Hi all. I'm back from vacay. I cut it down this winter to two and a half weeks. It was great to relax and spend time with my family. I'm back on the mountain getting ready for the next semester. It's cold and wet here. Just yesterday we had about an inch of snow in the morning. The following is an update from Dr. Yang about the Retreat Center. Check out the new Skype Seminars we are offering!!

javi

Dear Friends,

Happy new year! I wish everybody a great 2013. Here is an update of current events to start off the new year:

Applications Received For 5-Year Program

Summer Seminars 2013

1. We are unable to accommodate very specific dietary needs and meals, although though we can provide some vegetarian meals.
2. You should arrive on a Friday and depart on a Friday. Friday is the reserved arrival and departure day, so there are no seminar activities then.
3. Payments should be made by sending a check (USA only) or using PayPal. PayPal payments should be sent to paypal@ymaa-retreatcenter.org. If you register for a free PayPal account, you can send money through PayPal using a credit card. More information at www.paypal.com. Please email us if you have any difficulty.
4. There are two prearranged pickup times at the Eureka/Arcata (ACV) airport. If you are able to arrive at the airport at either 3:00pm or 7:00pm, the round-trip transportation fee is $50 per person. If you are unable to arrive for a 3:00pm or 7:00pm pickup, you can arrange a different pickup time with us, but the round-trip fee will be $100 per person. We would like to encourage carpooling as much as possible to save on gas and reduce pollution, so please try to make the prearranged pickup times. The drive to the center is roughly 90 minutes from the airport.
5. If you have to cancel your registration, here is the policy:
   • Refund:
     Before January 1st ---------------- 100% Refund ($50 Service Fee will be Deducted)
     Before February 28th -------------- 90% Refund ($50 Service Fee will be Deducted)
     Before March 31st ------------------ 80% Refund ($50 Service Fee will be Deducted)
     Before April 30th ------------------- 70% Refund ($50 Service Fee will be Deducted)
     Before May 31st -------------------- 60 % Refund ($50 Service Fee will be Deducted)
     After May 31st ---------------------- No Refund
     
   • Transfer to Next Seminar (Effective Only One Year):
     Before March 31st ------------------ 100% Transfer
     Before April 30th ------------------- 80% Transfer
     Before May 31st -------------------- 60 % Transfer
     After May 31st ---------------------- 50% Transfer

When I first came here I was all gung-ho. “I got this” was my mantra. It was fun…until it became work. Dr Yang calls this the honeymoon period. It’s easy to be excited for the first few months. The will is there and the spirit is there, and this allows you to endure a lot, but those feelings are superficial and temporary. They will eventually fade.

I feel like the trick to surviving the program is to try to find ways of prolonging your “honey-moon” period. It’s like a fire, constantly needing wood pieces to stay alive. This means finding things that get you excited or interested, because if you are not at least interested then you might as well be a robot just going through the motions. I find comfort in small improvements because they equate to progress. Each improvement whether big or small is an additional piece of wood thrown into the fire. This keeps me focused on myself and engaged in my training, in hopes of snowballing into a cycle that will keep that flame lit.

Many people are curious about what life is like here, especially those applying for the 5 year program. Some guys have been flying out here to stay with us and get a glimpse of the life. I would say that a glimpse IS better than no exposure at all. It helps in starting to paint a picture. Unfortunately you just can’t feel the WEIGHT of this place without living here for years on end. It can become like a pressure cooker. How? Responsibilities of the homestead, work, school, family and friends all pile up on one little mountain. You can’t avoid people or problems because you see the same faces every day and do the same things every day. Every emotion is not only felt but magnified due to the fact that everyone is in close proximity. I can’t stress the importance of people skills along with time-management skills.

I don’t want applicants to think that they are just going to drop their worldly possessions and escape their problems of city-life, move to the mountains to meditate and train Kung fu all day. It doesn’t work like that. Don’t think you are jumping out of the matrix because you will find that the mountain is governed by its own matrix, with its own flaws. There is no perfect system as there is no perfect person. Humans will always be human and problems will always arise at the worst moments.

My message to the candidates: You will need to find ways to keep that flame lit while not burning yourself out. You will need to tolerate others but stay true to yourself. And you will need to stay adaptable to all situations, but remain calm and focused.

That’s my two cents. Hope it helps.

I’m not feeling good so I’m resting and thought I would update the blog to keep my mind from the pain. Year 5 of the 10 year program has begun, but it’s my fourth year here. I came out guns blazing ready to get back to the regular routine; however I think I pushed my body to hard and made myself sick. Strange, this isn’t the first time.

Seminars

So we had a good turnout for summer seminars this season. Thank you everyone. Your contribution keeps this place running during the regular seasons. A very special thanks goes out to Dale and Christine. They stayed throughout the whole seminar season and cooked bomb-ass meals day in and day out. Those reading should know that is NOT easy. So hats off to you two and thank you for taking some of our work-load.
                                 

YMAA International

I want to officially welcome Nicholas Yang (Dr. Yang’s youngest son) as he will be living and training with us throughout the program’s duration. He Jon and I have started training together. I’m stoked. He already has a ton of knowledge so it’s great to have that resource.                   
                                          

Since Nicholas is head of YMAA International this means that the Retreat Center CA is now the Headquarters for all schools. Because of our remote location it will be harder for international students to visit the headquarters but I can ensure that we are committed to refining this art so that when people do visit they have a lot to gain. Jon and Nicholas are spearheading a movement to standardize all YMAA material so that it is ALL consistent throughout the organization and subsequent schools.  

Online seminars

We are now offering Webinars from the Retreat Center. The prices are listed in the website http://ymaa-retreatcenter.org/ymaa-live-signup  This idea came about when Dr. Yang was stuck in Argentina and couldn’t make it to South Africa for a seminar. The only thing they could do was Skype but after its success he realized what a great tool it is and how it would cut down on travel costs. We hope this will be one avenue that the Retreat Center may self-sustain in the future. The Retreat Center relies heavily on Dr. Yang’s personal contribution, but he has clearly stated that once the 10 year program ends if the Center cannot support itself he will sell the land.                 
                                                                                                     

Other projects

During the seminar breaks this summer Dr. Yang encouraged people to help with his garden-makeover project. This project is still underway but so much was completed thanks to everyone who pitched in. Thanks Guys!! This lightened the work load for the disciples and allowed for some rest before the semester started. It’s a lot of hard digging and it’s often hot out but the garden is really starting to look nice. We have raised the beds from the ground which cuts down on underground critters and allows us full control of the dirt. Dr. Yang even gave me my own little section for planting.
  

The most recent project came after we discovered a natural water spring on the land. We are going to use this resource to fill our well hopefully ensuring that we don’t have to buy water from town anymore. There is a considerable difference in the quality of the water we have to buy and you can definitely taste it. The spring has a nice flow, about half an inch thick and it’s only the dry season, so one can only imagine how much this spring can provide during the rainy season.

03/13/2012

We are all under pressure over here as we prepare for ESPN to arrive. They will be here for only three days: One day for arrival, one day for shooting, and one day for departing. This means that we will be basically doing a one-day-demo from 6 AM to 6 PM on that shooting day. The plan is to show everything we have trained up to this point.

We have candidates interested in the five-year program starting to arrive. Today Nathan from France arrived, we have Tye from Vermont, Eddie from England, and Alex from Boston. Later in the semester Javier (from Chile) will come. This is their opportunity to get an idea for the life here and to be evaluated as potential disciples.

Aside from these guys we still have guests coming to train Taiji, Qigong, and Shaolin. Needless to say we are pretty busy right now but thankfully everyone is getting along and the training spirit is very high. I'm really impressed. We are all pushing our bodies to the max and everybody is super sore.

Blood

Sweat

Tears

Javi Out



...Enjoy the pics! 

Black Sands Beach at Shelter Cove
http://redwoods.info/showrecord.asp?id=1718




     

02.22.2012

I’m on the Greyhound heading back to the mountain. This ride doesn’t seem like it will be as bad as the first. Mentally I’m in a good place right now. I’m returning from this tournament with a sense of validation for all of the hard training. Success in a tournament is not why we train but it doesn’t hurt to have that positive reinforcement for a system that requires so much sacrifice and discipline.

Tournament results are as follows:

                Javier:

                                Traditional Northern Bare hand (Advanced) – 2^nd

                                Taiji Straight sword (Advanced) - 3^rd

                                Pushing hands (Fixed Step) – 1^st

                                Continuous sparring (Advanced) – 3^rd

                Jon:

                                Grand Champion (Men, Internal)

                                Grand Champion (Men, External)

                                He pretty much got first in every event : D

This tournament was the 2^nd annual for ICMAC in Houston so the attendance wasn’t as big as say Orlando, which I have been to in years past. But Houston is the fourth largest city in the country so there is definitely potential. I want to compete in some other events like extreme pushing hands, shuai jao, and san da so I’m thinking next year of going to Orlando or Vegas.

I think it is important for me put any skills I’ve acquired to test in a controlled setting. I realized after sparring in this tournament how crucial candle watching is as well as all the speed drills of the legs and hands.  On the other hand I have a better sense of what areas I am lacking.

Overall I am pleased with my performance because I executed what I had trained.  Vids and pics will be posted soon.

All tournament results:
http://www.kungfuchampionship.com/houston/results/2012/

Hey all. It’s testing week. That means a few things. It means pressure and high expectations, BUT it also means vacay is coming soon, right? No. Not for this disciple! I’m not going anywhere! That’s right no vacay for Javi…Violin, someone, please. Forgive me, but just let me get it out.

Yea so while the others will be attending the summer camp in Poland and going home to visit family and friends I get to spend my vacation with Frank (he’s staying too) Xiao hu (our dog), the chickens and the rabbits.  Someone has to feed them (Frank included), water the garden, and look out for aliens. But I DO get to visit my family in September so I have that to look forward to.

Sorry it’s just that it has been a long semester and I haven’t had a good month. It seems like I say that at the end of every semester (that it’s been a long semester). Do I? Anyways we really put the pressure on by piling up the goals and the assignments, but I feel like we all came out on top.

We had a great time and performed well at the tournament but when we arrived back we all got sick. We must have caught a virus in the city, speaking of which I wonder if, because we live on the mountain for most of the year, if that makes us more susceptible to common “city” viruses.  It felt like the flu, but this was mid June so, dunno?

I was also wondering, because the tournament was the last major hurdle we had for this semester (excluding testing) if maybe our bodies just shut down and might have needed a rest from all these back-to-back-to-back projects.  Some of us slept for almost two days straight. I personally felt a huge weight off my back upon returning to the mountain, and knowing all major projects were done

.The last thing we need to get through this semester will be the test. We will test everything we train, from Log running, to taiji ball, to reaction.  As a matter of fact you all will be able to watch as our final Video log for the semester will feature the testing regimen. It will span the next three days, starting tomorrow.

Speaking of which, for those who have followed my Taiji Ball Video-log I must apologize because I will not be able to perform/shoot the final video due to injury. I was able to shoot two videos and I showed progress so that’s a positive. When I get over this injury I will get back to training with that marble ball! I think my best time so far is roughly 2minutes 15 seconds.  Dr Yang told me that if I could go for 10 minutes straight he would teach me 10 foot staff. So that is my goal.

That’s all. Thanks all.

5/19

It might be Thursday where you are, but on this mountain it is Sunday.  We have the day off to make up for days missed!

It has been a very productive month, BUT only because it has been a very productive year.  We have been treading water to catch up to the level Dr. Yang thinks we should be as year 3 concludes.  All the while we have all struggled with so many injuries: pulled muscles, strained joints, backs, necks, ankles, wrists, knees – and that’s just on the physical realm.

Fortunately, within the past week we have started receiving praise for making progress, giving us hope that we have the ability to get on track and the ability to fulfill this program. We have all worked our butts off this year. I feel like we have completed two successful DVDs, the beginning of a Taiji applications series, articles, video logs, sequences, weapons, conditioning; all because we have persevered and supported each other. Taking it day by day, organizing, helping each other, listening to each other, keeping to our schedule; we have come together and we now are building momentum, as a team, which feels really good as we start to plan for next year.

HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS OF ALL: We have received notice that the YMAA Retreat Center will now be recognized as an educational institution by the US government. This means that YMAA Retreat Center has the authority to issue and award an accredited degree of Chinese Martial Arts to any person that completes the program. (So, good news mom: I’m going back to school!!)

Before, we were just a nonprofit organization, now we are a legitimate vocational school for Chinese Martial Arts. This is the VERY FIRST of its kind. In addition, our brothers from Switzerland (Frank and Jachym) may now obtain STUDENT visas to enter the country rather than having to stretch out their visitors’ visas which raises questions at Customs. We were worried that they would not be able to return next semester, now there is no question.

This is a monumental achievement for Dr. Yang, The Retreat Center, and for anyone who has fought for the recognition this school, this organization, deserves. The pursuit for educational status has cost a lot of money from Dr. Yang and much time and effort from many who supported and battled from behind the scenes. Together we all share this moment of validation in the belief that this program, this dream, this Art, may offer a valuable contribution for years to come.

Thank you to all our supporters.

…we’re doing it guys!

5.7.2011

It’s Saturday night and I am ecstatic that I am going to bed early and that I can sleep in tomorrow. I am lying down and thought I would write something to go along with the behind the scenes video. I’ll try to make this short and sweet.

First of all happy mothers’ day to all of the mom’s out there. Ohh, the job of a mom, I will never know, but I certainly can appreciate. I want to take the opportunity to thank my mother for all that she had done for me and continues to do. Love you mom and I hope you enjoy the flowers. And I hope all the mothers out there enjoy their day.

We are closing in very quickly to the end of semester 2, year 3. Next week we will begin shooting KFBC 2 (Kung Fu body Conditioning DVD). We just finished shooting Taijiquan Applications after a long, grueling shooting schedule this week. It was no walk in the park by any means. The behind the scenes video might convey a whimsical disposition on our part, and that is my doing because I edited the video, but what it fails to convey is the amount of sleep we lost, the grey hairs (yes, we might be in our twenties but some of us have grey hairs-no names mentioned) along with the continued on-the-go mentality we forced ourselves into no matter how tired or hungry we were. 

We shot and edited the videos we set out to finish so we definitely won the battle. I must give credit and praise to our media teacher Rii who hung in there every step of the way and on most days put in longer hours than us young guys.  She drives up here 4 hours from San Francisco and donates her time and instruction to teach us media production. I don’t think we truly comprehend yet the appreciation for what she continues to offer without asking for anything in return. One day we will.

We have come a long way. We are excited about these Taiji Application videos and are anxious to get them out. We all have clearly “leveled-up” in the areas of shooting, editing, acting, teaching… It’s just really nice to see our progress right in front of our eyes. More importantly we came together as a team and put together a killer product.

But now is not the time to celebrate. The first day after we finished shooting Taiji applications we went right into rehearsal for KFBC 2. We will be pretty much producing the DVD in its entirety by ourselves. We have about twenty exercises that we are filming and each of us rotates the duties of Camera A and B, presenter, performer, audio and “slater”. This week we will lock it all down and Saturday we will start shooting it.

At the same time we are also rehearsing for a local Demo we committed ourselves to. We will have to take a break from shooting the DVD next week to go perform.  So this week will be another test, mostly mental.

…oh yea and we are preparing for the tournament next month in San Jose.  This year Dr. Yang will be attending with us. That means more pressure. 

Okay, that’s it for now. Check our Facebook for recent photos and our Youtube channel for Behind the scenes videos.