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15th Dec News & Updates

This week should see the launch of our Winter Qigong Routine. We are preparing for Chinese New Year on January 25th. Our sale continues, there’s still time for it to arrive before Christmas, but hurry!! Our class times and online bookings are also updated for the week ahead.

Winter Qigong Routine

Winter Qigong Routine

We are still working on our Winter Qigong Routine but we should hopefully deliver it to you this week, as promised. If you have subscribed to our email list you will receive the information via your email. If you haven’t signed up yet, now is the time, don’t miss out, do it now!

In this routine we have carefully chosen specific qigong exercises which will keep you fit and healthy. We have targeted specific organs of the body which, according to qigong theory and philosophy, accompany and compliment each other for this time of year.

We will build on the knowledge from our Autumn Qigong Routine, to give you further insight into the benefits and practices of qigong and qigong theory. You don’t need to have read our previous article but if you have then it should compliment the information from it. As always, we would love to hear your feedback. You can either email us directly or contact us via our social media channels.

Horse Stance

Jackie Chan practicing horse stance in the film Drunken Master.

Our horse stance article is still available for you to read. It has an explanation of some of the benefits and a short video to demonstrate.

Give it a try and see for yourself. Why not challenge yourself over the festive holidays and see how long you can hold the stance for by the end of them.

Again, we are are always ready to listen to your feedback and we would love to hear from you. You can either email us directly or contact us through our social media channels.

Chinese New Year 2020

Although everywhere is winding down for the festive period and preparing for the holidays, YHGInverness are gearing up for one of the busiest times of year for us, the Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year.

The Spring Festival is not a public holiday in the UK, however more and more people are taking part in annual Spring Festival events that focus on many aspects of Chinese culture such as food, calligraphy, decorations, martial arts and parades.

The UK, as a whole, doesn’t have an exceptionally high percentage of Chinese or Asian people living here. Major cities such as London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester have a concentration of Chinese people living there. London’s Chinatown is especially large and quite old. Their Spring Festival celebrations are famous for being very large and colourful.

The Spring Festival is based on the Chinese lunar calendar. The holiday lasts for around 15 days in China and many other Asian countries. The Festival itself is celebrated worldwide in many other countries too, including the UK. On the eve of the Spring Festival, families get together and reunite for a traditional dinner. The last day of the Spring Festival is known as the Lantern Festival. The skies are filled with brightly coloured, paper lanterns.

The Inverness Spring Festival Celebrations coincide with YHGInverness’s 8th birthday. Other schools from Peterhead and Ellon will be joining us in the celebrations. We will be performing parades and displays in the Eastgate Centre, the Victorian Market, the High Street and at individual retailers and restaurants around Inverness City centre. You can keep up to date with times and places on our Facebook event page. Please feel free to like and share the event page. We will also be performing at events in Aberdeen and Inverurie. You can see all event pages here:

Inverness

Inverurie

Aberdeen

Hung Sale

Our sale is still on, get in the fast for Christmas!

Our sale continues in the Fu-kit section of our website. Everything is on sale including dresses, skirts, leggings, shorts, t-shirts, polo shirts, hats, caps, teaware, beanbags, mugs, hoodies and much more! (Excludes uniforms) If you are thinking of buying a gift for your training buddies or loved ones who have a passion for Hung Ga, there is still time for it to arrive before Christmas if you buy today. We can only keep prices this low for a short time, so get in there quick. Visit our Fu-kit shop for all sale items.

Classes

Our last class for 2019 will be on Thursday 19th December we will then open our doors to a new decade on Monday the 6th of January.

Current class timetable for Inverness

With a new year and the start of a new decade on the horizon, many people start to look at what they would like to achieve. Physical health and fitness is usually high up on the agenda. Mental wellbeing is often not as high on the list but it is becoming more of a priority. At Yee’s you can combine training both your mind and your body together. Take a look at our Horse Stance article to see just one method that we use which incorporates your mind, body and spirit. Our forthcoming Winter Qigong Routine is another excellent way to improve your overall health and mental wellbeing. Make sure you have subscribed to our email list to receive this information in your inbox!

Beginning classes at Yee’s is really easy. Take a look at our “How Do I Start?” Page. In short, just come along to a Monday or Tuesday evening class at 7pm, it is that simple. No money needed. Just a bottle of water and some comfortable clothes to exercise in. If you need some inspiration to help you take that first step, read our “Motivation, Hints & Tips” article. Nobody can make that first move for you but we’ve tried to make it as easy and painless as possible for when you do. Once you do it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it years ago when we first told you!

If you prefer a more personal touch, you can arrange for a 1-1 training session with Sifu Hepple. An hours session will cover the basic warm-up and stance training exercises. It includes a section of your first form and basic principles of our training methods. For this coming week we have full availability on Tuesday 17th Dec. There are also a few 1-1 tuition slots left in the evenings too. Use the timetable below to book an available slot. You can even pay for it all online, that way there’s no backing out. Just turn up at the right time and we’ll take it from there.

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Coming Soon

coming soon….

We have a few plans that we are working on at the moment. As mentioned earlier, we are putting the finishing touches to our Winter Qigong Routine to send out to all our email subscribers this week. We are also busy preparing for the Spring Festival next year on 25th of January. We also have some exciting workshops that we are hoping to bring to you in the new year. To avoid missing out on details of these exciting opportunities, make sure you enter your email below. If you would like to register your interest in any of these workshops, please email us directly.

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1st Dec News & Updates

We have a new article available for you to read this week. We also have Black Friday deals throughout our Fu-kit store. There are updates to our private tuition and class schedule for this week. There’s also more info on our Chinese New Year celebrations in Inverness and future articles and workshops coming soon.

Horse Stance

If you’ve trained in any martial arts, it is likely that you have come across the horse stance, or a version of it. It is a basic stance used for training. Many who subscribe to modern training methods may question its relevance. The horse stance is good for training the legs but is it not better to do some leg weights or squats instead of spending time sitting in one position? The length of time training this stance, especially in Hung Ga, doesn’t warrant its usage in a fight, so why not spend the time training something which will be more beneficial?

Read our insightful article on the horse stance and find out more about this, often misunderstood, training method. Try it for yourself and let us know what you think. Our article has an explanation with a short instructional video. As always, we would love to hear your thoughts in the comments or on our social media channels. You can always email us your thoughts too.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Our sale has now been extended further still. From t-shirts to accessories and teaware. Now everything is on sale! (Except our uniforms as these are already as low a price as we can get them!) We have dresses, skirts, leggings, shorts, t-shirts, polo shirts, hats, caps, teaware, beanbags, mugs, hoodies and much more! If you are thinking of buying a gift for your training buddies or loved ones who have a passion for Hung Ga, now is the time! We can only keep prices this low for a short time, so best get in there quick. Visit our Fu-kit shop for all sale items.

Classes

You may have noticed that we have made a slight change to our website so it is now more mobile friendly to navigate. All our features are there as normal, just the pages should be a little easier to find on your mobile or tablet device. Let us know what you think.

Current class timetable

We have private 1-1 tuition available all day on Monday 2nd Dec this week. You can book and pay for these by clicking on a day and timeslot on the following calendar.

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Public classes are as per normal. Beginners are welcome to attend on Monday or Tuesday classes at 7pm. There are plenty spaces available in our kids classes for little ones to start too. We have 2 different age groups. 5-8 year olds are on Mondays at 6.15-7pm. We also have a class for 8-13 year olds on Thursday at 6.15-7pm. All are welcome to attend these classes. Sifu Hepple has an Enhanced Disclosure with the PVG Scheme, so you can rest at ease that your little ones are in safe hands. We have a lion dance class on Tuesdays at 6.15-7pm, before our main beginners class at 7pm. Why not come along and try both?

Chinese New Year

Yee’s Hung Ga Lion Heads

The Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is not too far away. Our students are busy preparing in our Lion Dance class. Lions play an important role in Chinese mythology, and represent joy and happiness. It symbolizes power, wisdom, and superiority. The lion dance is one of the most important traditions in the Spring Festival. They are performed with the accompaniment of percussion instruments such as drums, cymbals, and gongs, synchronised to the lion dance movements and actions. People traditionally used to perform lion dances to bring luck and to get rid of the evil spirits. It is performed nowadays to bring prosperity and good luck, for instance at a shop opening, celebration or wedding. It is also a great way to create a festive atmosphere, bringing happy times and good memories. Kung fu schools have kept the traditional lion dance alive over the years. It is a great way to showcase the strong stances of the students at the individual schools. Lion dance can be quite hard work. It requires considerable strength to carry and animate the lion heads for any length of time. At Yee’s Hung Ga, these traditions have been passed on to our students so that they may carry it on for future generations to enjoy. If you are interested in our Spring Festival displays or would like to contact us regarding a private display or demonstration. You can email us directly or ‘like’ our special Facebook group, Yee’s North Of Scotland Lion & Dragon Dance Team.

Coming Soon

We have a few plans that we are working on at the moment. As mentioned earlier, we are preparing for Spring Festival next year on 25th of January. We also have some exciting workshops and a brand new Winter Qigong Routine that we are also preparing for. To avoid missing out on details of these exciting opportunities, make sure you enter your email below. If you would like to register your interest in any of these workshops, please email us directly.

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The Horse Stance

The Horse stance, feared by some, celebrated by others! What is it, what’s the point? Let’s take a look…

Jackie Chan in Drunken Master

The horse stance (Ma Bu in Chinese), also known as the Four Point Great Stance (Sai Ping Dai Ma). It is not unique to Hung Ga, by any means, however it is of particular importance to practitioners of the Hung style. It is a basic stance for training the foundation. The foundation is the fundamental elements that support the three pillars. The fundamental elements being the strong body, including the bones, muscles ligaments, fascia and tendons. Ma Bu lowers the centre of gravity which helps the practitioner have a stable base. Practicing Ma Bu improves the structure of the body and the body’s alignment. Holding the stance can increase the stamina and determination of the practitioner, far beyond what they ever thought possible. With the correct posture, one can then focus on the breath. Having a regulated slow, deep breathing cycle has many calming benefits. It has been proven to reduce the heart rate and relax the body. With the relaxed, yet stable structure, one can then improve further with the circulation of fluids and the transportation of oxygen to the vital organs and the efficient removal of toxins, improving performance. With regular practice, the body can then heighten its performance further with the circulation of vital energy or Qi. Circulating qi around the body can have a huge benefit to physical, emotional and mental wellbeing, as well as increasing longevity, boosting energy levels and creating a barrier against diseases. This encompasses the three pillars we mentioned earlier. They are the body, the mind and the spirit. The physical body is trained by using the mind to focus and hold the static posture for a period of time. When the mind and body are synchronized in this way, over time, the spirit can elevated to higher levels.

Standing in Ma Bu takes time. It is hard. It is not the kind of practice for someone who is looking for quick results. At Yee’s, students train Ma Bu, it is a requirement for their gradings. As students advance through the system to higher levels, they must have a bigger and bigger foundation. They therefore need to train Ma Bu for longer periods of time. This is not just to pass a test but also to build the three pillars and to protect themselves from harm. This can be the downfall for many students who neglect to train Ma Bu. As students progress through he Hung Ga system, they learn more and more forms and techniques. Training Ma Bu often takes a back seat in favour of the other types of training. It can often be overlooked as it is so simple. Because it is simple, that doesn’t mean that it is easy. In fact it can be very difficult to maintain the stance for a long period of time. This is the nature of kung fu however, hard work and perseverance to achieve results. In today’s fast paced world, there are a select few people who wish to take this path. Most people try to take shortcuts or look for easier methods. For many practitioners the Ma Bu is a love/hate relationship. To succeed, you must enjoy the challenge and you must persevere through hardship.

Gordon Liu as Pai Mei in Kill Bill: Vol. 2

Are you ready to step up to the challenge? Think you can master the Ma Bu? Do you want to rise to the levels of previous kung fu masters throughout history? Good. Let your training begin….

• Stand with your feet together. Hands by your sides.

• Lift your arms up in front of you, palms up, and take a nice deep breath.

• Once you have breathed in, make fists and place them at the chamber (the groove above the hip and below the bottom rib) as you breathe out.

• Pivot on your heels and turn your toes out at an angle, creating a V shape. Pivot on the ball of the feet and turn the heels out. Pivot on the heels again to turn the toes outwards and then once more so that the toes are now pointing forward. Your feet should be fairly wide apart. Roughly the length of your lower leg.

Horse stance feet placement.

• Next, bend the knees and ‘sit’. Push your knees out so that they are above the feet. Keep your back straight and head up, with your fists in the chamber, elbows squeezed towards each other. The thighs should be almost parallel with the ground, at a slight angle. You can use a mirror to check your posture.

• Focus on your breathing. Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth and breathe through the nose. Take long, slow, deep breathes. Aim for 4-5 complete breathes in and out per minute.

• Great job. You’re now in the Ma Bu. You are practising an art which every Hung Ga master before you has also practiced, for centuries.

• Comfortable?

• Time how long you can maintain this stance for, without getting up. Every time you practice, try to beat your best time, even if it’s just a few seconds.

Sifu Hepple demonstrating the Ma Bu

How did you get on? How long did you manage before you had to get up? Let us know in the comments below. Send us an email or give us a tinkle on our social media channels.

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