New Workshops

I've got a new Workshop Calendar for 2015.  I'll update as new things come in, and I would like to set-up workshops for visiting teachers in Boulder.  Check it out!

Besides my Calendar, the new Workshop Page has images that lead to pages describing the new classes I'm offering: Pure-IMA •  Games • Circus-Daoyin • Martial-Dance •  Classic

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By the way, Yelp was at the top of the SNAFU list for the full eight years of its existence.  But low and behold! They seem to have it together now.  If you've studied with me and want to write a review--please do, that would be awesome.  And note, they still use some strange divination tool to decide whose reviews people can see easily, but there is hope.  Check out my page in Boulder.

You can write reviews for Google Maps too, search under:

North Star Martial Arts

2525 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder, CO

I do not teach at this address; I teach in North Boulder Park, so thumbs down for Google.  They have the hours wrong too.  I wish it was easier to fix.  

Anyway, if you are coming to class via a Google Car, make sure to enter the correct address, North Boulder Park, or you will end up at my mailbox. Google called me the other day to get the facts right, but they didn't make the updates.  Weird.  They have been trying to fix the Google+/Youtube interface for over six months, no progress and no direct link to my videos.  

Maybe if these tech schools required a semester of "Magic" we would be in better shape!  Enjoy.

Teaching in UK, Amsterdam, and Portland

This wood goat year is exciting.  I'm finishing up two papers for publication, and working on another to be delivered at the Martial Arts Studies Conference in Cardiff, UK.  My book, about the possible origins of Chinese martial arts is at a professional editor now.  

I plan to get a Workshops web page up in the next couple of weeks with a complete schedule, but as info trickles in I'll post it:

Portland Shaolin Center, Oregon, May 16th-17th, probably available for private lessons, and jams on that Friday and Monday.

Cardiff, UK.  I'm delivering a paper called Shaking Thunder Hands: Where Martial and Performing Arts Meet in India and China, and I'll be in Cardiff from June 9th-12th, available for private lessons and meet-ups.

Amsterdam, teaching with Alex Boyd, Inner Workings of Chinese and Indian Performance Practice.  June 13th-14th.  (we have a Facebook events page too.)  I'll be there Monday and Tuesday for meet-ups.

Kings Cross, London, UK.  Again teaching with Alex Boyd.  The Energy of Performance Practice: Ways of Moving and Being from the East   June 22-26th.

So many people in Europe and the UK over the last 8 years I've been writing this blog have asked to meet me.  I didn't keep a list.  I will search around in my emails and comment lists before I go, but if you want to meet me, or bring me in for a workshop, please reach out again.

Also, do come to Boulder Colorado for a few days or weeks to study with me, hike or try the beer, things are pretty great here.  I've had a steady stream of visitors!  If this keeps growing I'll be running a year-round retreat center.  

I'm also floating the idea of hosting George Xu in Boulder in the Fall of this year, 2015.

Martial Arts Games Workshop this Sunday!

Martial Arts Games  with Scott Phillips 

Sun: 4/6/2014   From: 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Cost: $40 for this 3 hour course.  Soja monthly members receive an automatic 10% discount.

 

The purpose of playing games is to have as much fun as possible and to unleash spontaneity which is the only proof we have that we are not robots.  When we get rid of fear and replace it with exhilaration, competitiveness melts away, leaving behind a joyful cooperative buzz that lasts for days. The martial arts skills we condition and test in games are the skills we trust the most.

 

Traditionally folks retreated to the quiet mountains to meditate and find equanimity, but martial artists were rebel tricksters who instead invented games that are sneaky down and dirty short-cuts to enlightenment. They are the quick and easy route to joyful comfort in our bodies, discarding limitation, and entering the Void via a secret door.

We will particularly work with creating positive stimulation via soft hand slapping, unbalancing, and games that condition speed with relaxation and increase spatial awareness. Come ready to play, invent and develop ways to improve martial arts games. Bring your own funny bone, you may have the opportunity to hit someone with it.

Sign-up Here at the Soja Martial Arts Website, click on Schedule and then on Adult Workshops.

Simple Two Person Forms

Please join us for a workshop called Simple Two Person Forms

At Soja Martial Arts

Sunday 3/17/2013 
From: 12:00 noon - 3:00 pm

Soja is located at:  2406 Webster, Oakland, CA, 94612 between 24th & 25th Streets.

Simple Two Person Forms offer a way to play with the elements of timing, positioning, power and structure in an effortless flowing way. Like goats establishing dominance, people naturally fall into force against force patterns of resistance and self-assertion which reduce their power and speed. The purpose of this class is to create a space to explore two person forms as a tool for unlearning this social habit and opening up to spontaneous joy.

Here is a video of my ten year old students doing a Two Person Form.

Workshop cost: $50. Soja offers partial scholarships for those in financial need.

Sign up by calling: Peter at 510.832.7652    or Emailing:  info@sojamartialarts.com

or go to SojaMartialArts.com and click through to Schedule/Adult Workshops.

Rooting and Uprooting

I'm teaching a workshop called Rooting and Uprooting

At Soja Martial Arts

Sunday 1/13/2013 

 From: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Soja is located at:  2406 Webster, Oakland, CA, 94612 between 24th & 25th Streets.

Rooting is the skill of being unmovable and it is also a way of generating power.

This class will lay out a progression of exercises for developing perfect rooting skills. The better one's understanding of rooting is, the easier it is to defeat those skills in others. Thus, the internal martial arts are infused with the saying “Know your enemy better than he knows himself!"  Most of class will be lively two person partner work, beginners with some athletic experience are welcome.

For Acupuncturists and Bodyworkers we will also cover the exact method for correctly differentiating the movement of the yin and yang meridians so that qi will spontaneously rise up from the bubbling-well.

Workshop cost: $25 early bird, $30 day for Soja current Adult martial arts members; and Early bird / day of $35 / $40 for non Soja Members. Soja offers partial scholarships for those in financial need.

Sign up by calling: Peter at 510.832.7652    or Emailing:  info@sojamartialarts.com

or got to SojaMartialArts.com and click through to Schedule/Adult Workshops.