This stuff really works!

When I started this class, I was overweight and totally out of shape from a sedentary life and stressful work at a desk all day. So far, I have lost 25 pounds. I'm in the best shape of my life. My resting heart rate is 54 bpm (an average person has a heart rate of 72 bpm). My legs and abs have never been so well defined. I never get sick anymore. My doctor says I must have found the fountain of youth. But it is not just from the class itself. It has changed my entire approach to the way I live. I eat better. I'm more active, even aside from the training. I have fewer aches and pains and can just do more.

When I took Karate as a little kid (just a few years ago) I was really put off by how competitive everybody was. Everyone was out to get their next belt and with all of the sparring everyone was tryig to prove how much better they were than their opponents. Master Joe always says, "The only competition worthy of a superior person is with themselves." So our school has a cooperative rather than competitive atmosphere. Master Joe and the senior students are always willing to help. Noone has a colored belt in the school since everyone knows what they're good at or not. Rather than sparring, we do well defined drills and partner practice. Since the techniques we're learning are so devastating to an opponent, the idea of sparring is really silly anyway. If we sparred, we'd kill each other. Whether you're drilling with someone more junior or more senior, everybody helps their partner and everyone gets to learn from everyone. I have come to think of the other students as an extended family. I have some great friends in the class who I enjoy spending time with outside of the school.

One of the things about learning Tai Chi, Hsing-I Chuan,and Pakua Chang, that has really surprised and delighted me is how similar the discipline of the internal martial arts is to the discipline of musicianship, one of my great passions. Practicing scales on an instrument is equivalent to practicing the basic moves of Tai Chi. Eventually those moves become part of your vocabulary and you are then ready to internalize more complex combinations. And on and on until even the most complex piece of music or defensive maneuver can be performed effortlessly, without any conscious thought. Just as great musicianship can't be learned from a book or video tape, so it is for the Chinese internal martial arts. You need to learn music from someone who really understands the music and the more advanced your teacher is the more advanced you can become. You need to be coached in the martial arts by an expert. Master Joe is a virtuoso. I can imagine no better teacher.

This class really keeps you on your toes. Every move we learn has many subtleties and dozens of applications. You may learn a move, go home and practice it, and start to feel like you really get it. Then sometime later, Master Joe will review that same move again and you'll realize that there were all of these details you had totally missed the first time around. And, of course, the next time he reviews the move there's an entire new layer of details that you have to add. I think this is part of what Master Joe is referring to when he sometimes says, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." The good news is that the more we learn, the more easily we pick up the subtleties of new moves so the learning is accelerating geometrically. After just a few months of doing this I can learn much more intricate combinations in a single class.

I only knew about kung-fu movies and Tai Chi before a chiropractor suggested I try some classes to address poor posture. Great idea!! Two years later: posture noticeably improved, better coordination, better.... everything. The atmosphere is friendly, the teacher is seriously experienced. If you're in the area and thinking about learning Chinese Internal Martial Arts, stop by and check out a class.

Last modified Mon Apr 27 14:18:30 EST 2009