Kate Sutherland

The ancient arts of Chi Kung (qigong) and Kung Fu are wonderful ways to improve your fitness, develop discipline, deepen your self-awareness and so much more! 

The traditional practice goes far beyond the essential skills of self-defense, hand-to-hand combat techniques, acrobatics and weapons training. Another important aspect is knowing how and when to quiet your mind and strengthen your chi through meditation and Chi Kung ("working with life essence/chi"). Chi Kung practice involves relaxed (and yet can be intense) flowing body movement, sustained forms, breathwork, tapping activations of meridian channels and acupoints, and stretching. These gentler yin practices are like a moving meditation. They increase vitality and life energy, improve joint mobility and flexibility, develop core strength as well as mental, emotional and physical endurance, and can dramatically reduce stress and improve sleep. The art of physically slowing down helps us to concentrate our chi inwards, to be drawn upon throughout the day as needed. Deepening our breathing patterns signals the nervous system to slow down and relax, bringing about a grounded sense of calm. Not only are these benefits life-enhancing all on their own, they are a dramatic compliment to any "hard style" martial arts practice. 

True martial artists are generally peaceful people-- they have met their dragons and know how to ride them. If you dedicate yourself to training in Chi Kung and Kung Fu (or other hard-style martial arts), you will discover a world of benefits. There are layers of meaning and beauty in the technical animal forms, and your creativity can be unleashed in making these ancient practices your own. The learning and rewards of these disciplines are endless.

I have a life-long martial arts background. Growing up, I studied Judo with Sheffield Judo Club (Stouffville, ON) obtaining the rank of shodan (black belt) at the age of 16.  This pairs beautifully with Kung Fu, which I started learning years later; I have been training hard with Temple Knights Martial Arts Academy (Baysville, ON) since 2017, grading for black sash November 2020. (The stone break video above was a part of this test!) These days I'm also focused on hard-style training in the discipline of Muay Thai at Art of 8 Martial Arts Academy (Orangeville, ON) which I am enjoying very much. I highly recommend all of these clubs/academies to anybody living close by!