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21st Century Kung Fu
By Willie Tarts
Special to Highland Community News
Thousands
of years ago, China gave birth to a fighting system that changed the
world. It spawned hundreds of combat arts and enriched countless lives.
Kung Fu masters taught their students more than to destroy, but to preserve and cultivate life, and seek harmony. The instructors encouraged students to seek knowledge and attain happiness for themselves. They also encouraged students to help others become enlightened.
Fast forward to today. In a time when destruction is normal and selfishness reigns, traditional Kung Fu still remains, in part because of Shifu Don Newton.
Shifu Don is owner and instructor at Tai Mantis Kung Fu Academy in San Bernardino. Shifu is a practitioner of Tai Mantis Kung Fu, a derivative of Tai Chi Preying Mantis, created by Grand Master Chui Chuk Kai.
Speaking with Shifu Don you get a feeling of pride and sense of tradition.
“Tai Mantis Kung Fu Academy is unique in many ways,” he says. “We’ve been servicing the Inland Empire for 15 years now, and stood the test of time. We’ve watched a number of martial arts schools come and go. We don’t get caught up in the latest fads, like Tae Bo. We don’t claim to be involved in the mixed martial arts. That’s at the opposite end of the spectrum of what we offer at Tai Mantis. MMA is about destroying your opponent, destroying the body; we are about preserving life, making your body better. Being able to know your body on a unique level, becoming so in tune with your body that you know the moment that you pick up a virus and can deal with it holistically.”
Notable masters that Shifu Don learned Kung Fu from are Grandmaster Lee Kam Wing and Shifu Liang Kam Yuen, who has been an instructor to the late David Carradine of the TV series “Kung Fu” in the ‘60s, the Jackson 5 and other celebrities.
Shifu Don is excited about the awakening western culture is experiencing over a breathing meditation practiced by Kung Fu monks centuries ago called Qigong.
“We teach Spring Forrest Qi Gong, a powerful and healing breathing meditation that the Chinese have been practicing for thousands of years. We are finally beginning to discover its power. The Chinese have been saying Qi, our life force energy, is what will heal us. It will allow us to tap into the universal energy that exists, and permit our bodies to heal themselves and allow us to live a good life.”
The life harmony lessons can also be a power means (both physical and mental) against opponents.
This year Tai Mantis started offering something other martial art schools do not: Saturday morning lectures in DVD format.
Why would a martial arts school do something like that? Shifu explains, “The lectures fall into the realm of personal development. These lectures are presented by professors from universities such as Duke, Princeton, & Stanford. We are trying to get into the fields of self-development. I have a certificate in Hypnotherapy; it is useful in helping my students overcome obstacles in their lives and teach them the method of self-hypnosis. We have lectures in physiology, biology, understanding the human brain, and nutrition. Learning about your mind, being able to deal with everyday stress, and learning about your spirituality; I think we live two lives: human & spiritual. All of our classes tie into human development.”
To learn more about Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Saturday morning lectures, or the school itself, visit their website at www.taimantis.com
Kung Fu masters taught their students more than to destroy, but to preserve and cultivate life, and seek harmony. The instructors encouraged students to seek knowledge and attain happiness for themselves. They also encouraged students to help others become enlightened.
Fast forward to today. In a time when destruction is normal and selfishness reigns, traditional Kung Fu still remains, in part because of Shifu Don Newton.
Shifu Don is owner and instructor at Tai Mantis Kung Fu Academy in San Bernardino. Shifu is a practitioner of Tai Mantis Kung Fu, a derivative of Tai Chi Preying Mantis, created by Grand Master Chui Chuk Kai.
Speaking with Shifu Don you get a feeling of pride and sense of tradition.
“Tai Mantis Kung Fu Academy is unique in many ways,” he says. “We’ve been servicing the Inland Empire for 15 years now, and stood the test of time. We’ve watched a number of martial arts schools come and go. We don’t get caught up in the latest fads, like Tae Bo. We don’t claim to be involved in the mixed martial arts. That’s at the opposite end of the spectrum of what we offer at Tai Mantis. MMA is about destroying your opponent, destroying the body; we are about preserving life, making your body better. Being able to know your body on a unique level, becoming so in tune with your body that you know the moment that you pick up a virus and can deal with it holistically.”
Notable masters that Shifu Don learned Kung Fu from are Grandmaster Lee Kam Wing and Shifu Liang Kam Yuen, who has been an instructor to the late David Carradine of the TV series “Kung Fu” in the ‘60s, the Jackson 5 and other celebrities.
Shifu Don is excited about the awakening western culture is experiencing over a breathing meditation practiced by Kung Fu monks centuries ago called Qigong.
“We teach Spring Forrest Qi Gong, a powerful and healing breathing meditation that the Chinese have been practicing for thousands of years. We are finally beginning to discover its power. The Chinese have been saying Qi, our life force energy, is what will heal us. It will allow us to tap into the universal energy that exists, and permit our bodies to heal themselves and allow us to live a good life.”
The life harmony lessons can also be a power means (both physical and mental) against opponents.
This year Tai Mantis started offering something other martial art schools do not: Saturday morning lectures in DVD format.
Why would a martial arts school do something like that? Shifu explains, “The lectures fall into the realm of personal development. These lectures are presented by professors from universities such as Duke, Princeton, & Stanford. We are trying to get into the fields of self-development. I have a certificate in Hypnotherapy; it is useful in helping my students overcome obstacles in their lives and teach them the method of self-hypnosis. We have lectures in physiology, biology, understanding the human brain, and nutrition. Learning about your mind, being able to deal with everyday stress, and learning about your spirituality; I think we live two lives: human & spiritual. All of our classes tie into human development.”
To learn more about Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Saturday morning lectures, or the school itself, visit their website at www.taimantis.com
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