Shun Shifu Weaver's blog

The first official ISSA black belt group will be held February 3 at Sheng Chi.

Class will begin at 10 AM

For further details check the black belt group at www.shoushu.org

The Year of the Dragon is upon us. Officially starting January 23rd the year of the dragon is sure to be an incredible year for the International Shou' Shu' Association. Much is happeing and much is planned.

To get started hop over and read this post

I am very saddened to say that Shou' Shu' lost a great man last week. Mr. Merriweather from the Sac studio passed away last week. Services were today so I'm sorry about not getting this posted earlier. I didn't know him for a long time but I know many in Shou' Shu' did. He did leave quite an impression on me though. He was obviously a wonderful person who strongly influenced many lives. He sponsored two students in the Sac school and touched many lives including some of the most pained individuals where he worked in the psych ward at Folsom prison. Even to those individuals he brought some level of comfort. He will be greatly missed.

Our condolences to his wife Diane "The love of his life" and the rest of Richard's family. It was wonderful to get to see the family and work side of him and to know that he was a wonderful husband, father, son, brother as well as being a great teacher and student

But then again maybe he's already getting lessons from Sijo Da' Shifu up there.

Richard Merriweather-Mcgaugh

Da' Shifu ClarkOctober will be an Exciting month. Knife seminar, belt seminar, and beast seminars. You'll definitely want to be part of this. Get all the info

October Seminars with Da' Shifu Clark

Shihan WayThe ISSA is proud to announce the addition of another great Shifu with years and years of experience. When Shifu's like this join the ISSA this helps us fulfill our goal. Each Shifu carries with him knowledge. Sometimes that knowledge is unique. So with each one that joins we gather back that knowledge and pass it down to future generations.

Shihan Way brings lot's of knowledge to the organization.

Bobby Way started training in Shou Shu in 1984, at age 10 in Merced,
California. Around age 12, he started studying with Da Shifu Clark in
Modesto (at the J Street school). In 1992, Bobby received his 1st degree
black under Sijo Da Shifu and Da Shifu Clark. In 2003, After receiving his
4th degree, he moved to Yuma, Arizona. For some time, he taught within the
Moore's system in Yuma. He received his 5th degree in Southern Shou Shu in
June 2009. Throughout this time, Bobby continued to study with Da Shifu
Clark when lessons were available. In April 2011, Da Shifu Clark certified
as an ISSA 5th degree (Mantis) and was awarded the title of Shihan. He
continues to teach students and black belts privately under Da Shifu Clark
and Red Dragon Martial arts in Tucson, Arizona.

Shifu AmataWe're very happy to announce the addition of Shifu Amata to the ISSA. For those who don't know Shifu Amata he's been around for a very long time. Over 30 years in Shou' Shu'.

I remember him way back when I was in the student ranks. He was always a fantastic Shifu to look up to and learn from coming through the ranks.

I remember him as being extremely exuberant. His love of Shou' Shu' shows whenever he's on the mat. Although I haven't seen him in many years after meeting with him a few weeks ago it's obvious that hasn't changed.

One other thing I remember about him is his mongoose test. I was a Shun Shifu at the time (still am of course) and working on my mongoose. Normally it wouldn't be protocol to watch a higher test but Sijo Da' Shifu wanted me to see something. So I was able to watch. When the test was over Sijo Da' Shifu turned to me and said "That's what I want it to look like".
As usual Sijo Da' Shifu had a lesson for me.

The Stories of Shifu Amata and Shou' Shu' could fill a novel. But for today all we have to say is

WELCOME!!! We're glad to have you!

Shifu Amata will be traveling at the end of this month to visit Da' Shifu Clark. He wants to get a jump on his ISSA certification so he can be ready for our upcoming training camps with Da' Shifu Clark in October.

Shifu Robitaille & Shifu Miller

The ISSA welcomes our newest black belts, Shifu Robitaille and Shifu Miller.

Not only are they our newest black belts but also the first black belts to test under the ISSA. As expected, they went through a rigorous testing and pretesting procedure. Pre-tested by Da' Shifu Clark and then tested in the new 7 Beasts Martial Arts in Sacramento.

Both are students of Sheng Chi Kung Fu in Valley Springs

Both Shifu Robitaille and Shifu Miller have been around Shou' Shu' for quite some time. Shifu Robitaille started in the old Stockton Quan over twenty years ago under Shun Shifu Delage. He was very close to Sijo Da' Shifu and recieved lessons from him fairly regularly in the Burson Quan. Shifu Robitaille tested for his black prep in front of Sijo Da' Shifu just before his passing. Memorably Sijo' Da' Shifu made a point to point out his skills at the time by saying "Phil why didn't you just put him up for black. He's good enough". It was quite a compliment.

Shifu Robitaille was also given the task of being the pastor for Sijo Da' Shifu's funeral. A very difficult task I'm sure.

Shifu Miller also started over twenty years ago. Twenty years and a month to be exact. He started as a teen in the Lodi Quan. After later being called away for military service and then moving to Oregon upon return he eventually found his way to Sheng Chi several years ago as a blue belt. He has been an asset to the studio ever since.

Shifu Bottimore, Shifu Robitaille, Shun Shifu Weaver, Shifu Miller Shun Shifu Hashimoto, Shifu Liz, Shifu Albright, Shifu Ferrer

Attending the test were

Da' Shifu Jim Clark
The ISSA welcomes our newest school. Run by Da' Shifu Clark near Ft. Smith Arkansas.

Is it ISSA certified?
Well of course, Da' Shifu Clark is who DOES the certification.

Check out their new website at http://www.northernshoushu.com
And the facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/northernshoushu
Make sure to say hello while your there.

As martial artists we talk about respect a lot. The word is weaved into our culture. But do we weave it into our day?

In both of the Shou' Shu' salutes there is instilled the meaning of respect. In the formal salute when arms are held in a circle with the fingers touching this symbolizes "I come with mutual respect" That fact that the circle we make is big and round symbolizes that is all encompassing. We respect all. In the greeting salute it is the same. We hold our arms high to symbolize high levels of respect and again we hold them in a big circle. When a lower rank salutes a higher rank the arms should be held high to symbolize a great deal of respect but also in a large circle to symbolize that respect is mutually given. Important right?

I am writing this post because due to the lack of respect that was displayed on the the Shou' Shu' Wikipedia page it has been deleted. It is very unfortunate. It's a blow to Shou' Shu' that we no longer have a presence on Wikipedia and probably never will. Millions upon millions of people look to Wikipedia for information and having a page on our art there gives us credibility. This hurts all of us in Shou' Shu'

Many years ago I created the Shou' Shu' Wiki page. It had some very basic information as to what Shou' Shu' is and that's about it. Since then many people have edited it. Some have added to it and thereby helped out. Some have used it as a tool to disparage Shou' Shu'. Some have used it to promote their agenda (I guess in a way we all do that, It's just a matter of whether our own agenda is conflictual.) But this is how Wiki's work.

What this has turned into is called a Wiki War. Over time the wiki page contained postings of who had "official" rank and who was self promoting. Who did and didn't have "true Shou' Shu'", etc. Something that there is an obvious difference of opinion on.

Check out Shifu Jara in the cage. You have to watch closely and know what your looking for but there's Shou' Shu' in there.
At :16 he steps back and uses the rotation to power the punch. It's mongoose.

The rest of the footwork is solid to. Watch the footwork to the punches. He's bringing it from the ground and nice hip twitch.

Great Job Shifu!