KUNG FU TAI CHI 20 YEARS: June 9-10, 2012

[Featherstone]

Here's to another year and many more of continued success then! Huzzah, Huzzah, Huzzah!

[GeneChing]

Here's a pdf in Chinese from Atlanta Chinese News. It is focused on the Tu family, GM Tu Jin-Sheng and Jack Tu, at KFTC 20 YEARS. Jack was one of our MCs for Act Two of the Gala Banquet Demo.

[GeneChing]

The table of contents from our September October 2012 issue (20th Anniversary special) are now available online.



Also, here is my personal report, submitted for your approval.

KUNG FU TAI CHI 20 YEARS: Set-Up

[GeneChing]

KFTC 20 YEARS Commemorative Program is available, while supply lasts. Order now and you'll receive the poster and DVD as a bonus gift.

[Design Sifu]

Part 2 of Gene's reporting on KFTC's 20th Anniversary weekend is online. Check it out:

KUNG FU TAI CHI 20 YEARS: Tiger Claw's KungFuMagazine.com Championships and 20th Anniversary Gala Banquet

[SPJ]

Originally Posted by GeneChing

The table of contents from our September October 2012 issue (20th Anniversary special) are now available online.



Also, here is my personal report, submitted for your approval.

KUNG FU TAI CHI 20 YEARS: Set-Up

Cool cover pic.

[GeneChing]

KUNG FU TAI CHI 20 YEARS: KFTC DAY

Don't forget! We are giving the KFTC 20 YEARS Gala Banquet DVD away for free for subscribers only with our next issue. To receive your copy, be sure to be subscribed by 9/13/12.

[GeneChing]

Violet Li did several of the interviews in our 20th Anniversary Special (Sep+Oct 2012). That issue includes another interview on Jon: Jon Miller, the Taiji CEO Interview by Emilio Alpanseque

A digital mogul’s motto: Just practice it!
Tai Chi
August 24, 2012
By: Violet Li

Unless you are in the media industry, you may not know who Jonathan Miller is. But you probably have some “connections” with him if you own shares of America Online (AOL) stocks, you play video games on IGN or watch TV and movies on Hulu.

Jonathan Miller graduated from Harvard College with honors and embarked his career as a media executive by serving as Vice President of programming at NBA Entertainment for the National Basketball Association at age 30. Later, he became a managing director of Nickelodeon International, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks, and successfully launched Nickelodeon in the U.K. From 2000 to 2002, Jon ventured into the e-commerce world by working for Barry Diller’s USA Networks (now IACI and Expedia) as CEO and President. Immediately, his talent of managing the fast changing technology-driven business has won him respect from the global digital media industry. In 2002, Jon was brought into AOL Time Warner – AOL purchased Time Warner in 2000 and then split in 2009 -- to resuscitate the media conglomerate. Jon left AOL in 2006. People in the media and financial industries credited Jon for his razor sharp operations and bold strategy to transform AOL from a subscription-based company to an advertisement-revenue-generating business. Herb Scannell, former vice-chairman of MTV Networks, calls Miller "one of the smartest guys I have come across in the media world." After AOL, Jon co-founded Velocity Investment (later became Velocity Interactive Group), an investment firm focusing on digital media and consumer Internet. He was also highly sought after by Wall Street tycoon Carl Icahn and Yahoo!. In March 2009, Jon became the Chairman and CEO of News Corporation’s digital media group and News Corporation’s Chief Digital Officer overseeing the global strategy of digital initiatives for News Corp and directing the management of digital media, including Fox Interactive Media and Hulu. He is an invisible hand that shapes the global digital media landscape. Currently he also serves on the Board of the American Film Institute and is a Trustee of both Emerson College and WNYC public radio station in New York. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s database, he is connected to 123 board members in 13 different organizations across 27 different industries. He was honored with the Pioneer Prize at Mip TV in Cannes in 2006 and as a “Media Visionary of 2011” at the inaugural Media Festival held in Montreux, Switzerland.

Mr. Miller and his family live in New York. But much of his business is in California. He travels almost every week there unless he goes to Europe, Asia or other continents to oversee existing or develop new businesses. When I met him in June during Kung Fu Tai Chi (KFTC) Magazine’s 20th Anniversary Gala in San Jose, California, he just finished a week of travel. But this 55-year executive looked extremely energetic. His eyes were shining with brilliance, gentleness and humility.

Jon’s passion for Chinese Martial Arts, especially Tai Chi is not a secret. He started his Martial Arts journey at 21. First, he studied Wah Lum Preying Mantis from Grandmaster Chan Pui. He was excited to reunite with Grandmaster Chan during the KFTC Magazine Gala. Later he was introduced to internal Chinese Martial Arts like Hsing I, Ba Gua and Tai Chi. Through rock music legend Lou Reed and colleague Scott Richman’s introduction, he met Chen Style Tai Chi lineage holder Grandmaster Ren Guangyi in 2003. He immediately decided to take private lessons from Ren. It wasn’t easy to convert from external martial arts to Tai Chi though. He jokingly said that “it hurts my ego” to become a beginner. In addition to a two-hour weekly lesson, he practices daily by himself even during his frequent business trips. He recalled the fun memory that he was the only “white guy” practicing Tai Chi in a Beijing park by himself.

Grandmaster Ren finds Jon very methodic in his learning approach that Jon only wants to learn a couple of new movements each time. Jon asks many questions about details. To him, quality is more important than quantity. In my interview with him, he mentioned that as he is aging and his goal for learning martial arts has changed. Now he tries to understand the art of Tai Chi and how to better express it. With diligence and thorough understanding, his learning progressed quickly. He has learned Chen Style forms 19, 21, 38, Lao Jia Yi Lu (Old Frame Routine One), Xin Jia Yi Lu (New Frame Routine One), Tai Chi Sword, Tai Chi Broad Sword (Dao), Push Hands and Chin Na (Joint Lock). During the Master Demonstration at KFTC Magazine Gala, Mr. Miller was the only performer who was not a professional martial artist. His performance interpreted Chen Style Tai Chi well. His movements were relaxed, extended, gentle, fluid, yet powerful. He moved slowly and smoothly without any pause but there was Zhong Ding (central equilibrium) in each and every movement.

Miller’s understanding of Tai Chi is not confined to practice. He thinks that some Tai Chi principles can be applied in business and life. In an interview with Sifu Stephan Berwick and published by KFTC Magazine in 2006, Jon was mentioned that Tai Chi principles hold a universal quality. He said that Chen Style Tai Chi and business emphasize precision. He thinks that the Peng energy, which combines both hardness and softness, is essential to Tai Chi, can be utilized in business negotiation. Miller has been described as relatively low-key when it comes to managing mega deals of merger or acqusition however he is extremely effective as a negotiator. You can read Miller’s other profound thoughts of Tai Chi on business by clicking a link here.

Mr. Miller said that scientific research has proven that Tai Chi and meditation have positive impact on people’s brain and body. To him, Chen Style Tai Chi provides the health benefits as well as the martial art functions. It is fun to learn and he also feels energized after practice. Tai Chi also helps him to focus on high-stress jobs he has had. Since he is so busy and he does not have time to do ten things (for fun and health), “I just do Tai Chi,” said Jon. His 90-minute daily routine consists of Standing Post (Zhan Zhuang), Silk Reeling and form practice. As a media mogul, he thinks that media can help raise awareness of Tai Chi and help educate people on the art. He admitted that he has spent much time watching Master Chen Bing’s Youtube clips. When asked whether there is a day that he does not feel like practicing because of time/schedule constraint or other conditions? He said that there was, but he urged others in the same situation, “don’t make a decision and just practice it”, because he always feels great afterwards.

[ngokfei]

hey just noticed that the only Black Guy (Dennis Brown) is strategically placed in the center of the photo to balance the light to dark color spectrum. LOL

Common now Dennis is going to always want to be the center of attention now LOL

Now where can I photo shop my lovely face to

next to Hoy Lee, or phillip Wong or even next to lovely MIMI!!!!

[GeneChing]

The only people that were positioned where those that were seated. The rest of us just stood in back wherever we could.

[GeneChing]

SUBSCRIBE NOW! Our next issue, the NOV+DEC 2012, includes our exclusive DVD of the KUNG FU TAI CHI 20 YEARS Gala Banquet Masters' Demonstration - FREE FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.

This issue will be on the newsstands on 10/2/12, but without the DVD.

[GeneChing]

We came close to having Bette at our event. That would have been a hoot.

Bette Midler and Tai Chi
November 13, 2012
By: Violet Li

Oprah Winphrey is the queen of TV talk shows. She can get anyone to speak freely and share his/her deep thoughts and secrets. Last year, she retired from the nation’s highest rated talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is now focusing on her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) and hosting a similar show called Oprah’s Next Chapter. On Nov. 11, she visited Bette Midler in her Manhattan apartment. Bette discussed her legendary career, what's ahead in her next chapter and her latest movie, Parental Guidance with Billy Crystal. Bette also revealed her biggest regrets, her best decision in life and what she really thinks about "Wind Beneath My Wings," the song made famous by her 1988 movie Beaches. She even allowed the camera crew to film her doing Tai Chi with her personal instructor Grandmaster Ren Guangyi in her apartment's beautiful sun room.

Born in Dec. 1, 1945, Bette Midler is a singer, songwriter, actress, comedian, producer and entrepreneur. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and won four Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a special Tony Award. She has sold over 30 million albums with hits like “The Rose,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “From a Distance,” and “Hello in There”. In May this year, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg honored Bette with the Doris C. Freedman Award, one of the city’s highest honors for her commitment to the environment and arts.

Contrary to her showbiz persona, Bette Midler admitted that she is actually very shy. She began studying Tai Chi a few years ago. According to her husband, Martin von Haselberg, and Grandmaster Ren, she can perform Chen Style Tai Chi 19 Form really well. However, she did not want to be photographed doing Tai Chi due to her modesty. We were grateful to finally see her practice a few moves, even though it was for just a short period of time.

During the interview with Oprah, Bette stated that her best decision in life is marrying Martin, who was a contemporary performance artist known for the creation of Kipper Kids. Martin is also a professional photographer and artist. His photograph of Ren’s hook hand became a symbol of Tai Chi representing “relaxed yet ready”. Martin is a long-time martial art enthusiast. He had studied Choy Lay Fut before and started his Tai Chi journey in 2002 with Ren Guangyi. Martin takes two private lessons each week and practices two hours each day. In June, he attended the 4th Tiger Claw Kung Fu Magazine Champions tournament held in San Jose, CA and won the title of the moving-step Push Hands as well as a gold medal in a hand form competition.

While I interviewed Marvin during the tournament, he mentioned that he set a task for himself to get his wife “addicted” to the art. It looks like that he has been even more than he imagined in persuading his wife to practice Tai Chi on TV.