April 11, 2008

Hsing-I form seminar at this year's Great Lakes Championship by Dr. Weng

This year at the Great Lakes championship, Dr. Weng will be teaching the form
taught and practiced by Grandmaster Chang also known as Hsing-jing on Sunday
4/20 at 1:00pm.

Hsing-I Ch'uan(shing-yee), is also known as "Five Elements Boxing." The
late Grandmaster Ch'ang Tung-Sheng held this fist form style in high regard
and taught it to some of his students and disciples. Each element of wood,
earth, metal, water, and fire attacks and defends simultaneously with
devastating power. Hsing-Jing which means essence of Hsing-I was his own
personal interpretation of the style scaled down to it's most potent
applications.
He even developed a kick sometimes referred to as a "sixth element." If you
ever wondered why such a legendary champion would practice this particular
style now is your chance to learn the answers for your self and integrate
this knowledge into your training.

For more information and to reserve a spot, contact Sifu John Ervin at
jervinsifu@att.net or 1-216-587-3478

2/29/08: Update from Jan-Yu Weng, President, USSA

First of all, I want to apologize for our very outdated website. Contrary to the lack of activity on our website, the USSA has been very active in the US and internationally in the last several years!

Many of you have probably already heard of the excellent results our USA team accomplished in last year’s International Shuaijiao Tournament in Taizhou, China. I’m expecting a few articles will be published in martial arts magazines in the next few months. Plus there are numerous videos and postings all over the internet. This tournament will also be a feature on our quarterly newsletter to be released in April (with a special interview with Jude Braun, our international judge and SWAT officer in Austin)

Our performance there has shown that our commitment with Shuai-chiao development in the USA still pays off. Our teachers around the U.S., our local and national tournaments have paid off with some excellent Shuai-chiao practitioners. Furthermore, our partnerships and friendships with international organizations assure me that our best years are still ahead of us.

I wanted to use this opportunity to update you all on few things that will be happening in the next several months and yes….creating a new website is one of them!

- April 19th Great Lakes Championship and National for Shuai-chiao and Sanshou. Don’t miss this yearly event to see old friends and meet new ones. Our USA team was stocked with national champions from last year’s Great Lakes and thus this has been the proving grounds for Shuai-chiao in the U.S. You can also use the opportunity to test for belts with Dr. Weng. Sifu Ervin will be bringing back forms competition for other kung-fu styles as well as first time ever Taolu for Shuai-chiao for Jiao Chuan #1. See Sifu Ervin at jervinsifu@att.net or call at 216-587-3478 for more details.

- April 20th Seminars by David Chang from Taiwan and Dr Weng from California.

David Chang: once again, we have the honor of having the grandson of Grandmaster Chang Tung Shen at the tournament to teach the different types of applications of Shuai-chiao in combat as well as special techniques for training and tournament.

Dr. Weng will be conducting a seminar on the seldom taught Hsing-I form. So reserve your space for this rare opportunity.

-New Belt Curriculum to be released! The USSA belt system has been generally the same since Grandmaster Chang and Dr. Weng formalized it over 25 years ago. I am in the process with several other high ranking black belts to update it a little to help make it easier for us to consistently administer the same quality across the U.S. The updated curriculum will reflect several of the techniques that David Chang has been teaching many of us for the last several years. These are similar techniques used in his Taiwan Shuai-chiao organization.

- late July – Due to popular demand, we are planning to host the California Chang system weekend here in the bay area. For those who aren’t familiar with this, we use this opportunity for friends of the Ch’ang System to spend a weekend in the Bay Area and learn from Dr. Weng, David Chang, and many of the Senior Black Belts, compete in a friendship tournament, meet international guests and of course enjoy the nice California weather!

I would love to hear from you all out there, so feel free to email anything and let me know how the USSA can help you in your studies of Shuai-chiao, integrating within your school curriculum or just let me know how you are doing.

Best Regards

Jan-Yu Weng

President, USSA