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Our Classes


BAK-SIL-LUM Kung Fu

If you would like to take or watch a class,
or if you have any questions call

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Master Al Wharton

(441) 504-6040 (cell)

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or email us at
info@bermudaAFA.com

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TAI-CHI-CHUAN

If you would like to take or watch a class,
or if you have any questions call

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David Brine

(441) 334-9487 (cell)
or
(441) 234-0874 (home)
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UECHI-RYU - Karate Do
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Master Al Wharton

(441) 504-6040 (cell)

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or email us at
info@bermudaAFA.com

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Genealogical Chart
illustrating a branch
of the Uechi Ryu
student family tree
from 1874 to date.


Cho Tzu Ho

Shushiwa

Grandmaster

Kanbun Uechi

Grandmaster


Kanei Uechi

Master

George Mattson

Master

Al Wharton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Our Classes

Please scroll down to view a list of classes offered at Bermuda Arts & Fitness Academy and their brief history.

Curriculum:
 
The curriculum at the Bermuda Arts and Fitness Academy is designed to provide students with a well rounded training experience and consists of warm up, stretching and conditioning exercises, kicking and punching techniques, empty hand and weapon forms training, self defense drills and tournament fighting techniques. Through the practice and mastery of the physical skills of the martial arts, the student will learn and develop worthwhile psychological skills and mental attributes such as concentration, determination, perseverance, confidence and self-control. In addition, the stress reducing and health promoting aspects of such practice are well documented.

Self-defense training is an integral part of the curriculum and includes blocking, kicking, joint locking and take-down techniques.
 

Students are also introduced to the concepts and principles underlying fighting strategy.

Fighting forms incorporate self-defense techniques and applications. Form training provides a complete workout designed to develop the coordination, stamina, strength and skill to successfully execute these self-defense techniques and applications.

Tournament sparring is offered in the form of sparring seminars within the programme on an optional basis and consists of fighting drills designed to improve speed, power, timing and focus; and free sparring practice matches. Students are required to wear regulation safety equipment for all sparring practice.

Promotional grading exams take place three times per year and are normally held during the months of December, April and July. Students who have met the eligibility criteria for attendance and time in rank will be invited for grading at those times.

 

 



HISTORY


In 12th Century China there once lived five brothers. There names have been lost to posterity. Each of these brothers agreed to spend 20 years traveling and training at different Shaolin Temples. At the end of that time they were to regroup and analyze what they learned. Only after careful evaluation and much research did these five brothers develop what is known today as Northern Shaolin Kung-Fu (Bak-Sil-Lum Kung-Fu). this system came to be one of the most effective and colorful style of Kung Fu taught at the Shaolin Temple.

The story of Bak-Sil-Lum is quite intriguing as those who practice the art. One famous exponent of the art was General Yueh Fei of the Sung Dynasty, who had learned his Bak-Sil-Lum from a Shaolin Monk. General Yueh Fei added much to the Bak-Sil-Lum system. He is credited with developing Eagle Claw (Kam-na), which is the Chinese forerunner of modern day Jiu-Jitsu and Aikido, and also a number of spear fighting forms.
General Yueh Fei's skill with the spear was rare. When the Mongolians invaded China in the later part of the 13th century; General Yueh Fei, at the Emperor's command, single handedly led an army to drive them back. Yueh Fei fought so brilliantly that he was in the process of driving back the invaders when he fell victim to court jealousies. The Emperor's chief advisor, Ching Kwei jealous of Yueh Fei's popularity, succeeded in convincing the Emperor that his favorite General was in fact a traitor. The Emperor recalled General Yueh Fei and placed him in prison where the ever loyal Yueh Fei died of sorrow. Whatever Ching Kwei gained by his deceit was soon lost when Genghis Khan successfully invaded China in 1278.

The Bak-Sil-Lum style is an extremely versatile system. Its versatility is due to the very nature of its development, in that it is a conglomeration of the best of a number of Kung-Fu systems. It is no wonder that in watching Bak-Sil-Lum one may see traces of Eagle Claw, Crane, Tai-Chi-Chuan, Dragon and Monkey to name a few. Bak-Sil-Lum is a very beautiful fluid system to the observer, as well as being an effective fighting style for the practitioner. it emphasizes agility, precision, power and speed, and it encompasses all aspects of fighting that include hand & feet techniques, sweeps, throws and holds. The classic weaponry in Bak-Sil-Lum includes broad sword, double tiger hooks, kuan-do, long staff, three sectional staff, nine sectional whip chain, fan, flute, spear and daggers. furthermore, there are numerous two three man fighting forms including open hands versus weapons.
 



"A Brief history"

The slow motion art of Tai Chi is said to have been first developed by Chang San-Feng in the early 1300's. As a young man Chang was scholarly and well traveled. He studied martial arts extensively during his travels and, having spent ten years training at Shaolin, he reputedly mastered all their exercises. In his later years he studied Taoist alchemy.

As regards the exact origin of Tai Chi Chuan, one story says Chang created Tai Chi as the result of a dream he had. Another story had Chang observing a conflict between a bird and a snake, alleging his observations served as a basis for Tai Chi. In either case, Tai Chi certainly exemplifies principles drawn from the Taoist tradition and from the I-Ching. Quite a number of excellent books are available today detailing the origins and philosophy of Tai Chi. The curious reader is referred to those many volumes currently available for further information.

Since Chang's day there have evolved several different styles of Tai Chi Chuan. Aside from those factors that distinguish the different styles it is true, as well, that individual teachers often have their own idiosyncratic approaches. Though the different systems vary in ways that lend each its particular identity there are also denominators common to each. Following is a primer to familiarize the reader with the most common and beneficial aspects of traditional Tai Chi Chuan.

 


fast hands....with a glare in the eyes

 

Uechi Ryu is an Okinawan style of karate that derives from a Southern Chinese system of Kung Fu called Pangai Noon Chuan Fa (meaning soft-hard boxing).

In 1897, a young 19 year old Okinawan immigrant named Kanbun Uechi, on the run from Japanese military conscription, arrived in Fuchow City, Fukien Province Southern China. For the next 13 years, he studied Pangai noon chuan fa under the monk/artist Chou Tsu Ho
(who was born in 1874 in Nanko-chin Shibata village in the Zhitian area of China). In the last 3 years he also established his own school. He returned to Okinawa in 1910 (in disguise to evade the Japanese authorities) but did not teach again until 1924 when severe economic conditions on Okinawa resulted in many, including Kanbun, having to leave for Japan to find work. There he began teaching a group of his fellow countrymen who were being bullied by unscrupulous locals and other Okinawan immigrants. The style has been taught publicly since 1926. His eldest son Kanei began training in 1930. After his death in 1948, the style was renamed Uechi Ryu Karate by Kanei and other senior students. Between 1948 and his death in 1990 Kanei Uechi headed the Uechi Ryu Karate Association. The current grandmaster is his son Kanei, ranked 9th degree black belt. In North America, much has been done to advance the art by Master George Mattson. Master Mattson trained directly under Master Kanei Uechi in Okinawa and heads the North American Chapter of Uechi Ryu Karate Association and the International Uechi Ryu Karate Federation. He received his 9th degree in 1998.

After studying for 6 years in Boston, Mass. under the tutelage of Master Mattson and Jim Maloney, Al Wharton began teaching Uechi Ryu in Bermuda in 1975. Master Wharton was inducted into the Uechi Ryu Hall of Fame in 1982. He teaches Uechi Ryu and Northern Shaolin Kung Fu at the Bermuda Arts and Fitness Academy on Chapel Rd. in Paget.

Uechi is a close range fighting style that mimics the attacking and defensive movements of the tiger, dragon and crane. As well as a comprehensive system of self-defense, it also encompasses internal energy development and moving meditation through the ancient kata - Sanchin, designed to create harmony between the mind, body and spirit. This kata forms the basis of the system and will develop in the student, a strong stance which is rooted, yet capable of great mobility and which provides a strong platform for both attack and defense. Uechi does not rely on brute strength or great flexibility to perform its hand and foot techniques, but on timing, co-ordination, awareness, balance, flow and overall good form developed through kata training, technique exercises and various 2 person attack/defense drills (kumite and bunkai). Uechi is ideal for young and old, men and women alike.

 

 

 

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