2014 NATSTA Annual Report

2014 Financial Overview EXPENSES ($) Attorney Fees 495.00 Bank charges 2,731.15 2014 Annual Report Utilities 2,194.64 Office Expenses 6,819.44 Rent 12,000.00 Consulting fees 12,000.00 Airfare and travel 12,357.55 Event expenses 79,552.33 Publishing 3,202.90 TOTAL EXPENSES 131,353.01 INCOME ($) Membership dues 38,175.00 Event registration 63,800.00 Private donations 14,000.00 Retail sales 1,236.97 TOTAL INCOME 117,212.97 Board of Directors President Ethan Murchie Treasurer Amara Franko Heller Secretary Kathy Reynolds North American Tang Shou Tao Association PO Box 36235, Tucson, AZ, 85740 www.NATSTA.org Putting Down Roots; ATang Shou Tao Retrospective Dear Friends, The North American Tang shou Tao Association is a small not-for-profit organization working diligently to preserve a portion of human cultural knowledge that we believe to be of great worth to all communities. Our mandate is to research, preserve, and disseminate the traditional Chinese martial arts of Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Taijiquan, and Liuhebafa, as well as the family-style methods of Classical Chinese Medicine that have been practiced alongside of these arts for centuries. The training of these “internal” martial arts, while having the potential to be very effective in a fight, are also deep and elegant systems of self cultivation, is a practice that makes a sick person become well and a well person grow stronger. Hard people become softer and soft people become harder. When a healer practices these arts, they become a better clinician and a better healer. We believe that the best way to make the arts more accessible is to actively use what we have learned to help as many people in as many ways as possible. As such, in addition to the regular clinics and classes being held across the country, members are implementing projects that impact people in our communities — programs that focus on children, troubled youth, veterans health, and various underserved populations here and abroad. We strive to continue training and supporting practitioners and instructors in implementing the methods of traditional gongfu training in their communities. Education, events, and publishing all play a role in developing our members, their schools and clinics, and preserving the arts they practice and teach. It is an interesting part of the research of traditional knowledge that the advances in understanding come not from “new” discoveries but from a continuous return to the source. For as much energy as we put into new projects or opportunities, we must put equal energy into maintaining our connections to the elders in our tradition, many of whom are lineage holders in China. This special Annual Report demonstrates through Tang Shou Tao’s history, our dual path of progressing forward while simultaneously returning to the sources for our principles, values and direction. Ethan Murchie Internal Martial Arts President Martial and Medical Arts Mission The North American Tang Shou Tao Association Shen Long Xingyiquan is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the research, preservation, and Traditional Liang Zhenpu Chinese Baguazhang dissemination of the traditional Chinese Medicine Cheng School martial and medical arts, in order to ensure Gao Style Baguazhang their viability for future generations. Liuhebafa Jin Shou TuinaTM Song Shirong The Association embraces the intrinsic value, and Gongfu Style rich and complex history of the Chinese internal martial and Herbal Xingyiquan medical arts. We adhere to the principles, spirit, intent, and Formulas applications these arts represent in our training and practice. We aspire to preserve the purity of each lineage that we Nuad Bo Rarn represent by honoring our founders, and keeping the definitions and practices clear for the historical record and for posterity. Thai Massage Hero Mountain We strive to deepen our understanding and expression Xingyiquan of our martial and medical arts through cultivating relationships Taijiquan with our lineage holders and family advisors in China. We develop instructors to provide the highest level of Kajukenbo competence, understanding, and teaching of the martial and medical arts so the arts do not become diluted from one generation to the next. We provide opportunities for students and instructors to meet, exchange information, train together, and build a viable community of individuals dedicated to this work. THE FIRST DECADE 1990-1999: Organization and Development During these years, the components that we think of today as the North American Tang Shou Tao system were put into place. This was the work of bringing together groups from across the country who found themselves involved with the same study of traditional Chinese gongfu, but who did not see themselves as “family” or share common goals and values. This was conceived and implemented by Vince Black with the help of his wife Kim and others under their direction. National Instructor and Sparring Conference: Real time martial technique and character development The National Conference was created to physically bring members together once a year to meet each other, share knowledge, make friends, learn lessons, and set goals. Instructors trained new material to bring back to their schools. A unique sparring format was implemented early on. With no judges, winning or losing, and supported by a fully stocked Chinese medicine “triage” clinic, fights became a tool for self development and growth. This event has been attended by 60 to 120 students for more than two decades. The Association Newsletter Bringing schools together, giving members a voice The Newsletter was created in 1993 as another forum to share thoughts and bring the community closer. It has been published twice yearly now for twenty years and has grown from a simple six page broadsheet to a 36 page, professional quality journal. Instructor Curriculums Standardizing instruction and certification Curriculums were created for systematic teaching of the various systems and preservation of the knowledge contained within them. Criteria and testing were developed for Instructor and Assistant Instructor certification. Today the Association has Founder Vince Black with President Ethan Murchie (background) 36 certified Instructors and 42 certified Assistant Instructors. Traditional Chinese and Gongfu Medicine Programs Including medicine in our martial education, as practiced by our ancestors Programs were developed to teach the various theoretical and practical aspects of the medicine with an emphasis on the techniques and knowledge passed down to Vince Black from Hsu Hong-Chi — tuina protocols, herbal formulas, and medical tehniques to treat classmates, friends and family non-professionally. Research and Development Study Groups Establishing our martial and medical lineages The late 1990s saw the advent of the Research and Development Study Group in order to do the intensive work necessary to pass on the wide variety of materials Vince Black had personally researched and accumulated throughout his life. This group met in Tucson every second month for many years to train under Vince’s direction. This work helped prepare a generation of Instructors to take responsibility for the preservation of the arts and Association administration. Field Research Trips Deepening cultural and martial lineage roots Multiple field research trips to China were conducted. Groups ranging from two to twenty people were sent on an almost yearly basis throughout the nineties to both expand our Assocation’s connections among the broader Chinese gongfu community and to deepen the relations with practitioners we already knew. Publishing Keeping a promise to Liang Zhenpu lineage holders The English edition of the book Liang Zhen Pu Eight Diagram Palm by Li Ziming was published in 1993. Senior Advisor Dr. Yu Chien-Hwa THE SECOND DECADE 2000-2009: Consolidating and Maturing The second decade was characterized by the maturing of a generation of practitioners within the Association so that they were born and raised, as it were, with a shared set of goals and values. The passing of responsibility for the Association from Vince and Kim Black to this younger generation and the reorganization that accompanied this, were major factors during these years. There was a focus on strengthening relations between Association schools and younger members with senior practitioners, and building the medical knowledge base of the Association. Senior Chinese Advisor Tour Learning directly from lineage holders The year 2000 saw Senior Advisor, the late Liang Kequan, spend three months living in Tucson and touring schools across the continent. This set the tone for the next decade, during which several senior lineage holders of our martial and medical arts became Advisors to the Association. Much of our resources were spent bringing these Advisors to teach in North America. Medicine Conference Establishing medical arts education A Medicine Conference was added to the National Conference in 2003 to provide focused training in both the theory and practice of Chinese medicine for all members. More and more students began to pursue Chinese medicine as a career choice. Lineage System Committees Preserving and teaching our martial and medical lineages System Committees were formed representing the martial art and medicine lineage styles taught in the Association. Committees took on the responsibility of specializing in a body of material; researching, teaching, and hosting retreats for members. System Committees replaced the Research

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