Student Corner
Welcome! Eliana Karan
PMA'S TINIEST TIGER!
PMA welcomes tiny Eliana Nicole Karan, born 1/9/08, as the newest member of the PMA family. Her proud parents are Thurman and Nicole Karan. Eliana's Dad Thurman started training at PMA when he was just 9 years old, and her 8 year-old brother Elijah has been training at PMA for 6 months in preparation for his role as 'big-brother protector'; in 10 years she'll be safer than the President! Looks like little Eliana is destined to be a future superstar and we wonder what will come first, learning to walk or learning to kick????
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J.C. Abrahamson
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: J.C. ABRAHAMSON
You don't have to look real close at the CKA standings to see J.C.
Abrahamson's name in the rankings; it appears multiple times. J.C. is the
CKA STATE CHAMPION in grappling, 2nd in sparring, and 2nd in kata. He's also
ranked in the TOP 20 for overall points for the year. Talk about a
well-rounded competitor!
Eight year-old J.C. started in tiny tigers at the age of four, which means he's been training at PMA for half of his life. J.C is a 3rd grader at Maple Grove Elementary, and he says that reading is his favorite subject. He also plays baseball (he has already broken one wood bat and dented an aluminum bat), basketball, soccer, tennis and did we mention he's on the swim team at Rolling Hills?
J.C. is currently holds a blue belt rank and is excited about advancing in
the system. His favorite training is grappling; "It's like playing a game
with your mind and your body." When asked about the benefits of karate, J.C
responds "Karate has made me better at every other sport that I play." He
also says he enjoys all the friends he has made both in the school and at
the tournaments.
So what is the secret to competing so well? J.C. says "It's the training at the school; because we practice everything, especially grappling, I can compete well against students from other schools that don't do all the stuff we do."
The fact that he is a good competitor is evidenced by the fact that J.C. has made many friends of students from other schools.
PMA is proud of J.C.'s competitor spirit, and we look forward to his training for years to come.
Masters on the Mountain 22
Thaddeus Larimer, PMA East
The first time I fell into Lake Tahoe, it was cold, breathtaking, and a little bit miserable; the second, embarrassing; the third, just plain funny. Of course, Mr. Lauper and Mr. Henley were both laughing so hard that the muscles in their faces were tightening from fatigue and Mr. Henley nearly fell off of his own jet ski. Eventually, all three of us were drenched from soaking each other with the jet spray. I definitely got the worst of it, but not without getting a couple of good licks in.
We went looking for kayaks to enjoy a warm fall afternoon paddling around Lake Tahoe the day before Masters on the Mountain 22, but the guys in the rental shop said "kayak season has been over for a while; nobody on the lake has those for rent anymore- but we've got these jet skis." Being from PMA, cruising the lake at 50 miles an hour in our street clothes suddenly made a lot more sense than calmly paddling around near the shore (staying dry)- but I'm sure I would've gotten wet if we'd found kayaks, too...
I've found that the weekend trip has added up to a simple but often overlooked result: Experience. Experiencing the exhilaration of the lake at 50 miles an hour with a death-grip on the handlebars; Experiencing the playful energy of Sam Edwards as he slams me on the forehead with one of the heaviest hands I've ever felt and then runs away to hide behind a pair of people working their way through the latest techniques; Experiencing a room full of people from around the country coming together to find other ways of arriving at the same destination.
Saturday began with a trickle, as people arrived at Mountain Wind Aikido and greeted each other- playing around with light grappling warm ups and pounding each other with a hard rubber medicine ball. Frank Broadhead guided the group through a Wu style Tai Chi form as a preamble to the day's agenda. Itamar Vinitzky opened the seminar with a demonstration and explanation of how to care for overused and abused joints with a cross-grain style of massage to help the body rid the joints of waste material and reduce the adhesion of muscular fiber.
Mr. Lauper discussed the ultimate goal of the martial arts, from the perspectives of internal and external arts with a demonstration of comfort level in fighting. He and Mr. Henley took turns sparring some of the others in Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts, with special attention paid to each combatant's ability to fight with a clear mind as the intensity of the match increased.
Siddha Vaidya practitioner Darca Nicholson guided us through a sample of Kaya hot oil massage for relaxing and limbering the body (minus the hot oil, of course). Chuck Stahmann then demonstrated some excerpts of Uncle Bill's forms as practical self defense techniques, including the kepas (palm waving) movements which crop up so often in Uncle's style.
James Painter and crew (Terry, Saints, and Ray) taught some self defense techniques from James' Rock n' Roll Prison Jiu Jitsu style of fighting, featuring none other than the famous "slap, grab and twist" technique and a lot of fun and deliciously mean ground fighting moves.
Day one closed with an unexpected exercise: Spoon Bending! Everyone took up a piece of silverware and attempted to bend it by focusing their energy on it and using as little physical force as possible. I'm still waiting for the sign from the spoon that it wants to be bent...
Before day two got started, Mr. Lauper worked some stand-up striking with Daniel Sturemburger, a veteran of Masters on the Mountain (and the 1984 Olympics, Kayak) who has visited PMA in preparation to step in the Mixed Martial Arts ring. Day two took place at Daniel's Fight Club gym where he trains. To officially open, Frank guided everyone through the Wu style Tai Chi form again, which left a throbbing pulse in my fingers; like rubber bands had just been loosened from around my wrists...
Janet Gee took us through an exercise in Chinese Pushing Hands in which we only used the Yin related muscles of the upper torso to practice pushing hands; she also showed us how to "pong" by tensing up at the right time to bounce our partners away. Keith Moffett discussed skeletal framing in entries; using the structural strength of the bones of the body to aid in self defense techniques and providing strength in our stances. He also expounded on Chuck's earlier demonstration of palm waving with the concept of mirror hands, tangan cacha, in which both hands mirror each other's movement in more coordinated techniques.
Mr. Lauper ended the morning session with some quickness and sensitivity drills along with relaxed positional grappling- no finishes, no competitiveness, just moving around on the ground, transitioning positions in a mutual give and take with our partners. For the first time during the two day session, everyone was on the mats at the same time.
Stephen Watson welcomed us back from lunch with an explanation of many of the meridians of Traditional Chinese Medicine; he explained ways to massage them for health purposes and ways of manipulating them for combat. Finally, James Painter showed us even more finishes and tactics from his self defense oriented Jiu Jitsu system, including leg and ankle locks, arm bars, and chokes. He introduced an interesting method of applying chokes in which once the hold is secured, it is quickly squeezed and relaxed in pulses to cause a subconscious relaxing response in the attacker's body to make them allow the finish. I am expecting a bill in the mail any day now for the chiropractic adjustment to my neck.
After all the good-byes were said, the hugs and head-butts traded, all the sweaty gear put away for the weekend, we headed back to the hotel for what else: air hockey. Mr. Lauper had been winning all weekend, Mr. Henley was at a distant second, and I had a total of about 4 wins for the entire trip- oh, but they were sweet wins. If there are any air hockey tutors in the southeast metro area, please give me their number...
After four wonderfully long days, I returned to the school with the feeling of having been away for weeks rather than days, a bunch of new techniques to try out, and something that goes beyond the sum of what I learned. It's not anything outstandingly new or different or a radical twist in the way I look at our art or school, but I think now I'm sensing more of what has always been here.
South School Eagle Scout
PMA student Nicholas Kreiling recently earned his Eagle Scout Award! An Eagle Scout is the highest rank achievable in the Boy Scouts of America and the requirements are almost as hard as a Black Belt test, (well, maybe not.) Nick started as a cub scout when he was 5 years old, and started on the trail to Eagle Scout when he was 11. Nick stayed with Troop 536 for 7 years before earning his Eagle Scout Award, and held many leadership positions in the troop, including quartermaster, ASPL, (Assistant Senior Patrol Leader) and Chaplains Aid. The quartermaster is responsible for taking care of all of the troops camping gear, and replacing it as necessary. The Chaplains Aid is responsible for saying prayers at every campout meal, and regular troop meeting, and being someone who a scout can come talk to when he is feeling down. The position of Assistant Senior Patrol Leader is like a vice president, or 3rd brown belt in the PMA system. He is responsible for helping lead the rest of the troop a lot, and helping to organize and run all of the troops events.
When Nick started his Eagle Scout project, he thought that it would be a very easy thing to complete, and that he would have plenty of time to complete it by the time he turned 18. (By the rules of the Boy Scouts of America, a scout must have all of the requirements for his Eagle Scout completed by midnight on his 18th birthday.) However, when Nick was 17 and 4 months, he realized that he did not have a lot of time to complete his Eagle Scout requirements. He worked very hard, and with the help of some very special people who realized how much getting the Eagle Scout Award meant to him, managed to squeeze under the gate, and finish all of the requirements for the rank of Eagle Scout before he turned 18.
Nick was very relieved when he got word that the National Boy Scout Council had approved his Eagle Scout packet, and says that he plans to continue his scouting career and see two other PMA students to their Eagle Scout awards as well (Those particular students are Robert Kreiling, and Chandler Worley)! Give them some encouragement guys!
