April, 2002

Since I'm busy full-time managing the construction of our new center, I don't have time to say much other than that I hope you are all noticing and enjoying each and every moment. Weeks, months and years go by and that adds up to a whole lot of moments to enjoy if you allow yourself to.

Thanks to all of you who expressed concern over my mother's health. She's back home and feeling more comfortable so for now at least all is well. If you are the type who believes in universal prayer, I certainly won't object if you decide to say a prayer for her.

Finally, come out to the building site and visit anytime. I'll look forward to putting you to work!

New Building Update
The foundation and concrete for the building is at last completed and we are now framing the walls and roof for the new building. Volunteers are welcome to come out and work at anytime (7:30AM 'til dark). In studio A we will post and continually update notices of the specific help needed at given times. For example, there may be particular days or evenings when lots of unskilled helpers are needed so we will try to give a day or two's notice. *If you are planning to help with the construction consider keeping an extra set of work clothes & boots with you when you come to class in case you are suddenly needed at the building site.

Financial Help Needed for New Building
The Peaceful Dragon can use your financial help! Due to the wet winter weather delays and unexpectedly poor soil conditions at our new building site, site work for our new center is costing considerably more than expected (anybody surprised?) Coupled with this, due to unforeseen health problems in Sifu's family, some of the funds which were to come from his family are now unavailable.

As a result, The Peaceful Dragon now needs to borrow a total of approximately $75,000 to ensure the completion of our new center. If you are interested and able to make a short term loan to The Peaceful Dragon in any amount, please see Sifu as soon as possible. You will receive a promissory note with fair interest. Please help only if it will not burden your own personal budget.

Combined Grand Opening/Tai Chi Festival Planned
The date is officially set for our Grand Opening to coincide with our annual Tai Chi Festival this coming Fall on Saturday, September 14th. Special events will be going on all weekend - mark your calendar now.

Mind and Body Fitness Festival a Success
For the fifth year, our festival drew a curious and enthusiastic audience that kept visiting health practitioners busy and the tea house full. We hope many people went away with new information about how to be happy and healthy. And, since our mission is to spread and promote the best of Asian culture and arts, it's wonderful that we will have about a dozen or so new students to welcome into classes. Imagine what we'll be able to accomplish when our new building is ready!

Women's Self-defense, 11am - 5pm, Saturday, April 20th
The Peaceful Dragon is offering a special all day workshop where participants will learn how to avoid assault, rape and other life-threatening situations. Use proven strategies and practice hands-on techniques taught by Lyn Adams, certified Peaceful Dragon instructor. If you're a woman, or you have a woman in your life that you care about, this is the class. The low price is $79 for the public, $69 for members and $59 for students. Register before April 17th and deduct $10. Don't miss the lecture April 13th when Lyn and her husband and fellow instructor Wes will talk about Real-world Self-defense. The lecture is free, at 7:30pm.

Brunch Now Served
On Sunday the 17th, Geoff Bragg - Peaceful Dragon student and chef at The Pewter Rose - served the first of what we expect could become a tradition. On the first and third Saturday and Sunday each month, Geoff will be preparing special different dinner and brunch entrees for a test market of Peaceful Dragon students and our tea house's faithful vegetarian public. The best recipes will grace the menu when our new tea house opens, so come in and try out as many as you can, and let us know what you think!

CACMA Memberships
Sifu Sbarge is one of the founding members of CACMA, the Carolinas Association of Chinese Martial Arts, which shares the interests of The Peaceful Dragon and carries the message of these arts to a wider audience. Now, students can become members of this fine association for $20 per year, payable at $10 every six months if you prefer. See Wes or George.

Monthly Discussion Group, 8PM Wednesday, April 10th
Yes, we've moved our discussion to the second Wednesday of every month. This month, the topic is "The Arts of Asia." Come to contribute, come to learn; we'll see you there!

Marketing Committee
The Peaceful Dragon marketing committee has begun to meet. During the next three months, their task will be to develop and implement the means to market the new building to students and the public, so that we can become self-sustaining as quickly as possible while still filling our primary mission of preserving and spreading the best of Asian culture. All ideas are welcome. Examples are special signage, corporate sponsorship, greater student involvement through outreach to schools, and catering.

Give your economical and effective ideas to Dale Saufley the committee coordinator, or to Beth Rudowske, Shawn Hammond, or Jennifer Shults, or leave a note in the mailbox in Wes' office. The new center will become, just as the current one has, whatever we make of it together.

Sad News
It is with sadness that we acknowledge the death of Master John McSweeney February 26th at his home in Florida. He was 74. Many will recall his forthright manner, his humor, and his tremendous energy, which he brought to the power strikes workshop at The Peaceful Dragon in January. As a teacher of our own Grandmaster, he is truly part of the legacy in which we all humbly share, and a system of honor and tradition which we all aspire to live up to. Around the world, Master McSweeney will be remembered, and missed, by many.

Tournaments

Queen Charlotte's Cup Tournament Saturday, May 4, 2002
The Kuoshu Regional and CACMA Nationals Queen Charlotte's Cup Tournament has been sanctioned by the United States Chinese Kuoshu Federation (USCKF) as a regional tournament by Grandmaster Huang, Chien-Liang, USCKF President, and is co-sponsored by the Charlotte Asian Chamber of Commerce. The Carolina Association of Chinese Martial Arts welcomes all competitors, Kung Fu and soft styles, Tae Kwon Do and Karate and hard styles, Wu-Shu styles, Tai Chi Ch'uan and other internal styles to this tournament!

The tournament is hosted by Hilton University Place, 8629 JM Keynes Drive, Charlotte, NC 28213. Call 704- 547-7444 for reservations. There's plenty to do, including shopping, great restaurants, paddle-boats and boardwalk, so bring your family!

Check-in begins at 8AM. Call Sifu Chris Facente of the Mint Hill Kung Fu School at 704 545 7438 for more information and registration forms. Pre-registration is until May 1st, sorry no exceptions; $40 for unlimited events. After May 1st, it's $50 for the first event, and $10 for each additional event.

Events include soft and hard style form competition, Masters' Demonstrations, continuous sparring, Lion Dancing competition, taiji/internal styles form and push hands, seminars, lei tai exhibition, platform fighting, weapons sparring, and san-shou exhibition.

Pay on-line with Pay Pal (major credit card) from the Mint Hill Kung Fu website. From mhkungfu.com, click Events, then Tournaments and Competitors, to pre-register and pay on line. Or, print the registration form and send your fees to CACMA, PO Box 23043, Charlotte, NC 28227.

CACMA is honored to announce that Grandmaster Huang, Chien-Liang will be the guest of honor and USCKF representative. Grandmaster Huang will be giving a tournament seminar you won't want to miss; more information when it becomes available.

An impressive turnout of martial artists, spectators, judges and interested vendors that reflect the culture of the Asian community, is expected to make this an outstandingly successful tournament again.

Information for this tournament, and the international event mentioned below, was posted at the Mint Hill Kung Fu School website. You can call 704-545-7438 for additional information.

2002 International Kung Fu and Martial Arts Tournament, July 26-28, 2002
Whether you want to watch a higher level of competition, or test your own skills, plan to go to the international tournament, hosted by the Marriot's Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD. For more information, call Grandmaster Huang Chien-Liang at 443-394-9202. The event is sponsored by the United States Kuoshu Federation (USCKF). USCKF members and non-members alike can save if your entry is postmarked by July 15, 2002.

Mail Registration fee to U.S.C.K.F., P.O. Box 20269, Baltimore, MD 21284-0269.

Mark your calendar for our next promotion day which is Saturday, May 18 at 12:30PM. We'll be giving out Tiger PatchesÝfor those of you at the 3 month mark, Dragon Patches for the 6 month mark, and Sword Patches if you've been with us forÝ1 year and are at least 7 years old. BringÝyour family and friends for refreshments and the chance to show them what you've learned. All Young Dragons are invited, so come on outÝand join the fun!!

Everybody keep checking the new volunteer board in the hall between Studios A and B. This is our control center for information about what you can do to help with the new building and when you will be needed, as well as what you can do to help keep the current center running. And if you do nothing else, keep coming to classes, and keep eating in the tea house!

Treadmills, exercise bikes, elliptical trainers, strength machines and more for sale! Call Lyn @ 704-882-5336 or 704-716-4225

Housemate wanted to share new two-story townhouse in Southwest Charlotte near the new Peaceful Dragon. Large, two bedroom, 2 1é2 bath with fireplace and fine décor. Male or female, must be non-smoker. $575 per month includes all utilities except long distance. Contact Debbie, home 704-588-2579 or cell 704-564-2179.

Spa Facials from my home. I'm a licensed aesthetician offering a 30% discount to Peaceful Dragon students. Your face will love you - pumpkin peel, oxygen, ayurvedic and European facials, and more. Call Beth for details, home 704-588-7149, or cell 704 712 1997.

NOW vitamins, minerals and food supplements are available by order the 1st of each month at unbeatable prices. The value of these products in our stressful lives is pretty unbeatable too. See Debra.

A Small Step
By Nelson Highley

Meditation, like many things Eastern, has a multitude of aspects. This story is about one of them.

It was an old argument, the colors were faded and the corners rounded off with use, the kind of argument that develops between people who have been together for many years.Ý The details aren't important, but it was my " turn" to lash out, to hurt with words. And I didn't do it!

When we first learn to meditate, we are given a simple task to focus on, counting breaths for example. This task is far too simple to occupy much of our attention and so Things pull it away. We realize this and come back to our focus, and ignore the pull. We are practicing ignoring the pulls. This exercise helps us become aware of them because in our busy world it's difficult to see them working.

In the Eastern view, these pulls are the result of an undisciplined mind, called " The Money Mind," because the attention is pulled this way and that with no rational basis. The Western view sees these pulls based in unresolved past hurts. Whatever your viewpoint, it turns out that these pulls are usually negative influences (like senseless fights with people we love). To the degree that we learn to ignore these pulls, our lives can improve. We practice when we meditate and then, one day, you're doing it in the Real World.

It was my turn to hurt back, and I paused. I let that pull to hurt back go, just like I had been learning to do while meditating. I didn't fight it, fighting it gives the pull energy just like succumbing to it does - no, I just let it go.

Hey, I thought to myself, it works just like it does when I meditate.Ý Wow. I am making progress! My partner noticed my silence.Ý

"Well, what have you got to say?" she demanded.

So taken was I by my little triumph over the monkey mind that I got careless and forgot that we are also taught to strive to always be mindful. "You know, this whole argument seems kind of silly," I babbled.

A long, cold silence was my first inkling that my own monkey mind was running my mouth. Then: "What the hellÝdo you mean silly?!!!" Uh-oh. Make that a very small triumph. The remainder of the argument is left to the (almost certainly inadequate) imagination of the reader!

"Awareness cannot be practiced. There has been some confusion between awareness and mindfulness. They are related, but distinct. Sati, or mindfulness implies there is action of the mind. We purposely set ourselves to pay attention to our minds. Awareness is different. The mind simply awares. There is no action here, only a collected and spontaneous awareness that just sees. Here, mindfulness is the cause, and awareness is the effect. You cannot practice or train the effect. You can only practice something that will cause it. We have to start with mindfulness so that awareness may arise in us."

--Dr. Thynn Thynn
Living Meditation, Living Insight

To contact The Peaceful Dragon:

Call: (704)-544-1012

Write: The Peaceful Dragon
8324 Pineville-Matthews Road No.509
McMullen Creek Market
Charlotte, NC 28226

E-mail: comments and suggestions to staff@thepeacefuldragon.com