Self-Care Arts Blogs
Iron Palm vs Granite in Rockies
If you have not seen the Magical Wu -shia special C.G. effects of Shang Chi -The Legend of the Ten Rings, movie in theaters, you may not believe Iron Palm exists for “Real”, but witnesses would correct you, just as I still shake my head in disbelief when recounting my story from first hand experience in the Rocky mountains at the foot of America’s mountain, Pikes Peak, located in Colorado Springs, CO. It was a typical Summer day with two friends descending Bar Trail, after ascent of The Incline. Descending at quick pace, when suddenly a “Tommy Knocker”, ( Coloradan for Toe smashing stub of front of toes /foot on solid rock tripping one) took my balance and sent me crashing forward. That’s when my Iron Palm training in Wing Chun Kung Fu saved the Day! Not just your average hard as rock Granite of New York or Connecticut. but the super dense granite of the Pikes Peak region. Well I found out “First hand”, (get the pun? )how hard it was when I came crashing down on a boulder with both palms in a violent impact. As I stumbled forward and downward to the earth I felt energy, “ some call it Chi”, rush to my hands. As a veteran professional massage therapist since 1989, I’m not unfamiliar with sending intent “YI” to my hands but this was different and much more spontaneous an occurrence. As I struck the rock, I felt no pain and bounced with “Peng” energy to upright position, standing in shock at what had just occurred. Staring at my hands in disbelief I watched the blood return to my numb hands and noticed little swelling or other signs of injury! Apparently the Iron Palm hand conditioning for, traditional Wing Chun kung fu, I had completed in my youth and teach to my advanced students had saved my bones and soft tissues from the damage of the fall ! Geologists will tell you that Rocky Mountain granite is very hard , sharp, granular and dangerous to fall on due to these attributes. I didn’t even receive scratch on either palm! Granted my toe hurt but I was able to continue hiking down Bar Trail to Manitou Springs and complete my training routine without any problem. Considering the number one reason people check into hospitals is from falls and complications arising from falls, I’m so excited to share this self care arts success experience as it gave me such a boost of confidence in fact that if I ever need hands for defense of falling injury or violent physical attack, my self Defense tools will be right there by my sides, literally! Benefits do indeed accrue to those who train in Traditional (time tested ) kung fu!
Sifu ,
Shan Long Kelly
Call Of Duty
Hello everyone ! Wishing everyone a Healthy & Happy Summer !
Master Chi has upgraded his ride to a Golden Automobile to match his Golden Qi Aura and overall sunny disposition/ personality !
Welcome to our new 2021 normal and look for seminars in Lake George, as well as, at Colorado Springs location. Started Internal arts : Chen T’ai Chi Chuan & baquazhang at The Hybl sports performance center in Springs . Classes are Wed. 9-10am ; Ongoing enrollment, Thx to the 9 who returned from Penrose Hospital classes which were cancelled due to Pandemic health concerns. We had special guest in Sean Hammond who attended all the way from Boulder to come study and practice on 7/14/21. There will be a Stand alone Baquazhang class offering soon , stay tuned for details ! Does anyone see the potential for making a pun here?
Well during a reunion and wedding celebration on the East coast I ran into H.S. friend who had served as a police officer, who informed me that his prior training with me had saved him from potentially deadly situation! In the Call of Duty upon firing his service weapon , it jammed and without thinking -reflexively, he rolled out of the line of fire during which he was able to clear his weapon and regain active shooting capacity . Nice save due to mastering the Basics , So happy and proud of him , Go Officer H.F.! Thats some big screen quality kung fu there!
Good to see more growth in our Self Care Arts community, and a special “THANKS” to John Watkins, who is Patiently organizing and encouraging me to teach more and expose students to the deep well of knowledge i’ve been exposed to in my 50 year Martial Arts journey!
Sifu/ Sensei M. Kelly
Wing Chun: Todays art
Sifu Kelly shows me anti grappling for takedowns in Wing Chun in the picture posted.
As someone who have been studying Wing Chun, I wonder what is everyone’s feeling about the different types of Wing Chun? So many Grandmasters, and instructors out there, that Wing Chun is now like snowflakes, meaning that almost all of them are different. Any thoughts?
The question if Wing Chun works or not is a simple answer. Yes! However, it comes down to the induvial, how much they train, who did they learn from, and the quality of the techniques being learned. The reason why there are so much failure in the art of Wing Chun, is because people do not train the amount of times needed to reprogram their primal instinct. Its a scientific fact that it takes a person to learn a action and make it primal response by doing a repetition of 10,000 hrs. It takes 10,000 hrs of repetition to master a skill. Don’t take my word for it, look it up! This goes back to basic neurological response. Do anyone really train that much these days?
Welcome to the new Self-Care Arts website!
On May 1, 2020 Self-Care Arts upgraded its website to keep up with the changing times and technology. We would like to thank all of our students who supported us through COVID, by training outdoors with us, and returning to regular training indoors as well. We are celebrating our 23rd anniversary of offering classes in Martial arts such as Wing Chun, Aikido, Jujitsu, Qigong, Tai Chi, Self-Defense etc.... Our school was opened on April 1, 1998, that’s 8117 days of service of Self Care to our local community. Self-Care Arts offers Health such as Tai Chi, Qigong, Tai Chi Cane with our dojo and our outdoor training area. We will continue to offer Health & Martial arts class/programs for group fitness and wellness. Please check out our website selfcarearts.com for upcoming Events, and seasonal offerings. Look for our expanded Massage Therapy offerings and updates to curriculums.
Martin Kelly