Retreat Center Disciples to Compete in Tournament

June 5 2010

Several of the YMAA Retreat Center disciples will be competing in Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine's martial arts tournament on June 12, 2010.

Javier will be competing in Taijiquan and Taiji Pushing Hands. Santiago will be competing in Traditional Northern Fist. Jonathan will be competing in Traditional Northern Fist, Traditional Southern Fist, Traditional Short Weapons, Traditional Long Weapons, Taijiquan, and Taiji Short Weapons.

Jonathan and Santiago trained for several years at the YMAA branch in Andover, MA prior to starting at the Retreat Center. As such, they will be able to compete in several events and are at a decent level of caliber. Javier will be competing in just Taijiquan this time because most of his training so far has been in body conditioning and internal arts. Justin Bowman, who has been helping with some of the video shoots and operations at the Retreat Center, may also join Jonathan, Santi, and Javier on this trip, possibly to also compete in Pushing Hands.

Your support continues to be crucial for the success of the Retreat Center's 10-year training program. We made it through 2009 largely due to donations coming from sponsors, major supporters, and smaller individual donations. However, due to the economic downturn, some supporters are having difficulty maintaining their level of support. We will need your continued support and your help in finding additional donors, however large or small, to see this project to the end. We are very appreciative of the support received so far from the martial arts community through word of mouth. Through many articles in print and online about the Retreat Center, we have received very positive feedback and words of encouragement. Become a student sponsor! Read more about Sponsorship here.

See a video of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine's Gene Ching promoting the upcoming tournament:

There are several other ways to get involved as well. Help support the Retreat Center at a level that works for you!

• To help support the disciples of the Retreat Center in their endeavors, you can make a one-time donation, or sign up for a monthly subscription using PayPal on this page. Even a small donation of $10 or $20 can go a long way.

  Expenses at this time include legal fees, insurance, ongoing construction, and entry fees, travel, food and lodging costs for Jonathan, Santiago, and Javier to participate in the upcoming Kung Fu magazine tournament.

• Connect with the Retreat Center on Facebook.
• Take a minute to spread the word about this project to Preserve Traditional Chinese Kung Fu on Causes.com.
• Experience and enjoy the Retreat Center yourself firsthand by participating in the Retreat Center's Summer Seminars between July 16 and August 27. The topics of this summer season will include Tai Chi, Qigong, Pushing Hands, and Shuai Jiao. Your support makes this 10-year project possible.

The Retreat Center disciples also recently wrote and shot their first instructional video. The "Kung Fu Body Conditioning" DVD captures their first year of training in the 10-year program at the Retreat Center.

It includes drills for running, jumping, tumbling, climbing trees, and standing/balancing on bricks, as well as strength and endurance training.

It is a great milestone that they have achieved in the training so far, and they are excited to share it with you. Look forward to the release of this DVD in the coming year!