Dear Health Conscious and Martial Arts Friends and Students;
Happy New Year! We wish you all health, happiness and prosperity! As we enter into this New Year, it is best to reflect back on the past before looking forward to our future. This past year has been full of many joyous occasions, but also sad earthly events. Grand Masters Shi De Ru and Shi De Yang’s teaching father, the great Master upper Su, lower Xi passed away on March 8th, 2006 at 11:00am at the age of 82 after his 70 year service to the Shaolin Temple. During his time, he poured himself into protecting the Temple from extinguishing, teaching the philosophy of Chan, promoting true freedom of humanity, compassion and peace. We (the brothers and their students) had a 9-day memorial that ended on the 16th of March. Our Master's brother Master Shi De Cheng also participated and stayed for a whole night chanting with us outside the Shaolin Temple. Many other brothers from all over China came for the memorial ceremony. We had an estimated 10000 people from all over the world come to the doorstep of the Shaolin Temple to pay their respects to the Great Master of this Generation and of this century.
Grand Masters De Yang and De Ru together hosted a100-day memorial service, which echoed from opposite ends of the earth in remembrance of their teaching father the Great Master Shi Su Xi. Together, they devoted themselves to adopting the responsibilities passed on by their teaching father: to teach to future generations the Ancient Shaolin Teachings handed down to them, to teach the wisdom of China and the wisdom of mankind so as to benefit the world.
Together, they again hosted the Shaolin Training Retreat at the Shaolin Temple, China. Everybody that participated in the training claimed that they truly enjoyed the China retreat.
Then, near the end of 2006, they came together again to present the “Shaolin Legacy Show: Journey to the East”, which educated, entertained and inspired over 20000 people along the Gulf Coast. The show received great reviews from the audience, the newspapers, and the performers alike. Here are some comments: “It was spectacular,” said an audience member; “It was awesome!” said another; “I got chills when I saw these kids performing on the stage,” said a lady; “It is inspirational to all of us,” said a famous Chinese restaurant owner; “This is what New Orleans really needs,” said a teacher; “I am sorry that I could not hold it in, but wept,” a Cop told us when he came out of the show; “It was a beautiful show, we are proud to be part of it,” said an executive producer of PBS who helped to promote the show at their New Orleans station.
Our sincere thanks go to all the newspapers and TV stations for their kind professional support: Mobile Channel 15, New Orleans WWL Channel 6, Cox TV, and PBS.
We also thank WWNO in New Orleans and WABB in Mobile; Mobile Press Register, Mobile Lagniappe, New Orleans Times Picayune, and Gambit Weekly who wrote an article on the show on the most favorite entertainment of the week. We also thank the Mobile International Festival for making our show the main event.
We thank the Mayor’s offices in Mobile and New Orleans for supporting the show. We sincerely thank our friend, the former Mayor Mike Dow, the current Mayor Sam Jones and Sheriff Harry Lee for their great speeches at our show.
This is going to be a busy year. We have a lot of activities and events ahead of us. We are very happy that Master De Cheng will be coming to the US in mid January.
We will be hosting the Chinese New Year celebration in both Mobile and New Orleans around Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 18th. We expect to have hundreds of people attending from along the Gulf Coast. We shall have great shows, games and food too.
February 23-26 will be our annual Qi Retreat at the newest Seascape Resort, which features breathtaking views of the Gulf of Mexico and Choctowhatchee Bay, a brand new Platinum level, 24-story resort condominium in Destin, Florida. This year’s Qi retreat will feature animal Qigong, Shaolin Chan and other ancient Shaolin Qi empowerment training. It’s going to be a great and peaceful mind/body healing event. It will not only help you release stress and balance your energy, but it will also greatly improve your Qi power. For more details or registration, please call the office at 251-343-6023.
On March 8, we will hold a memorial to remember the spiritual leader, Great Grand Master Upper Su and Lower Xi, who left us physically on March 8th last year. His departure and his life on earth will be remembered not only by his close disciples and students but also the world. He is still remembered as the ethical and moral authority to Chan Buddhists and Kungfu students as well as compassionate and loving people around the world.
Our Liu Institute 1st quarterly testing will be scheduled on March 31st in New Orleans starting at 10 AM. Cardio kickboxing and body conditioning tests will also be hosted during the day. On the same evening, Jeff Bordelon will host this year’s first USASKF’s US Open Sanshou Kungfu Fighting Challenge in Houma, LA. Our Sanshou quarterly testing will be at that time. The United States of America Sanshou Kungfu Federation and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in cooperation with the Liu Institute International and Southern Kungfu will work together to raise funds for the New Orleans Katrina scholarship funds and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is the single largest center in the United States for the treatment and research of pediatric genetic immune defects, cancer, and AIDS, and other childhood catastrophic diseases. Houma is only about 35-40 minutes from the New Orleans international airport where Jeff’s school will pick up all the incoming fighters. The Federation and the Liu Institute will work hard with him so that he may run a hugely successful event. There will be both beginner and advanced divisions for not only novice enthusiasts but also internationally recognized Kungfu and Sanshou fighters. The event location is 111 Kade Lane, Houma, LA. His phone number is (985) 879-2262. His Email is: www.jeffbordelonska@msn.com. The event accommodation will be at QUALITY HOTEL, 210 SOUTH HOLLYWOOD RD, HOUMA, LA. Their phone number is: (985) 868-5851; Email: gm.LA137@choicehotels.com. For tournament information and registration, visit www.usaskf.org or www.shaolin-world.net.
On April 28th, we will be celebrating World Tai Chi Day, a Tai Chi and Qigong Day that is practiced worldwide. The Liu Institute International Tai Chi and Qigong (Chi Kung) exhibitions will be held at 9am in Knollwood Park, Mobile; at 9am in Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana (across from Tulane and Loyola University on St. Charles); and at 10am at the YMCA in Daphne, Eastern Shore. Our hope is that we may help to educate the citizens along the Gulf Coast about the benefits of the traditional Chinese exercises of Tai Chi and Qigong (Chi Kung) for health and wellness.
This year’s China Shaolin-Tai Chi Qi training and studying retreat trip will be tentatively scheduled for June 9th thru June 23rd (exact date to be finalized) at the Shaolin Temple, China. Shaolin & Tai Chi Instructors Certification Credits may be available after completion of the tests. We will as usual have one week training from May 29-June 3rd (tentative dates) in the US as part of the preparation for training in China. Shi DeYang, Shi DeRu and other Shaolin monks and Masters will conduct all training and studies. This Shaolin-Tai Chi China Retreat is sponsored by the Shaolin World Federation and run by Grand Master Shi DeRu and Shi DeYang. A step-by-step schedule will be issued to everyone one month before the departure.
Over the last few years, students have had the rare privileges of visiting & studying with the authentic Grand Masters and Masters of the Shaolin Temple. They have had unforgettable training experiences. CCTV, the largest TV network in the world, followed the training groups and did a series of documentary films.
Last year, the Shaolin-Tai Chi Qi studying delegation studied at the Shaolin Temple, Zhengzhou, and Xian. They saw Terra Cotta warriors, Beijing, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the modern city of Shanghai, the Yu Yuan Garden and other cities. Patrick Barry and other fighters from Mobile, Houma and New Orleans had many friendship fights with Chinese professional and amateur fighters respectively. They enjoyed the fights immensely. Students also have experienced various delicious Chinese cuisines and the most beautiful, natural and historical sights. This year promises even more with perhaps the Yellow Mountains – the most dazzling natural beauty in the world.
This year’s Shaolin-Tai Chi Qi Retreat and the training Camp will guide each individual through a series of peaceful meditations, basic Shaolin internal Qigong movements, and traditional skills and techniques for mind, body and spiritual growth. The main topics are Shaolin Chan Philosophy of man’s true spiritual freedom, mindfulness, and ancient Shaolin forms handed down from generations of the Shaolin Great Masters and Legends. The retreat and the training camp will also teach some of the most fundamental self-defense skills such as Shaolin Qinna (grappling and common Demarks), body and mind toughening, and Chinese health nutrition.
This years’ annual school competition will be scheduled a bit earlier in May before the Florida tournament on 25-27th at Gaylord Resort. Please register early for both.
November 6th (Chinese year 9/27) marks the celebration of the birthday of Shi Suxi, the Great Master, our teaching father. This is the 83rd birthday of the great Buddhist holy man, Master of Chan (Zen) of this century, and Great Master, Su Xi. He is also known as the “Bodhisattva” or “enlightened one” of the modern era.
We will have more scheduled events posted at a later date.
For more information call (251) 343-6023 or Write to: info@liuinstitute.com
Regards,
The Liu Institute International
Shaolin Warrior Monk Preparatory Team
www.shaolin-world.net
