Kung Fu & Tai Chi Ch’uan & MMA Classes
from: Doug Moffett, Shifu,
- Lung Ch’uan Fa Kung Fu, Tai Chi Ch’uan, & MMA
- Dragon’s Fist School of Martial Arts
Students and Parents: Welcome to the Spring Hill RECenter’s Kung Fu class! As you know, Dragon’s Fist Kung Fu classes meet on Thursday nights, at 8-9:30 pm for all levels adults (or advanced young dragons 13+ years old by special arrangement) and Saturday mornings at 8am KF 6 and 9am KF 5. See the “Kung Fu” pages for more information about the curriculum.
Yang Styled Tai Chi Ch’uan Classes are offered frequently on Monday evenings at 6:30-8:00pm (Shi-Hsiung Bob Greene & Nathan Toxopeus downstairs Fitness Studio, Wednesday evenings 7:00 – 8:30pm, a Tai Chi w/Props 1 class is led by Shi-Hsiung Bob for those wanting to start the Basic Broad Sword, Straight Sword set and the Basic Fan Set. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings during the Fairfax County School year (starting again in September), Tai Chi I is offered at 10:00 – 11:00am with Shi-Jie Pat Mah, Tai Chi II at Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00am – 12noon with Pat, and Tai Chi II with Props II with Pat is at 12noon to 1:00pm on Tuesdays/Thursdays. Two Drop-in classes are offered on Tuesdays at 6pm and Wednesdays at 11:45am with Shi-Jie Pat. The Tai Chi Ch’uan classes are progressive and a student typically is in each level for about a year before moving up to the next level. During the summer, classes may be held as Drop-In at the RECenterm and also may be held at the Dolly Madison Park/Gazebo one morning per week. Saturday mornings, a Qi-Gong class at 9am is led by Shi-Hsiung Bob Greene, and a TCC1 class for Tai Chi at 10am is led by Shi-Hsiung Nathan Toxopeus. See the “Tai Chi & QiGong” page for more information.
Kung Fu & Tai Chi Dragons, try to eat at least an hour before you step onto the practice floor, and hydrate prior and rehydrate as necessary during class. Regular water breaks are included for all young dragon classes, especially during vigorous exercise and workouts. Save the sweet sports drinks until after the workout, when it can best add energy after a tough workout. Bathroom breaks by necessity only, and young dragons (under 13) must be accompanied by another young dragon to and from, to maintain safety and accountability. Of course, the accompanying parent(s) of young dragons can accompany their youth and return them back to class. Per RECenter policy, Young Dragons, 10 years and younger, must have a parent on-site at all times.
For those without uniforms, wear loose fitting pants and t-shirt with sleeves and cross trainer sneakers or martial arts shoes. Uniforms will be arriving shortly and tend to run long, so pants will have to be hemmed. For those students who are given the opportunity to spar (supervised and controlled by black sashes or black sash candidates), a fitted mouth guard and groin cup for males is required, along with headgear, hand and foot guards. If you have earned a sash, please wear it with the knot to the right hip and not too long to avoid tripping on it. Some may have to wrap several times around the waist. If you wish to check out martial arts gear here is one site – www.awma.com consider seeing me to purchase items as I can usually get them more inexpensively than you can – bulk rates and discounts etc. We have long and shorter staff weapons in our storage locker available for all to borrow during class. MMA classes require a mouthguard, 108″ boxing wraps, and MMA fingerless gloves.
Some training days can be fun and yet exercise intense too. So adults, if you have muscle soreness after a class, don’t hesitate to use an ice massage for 1-2 minutes or an ice pack for 10-15 minutes on the affected parts. (Parents of Young Dragons, you make the call about ice or heat: children tend to be much more sensitive to both, so use care and consult a pediatrician if you are unsure.) Don’t use the heating pad for at least a day after sudden muscle soreness to avoid increasing the swelling. Then make sure for both the ice pack and heating pad that you do not fall asleep on either to avoid cold or heat injury! Let me know if you have any injuries so that I may help modify workouts if necessary to keep your interest and attendance ongoing.
For those interested, I have been training in northern styled Kung Fu for 42+ years and Tai Chi for 32+ years, and have been teaching Kung Fu for over 30 years. Lung Ch’uan Fa has branches in Lorton, VA, Winston-Salem NC, and I have been promoting students to Black Sash since 1987. “To teach once, is to learn twice” is a favorite maxim of mine, and I am happy to meet all of you new students and greet all returning students! Typically in a Chinese Martial Arts Kung Fu or Tai Chi school, the teacher is addressed as Shifu, Shih-Fu or Sifu, which basically means “teacher-father” (in the past, the student lived with the teacher, shared in the household activities while training in kung fu) and has the connotation of “Master”. As the traditional requirements dictate that a “Master” has trained vigorously for a period of 25 years and be at least 42 years of age, I passed the traditional age requirement over 15 years ago. So I have hopefully gained much information along the way, which I can share as you progress in the martial arts. See the “Meet the Instructors” page for more information.
But training goes on! Senior student, now 6th Higher Level Shifu Bryan Grayson and now 4th Higher Level John Tubbs, and 3rd Higher Level Chris Weeks visited in March 2007 and trained on a “Warrior Weekend” and did either a 24 hour workout or an all-night workout, one of many in the recent past. Training challenges go on and on, and the challenge-bar keeps on rising! With your participation, we can go far! Many students have completed the All-Night Fitness Challenge previously offered at the Reston YMCA! Warrior Weekends are offered for higher level and group classes occassionally as further training at a more intense level than the group classes. Occassionally we have Dragons from other locations drop in to teach specialty seminars. Adult Black Sash testing commonly includes all-night testing and seminar.
My teacher, Ch’uan Fa Grandmaster Lao Shifu Steve Clark, now of Tomah, Wisconsin, has been studying the martial arts for over 50 years! He is a wealth of knowledge and writes prodigiously, and has an ongoing e-mail “Review for Tonight” column that relates to his areas of interest and scholarly research. Several of the LCF students had the opportunity to share time with Lao Shifu and add to their understanding of the martial arts in Charlotte, NC this past May at the CACMA Nationals Kung Fu QCC Tournament and this past summer at the USKSF/TWKSF International Tournament in Hunt Valley, MD.
If you are a novice or White Sash, I ask that you practice and review at least one time outside of class each week; yellow sash – two times outside of class; green sash three times …- brown sash four times… – black sash candidate five to six times per week. If you are not sure what to practice, please ask.
As some of you know, I had the opportunity several years ago to demonstrate Lung Ch’uan Fa and the advanced Dragon form at the Kuoshu International Tournament as a guest Master, with other Master and Grandmasters, and so our presentation to the world has begun. Train hard and attend and participate in LCF school demonstrations and organization tournaments along the way, and the possibilities remain open for your future too! Several times per year, a couple of the senior students and I have also led seminars for some of our nation’s finest servicemen through the F.I.E.R.C.E. Teacher Training ™ program. Perhaps you may develop to be an assistant at one of these future seminars. In addition, several articles have been published by Lung Ch’uan Fa teachers on various aspects of the martial arts world, and there is room for your creativity as we continue our path together.
We have Kung Fu schools in McLean, VA, Winston-Salem, NC, and Corpus Christi, CA! The Lung Ch’uan Fa family tree is listed below and continues to grow!
Doug Moffett, Da-Shi – McLean, VA
“Single Strike”
Chief Instructor for Lung Ch’uan Fa
10th Higher Level Grandmaster, Kung Fu & Master Tai Chi Ch’uan
Bryan Grayson, Shifu – San Diego, CA
“Indomitable Wolf”
6th Higher Level, Master Instructor, Kung Fu
Bob Greene, Shifu
“Relentless Crane”
5th Higher Level, Instructor, Tai Chi Ch’uan, 1st Higher Level (KF)
Chris Weeks, Shifu – Winston-Salem NC
“Formidable Badger”
5th Higher Level, Instructor, Kung Fu
Eric Robertson, Shi-Hsiung
“Soaring Falcon”
3rd Higher Level, Instructor, Kung Fu
Nathan Toxopeus, Shi-Hsiung
Farseeing Heron”
3rd Higher Level, Instructor, Tai Chi Ch’uan; 2nd Higher Level (KF)
John Tubbs, Shi-Hsiung
“Tenacious Crane”
4th Higher Level, Teacher, Kung Fu
Chris Rubnich, Shi-Hsiung – Winston-Salem, NC
“Relentless Tiger”
3rd Higher Level, Instructor, Kung Fu
Michael Schatz, Shi-Hsiung
“Indomitable Bear”
3rd Higher Level, Instructor (TCC), 2nd Higher Level, Teacher Student(KF)
Jessica Greenberg, Shi-Jie
“Resounding Bell”
1st Higher Level, Tai Chi Ch’uan
Leah Baldo, Shi-Jie
“Lightning Jaguar”
3rd Higher Level, Instructor, Kung Fu
Gina Wolbarsht, Shi-Jie
“Dancing Tamarin”
2nd Higher Level, Instructor, Tai Chi Ch’uan
Hiu Newcomb, Shi-Jie
“Whispering Eagle”
2nd Higher Level, Teacher-Student, Tai Chi Ch’uan
Pat Mah, Shi-Jie
“Soaring Crane”
3rd Higher Level, Instructor, Tai Chi Ch’uan
Nathalie Depastas, Shi-Jie
“Divining Orchid”
3rd Higher Level, Instructor, Tai Chi Ch’uan
- Other active Adult Kung Fu 3rd Higher Level Black Sash: Indomitable Tiger
- Other active Adult Kung Fu 2nd Higher Level Black Sashes: Iron-willed Mountain, Soaring Falcon, Vigilant Egret, Dazzling Phoenix, Veracious Tigress, Sentient Ram, Dauntless Eagle, Gallant Longhorn, Relentless Crane!!
- Other Adult Tai Chi Ch’uan 2nd Higher Level Black Sashes: Dashing Petrel, Tenacious Lioness, Resonating Lotus, Tenacious Falcon!
- Other Adult Kung Fu 1st Higher Level Black Sashes: Lightning Bear, Kinetic Tiger, Rippling Mongoose, Piercing Mamba, Electric Razorback, Sagacious Bear, Valiant Ram, Ardent Steed!
- And 2nd Higher Level Young Dragon Black Sashes: Thundering Lion, Valiant Jaguar, Engaging Lotus, Indomitable Osprey, Tenacious Jaguar, Relentless Eagle, Formidable Shikra, Sagacious Iris, and more!
- And 1st Higher Level Young Dragon Black Sashes: Mountain Tiger, Discerning Saker,!
Yours in the Martial Arts,
Doug Moffett, Shi-Fu Lung Ch’uan Fa