"春暖花开，万物复苏"
"Spring is coming, everything is coming back to life."
I finally feel like spring is here! (it didn't help that I was away in cold Canada over Easter, so missed the start of Spring in the UK, better late than never!). The flowers are blooming (as you can see from Isabella plantation in Richmond Park above).
In Chinese qi gong spring is associated (appropriately I feel) with the wood element. It is the time of growth and renewal. You will find (if you listen carefully) that your mood and energy levels might pick up. You might want to go outside more (it is certainly nicer!) or maybe take up a new hobby or pastime (how about Qi Gong, book a session today!). It is a time for new relationships and reaching out to old friends. In our martial arts practice we come out of the long cold winter and use that extra energy on partner practice and to improve your strength . Good exercises include bodyweight or free weight conditioning routines (and trying to set some new goals and targets here, message Mark for a personal training session), chi sau (sticking hands), two person fixed sparring and free sparring, if you practice forms you might want to try a new variation (like doing your tai chi form more slowly or in a lower stance). Now that you have more energy the most important thing is to increase your volume of work just a bit, to stretch yourself like a new shoot and see what you are capable of.
At Rising Phoenix we have been growing! We have now expanded to a three man team. Have a look at our Meet the Team Page, to learn all about or staff. A big thank you to me from Julian who has been our Social Media and Marketing Manager for nearly a year now. Julian designs all of our wonderful graphics, looks after our social media and does our video editing for the YouTube channel.
We are also joined by Beren, an old student from the Queen Mary University Kung Fu club. Beren has a brilliant Kung fu CV; he lived in China for years, learnt traditional wushu there, has done a host of different styles and even has appeared in a Chinese Kung fu film! he speaks fluent Chinese and will be a tremendous asset to the school. Welcome aboard Beren!
In addition to growing the team we have also grown the school. We moved our studio from Sutton to Raynes Park, whilst still keeping all our Tuesday classes running in Sutton at St Andrews Church. We have a new Summer Camp planned for August for younger kids (5 - 9 years old), please check the link as payment instructions and forms are now available to sign. We are also considering running one for older kids separately during the Summer (please message Sifu Mark to express interest). Our north London class all took and passed their gradings, well done team! We have new kids and adults classes coming soon in Wimbledon, currently looking at one afterschool class, a morning weekday session and a Saturday morning session. Please get in touch to get on the waiting list. Our collaboration with Orpington Chinese school continues and we have exciting things planned with them for the summer!
I will be moving the school over to a new payment provider. GoCardless not only offers a better rate than PayPal but also allows easier regular billing and direct debits for those that are on a subscription plan. Please sign up when you get a chance.
Thank you all for your support and enthusiasm. This Spring feels twice as renewing as we are finally stepping out of the controls and restrictions of a post pandemic world and getting back to life as normal. It has been a very challenging few years to set up and run a health and fitness business and I could not have done it without all of your support. May we all continue to grow together.
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