Spring Mountain Retreat 2011

Just recently I had the honor and privilege to attend the annual Spring Mountain Retreat that Master Steve Smith of Fook Yeung Chuan hosted in North Eastern Oregon; which is mostly reserved for those who train with him, or who are close colleagues.

What a FUN event!

First off, Steve is an amazing Martial Artist both in skill and how he carries himself. And it was carried over by the many participants there. Never hav

e I been to a Martial Arts event that had NO ONE with an ego! For someone (myself) who was pretty much an "outsider" participating in this event, and having people so willing to help me learn was greatly appreciated! It was also great to see them all so welcoming to my family who came along for the trip.

As for the training...REALLY good stuff! Though I was overwhelmed because a.) Due to unforeseen circumstances I showed up almost 6hrs late on day 1, and b.) I've never had this much in-depth training in this stuff before. But I tell you that this stuff has a LOT of depth to it! It is an art definitely worth training in, with intelligent concepts and approaches supporting every action. I greatly appreciated how effortless it is to do the things that I was shown. I was so blown away, with that there were moments that I thought, "it can't be this easy!" But yet the proof was in the results that I was getting doing the techniques

to another, or being the one on the receiving end. It is something that can only truly be appreciated by experiencing it first hand; something I'm familiar with when it comes to the techniques that we teach in our own club. It's something I would definitely like to pursue learning more of to the point that I can use it myself.

Now Steve Smith is a great teacher. He made sure I got a chance to directly interact with him to make sure I was at least starting to understand what I was b

eing shown. This took place 99.9% of the time! He answered every question I had without dodging it, or beating around the bush. And looking back, you could see how everything came together by the end of the weekend; which is something I greatly appreciated as it gave value to EVERYTHING we had been shown. It also showed how much thought he put into the weekend's curriculum by being organized instead of throwing out random things to impress the participants. Finally, the lesson that really struck a cord with me was how wonderful the human body is, and how much we are so potentially capable of if we put the time into developing the areas that we don't normally focus on.

This weekend was also dedicated to the memories of Sensei David Harris (who happened to be my college teacher in my favorite class: Visual Thinking), and Sensei Sid Woodcock, who suddenly passed away a week before the event. Steve would bring up where what we were working on, was influenced by either of these great unknown martial artists, and it really showed the depth of what these men had worked on throughout their lives. I definitely feel privileged to had the opportunity to experience this all.

A big THANK YOU to Master Steve Smith, and everyone trai

ning in or associated with The Little Dojo for making this an event that I truly enjoyed, and hope to be able to participate in as often as possible! I met so

me great people, and made some great friends at the same time! Looking forward to next time!

If you ever get a chance to participate in Steve's Retreats...Don't miss out!

On a side note: the location of the Retreat was a beautiful camp area including some rustic style cabins, of which one of them housed my family and I. It was a great place that really helped one "get away" from the monotony of everyday life, as well as get in touch & in tune with nature. It was also great that with the weather being sunny, it was the warmest sunny this Seattlite had experienced since August of last year; which was long overdue for us! And being the first time for me, since I was a kid, traveling through Eastern Washington, and 1st time ever to Northeastern Oregon, the journey was just as beautiful as the destination! Also the owners of the camp ground area were just great people!