Free Bingatang Ampat Seminar with Mas Goeroe Agoeng Barbara Niggel

Sunday, August 1st
Kids Cun Tao – 3rd
Adults Cun Tao – 3rd Phase from 11:30-1:00pm

Dear Valued Students,

What a year we have had in Tulen? More and more I see the need and responsibility to spread this beautiful art to all people. Through the beauty and strength of Poekoelan Tjimindie Tulen we bring peace to the world by noticing and correcting the absence of peace wherever it exists.

I am offering a new series of training for all students Cun Tao and above and for all ages - Bingatang Ampat - Four Animal Form. These beautiful movements are also quite effective and fun to train. We train so we never have to fight and learning the animals in their completed stages guarantees that your energy presents in such a way that you will not be the ones someone would choose to fight with. I hope you will consider enrolling in the series of training seminars offered at your schools.

For those of you in Golden Bingatang Ampat the 2011 series of GBA is closed to only students you have completed at least 2 of the last five years of GBA training. These students may register for the 2011 seminars on line or by calling matt in my office.

And finally, for parents, family and friends and Tulen students needing a little boost we are offering Tulen classes in the Golden principles that you can down load and listen to at your leisure. The first of this series will be available by July 23rd.

You may register for all seminars and classes on our Tulen Head Quarters web site Poekoelan.com; on the events page or contact Matt in my office at 508-255-6370 extension 110.

I am looking forward to seeing you all soon. My intention this year is to have tea with as many Tulen students as I can. You are important to me and I would love to hear more about your lives and how you are applying your Golden Principles to enhance and benefit self, community and world.

With love and respect,

Mas Goeroe Agoeng Barbara

Mas Goeroe Agoeng’s Weekend

Mas Donna Gramont

To be challenged to your peak, guided to get there, and loved afterwards… what more could a person want! I was whirled in. The tug on my black gi by Goeroe Jennifer asking me to put on my whites began my awe-inspiring journey.  It cracks you open. You not only feel your endless physical capacity, but you get to flow and see clearly those thought patterns that block you from experiencing your limitless vast self. You leave all that does not serve you any longer behind. What is left… the knowing of all that I am and can be! I’m standing “in me“ more then ever and it is great to be here!  I was honored to experience, attend, and participate in a Goeroe, Pendekkar and Bantoe ceremony. How amazing to honor each and every one of my teammates, my extended family!  The laughter we shared, the helping each other with testing tasks, my bonds just got deeper. The connection and community I have with Poekoelan just keeps getting deeper and deeper.  I know now that missing MGA weekend will be slim to none from this point on!

From my heart,

Mas Donna Gramont

It Is Never Too Early To Make A Difference

By Katherine White

8:00 in the morning is early to be on my way to teach Kung Fu. In fact, as I packed up my car for the first class on Jan. 4, it was still dark outside. Stuck in the slow crawl of traffic I thought maybe no one has the energy to get moving at this time of day. Was I ever wrong.For nine weeks Danielle, Rob and I taught Poekoelan Kung Fu in 1^st period P.E. at Beach Middle School. Every day along with a group of 20 – 25 boys and girls we ran, jumped, kicked and punched. We practiced breath, focus and meditation. We trained our voice to be powerful and our body language to be strong and confident. By the end of the 45 minute class our energy was high and our attitude positive.

For nine weeks 1^st period P.E. was often the best part of my day. Tulen training creates positive energy by integrating the mind, body and spirit. It develops inner strength and confidence through physical movement. This kind of training is not a luxury. It can make the difference between pushing through challenges, and giving up. The boys and girls who showed up each morning are dealing with more than their share of challenges. Some are growing up in low income families, some in foster homes, others have experienced violence in their home or on the street. They are faced with bullying, peer pressure, and questions about dating. Middle school can be a turning point for young teens. In these few years as they move toward adulthood some commit to pushing through challenges, some give up. 

We taught 113 teens each week. We watched them walk out the door every morning feeling better able to handle the challenges of that day. During the last week of the program 45 boys and girls took the extra step to come to One With Heart Tulen Center on their own time to earn their White Belt. They brought mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins and friends with them and gave us all a glimpse of the strength and passion they are capable of. 

The Tulen Foundation, One With Heart Tulen Center and Beach Middle School all donated time and resources to make this program possible. Now we are reaching out to the public to assure that this is just the beginning. Commitment to the health, safety and well-being of children and teens is neither short-term nor part-time. Commitment means creating community and activities that support each child all the way to adulthood. We are an abundant society. We have enough to insure these positive experiences are not a luxury. Lives can change at 8:30 in the morning. In a small gym at Beach Middle School I began my day, along with 113 boys and girls, with an experience that made each of us feel bigger than any obstacles that appeared before us. The way we begin our day can inspire great things. It is never too early to make a difference.

Comments From The Beach Staff:

We can't thank you enough for the gift you've given to Beach students!  Their participation and the instruction they received were superior! What a wonderful introduction to the martial arts and what a wonderful gift to them of body/mind activity and learning. – Thomas Breuckman, Beach Middle School Principal

We cannot thank you enough for all of your time, energy, dedication and support of our middle school students! I don’t think the Poekoelan Kung Fu experience could have gone any better!! This is an opportunity few of our students would ever have been able to have if it weren’t for you! – Kris Meyer, Beach Middle School Vice-Principal

The strength to move forward comes from within

By Katherine White - 2nd Degree Black Belt

Whether you join our comprehensive Beginning Kung-fu program or sign-up for an empowering self-defense workshop, you will feel more prepared to meet life’s challenges in healthy, positive ways. Poekoelan training combines breath and martial arts techniques to develop calmness, compassion, and a high level of internal energy. Poekoelan is so much more than a great workout. It benefits all aspects of your life. 

As you progress in your training you have the opportunity to participate in innovative workshops designed specifically to support your personal growth. Check out our upcoming workshop: Fight Your Own Fight.

Join our Cun Tao program for two weeks free. We look forward to welcoming you and experiencing with you the power of this beautiful martial art.

Why is it beneficial to train a four animal style of martial arts?

By Mas D Lozano, first degree black belt and instructor

      It is beneficial to train a four animal style of martial arts because it creates a versatile martial artist able to move in many different ranges and heights. Our movement within the animals is like a dance, choreographed in such a way to build awareness, energy, and improve our martial art skills. While some martial arts have a more narrow focus, Poekoelan does not limit your range of movement. The four animals that make up our martial art, are the tiger, the crane, the monkey and the snake. With these four animals, you learn to move in adaptable and beautiful ways.

      The Tiger is heavy and powerful. The tiger fights from the ground and teaches us that anything you can do standing, you can do from the ground. The snake pierces vital areas. With high and low range movement, the snake twists and turns, making it hard to reach or hold onto. The crane adds aerial movement and can deliver a flurry of strikes with its wings. The crane has excellent balance and is able to disrupt the balance of its opponent. The monkey moves in mid-range, disorienting its opponent and makes each move unpredictable. Combining movements from these animals, makes you a versatile and skilled artist.

      There isn’t a range a Poekoelan artist can’t move in. While it takes years of training, we begin learning animal movement at the very beginning. In the self-defense portion of our training, Cun Tao, we begin warming up with animal movement to allow our bodies to start understanding a new way of moving and to build muscle memory. Many students drift naturally toward an animal, but learn to use all of the animals. Not only do the animals of Poekoelan make you an amazing martial artist, they allow you to discover something about yourself that you might not have known before.

How can a test be a celebration?

 A test in Poekoelan is a celebration because each student learns something about themselves in the process of testing. It is a  celebration of the student's achievements.  It is a time for friends and family to see the students accomplishment as well as their transformation.
   Poekoelan  kung Fu is a lifelong journey of physical and spiritual growth. The commitment to train is a commitment to build awareness and confidence. As with many martial arts, a ranking system helps students see their success and gives them goals to aim for. When a student tests for a new rank in Poekoelan Tjimindie Tulen they are required to show and do a number of things. These things increase as the rank increases. For each test, a student is asked to show a pre-determined amount of standards that shows they are ready to move to the next rank.  Students go into their test with their own expectations, and come out with their own revelations, goals and experiences.  
   Through testing, we honor our teachers for their dedication to an art they have kept alive and growing. But testing isn’t for them, it is for the student. It is a gift that shows each individual who they are and what they are capable of. Poekoelan gives students the opportunity to see and feel that they are limitless every time they train let alone every time they test. Testing in Poekoelan is truly a gift and each test is a mile marker on a road that leads you, again and again, to you. And you are a powerful being.