Kinesthesis Martial Movement is a form of movement that is derived directly from both traditional and non-traditional martial arts.
My own history in martial arts begins in 1985, when I first studied the Korean art of Tae Kwon Do. I spent a number of years learning this form, but, ultimately desiring more knowledge than one art could contain, I began studying the Chinese arts of Hung Gar Kung Fu and Wah Lum Pai. I began teaching Hung Gar in Seattle in 1992 at the Seattle Kung Fu Club and its branch schools until 2003, when I began teaching martial arts privately.
I’ve made it a practice to continue to grow my experience in martial art forms, and have also studied Aikido, Aikijutsu, and in so-called “non-traditional” combat systems taught to the military and police.
Traditional martial arts contain a wealth of great knowledge, but many of them were developed in relatively ancient times, when spears and swords were the most common weapons on the battlefield and some warriors even went barefoot into battle! Because of this, and because many of the teachers believed strongly in maintaining (or in some cases, obscuring) the fidelity of the teachings, some of the teachings in these arts have become out of sync with modern times or with their roots as combat disciplines.
Additionally, I feel that many modern self-defense classes go either too far into the “martial” aspect of martial arts, or too far into the “art” aspect, providing either a brutal and dangerous environment in which students are routinely exposed to great risk and frequent injury, or in which the teachings are softened and so diluted that you’d learn more valuable self-defense by simply practicing a 50-meter sprint every morning.
In developing Kinesthesis Martial Movement, I maintain an emphasis on movements and combat styles that I’ve found to be particularly effective, while also paying homage to the past (I still enjoy my sword and spear forms, in other words!). When I teach a movement technique, I like to explain its practical application or, if it has none, explain why I’m teaching it anyway: sometimes, the application is simply “improves balance, speed, posture, or flexibility”. The end result, however, lies in creating a style of movement that has direct application in combat.
I am not terming this training a martial art, but rather a practice of martial movement. We will be moving our bodies in the ways of authentic combat, without engaging in risky sparring sessions or engaging in extreme training techniques such as punching bricks or working with iron rings. I’d like everyone to be able to learn self-defense, so I also want to keep it accessible and safe.
In this class, we also work with personifying the warrior archetype of many cultures and ages, and students are encouraged to take their training out of the studio into their daily lives.
Information about the class location, time, and cost can be found on the class schedule page. Welcome to Kinesthesis Martial Movement!
