Inside. Tai Chi, Martial Arts, Yoga and More The Peaceful Dragon For the Contemporary Mind, Body and Spirit. At a Glance

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1 Tai Chi, Martial Arts, Yoga and More The Peaceful Dragon For the Contemporary Mind, Body and Spirit February Inside Upcoming Events Peaceful Dragon School News Did You Know? Children s Program News Welcome New Students Disciple s Forum Students Ask Master Sbarge Holly s Recipe Corner Classifieds At a Glance What The Peaceful Dragon Offers Adult Programs Tai Chi Kung Fu Zen Meditation Yoga Asian Culture and Philosophy 2014 and 2015 Winner of TWO Charlotte Observer Reader Awards! Best Martial Arts Studio Best Yoga Studio Children s Programs Kung Fu and Leadership Classes Other Services Seminars and Presentations School Field Trips Community Demonstrations Corporate Team Building Like us on Facebook:

2 Message from Master Eric Sbarge My pakua teacher, Master Park Bok Nam, used to refer to certain students in his martial arts school as rent payers. This was not a term of endearment. He described a rent payer as someone who showed up to class but not much more. Such rent payers invested none of their heart or soul in learning the arts, and did little to help themselves or their fellow students advance in the arts. For such a rent payer attendance at class is often spotty, the evidence of home study and practice is scarce, participation in school events outside of class is minimal or nonexistent, and the normal bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood that take place between and among students and teachers in a traditional school are never formed. I wrote above that such students did little to help themselves or their fellow students advance in the arts, but I didn t say they did nothing of help. Because in fact they did make a contribution: They helped to pay the rent. We all need a school, and every school has rent to pay. For some schools, including The Peaceful Dragon, rent is just one item in a long, long list of expenses that must be paid each month. While we as teachers work hard and really want to see each and every one of our students thrive and attain tremendous benefits from their training, we accept the fact that, sadly, some students will choose to merely be rent payers. I liken this to the Pareto Principle, more commonly known as the 80/20 Rule. In any measurable endeavor, roughly 80 percent of people will be mediocre or fail altogether while 20 percent will do well or extremely well. Academic test scores, income levels, athletic performance, weightloss efforts you name it, the list goes on and on. The Pareto Principle (named after the Italian economist who way back in 1906 observed that 20% of the people owned 80% of the wealth in his country) is almost like a law of physics that can t be changed. It is what it is. What can often be changed, however, is which group the 80% or the 20% we as individuals fall into. With study, I can go from getting poor grades to getting good grades. If I m poor, with good training and work habits I can become rich. If I m obese, with the right nutritional guidance and exercise I can become thin. Now back to the notion of rent payers. The ratio might be a little bit different or even a lot different but a certain percentage of yoga or martial arts students are doing fine and a certain percentage are struggling or failing. While this reality will never change, what can change is which percentile you as an individual fall into. 2

3 Being a rent payer vs. being a true student of the arts and reaping the benefits of these arts is a matter of choice. You don t need to be special or do anything extraordinary to succeed in these arts, you just need to be you and do a few simple things: Show up to class regularly, make time for a little study and practice at home, participate in some of the many special events and training opportunities available at your school, and get to know your brothers and sisters in the arts so that you can draw from their strength and energy just as they can from you. Every school will always have some rent payers. The rest of us owe a certain amount of gratitude to them they are helping to pay the rent. But we should also feel saddened and discouraged by their plight, for they will never come close to discovering the many wonders and benefits of these arts. To anyone reading this who might fear they fall into the category of rent payer, my question to you is this: Why pay rent if you re never going to be home? Come on home! We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know. W. H. Auden If you are not a current student of The Peaceful Dragon, there are many ways to improve your mind, body and spirit through the programs available at The Peaceful Dragon. Visit and click on Adult Classes or Children s Classes. You can then register for a Free Semi-Private, No- Obligation Introductory Class and an Introductory Tour. 3

4 Upcoming Events Annual Chinese New Year Festival Year of the Monkey! Saturday, February 6 th, 11am-2pm Come celebrate the Year of the Monkey with us! Our Chinese New Year Festival will be held on Saturday, February 6 th from 11am-2pm. This is a great community event that is family-oriented, so please bring your friends and family and help us spread the word. As always, student and family volunteers will be appreciated. For additional details see Adult All Block Makeup Testing Wednesday, February 10 th, 6:30pm Due to weather and scheduling conflicts, the Adult makeup testing has been postponed from February 3 rd to February 10 th. Annual Chinese New Year Banquet and Awards Ceremonies Saturday, February 13 th, 6:30pm The week after our festival, on Saturday evening, February 13 th at 6:30pm is our annual banquet dinner, complete with student awards, lineage promotions, and more. While the festival is open to the public, this banquet dinner has limited seating so is only open to our students and their families/friends. Purchase your tickets early at our front counter now. Just announced as a special treat this year: In addition to Wesley Pugh being our d.j. for after-dinner dancing, our own incomparable jazz pianist David Pankey will be playing during our banquet perhaps with his entire trio! His trio is among the finest in the Carolinas and we re honored to have him perform for us. 4

5 Peaceful Dragon Honored to Perform Half-Time Show for Charlotte Hornets! Monday evening, February 8 th The Peaceful Dragon is honored to be invited to perform the half-time show for the Hornets home game against the Chicago Bulls on Monday evening, February 8 th. That day is Chinese New Year s day, and so in keeping with the theme we will perform a Dragon and Lion Dance, as well as a tai chi and kung fu performance. Come out to the game and enjoy the show! NOTE: Because all of our children s instructors will be participating in this special show to promote The Peaceful Dragon and Chinese cultural arts, there will be NO CHILDREN S CLASSES on Monday, February 8 th. There will be adult classes as usual. This Month s Lecture and Discussion is Wu-De Thursday, February 18 th, 8pm If you can only make it to one monthly lecture this year, this is the one to attend. Wu-De (Martial Virtue) is the foundation of all traditional Chinese martial arts and is a big part of what makes our school work. Sifu strongly encourages all adult and teen students to come to this important discussion. New! Our complete 2016 Special Events Calendar will be posted by mid-december at Check Back Soon! FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS 12 th Avari Davis 25 th Micheal Heflin 21 st Rick Towell 28 th Kenneth Christy 24 th Holly Snyder 28 th James Bryant 24 th Lee Brownbill 5

6 Monthly Classes, Seminars and Discussion Groups Mastery Roundtable Discussion Tuesday, February 2, 8-9pm Topic: Ayurvedic and TCM Diet: Ancient Traditions, Modern Science Open only to Mastery Program students. Yoga Seminar Thursday, February 4, 6:30-8:30pm Topic: Mandala (cross-mat) with Dharana Presented by Yogini Mara Healy. Open to all teens and adults: FREE for Peaceful Dragon students, $29 for guests. Note: There will be no regular yoga classes on the evenings of the monthly yoga seminars. Jr. Mastery Program Seminar Saturday, February 13, 12-1pm Topic: Confucius Teachings on Respect, Family, and the Value of Education Open only to Junior Mastery Program students. Lecture and Discussion Thursday, February 18, 8pm Topic: Wu-De (Martial Virtue): The Foundation of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Presented by Master Eric Sbarge. Open to all adult and teen students. Future Instructors Saturday, February 27, 11am Open only to Junior Mastery Program students. Equipment Needed for Classes Adults Shaolin Full Sparring Equipment Tai Chi none Kids 4-7 year olds: White Sash and above: Single Stick 8-12 year olds: White Sash and above: Double Stick 6

7 Peaceful Dragon School News Interested in Becoming a Certified Yoga Teacher, or Simply Knowing What Yoga Teachers Know? In 2016 our Director of Yoga Studies Mara Healy will be leading a teacher training course here in the Charlotte area, and her teacher Andrey Lappa will be leading teacher training courses right here at The Peaceful Dragon. For details on Mara s course please speak with her directly, and for information on Andrey s courses see the Yoga Institute section of our website at Over 50 Students Are Participating in the Zen Meditation Level One Course Led by Master Sbarge Meditation is at the core of each of the arts taught at The Peaceful Dragon: Kung fu, tai chi and yoga. We re delighted to see such a dedicated group attending the weekly classes in this Level One course and look forward to offering Level Two this summer! Master Sbarge s Weekly Saturday Noon Class Switched from Broadsword to Sparring/Push Hands All students in our Mastery program or Jr. Mastery Program ranked green sash and above are invited to join our sparring/push hands class every Saturday from 12 noon 1pm. This is a great chance to improve your skills and understanding in a safe, controlled and progressively more challenging environment. Please only join if you intend to attend consistently for the next four months. The obstacle to attaining wisdom is attachment to self Venerable Chan Master Sheng-Yen 7

8 Send Us Your Event Photos or Short Video Clips If you get some nice shots of Peaceful Dragon events please send them to for display in our newsletter, social media pages and our new upcoming lobby-area TV! Did You Know The first article Master Sbarge wrote on martial arts was for an English class when he was 13 years old? It was on the methods and virtues of Karate. For weight loss, changing eating habits is generally more important than changing exercise habits. And changing what you eat is generally far more important than changing how much you eat. Next year The Peaceful Dragon will be celebrating its 20 th anniversary? Hard to believe! Children s Program News A Message from Mr. George Electronic technologies have come a long way. It seems like everyone has a smart device in his or her hands. When I first started training, VHS camcorders were still the norm and DVD technology had just come out. After kung fu class, I still used pen and paper to write down my notes. Today, pretty much every smart device has a camera, ready to shoot some videos. I ve been shooting some training videos, ping pong videos and biking videos for my own entertainment. I thought about shooting some home practice videos for the kids so they can practice at home. After talking with Sifu, he decided the best way to help young martial artists to practice at home, is to practice what they ve learned in class. Parents are always welcome to video during the class as a reference, but The Peaceful Dragon will not be posting videos anywhere. The principle is for the students to learn the correct material during class, practice those materials at the home practice, return to class so the teachers can give corrections and continue. Keep up the good work!! 8

9 Powerful Words This month s Powerful Word is Friendship! Friendship is a relationship we choose based on mutual interest, care, respect, and trust. Dr. Robyn s letter to the parents discusses how to guide your children with making new friends. Welcome New Students Congratulations to all of our new students! Tai Chi: Lisa Messerschmidt Colton Plyler Raymond McSwain Kung Fu: Kevin Lopez-Shirley Clayton Vail Jon Hall Yoga: Robert Bosler Young Dragon: Cole Hill Christian Alford Akshataa Vijay Kumar Disciple s Forum Horizontal or Vertical? By Gao Shou Tim Starnes Is this supposed to be Horizontal or Vertical? Is my foot turned in, or turned out? Is this a low punch or a high punch? A reverse punch or straight punch? The answer to all of those questions is: Yes. These are common questions you might hear over a decade or more of training. You might even hear we learned it horizontal, now it s vertical or it was a low punch now it s a high punch or I learned it this way, years ago. Why is this a problem? Why do so many new students and even senior students have a hard time with this? Because the martial arts are a living changing art. When you were an infant the only way you knew how to move was on all fours, when you were told you can walk on two feet, you thought it was cool, but why not stay on all fours? It s grounded, you re balanced. Then you re told after you ve been walking for decades you have to use a cane? What! But, but, but, I ve walked like this forever! I don t want to do change! And then there is the well, this way works for me, try it. NO! It ll help. No, this is the way my father told me to do it, the way my brother does it, and the way I m gonna do it! Just try it. *tries* Heeeey, I like that, I like how that feels. I get it now! 9

10 I understand. It s training. You have to be consistent in training. Your teachers have to be consistent in their teachings. You have to learn consistently in the same way during training. But here s the catch: Training is not real fighting. Take it from someone who has been in a lot of REAL fights from the South Pacific to the East Coast (no, I didn t start them) and this was long before I studied Martial arts. Things never go as you have planned. Okay, here, you re going to throw a punch, left leg forward, back stance, then follow up with an elbow smash to the face, technique thirty-two! Yeah, that ain t gonna happen, partner. Training is to get your muscle memory to react so you don t have think about it. You don t want to have to think horizontal or vertical, left foot or right foot forward, what hand weapon should I use? You need to just move! Then you have personal fighting styles. I, personally, am not a closed fist fighter. I never have been. I prefer grabbing, push hand style fighting, open hand strikes. I know it s funny but I have won fights, serious fights, by stealing the peach (you ll learn), pinching, shoving my fingers up noses, into eyes, open hand throat grabs (before I knew it was called tiger s mouth or panther strike), biting into forearms, and head butts. I m pretty sure only some of that is in our forms. I also encourage people to think outside the box when they fight. Ring rules are not street rules. There are no street rules. Get used to it. Vertical or horizontal don t matter as long as you know where you are striking and why. In real life. In training it s a different thing. In training you are adapting your body and mind to work together if and when you are in a real fight, and not just in a scoring match with a referee. It also depends on your teacher. Go to another Kung Fu school. Is it the same forms? Go to our brother and sister schools and see if they teach the exact, same, pattern after several years. Teachers get corrections from their teachers all the time, no matter how long they ve been training. Then there is personal style as I mentioned above. We have teachers who are kickers, grapplers, punchers, or combinations of those. As I mentioned above, I m a grabber, I m sure you ve seen many other styles from many other senior students or teachers. It s what works for them. It s what they feel is important. So is it horizontal or vertical? Again, yes, depending on your intention. Don t clutter your mind with which, you train so no matter if you punch vertical or horizontal, left foot forward, horse stance or back stance, if you train correctly, and often, you ll eventually see that, except for consistency in training, it won t really matter in a street fight, you ll adapt. Your muscles will take over. It ll feel right. Anyway, in five more years, your teacher might say it s time to do that move with a horizontal back fist. What? You don t think they ve improved in five years? 10

11 Students Ask Master Sbarge Question: I m a recovering alcoholic and addict, trying to stay clean. Will tai chi or yoga help with this? Answer: The more you understand how your body and mind are interrelated, the better you can guide and control both. As meditative arts, tai chi and yoga will give you a much deeper understanding of your mind and body, particularly relating to the fact that all actions you take with your body are triggered by your conscious and unconscious mind. Stress management and heightened awareness can be valuable tools to help you through these arts. Holly s Recipe Corner Roasted Buddha Bowl This recipe is a great dish to celebrate the Chinese New Year with! Ingredients 1 broccoli 1 cauliflower large handful radishes 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil Garlic powder, to taste Salt, to taste Ingredients for sauce 1 can (15oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 2 Tbsp. tahini 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 large garlic clove Juice of 1 large lemon Salt, to taste Water, as needed Instructions Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut broccoli and cauliflower into florets and radishes into halve or quarters. In a large bowl, combine broccoli, cauliflower, and radishes and drizzle with oil, garlic powder, and salt, mixing well. 11

12 Place mixture on a rimmed cookie sheet or roasting pan and cook for minutes, stirring half way. Prepare the sauce by placing cannellini beans, tahini, oil, garlic, lemon juice, and salt into a food processor or blender and blend until creamy and smooth. Add water, 1 Tbsp. at a time until the sauce is the desired consistency. When vegetables are finished roasting (fork tender), serve over the grain of your choice rice or quinoa are good options. Top with a generous amount of sauce. Tips At the end of blending the sauce, you can add extra lemon juice intstead of water to add extra zest. Make sure to taste the sauce and add extra garlic or salt if needed. As always, any new recipes, tips, or tweaks you want to share with me would be appreciated. Simply me at holly@thepeacefuldragon.com at any time! Enjoy! ~Holly Field Mission Statement for The Peaceful Dragon Our mission is to help each of our students reach his or her fullest potential for physical, mental and spiritual development through the teaching of traditional Asian health arts and martial arts. We accomplish this by offering the most authentic and effective curriculum, by providing the best possible service to our students and their families, and by maintaining a warm and caring family environment in which every student, guest, and staff member is treated with respect, dignity and love. 12

13 Classifieds Your ad could be here! Text and graphics, a scan of your business card, or artwork you submit. The cost is $5 for students, $10 for the public. Send your copy to holly@thepeacefuldragon.com. Pay at the front counter. George runs two social clubs in Charlotte through Meetup.com: Carolina-Mountain-Biking/ Pool-Shootin-Fun-Meetup/ Mountain biking, shooting pool, hiking, trying out new restaurants or cruising to the Bahamas! 13 Planning to buy something for the house or garden, indulge a favorite pastime, or get that hot new DVD or the latest gadget? Consider shopping through Amazon first, where you ll find competitive pricing on everything PLUS - through arrangement between The Peaceful Dragon and Amazon a percentage of your purchase goes to help our school flourish. Get what you want and support your school, too! Go to: thepeacefuldragon.com/books.shtml and use Search Amazon.com in the upper right corner to find the products you want.