http://lakeplacidnews.com/page/content.detail/id/522980/ARTIST-PROFILE--James-Gann-and-the-martial-arts.html
LAKE PLACID - Catch James Gann, wing chun kung fu martial arts instructor, at the Reason 2 Smile World Music Festival Saturday, March 7, at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts.
The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from 7 to 10 p.m., featuring workshops during the day and music in the evening, with music, art and dance activities and entertainment geared for all ages.
James Gann will hold an Ip Man wing chun kung fu class for ages 13 and up from 10:20 to 11:20 a.m.
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From 1:30 to 2:20 p.m., Gann will transition to another of his favorite art forms, Wulaba West African drumming, for all ages. (Children 10 and under are to be accompanied by an adult.)
Gann opened his Ip Man Wing Chun Lake Placid School of Martial Arts in 2013, based on the teaching of martial arts master Ip Man (sometimes spelled Yip Man), a Hong Kong resident. He was instrumental in introducing wing chun, a Chinese martial art, to the rest of the world. In the United States, Ip Man's best known student is Bruce Lee.
Classes at Gann's school are open to students 14 years old and up, Gann said. At first he also taught children, but soon realized that it is difficult for the very young to understand the concept of gradually working toward an acquisition of skills to ultimately reach a goal. They would rather run around, he said, laughing.
There are three levels of wing chun, each level requiring about one and a half years of study.
"In the first level, you learn to manage yourself. At the second level, you control what is happening. The third level is for life threatening situations."
The first level, sin lim tao, "a little idea," comprises the foundation of the martial art, basically "building the weapon." The student learns key techniques and to be coordinated, relaxed and calm, building all of the movements to perfection until they come naturally without conscious thought.
"Tension is a waste of energy," Gann explained. "In wing chun, the only tension is at the point of contact."
Gann describes level two, chum kiu, as "using the weapon you built in level one."
The student learns to apply the techniques in order to bridge the gap between himself and his opponent.
Wing chun weapons are the "six and a half pole," which is actually a nine-foot-long, light and flexible waxwood pole, and two single-edged swords used together, "an extension of the arm." The pole, whose history is linked with river boats, was not originally wing chun, but kung fu, Gann said.
"Martial arts are a way of finding our own weakness through competition. That's the purpose of sparring."
Gann demonstrated the 116 movements typically practiced with the mook yan jong, sometimes called a wooden dummy or wooden man.
Level three, Biu Jee, can be deadly, and, according to traditional martial arts ethics, is not for public teaching, such as videos, Gann said.
"If you can run-run. if cornered, you can protect yourself."
Martial arts training, Gann emphasized, "definitely moves into other parts of a person's life. Faced with a troubling situation, who are you going to be? How are you using your energy?" Martial arts will makes the practitioner more relaxed in a confrontation and less likely to panic.
A California native from Monterrey, Gann met his partner, Karen Kan, M.D., in Big Sur, where he was teaching a West African drumming class. She was visiting from Lake Placid.
After a six-month long-distance romance, Gann came to live in Lake Placid in 2006 and maintains, "I love this weather!" The fact that he is a snowboarder probably helps.
James Gann can be contacted online at ipmanwingchunlakeplacid.com and on facebook.
Reason 2 Smile is a Lake Placid based nonprofit organization established to celebrate cultural diversity and raise funds to provide food, clothing, healthcare and education to orphaned and at-risk children in developing countries.
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