A Kung-Fu Life

general tai chi training May 13, 2007

This picture was taken in 1974, when I had earned my green belt from Grandmaster Sin The in Shaolin kung fu. I'm holding the "Staff of Death," which I and my students still use in our school. This staff has made dozens of moves with me--it has traveled with me to homes in Kentucky, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and soon--Florida.

Our school is closing at the end of May. I'm taking a position as director of media relations at the University of South Florida. I'll be the university spokesperson and I'll work to get publicity for them, as I have done for ACT--the company that produces the college admissions exam--for the past 8 years.

It's a little strange to look at this picture, this 21-year old kid 33 years ago, and think of the journeys I've taken through the martial arts and through life. Even though it's 33 years later, I feel as if I've only scratched the surface of martial arts. There is so much more to learn.

When I take the Staff of Death to Florida, I'm excited at the prospect of being able to train outdoors year-round. I don't plan to ever teach regularly scheduled classes as I have the past 10 years. Instead, I might recruit one or two college students and teach them as I work to improve my own skills. I want to explore Chen tai chi much deeper. Instead of spending so much time teaching, I'll use some of that time to study the movements, body mechanics and fighting applications in-depth. I'll continue the website, the blog, and I'll continue writing and making instructional videos.

At the heart of Taoism is the simple thought that everything changes. But that doesn't always make change easier to handle. Leaving the Quad Cities is something I didn't expect to do when we bought our building. I'm going through major guilt over leaving my students. But I haven't always lived in the same town or state as my teacher, but I made it work.

I plan to do a lot more study of Chen Taijiquan. There are literally hundreds of fighting applications inside of the Laojia Yilu form alone--punches, elbows, knee strikes, kicks, chin-na, throws and takedowns, and much more. I want to explore every one of them. If you have such a complete fighting system right in front of you, why not really dive into it?

I hope you stay with me, and continue reading the blog, as we explore all this together.

Try Two Weeks Free and Get Step-by-Step Training in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua from Basic to Advanced Skills with No Mystical Mumbo-Jumbo

More than 850 Video Lessons and Downloadable pdf documents -- and You Get It All During Your Free Trial!

Click this Button to Learn More and Watch a Video!

Okay! Let Me See More!

Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

A Kung-Fu Life

Try Two Weeks Free and Get Step-by-Step Training in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua from Basic to Advanced Skills with No Mystical Mumbo-Jumbo

Author - Instructor

Stay connected with news and updates!

Two Step