What is Leaf Dragons Family Kung Fu?
Kung Fu, Tai Chi & Qi Gong
Chinese martial arts have been developed over thousands of years to provide self-defence skills, but also to improve health of body and mind. Kung Fu (Gong Fu) involves fast, acrobatic movements such as kicks, punches, different postures/stances and body moves. While fast, it still uses soft movements and relaxation alongside moments of power and intention.
Tai Chi (Tai Ji) uses the same postures and many of the same techniques, but is based on slow movement and relaxation of mind and body. Softness and flexibility is used to overcome hard rigidity, in both an opponent and one’s own state of mind and body. Qi Gong (pronounced chee gong) are repetitive exercises involving body postures, stretching and/or gentle movement, and regulated breathing, used to optimise general health and martial artists use these as a foundation for their practices.
When practiced together, these form a system that supports health of body and mind, while providing good foundations for self-defence. The style of all these practices taught at Leaf Dragons Family Kung Fu comes from Wudang Mountain in China, developed by Daoist monks and nuns for the health benefits mentioned above, and to also become more in synch with natural forces and processes (you can read more about the details of these practices, and aspects of Daoist spirituality and philosophy elsewhere in this website).
This focus on a closer relationship with Nature is central to Leaf Dragons, where the martial arts training is explicitly and continuously cross-referenced with the natural world. Your family will be learning cool moves and a love for life all around you.
Watch Out for Animals & The Force!
Our martial arts are influenced by the movement, postures and characters of five main animals: Turtle, Dragon, Crane, Tiger and Snake. These animals are linked to seasons in the year, types of food, emotions, and elements in the natural world (see here for more details). There will also be guest appearances by stretching leopards, flying eagles, strong bears and pouncing mantis! The focus on the interplay between hard and soft energies will be reflected on throughout the lesson: in our martial arts practice, in the natural world, and in our state of mind during both the lesson and throughout the rest of the week. These core principles from Daoist martial arts will be explored in a fun, creative and accessible way for children, with the ideas matched by Shifu Giles in a bespoke way to each child, appropriate for their developmental stage.
The Learning Environment
As both a martial arts teacher and parent, Shifu Giles Yeates has encountered the common situation of kids diligently doing kung fu while the parents/guardians are sat around the edges of the room on their phones. At the same time, parents may struggle with finding their own time for their health and fitness while trying to make sure their children are doing fun activities during the week.
Leaf Dragons classes are the antidote to both of these situations: kids and their parents/guardians engaged in a traditional martial art side by side. Family bonding, fitness and fun, all rolled in to a wonderful hour. Class numbers will be kept relatively small compared to some martial art schools, to optimise the individual attention given to each student. Shifu Giles will often be accompanied by one of his senior adult students to help give all students adequate attention during the family lesson.
The lessons will involve warm up and stretching, an intense kung fu section involving kicks, acrobatics and stance work, followed by a meditative slower final section based on tai chi and qi gong (Chinese Yoga). Children and their families will get fit, build strength, suppleness, and agility, and self-defence skills. However they will also learn how to calm themselves, find stillness and peace, regulate difficult feelings and feel closer to the natural world around them. The best self-defence is defence against the self!
Training will be predominantly delivered through weekly 1 hour classes on Wednesday evenings (17:30-18:30). In addition, we will also run family kung fu picnics (3 hrs) up in Shotover Woods in Spring-Autumn.
These classes are non-profit orientated. There is no joining or repeating grading fee, and no monthly payment commitment. You just pay £5 per the class you attend as a family.
Shifu Giles has advanced DBS clearance and is fully insured as both a kung fu and tai chi instructor (you can read more about me here).
Marking Your Progression as a Family
Chinese monastic-based martial arts such as Wudang or Shaolin Kung Fu do not have a belt system, and a practitioner’s progress experienced in a similar way to attending yoga classes – everything that initially seems to be very difficult gradually become easier over time, and then harder practices are attempted in a step-wise manner. In line with these traditions, a belt grading system will not be used at Leaf Dragons to charge you more money.
However, markers of progress are important, especially for children. As such, a system of symbolic badges will be awarded to children as they master certain sequences of movement (forms), specific animal styles, etc. Following the acquisition of foundational skills, other badges can be gained in any order, making each student’s journey at Leaf Dragons unique.
At the end of their first lesson, each family will be given seeds for a special Kung fu plant, that they can grow at home. They can watch the kung fu plant grow as they grow as a kung fu family!
If the adults in the family class find that they would like some more focused training on tai chi and/or Kung fu, they are very welcome to join the adult classes on Thursday evenings too.
Locations:
The weekly classes (Wednesdays 17:30-18:30) will be held in Headington Hill Park in May-September (weather-dependent). During the rest of the year, and during bad weather in the summer months, classes will be held upstairs at the Cowley Road Methodist Church, Jeune Street, Oxford. Ox4 1bn (second side door, diagonally-opposite the Ultimate Picture Palace).
June 2024:
19/06/24
26/06/25
July 2024:
10/07/24
17/07/24
Kung Fu, Tai Chi & Qi Gong
Chinese martial arts have been developed over thousands of years to provide self-defence skills, but also to improve health of body and mind. Kung Fu (Gong Fu) involves fast, acrobatic movements such as kicks, punches, different postures/stances and body moves. While fast, it still uses soft movements and relaxation alongside moments of power and intention.
Tai Chi (Tai Ji) uses the same postures and many of the same techniques, but is based on slow movement and relaxation of mind and body. Softness and flexibility is used to overcome hard rigidity, in both an opponent and one’s own state of mind and body. Qi Gong (pronounced chee gong) are repetitive exercises involving body postures, stretching and/or gentle movement, and regulated breathing, used to optimise general health and martial artists use these as a foundation for their practices.
When practiced together, these form a system that supports health of body and mind, while providing good foundations for self-defence. The style of all these practices taught at Leaf Dragons Family Kung Fu comes from Wudang Mountain in China, developed by Daoist monks and nuns for the health benefits mentioned above, and to also become more in synch with natural forces and processes (you can read more about the details of these practices, and aspects of Daoist spirituality and philosophy elsewhere in this website).
This focus on a closer relationship with Nature is central to Leaf Dragons, where the martial arts training is explicitly and continuously cross-referenced with the natural world. Your family will be learning cool moves and a love for life all around you.
Watch Out for Animals & The Force!
Our martial arts are influenced by the movement, postures and characters of five main animals: Turtle, Dragon, Crane, Tiger and Snake. These animals are linked to seasons in the year, types of food, emotions, and elements in the natural world (see here for more details). There will also be guest appearances by stretching leopards, flying eagles, strong bears and pouncing mantis! The focus on the interplay between hard and soft energies will be reflected on throughout the lesson: in our martial arts practice, in the natural world, and in our state of mind during both the lesson and throughout the rest of the week. These core principles from Daoist martial arts will be explored in a fun, creative and accessible way for children, with the ideas matched by Shifu Giles in a bespoke way to each child, appropriate for their developmental stage.
The Learning Environment
As both a martial arts teacher and parent, Shifu Giles Yeates has encountered the common situation of kids diligently doing kung fu while the parents/guardians are sat around the edges of the room on their phones. At the same time, parents may struggle with finding their own time for their health and fitness while trying to make sure their children are doing fun activities during the week.
Leaf Dragons classes are the antidote to both of these situations: kids and their parents/guardians engaged in a traditional martial art side by side. Family bonding, fitness and fun, all rolled in to a wonderful hour. Class numbers will be kept relatively small compared to some martial art schools, to optimise the individual attention given to each student. Shifu Giles will often be accompanied by one of his senior adult students to help give all students adequate attention during the family lesson.
The lessons will involve warm up and stretching, an intense kung fu section involving kicks, acrobatics and stance work, followed by a meditative slower final section based on tai chi and qi gong (Chinese Yoga). Children and their families will get fit, build strength, suppleness, and agility, and self-defence skills. However they will also learn how to calm themselves, find stillness and peace, regulate difficult feelings and feel closer to the natural world around them. The best self-defence is defence against the self!
Training will be predominantly delivered through weekly 1 hour classes on Wednesday evenings (17:30-18:30). In addition, we will also run family kung fu picnics (3 hrs) up in Shotover Woods in Spring-Autumn.
These classes are non-profit orientated. There is no joining or repeating grading fee, and no monthly payment commitment. You just pay £5 per the class you attend as a family.
Shifu Giles has advanced DBS clearance and is fully insured as both a kung fu and tai chi instructor (you can read more about me here).
Marking Your Progression as a Family
Chinese monastic-based martial arts such as Wudang or Shaolin Kung Fu do not have a belt system, and a practitioner’s progress experienced in a similar way to attending yoga classes – everything that initially seems to be very difficult gradually become easier over time, and then harder practices are attempted in a step-wise manner. In line with these traditions, a belt grading system will not be used at Leaf Dragons to charge you more money.
However, markers of progress are important, especially for children. As such, a system of symbolic badges will be awarded to children as they master certain sequences of movement (forms), specific animal styles, etc. Following the acquisition of foundational skills, other badges can be gained in any order, making each student’s journey at Leaf Dragons unique.
At the end of their first lesson, each family will be given seeds for a special Kung fu plant, that they can grow at home. They can watch the kung fu plant grow as they grow as a kung fu family!
If the adults in the family class find that they would like some more focused training on tai chi and/or Kung fu, they are very welcome to join the adult classes on Thursday evenings too.
Locations:
The weekly classes (Wednesdays 17:30-18:30) will be held in Headington Hill Park in May-September (weather-dependent). During the rest of the year, and during bad weather in the summer months, classes will be held upstairs at the Cowley Road Methodist Church, Jeune Street, Oxford. Ox4 1bn (second side door, diagonally-opposite the Ultimate Picture Palace).
June 2024:
19/06/24
26/06/25
July 2024:
10/07/24
17/07/24
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