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Hi all
I want to again, wish you all a happy year of the Golden Tiger. This is supposed to be a challenging year of change and volatility. It is especially to be challenging for Tigers, Monkeys and Rabbits this year. As the forecasts say - be prepared to keep moving, plan thoroughly, and put perserverence and unbending will to the manifestation of your plans. This is the way to succeed in an metal Tiger year.
Those of you who train in the arts, and in our case, the Chinese arts, such as Tai Chi(TaiJi), Xing-I Chuan or Bagua Zhang, Shaolin or Swordplay already practice being persistant and focused. Keep that up in our daily lives and we should be OK during this turbulent period.

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Another year comes and goes and we at Wu Shen Tao continue to train our mind's, bodies, and spirits in the way of the practitioners of old. It seems like we started teaching Tai Chi(Taiji), kung Fu, and Fencing in the the Washington DC and Maryland areas just the other day. That other day was in 1985 in Takoma Park, MD and since then we have added Xing -I, Bagua and Qigong to the list of holistic health and martial art studies.
This year- the Year of the Gold Tiger(begins February 15th), is said to be a year of great change and potential turbulence. We can see that by checking newscasts. However, it is also said that if each and every one of us uses their strengths and unique talents, we can make great strides in accomplishing our goals this year. We need to set our goals, make our plans and proceed at full speed ahead. Time goes by so quickly and procrastination is our deadliest enemy. It weakens our minds, bodies and our spirits in a slow insideous manner.
Let's all make this a year of positive thought, positive plans and positive actions. After all- what goes around will surely come back around to bite us in the rear if we are nor careful and vigilant.

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2009 was a difficult year for many. The economy lost jobs, businesses closed and went bankrupt at an alarming rate, and stock prices plummeted. This helped many to lose their homes while at the same time many homes lost significant percentages of their value. Our new president seems to be attempting to live up to a percentage of his pre-presidential promises but many are still quite concerned and the economy shows only glimmers and hints of recovery at present.
In the health fields, gyms, martial arts schools and yoga centers are having a fairly rough time as well. Many feel that when the going gets tough, luxury items like health centers and vacations and organic foods have to be eliminated as unnecessary expenses. On the surface this may seem to be logical. Unfortunately, like many aspects of American culture, this too is an illusion. When times are stressful, doesn’t it make sense to continue to do the things that keep you de-stressed, healthy and allow you to experience the natural high of a self induced endorphin rush? When people cut back on stress reducing, mind and body enhancing activities, and activities that make them feel content; they only make life less fun, more stressful and less satisfying. Then you add that less exercise leads to poorer physical conditioning which then in turn decreases a person’s healthy immune responses and you get increased illness, increased medical bills with potentially less salary due to time off.
I am not saying that people should not pay rent, buy food and take care of their necessities but once those areas are adequately handled, maintaining one’s physical and mental health should be the next priority. We need to re-evaluate our priorities and make choices that will keep us strong for the long haul; just in case things do not turn around as quickly as we’d like. A healthy mind in a healthy body can overcome much adversity and still emerge relatively unscathed.
We at Wu Shen Tao have been fortunate enough to have not been seriously affected by current conditions but we have seen many of our friends and peers take a serious beating during these times. Perhaps it is due to the high amount of serious practitioners that are among our numbers. Perhaps it is because we have students who are highly skilled in their professions and therefore less expendable at work. Whatever the reason, we sincerely wish to continue the work that we do; for the community, for ourselves and for the future generations yet to come. Let us refocus, reinvigorate ourselves, remind ourselves of our goals and remain positive so that that positiveness can emanate from our center and help restore balance to all.

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Paul Ramos traveled to Ulm Germany for the 2009 Kuoshu World Championships held there the last weekend in September. The venue was new, spacious and beautiful. The host hotel, the Meritim was luxurious and made a great after tournament meeting place for competitors, judges, and their families. Alex Chek, the Tournament director arranged an event truly worthy of International status. 30 countries sent representatives to compete at the event and although the total number of competitors was below 400 it seemed as though everyone enjoyed the competition. Alex King, Paul’s kung fu brother along with Sifu John Green of Baltimore provided the nucleus of the Internal judging staff.
All in all, the Europeans seem to be less advanced in their level of Chinese martial arts skills. The adults were generally less advanced than what we see routinely here in the US. The Internal Division was a bit small but the forms competitors entered all of the events available. Push Hands was dominated by the French team who took Men’s upper and lower weight divisions and by the British team who took the women’s divisions. The brightest spots were the children’s divisions. Some of these kids were truly fabulous. They exhibited focus, empty hand and weapons mastery that usually far exceeded that of their adult team mates. It seems that although the current adult competitors are a bit lacking, it appears obvious that the next generation will be a force to be reckoned with. The German people were extremely warm and giving and I’d love to go back any time to visit those good people.

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An all star cast showed up
13 FOLKS TONIGHT- 1 DAY TO 30 YEARS EXP