Cloud Forest
Wei Family Kung Fu
Weekly Edition · Issue 04 · Sep 23
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This Week at the School
Regular nights.
Free first visit.
The public events board has no dated seminars this week. Good. Show up for regular training. Bring someone for a free first visit. Check the live schedule before you drive.
This week
Regular class nights on the train board
No guest seminars listed on Events |
Visit
First class free. Sign the waiver. Train. |
Where
719 West Gate City Boulevard
Greensboro, NC 27403 |
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Basics Are Forever Work
Training tip · Daily return to fundamentals
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“Basics are not beginner work. Basics are forever work.”
-Sifu Michael Johnson
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People treat basics like a hallway. Walk through once, get your belt color, move on to the “real” material. That is backwards.
Basics are the material. Everything else is how you express them under pressure.
Stance is not a warm-up pose. It is how your weight sits when someone pushes you. Footwork is not a dance you memorize for a test. It is how you arrive in range without giving your balance away. A clean punch is not the fancy version of a punch. It is the punch that still works when your lungs are loud and your timing is late.
If your basics are soft, your advanced work is theater. You can look busy and still be empty.
The body tells on you. A rushed step shows up in your sparring. A lazy rear hand shows up the first time someone counters. A breath that only works when you are calm disappears the moment the room gets loud. Basics are how you close those gaps before someone else finds them.
Here is the practical part for this week. Before class, or at home on a day you cannot get to the floor, give yourself ten honest minutes.
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Ten-minute basics return
1. Feet. Stand with feet under the hips, knees soft, spine tall. Rock weight heel to ball until both feet feel alive. One minute. No fidgeting.
2. Step. Three slow steps forward, three back. Head level. Soft knee on every finish. If you rush, start over.
3. Hands. From a guard you actually use, ten slow jabs or ten slow centerline punches. Watch the shoulder and the hip. Repeatability over speed.
4. Breath. Nose in, nose out if you can. If the breath climbs and stays in the chest, slow the movement until it settles.
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Do that four nights this week. Not as a replacement for class. As the floor under class.
When a beginner drills basics, they are building the map. When a long-time student drills basics, they are erasing the lies that crept in: the shortcut hip, the lazy rear hand, the step that looks fine until someone checks it. Forever work means you keep the map accurate.
Fighters who last do not outgrow footwork. The quiet part of the art is the part that keeps you honest. Bring the ten minutes to the mat. Ask an instructor to watch one of the four pieces. Fix one thing. Leave the rest for next week. That is enough. Forever work is built from small returns, not from one heroic session.
Basics are not beginner work. Basics are forever work.
-Sifu Michael Johnson
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02 / News & Updates
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| Shop |
Store open to everyone
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| Mon+Thu |
Street Jujitsu, 6:30 to 8:30 PM
Mondays and Thursdays. Taught by Sensei Kirk Mitchell and Sifu Michael Johnson. Bring water. Show up ready to grip.
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| Visit |
First class is free
Pick any class on the schedule, sign the visitor waiver, and train. No payment to try. Start at traincloudforest.com. |
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03 / What's Happening Around the World
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Los Angeles
Van keeps the belt; Sharaf shocks in 12 seconds
UFC 331, Saturday Sep 19 at Crypto.com Arena. Joshua Van retained the flyweight title over Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-45). Arman Tsarukyan KO’d Mauricio Ruffy with elbows at 4:56 of round one. Sean Sharaf KO’d Gable Steveson in twelve seconds. Patricio Pitbull stopped Dooho Choi in round one. UFC results. |
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Glendale
Silva finishes Delgado at Noche UFC
Saturday Sep 12 at Desert Diamond Arena. Jean Silva submitted Jose Miguel Delgado by rear-naked choke at 2:57 of round three. Brandon Moreno took a split decision over Joseph Morales. Alexa Grasso outpointed Manon Fiorot. UFC Noche results. |
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ONE · Muay Thai
Flyweight Grand Prix field drops
Announced Sep 22-23 for a November tournament. Eight-man flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix includes champion Asadula Imangazaliev, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Nong-O Hama, Shimon Yoshinari, and rising names Ondash and Hussain. Brackets and purse still coming. ONE announcement. |
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Las Vegas · Grappling
UFC BJJ 11: Musumeci vs Mitchell
Thursday Sep 24 at Meta Apex. Mikey Musumeci meets Bryce Mitchell in a special featherweight show match. Co-main: Mason Fowler vs Nick Rodriguez for the light heavyweight title. Fight Pass, 8pm ET. UFC BJJ card. |
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04 / Highlighted Videos
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Featured film
Baumgardner vs Shin · why I loved this fight
I watched Baumgardner fight Shin at Madison Square Garden on April 17 and what I loved was the contrast.
Baumgardner’s precision stood out. The combinations she threw were devastatingly accurate. She put punches on target, one after another, and that accuracy kept her ahead even when the exchanges got hard.
Shin was a nonstop tank. She fought more unconventional, kept coming forward, and she could not be taken out. Baumgardner landed clean and still had to deal with someone who would not stop pressing.
That is why I wanted you to see this film. Precision on one side. A relentless challenger on the other who would not go away. Watch it here, then bring one of those qualities to class.
-Sifu Michael Johnson
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School news
RJ Mitchell takes 3rd in major jujitsu competition
Proud of RJ Mitchell. He stepped on the mat, fought hard, and brought home 3rd in a major jujitsu competition. At home he is getting ready for his son, due the first week of October. Big month for him, in the gym and with his family.
Coach Casey Martin leads Team Guardian and puts the work in with them every week. That kind of placing does not happen without a coach who stays on them and a team that shows up ready.
If you want to compete with Team Guardian, ask at the school and we will get you started.
If you would like to donate diapers, baby formula, or other basic necessities for RJ and his wife, bring them by the school and we will make sure they get them.
-Sifu Michael Johnson
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From the seminar
Energy Neutrality: Capturing Your Partner’s Force
Sifu Michael Johnson at a Dragon Society gathering. The lesson is how to stay relaxed inside a partner’s push or grip so you do not tense up and give them something to push against.
-Sifu Michael Johnson
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▶ Open library
[ online course library ]
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Taoist Arts Online Library
Forms, conditioning, and the work filmed at the school. Online-only is $34/mo; campus students get the library with tuition.
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▶ Class page
[ train · class board ]
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Train on campus
Class board, partner programs, and how to walk in for a free visit. See what meets which night.
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05 / Shop Specials
Wear the lineage. Put the animals on the wall. Both live in the School Store.
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Merch
Guard and protect. Heavyweight cotton, printed to order. Browse colors in the School Store.
$28
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Poster · 24×36
Wei Family animals print for the wall. Order the 24×36 from the School Store.
$58
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06 / Uniforms
Kung fu uniforms and jujitsu gis for the floor. You do not have to be enrolled to buy. Size help at the front desk.
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Kung Fu
Black top and pant for Guardian Fist and Wei Family classes. Top $62.99 to $69.99. Pant $49.99 to $52.99. Sizes 0 to 8.
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Jujitsu
Single weave for Street Jujitsu, kids jujitsu, sport jujitsu, and Lyger Ryu. White belt included. Sizes 000 to 6.
$82.99
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07 / Specials at the School
New students, first month $49.
Then Individual $100/mo, Kids $75/mo, Family $200/mo (Family first month $99). Can’t get to the training floor? The Taoist Arts Online Library is $34/mo, filmed at the school.
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08 / Events & Upcoming
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Seminars
None dated on the public board
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This week · Regular nights
Show up for class
Street Jujitsu Mon and Thu, 6:30 to 8:30 PM, with Sensei Kirk Mitchell and Sifu Michael Johnson. Full board on the site. Free first visit still open. Ten minutes of basics before you step on the floor if you want this week’s theme in your legs.
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Train from anywhere
The online library is $34 a month.
Forms, conditioning, and the work we film at the school. Same instructors. Same floor. Drill the basics even when you cannot drive in.
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From Sifu
Train the simple things until they are quiet. Then train them again.
-Sifu Michael Johnson
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Cloud Forest Martial Arts Institute
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