Master Derek Croley and Shifu Jim Green are honored to be Indoor Students of Grand Master George Xu
During this years seminar with Grand Master Xu, Master Croley and Shifu Green were greatly honored to have been named as indoor students. This is a big deal as there are only 8 in the world, two of them right here in Asheville.
In a Chinese Martial Arts School, there are commonly three levels of student: outer gate, indoor, and family. Basically, the indoor and family students get all of the to secrets and "hidden" knowledge while the outer gate students do not.
This is a very big deal for us and a tremendous aid in our mission to bring the highest level of martial arts knowledge to the Southeastern US.
Martial Arts Subcommittee
Providing for the safety of children taking martial arts classes is the purpose of new ASTM Subcommittee F08.29 on Martial Arts, part of ASTM International Committee F08 on Sports Equipment and Facilities. According to Derek Croley, a master instructor, and James Green, P.E., also a martial arts instructor, and longtime member of Committee F08, standards for both the safety of equipment and the credentials of personnel will be developed by F08.29.
“The concern of reputable school owners in the martial arts industry has always been that no standards exist to protect the general public,” says Croley. “This will have far reaching implications for the martial arts industry in that a level of safety will be defined and practiced by those schools choosing to follow the ASTM standards. Without any standards, individual states cannot regulate these schools.” Green notes that standards developed by F08.29 will be “an enormous positive first step in terms of safety and instruction. Currently a child daycare facility has more safety standards than the martial arts industry. The martial arts industry instructs thousands of children per year without having any operating safety standards in place.”
The final objective of the standards will be operating criteria for individual schools regardless of the martial art being practiced. These criteria will include standards for the level of expertise for the personnel, including mandatory criminal background checks, training at a level defined by the individual art and adherence to safety standards for all equipment in the training hall. With a school that conforms to ASTM standards, the public will know that the best safety standards available in equipment and personnel are present in that school.
Both Croley and Green say that owners and operators of martial arts schools, as well as other interested parties, are welcome to join in the standards developing activities of F08.29.
Application of the Meditation and Relaxation Principles of Tai Chi in Treating Anger and Related Issues
Master Derek Croley and Shifu Jim Green have been chosen to give a peer reviewed paper and presentation to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) 2008 Fall conference on November 21, 2008 entitled " Application of the Meditation and Relaxation Principles of Tai Chi in Treating Anger and Related Issues".
The methods presented in the paper was chosen for presentation by the NASW Professional Society as being a practical method for clinicians to treat anger and depression.
Congratulations to WACIMA's Newest Vice Presidents!
We are honored to announce that Tai Chi Instructor Jim Green and Master Instructor Derek Croley have been appointed Vice Presidents of WACIMA- the Worldwide Association of Chinese Internal Martial Arts (http://www.wacima.org/) by Grand Master George Xu (http://www.MasterGeorgeXu.com/). This is an incredibly high honor for both of them as well as WOI as WACIMA is THE premier association for Chinese Internal Martial Arts. When you get the chance we strongly recommend that you check out both of the sites. You'll especially like what Grand Master Xu has put up in terms of educational information.
