February Did You Know?

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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? Family Program News Student Promotions Students of the Month Yoga Chit Disciple s Forum/Getting to Know Students Ask Master Sbarge Classifieds The Peaceful Dragon has been selected Best Martial Arts School by: Charlotte Parent Magazine The Charlotte Observer Creative Loafing Charlotte s Best Magazine Like us on Facebook here! Did You Know? With over 20 years in business, we maintain an A+ rating by the Charlotte Better Business Bureau, and we consistently average between 4.5 and 5-star reviews on Google, Facebook, and Yelp.

2 Message from Master Eric Sbarge Happy Chinese New Year! Since it follows the lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year comes at a slightly different time each year. This year The Peaceful Dragon will be celebrating with our annual festival on Saturday, February 2 nd, and our banquet dinner on Saturday, February 9 th. I hope you and your family can join us for both events you ll be celebrating with over a billion people in China, and countless millions more around the world as the new year is welcomed, and good fortune is wished for. You probably made your new year resolutions at the start of January, and you ve already made some progress toward them, or not. Getting to celebrate a second new year gives you the opportunity to redouble your commitment toward your goals for this Year of the Pig to help ensure your success. My wish for you this new year is that you enjoy the health, energy and peace of mind needed to realize your goals, and more! 吉祥如意 jíxiáng rúyì -- Good fortune according to your wishes! A traditional Chinese New Year saying 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. Upcoming Events Chinese New Year Festival Saturday, February 2 nd, 11am-2pm The Peaceful Dragon is hosting its 22nd annual Chinese New Year s Festival on Saturday, February 2nd, from 11am to 2pm. Admission is just $5 per family, or FREE with a donation of a non-perishable food item for Loaves and Fishes charity. 2

3 Fun for the entire family, come celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Pig! The festival will begin with the colorful ceremonial Lion Dance and Dragon Dance, said to bring good luck to everyone for the coming year. Then throughout the festival you can enjoy exciting demonstrations of Chinese martial arts and health arts including Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Yoga, and performing arts such as traditional Chinese dance and music. Local experts will be on hand to exhibit various Asian arts and cultural practices. There will be a fun game room for kids, a bounce house, plus face painting, arts & crafts and more. Catered Chinese noodles will be available to purchase for lunch. To run this fantastic festival, we ask any and all students to volunteer. We need plenty of helpers to run the game room and the event itself, as well as many volunteers to be in the demonstration. Chinese New Year Banquet Saturday, February 9 th, 6:30pm Open to Peaceful Dragon students and their families, this is the most important event of the year at our school. In accord with wu-de and the customs of a traditional Chinese martial arts and health arts school, this banquet affords our entire martial arts and yoga family the chance to welcome the new year together to show support and bring good luck to each other. This always-exciting annual banquet includes Student, Disciple and Teacher-level promotions; special awards ceremonies; raffle prizes and more. Family and friends are welcome! The banquet dinner will be catered and held this year right here at The Peaceful Dragon, and will include appetizers, multiple entrees, dessert, and soft drinks. For spirits it s BYOB. Tickets will be on sale soon at our front counter on a first come, first served basis. Seating is limited and tickets may sell out so don t wait. Last day for purchase is Wednesday, February 6th sorry, no exceptions for latecomers. Adults tickets $49, children 12 and under half price. 3

4 CACMA Tournament Saturday, March 9 th, all day Sifu encourages all students to compete or attend the CACMA Queen s Cup Tournament. There are divisions for all age and skill levels, so even beginners should try. Many of your instructors will be judging the competitions. This is an excellent opportunity to see other schools martial arts styles. For more details about the competition including divisions, rules, and pre-registration, please see the official CACMA website at NOTE: BECAUSE ALL OF OUR INSTRUCTORS AND MOST OF OUR STUDENTS WILL BE PARTICIPATING, THE PEACEFUL DRAGON WILL BE CLOSED FOR CLASSES ON THE DAY OF THE TOURNAMENT. Workshop with Grandmaster Jeff Smith Saturday, March 23 rd, TBD Sifu Sbarge highly recommends this workshop for all our students, children and adults, beginners and advanced. Grandmaster Smith is a true master of the arts. He will be leading a workshop on sparring and push-hands. Stay tuned for more information on this great opportunity! Blue Star Blitz Saturday, March 30 th, all day The Peaceful Dragon has partnered with the Blue Star Blitz to promote the school! We will be promoting our school during the race and we encourage all of our students to volunteer or to participate in the race on March 30, There will be plenty of events to volunteer or compete in, including trail races, bike races, a 5K hike, and a kids scavenger hunt. For more information about the race, please visit 4

5 This October - The Peaceful Dragon s China and Japan Tour! The Peaceful Dragon is sponsoring an Asia tour for our students, family members and friends this October! This will be our fourth tour, and each previous one has been fantastic. This two-week tour promises to be a life-changing trip that will include practice in meditation and tai chi/kung fu with locals, plus sightseeing, cultural excursions and shows, and much more. Our tentative itinerary includes Japan for the first time Tokyo and Kyoto (with its ancient Zen temples) and the beautiful Chinese cities of Suzhou (called China s Venice with the picturesque canals) and Nanjing (the historic southern capital of China), and the cosmopolitan heart of China, Shanghai. The estimated cost for this all-inclusive custom tour with 4 and 5 star accommodations, all travel, excellent meals, admissions to cultural events, and the service of highly-professional English-speaking guides is between $ $4000. We should have exact itinerary and cost information by the end of January and will post it on our Events page. We hope you can go you will surely love it and come home with a lifetime of great memories! Our complete 2019 Special Events Calendar is now posted at Mark your planning calendar now! Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin 5

6 Monthly Classes, Seminars and Discussion Groups Mastery Roundtable Discussion Tuesday, February 5, 8pm Topic: Cultivating Compassion and Wisdom: Zen Definitions and Methods Open only to Mastery Program students. Yoga Seminar Thursday, February 7, 6:30-8:30pm Topic: Modern History of Yoga w/ashtanga Vinyasa Practice Led by Yogini Diane La Croix Corah 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 9, 12-1pm Topic: Creating Authority as a Leader Open only to Junior Mastery Program students. Lecture and Discussion Thursday, February 21, 8pm Topic: Ancient Confucian Analects for Modern Times Presented by Master Eric Sbarge. Open to all adult and teen students. Equipment Needed for Classes Adults Shaolin All Blocks: Full Sparring Equipment Tai Chi All Blocks: None Kids 4-12 year olds: White Sash and Above: Full Sparring Equipment 6

7 FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS 5 th David Mullin 22 nd Kieyanna Morgan 5 th Bryan Tan 22 nd Aditya Vetury 18 th Madeline Rutzell 23 rd Trung Nguyen 21 st Rick Towell 27 th Alexander Japit 22 nd Kirk Salvador Peaceful Dragon School News (All Real!) Book Chapter of the Week Beginning Sunday, January 20 th, every kung fu and tai chi class will include a five-minute mat chat discussing principles and examples from the book The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. We will cover one chapter per week, so please read the Introduction and the first chapter for discussion. We are confident this will not only help you achieve success in your martial arts mastery, but also maximize your success in your personal and professional aspects of your life. If you have not picked up your complimentary copy of the book yet, please do so ASAP at our front service counter. Jan. 20 th - Introduction and Ch. 1: Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life Jan. 28 th - Ch. 2: Be Clear Why You re Here Feb. 4 th - Ch. 3: Decide What You Want Feb. 11 th - Ch. 4: Believe It s Possible Feb. 18 th - Ch. 5: Believe in Yourself Feb 25 th - Ch. 6: Use the Law of Attraction Blood Mobile visit a success! Thanks to everyone who donated blood. Your gift will save lives. Send Us Your Event Photos or Short Video Clips If you get some nice shots of Peaceful Dragon events please send them to Holly@thepeacefuldragon.com for display in our newsletter, social media pages and our new upcoming lobby-area TV! 7

8 Did You Know Breathing practices were originally developed in Eastern traditions not so much for improved physical or athletic performance, but for the development of a more meditative mind? On the first Peaceful Dragon Asia tour in 2007, our students performed for the abbot and monks of the Shaolin Temple, and the monks in turn gave a performance for our students? You can find the video of some of it on our Facebook page. Children and Family Program News A Message from Mr. George Hope everyone s 2019 is going well. We ve started the Success Principles book with the kids and we will continue to discuss the important points for the kids to understand. For those younger kids cannot read by themselves, parents may read or explain to them the simple versions of the chapter. I personally enjoy the book and I also have lots to learn. Along with daily kung fu practice, kind deeds and reading, we thrive to be complete martial artists. Keep up the good work! Student of the Month Recognition Adult Student of the Month Dirk Hoellein Runner up Macie Imholt Runner up Brian Smith Dirk was very supportive of his whole family training before he started training. Now that he has joined as well, he s just as dedicated to his own practice and always shows a great attitude. Good job, Dirk! 8

9 Child Student of the Month Macky Ni Runner up Max Tan Runner up Jordan Baker Macky has started just over a month ago. Although she has just promoted to Yellow Sash, she had already demonstrated a great Black Sash attitude in and out of the classroom. Keep up the great work Macky! Yoga Chit with Yogini Mara Healy Union of Pure Awareness Yoga is a spiritual practice cleverly disguised as a physical workout. We come to the mat as much to work the inside out as to work out the tensions of the body. As yoga practitioners, we employ awareness of body and breath to create space in the mind, so each practice becomes like housekeeping and de-cluttering. The terms awareness and consciousness are an important part of the practice because these open the door to the potential peace that can make big changes. The methods employed during your on-the-mat practice can be the launch pad for your approach to everyday life. Both awareness and consciousness involve the way you pay attention to your body and the environment around you. Both are intertwined with existing emotions, attitudes and feelings related to your body and environment. There is one significant difference though: Self-Consciousness is usually a critic while Self-Awareness is usually a cheerleader. In order for yoga to gain ground and make a difference in your life, you have to put the critic aside and call in your personal cheerleader. On-the-Mat Self-Awareness Dive inside. Feel the silky-smoothness of your breath. Experience the limbs of the body in space and the muscular activity. What engages and tightens? What tensions can release? What thoughts enter? Most of us are habituated to be self-conscious, which means we come to the mat criticizing our capacities before we even begin. Sometimes those self-critical thoughts even prevent us from getting to the mat because I m too tight or I need to lose a few pounds first or I m so uncoordinated, I ll look silly. 9

10 Yoga works on the level of the mind to interrupt the critic and open the door to the inner cheerleader. Lasting change begins in the software programming (the thinking mind) and not in the hardware (the physical body). If you decided to upgrade your computer because there were too many glitches (negative thoughts) you would install new software, or a new anti-virus program, right? You already have the latest programming waiting to be installed - it s called a Sankalpa. You just have to decide to upload it. How On-the-Mat Changes Meet Off-the-Mat Living Vikalpa is the Sanskrit term referring to the disturbing thoughts that roll in your head about yourself keeping you small, anxious and wobbly. They are the viruses in your software programming. Sankalpa is the opposite. To create a Sankalpa is to make a positive statement about the one rule you should follow above all other rules. It might be: I am always enough or My strength comes from within. All that is required is to listen to the Vikalpas that arise (they always do). Analyze what is at the root of those small, anxiety-provoking, de-stabilizing thoughts. The Sankalpa is the anti-virus software. The Sankalpa is meant to be used as your mantra during your yoga practice. The more your repeat it, the more power you store in it. Each time it is used, it s an automatic software upgrade. Stick with one Sankalpa for at least 21 practices. You will find that it seeps into your everyday life. It becomes its own habit. You won t have to work so hard to stop the negative thoughts. The requirement? Practice. Repetition. More practice. See you on the mat! Disciple s Forum The benefits of training as a group and being a good member of the group by Disciple Don Kodzai I remember the first day I walked into the Peaceful Dragon and registered to become a student. Back then I thought, Can you handle this? Nine years later I am still coming back for more. At the Peaceful Dragon, training is done in a group setting. I have become part of a group that trains together for the same goals. Most of us are here to improve our health and to relieve stress. We motivate and encourage each other when needed and we also inspire each other by just showing up and trying. What I am really trying to stress is the benefits of training in a group and how to be a good member of the group. It is important to be a positive person in a group of people you train with. 10

11 A group that trains together get to share the experience together. So there is a social aspect involved as well. People make new friends and the training becomes more fun when you are doing it with friends. Friends push and motivate you and constantly help you stay focused. Groups also have people of different shapes and sizes, so you get to work with a variety of physiques. Everyone must play their part in a training group. That means respecting your classmates, and leaving your ego at home. We have to realize that we are not perfect and we have to be tolerant of others who are different from us. Being honest but not hurtful is a good trait in a training partner. Be thankful that you have people who let you practice on them and people who help you try to achieve your goals. So to all the people at the Peaceful Dragon, thank you for being a positive influence in my life and my training. Getting to Know your Disciples Every month, we ask our disciple to answer a series of interesting, fun, or silly questions so our students can get to know them better. Below is this month s answers. What inspires you? I am inspired by life and music. What type of music do you listen to? I listen to all types of music. What do you do in your free time? In my spare time I love to cook and write songs. What would you do if you won the lottery? If I won the lottery, I would build a recording studio. What was the last gift you gave someone? The last thing I gave someone was $50 for Christmas. 11

12 Students Ask Master Sbarge Question: Can you recommend a good local acupuncturist? Answer: Yes, Dr. Peizhi Li in Pineville is a good friend of The Peaceful Drago who is both a fourth-generation Chinese acupuncturist, and a western medicine MD. He has helped many of our students with various issues over the years.. 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 George runs two social clubs in Charlotte through Meetup.com: Carolina-Mountain-Biking/ 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. Pool-Shootin-Fun-Meetup/ Mountain biking, shooting pool, hiking, trying out new restaurants or cruising to the Bahamas! 13