Meihuaquan- Martial Body-Mind Approach. March 9, Sat, 2019.
 
 
Duration: 4 hours. 10am to 12pm, 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm.
Cost: $80
Register: Register prior to _____
Class will be limited to 10 participants.
Open to everyone and suitable for all ages.
 
Bonus: All participants will receive a complimentary pass for one 2 hour meihuaquan class on Thursday March 14. Ask for details.
 
The class will offer a “taster” introduction to the martial art “meihuaquan” or Plum Flower Kung-Fu, a very old internal martial art widely practiced in northern China. Meihuaquan is not simply a health exercise or martial art for self-defense; training philosophies serve as a physical and meditative system for developing mental, spiritual, and physical resiliency. 
 
The four hour workshop will give participants a brief “taste” of several fundamental meihuaquan training methods that will more deeply explored in future classes.
 
1. Morning
Basic Training. 2 hours
A foundational training method, the Five Stances (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, Earth) align the body to build full-body coordination and strength. Attention to breath and relaxation in demanding positions, and a focused gaze/attention coordinate internal sense of the body with the external.
 
Goal: Relax to allow weight to sink, adjusting and monitoring breath to relax the body and mind, and release tension. Working with the eyes and lines of sight, Meihuaquan aspires to train the ‘shen’ or mental acuity to coordinate with movement of the body. These integrated processes clear scattered thoughts out of their minds and liberate movement.
 
2. Afternoon
Plum Flower Post Training. 1 hours
Training on a set of wooden posts approximately 30 cm high was, in ancient time, a signature training method of meihuaquan.
 
During the course, we will work on a range of pre-arranged drills and partially improvised movement patterns to sense the drop of weight, feel the "collection" that occurs on each step as the weight is transferred.  Some of the work will explore how the body weight rises and sinks with steps, jumping, and kicking while on the ground and on posts.
 
Goal: Develop enhanced skills in grounding the body, ability to drop weight through the legs and use the corresponding upward spring of force for movement of the body and arms, greatly attuned sense of balance, improvisational skills to allow for unrestricted movement.
 
Sword. 1.5 hours
In Meihuaquan, the straight sword (jian) is the most difficult of the martial weapons to learn. High-level mental and physical proficiency in the use of the jian was required to effectively wield this comparatively slender weapon. Sword training emphasizes precise mechanical alignments and coordination, mental focus which nurture the body’s internal qi, or internal energetic state of the body. Straight sword training methods remain widely practiced throughout China by both young and old as a time-proven method for improving mental and physical health. 
 
The practice method is straightforward. Basic movements of the sword are learnt, after which we study a short choreographed routine to serve as a library of techniques. Following this, we learn to connect the techniques in improvised fashion.
 
Goal: Relaxed sword training using graceful, fluid movement, imbues a form of engaged relaxation that has a transformation effect on the body-mind connection by enlarge one’s presence and spirit (shen) and coordinating the mind and intent (yi) together with motion.
 
Summary.
Meihuaquan's approach to training shares many similarities to the way jazz musicians first learn basic methods, then improvise in an unconstrained flow.
This unrestrained approach is a foundational spear training method in Meihuaquan and is, generally, very much unlike the training methods of other forms of martial art.
 
Join us for a day of fascinating exploration. Exercises and methods can be adjusted to people of all ages, interests and physical ability. The class is not easy,  but you will have fun, and by the end, you will feel energized and rejuvenated.
 
The course is intended as a comprehensive but simple introduction to meihuaquan training methods.
 

Ray Abrosi

Raymond Ambrosi (Regina), an 18th generation disciple of Meihuaquan (Plum Flower Boxing), trained in various Chinese martial arts before beginning his study of Meihuaquan in 1990 while an exchange student at Shandong University in China. In 1992, Ambrosi became an inner-door disciple of renowned 17th generation Meihuaquan master Yan Zijie and spent 13 years in China learning from meihuaquan masters.
After establishing the Canadian Meihuaquan Association in 1993 under the encouragement of Master Yan, Ambrosi has been active in teaching and continuing his studies.