WOI is the New East Coast WACIMA-USA HQ!

We are very excited to announce that Croley's Martial Arts Center has been named as the official East Coast WACIMA- USA Training Hall and The White Oak Institute offices have been named the official WACIMA-USA East Coast Headquarters! In this new capacity we now are among the highest level Chinese Martial Arts Schools in the world, with access to all of the WACIMA Grand Masters while working directly under WACIMA's International President, Grand Master Guo Ming (George) Xu.

In this process, Grand Master Xu has awarded Master Derek Croley a 7th Degree Black Belt in Xu Shen Chuan (The Undefeatable Secrets of Guo Ming Xu) and a Master Instructors Certification in the system. After a grueling test by all of the WACIMA Masters in China and then a personal test with Grand Master Xu himself, Shifu Jim Green has been awarded a 6th Degree Black Belt in Xu Shen Chuan, and has been granted the title of Shifu. Our Head Instructor George Petrush is being promoted up to a 4th Degree Black Belt of Xu Shen Chuan and the title of Shifu, Head Instructor. Shifu Willie Smith is also being promoted up to a 4th degree Black Belt and the official title of Shifu in Xu Shen Chuan.

As a team, we are absolutely thrilled to now be in the position to provide our clients and students with the absolute highest level of instruction available in the world with Grand Master Xu.

Featured in a Tai Chi Documentary!

Recently, Derek Croley was one of five Tai Chi Instructors to be featured on the documentary "The Why of Tai Chi" by film maker Bruce Kennedy.

This documentary explores the far ranging benefits of the study of Tai Chi, the philosophy of the art, as well as it's history. This is a wonderful film for those interested in learning more about, as the title states, why you should consider learning Tai Chi. It's limited release date was 11-02-08.

Other featured instructors are Accem Scott, Larry Brown, Frank Paolillo, and Jan Gillespie.

Click here for a review.

Martial Arts Safety Standards!

Providing for the safety of children taking martial arts classes is the purpose of new ASTM Subcommittee F08.29 on Martial Arts, part of ASTM International Committee F08 on Sports Equipment and Facilities. According to Derek Croley, a Master Instructor, and James Green, PE, also a martial arts instructor and a longtime member of Committee F08, standards for both safety of equipment and the credentials of personnel will be developed by F08.29."The concern of reputable school owners in the martial arts industry has always been that no standards exist to protect the general public," says Croley. "This will have far reaching implications on the martial arts industry in that a level of safety will be defined and practiced by those schools choosing to follow the ASTM standards. Without any standards, individual states cannot regulate these schools."

Green notes that standards developed by F08.29 will be "an enormous positive first step in terms of safety and instruction. Currently a child daycare facility has more safety standards than the martial arts industry. The martial arts industry instructs thousands of children per year without having any operating safety standards in place."The final objective of the standards will be operating criteria for individual schools regardless of the martial art being practiced. This operating criterion will include standards for the level of expertise for the personnel, including mandatory criminal background checks, training at a level defined by the individual art and adherence to safety standards for all equipment in the training hall.

When a martial arts school adheres to F08.29 standards, the public will know that the best safety standards available in equipment and personnel are present in that school.Both Croley and Green say that owners and operators of martial arts schools, as well as other interested parties, are welcome to join in the standards developing activities of F08.29. For technical Information, contact Derek Croley, Croley's Martial Arts Center (phone: 828-713-0765; DCTAI@bellsouth.net); or James Green, PE, The White Oak Institute Inc., Asheville, N.C. (phone: 828-216-0518; green3176@bellsouth.net). Committee F08 meets Nov. 19-21 during the November committee week in St. Louis, Mo. For meeting or membership information, contact Christine Sierk (phone: 610-832-9728; csierk@astm.org).

Release #8041/August08 from www.ASTM.org

Congratulations to WACIMA's Newest Vice Presidents!

We are honored to announce that Tai Chi Instructor Jim Green and Master Instructor Derek Croley have been appointed Vice Presidents of WACIMA- the Worldwide Association of Chinese Internal Martial Arts (http://www.wacima.org/) by Grand Master George Xu (http://www.mastergeorgexu.com/). This is an incredibly high honor for both of them as well as WOI and Croley's Martial Arts Center as WACIMA is THE premier association for Chinese Internal Martial Arts.


When you get the chance we strongly recommend that you check out both of the sites. You'll especially like what Grand Master Xu has put up in terms of educational information.

Grand Master George Xu in Asheville!

Croley’s Martial Arts Center, the White Oak Institute and TaiChiMadeSimple.com are proud to present

Grand Master George Xu

Coming to Asheville, NC on July 19th, 2008 for a three day engagement.

This is the first time a Master of this caliber has ever been to the Southeastern US! Join us as he presents

-How to use just your structure to quadruple your physical power for Martial Arts, sports, rehabilitation, or whatever else you are doing with your body.

-How to use your mind to focus power and energy in ways that will absolutely astound you.

-How to cut out all of the garbage from your understanding and practice so you can get down to the science of the Chinese Grand Masters.



It doesn’t matter if you practice any Martial Art, any sporting event, or any physical or mental practice. This 3 day seminar is an absolute must. Here are some clips of Grand Master Xu from youtube.com. Watch how simply and powerfully he moves as well as how well he specifically and rationally he explains what he is doing - and he is willing to honestly tell you exactly what you need to do to get better results out of your training and exactly how to do it!



Space is limited- we are only accepting 40 participants. So you need to enroll now! Go to http://www.GeorgeXuAsheville.com/ for more information, seminar specifics and where to stay in Asheville.

Dear Sir or Ma’am,

My name is Derek Croley and I have been practicing various Martial Arts for over 25 years. Suffice it to say that it takes a lot to impress me these days. In a world that is full of all kinds of weird stuff people are peddling as “the secrets of the Masters” George Xu is the best Chinese Master teaching in America that I have ever met. This seminar is your opportunity to train with somebody who will literally change your entire life with just one weekend. Not in a “go team” kind of way like a motivational speaker, but Grand Master Xu has the unique ability to cut to the chase and tell you exactly what you need to do to get to the next level of your physical, mental, or spiritual practice in a no nonsense, practical and scientific manner. I absolutely guarantee that you will leave this seminar with the tools you need to get to a real high level. I know that the first time I met him and added his training methods into my system my abilities began to skyrocket from where they were before. But you don’t have to be a martial arts Master to learn from him- he will be able to see exactly where you are in your training and help you from there! Do not miss this seminar.

Sincerely,
Master Derek Croley

PS- I strongly recommend that you attend at least one or two of our preliminary seminars to make sure you are at a level to get the most out of Grand Master Xu. I might also point out that we offer CEU credits for attending our seminars with the White Oak Institute.

PPS- You may also want to familurize yourself with the material at http://www.taichimadesimple.com/ to get a good idea of what we have to offer.

Tai Chi Made Simple

Go look at my new site, Tai Chi Made Simple to get your copy of my Free Training Guide: The Three Tai Chi Mistakes that Almost Everybody Makes.

This free Tai Chi Training Guide will show you exactly what you need to know to make the most out of your Tai Chi Training. In fact, if you are not doing what this guide tells you to do you are not doing Tai Chi and you will not get the health, wellness, or Martial Art benefits that you are trying to acheive.

Click here to get your free Tai Chi Training Guide now. The information that you get in this guide will be incredibly helpful when you attend the next Tai Chi seminar with The White Oak Institute or attend your next Tai Chi class at Croley's Martial Arts Center!

Thanks,
Derek Croley

Tai Chi Exercise: The Dancing Bear

By Derek Croley
http://www.thewhiteoakinstitute.com/
http://www.croleysmartialarts.com/

One of the best basic exercises in the art of Tai Chi is called the Dancing Bear. In this exercise you are working on several things all at once. Physically you are working on rotating around your centerline, coordinating your feet, knees, hips, lower back (Mingmen), shoulders, arms and head. This means that you are getting everything in your body working together. When your body is working all as one you greatly decrease the physical wear and tear on any particular part. Mentally you are working on directing a centralized motion of your entire body- requiring a mental focus, while at the same time requiring relaxation to get right. All in all, this is a great exercise for getting your body working as one piece under the guidance of your mind- helping you get focused and relaxed all at the same time!

You may wish to practice this yourself when you need to de-stress a bit, or are working really hard on a project and need to take a second to get your head back on straight. This is also great for athletes to work on body mechanics. I taught this at a running seminar and it was soon the talk of the entire camp! They couldn’t believe how much something so simple could be of such great benefit for their running mechanics. Or if you are a professional counselor, as many of our clients are, this is great to teach an aging population (it is a no impact, easy yet effective workout), a youth group (body mechanics and focus), or anybody who has issues with body-mind connection in any way.

How it works is as follows. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. Lift the back of your head, and tuck the base of your spine while letting the lower back relax and fill outward. To begin with, use your knees as a trigger. Bend one knee slightly more than the other. You’ll find that this makes the hip over the more bent knee go down and forward, while the other knee and hip go up and back. Do this motion back and forth, turning your body from side to side around your centerline (an imaginary line that runs down the center of your body). Never let your centerline bend, rather let everything turn around it. Let your arms flop and turn with the motion of your body. You can use where your arms hit as a measure of your balance of flexibility. If one arm won’t go as far as the other you know that your hip flexibility isn’t as good in that direction.
Remember that your foot, knee, hip, and shoulder should be in a straight line at the farthest point in your turn. It is common to make the error of letting your knee bow in and your hip bow out- don’t do that. Keep everything in a straight line.

As you get better your trigger for the movement will move from your knees up to your lower back- when you have your lower back as the source of the movement of your legs as well as your arms you are getting somewhere with this.

Do this every morning for a few minutes and you will feel refreshed, focused, and energized in a way that will amaze you. For more information about this as well as some of our other exercises check out our upcoming seminar entitles “Tai Chi for Mental Health” that will be on February 9th, 2008 in Asheville, NC. This is geared towards health professional and professional counselors- but will be beneficial for absolutely anybody who wishes to attend. For more information go to www.TheWhiteOakInstitute.com.

Tai Chi Mental Balance and Connection

By Derek Croley of

Croley's Martial Arts Center,

Tai Chi Made Simple, and

The White Oak Institute.

Let’s begin with the concept of mental balance and connection. To be balanced, you must understand the three main balance connections

1) The logical and emotional mind connection
2) The conscious and subconscious mind connection
3) The past and future mind connection

You must strive to achieve balance logically and emotionally, consciously and subconsciously, and with your past and future. Do not think that you must be perfect in any of these things- but get to work on the path to balance. After all, isn’t perfect a matter of perception and opinion anyway? Isn’t enlightenment simply the ability to see- not to be “perfect”? If you try to be perfect you will always fall short of what you are truly after- improvement in the direction that your goals should take you.

Now let’s discuss the concept of mental connection. This is the idea that not only is your mind attached to itself, it is also attached to the rest of you. How it works is like this:

1) your body is controlled by your chi,
2) your chi is controlled by your mind, and
3) your mind is controlled by your spirit.

This series of relationships is extremely important for you to recognize. The idea of explaining it this way is to present the notion that your body, mind, and spirit are not separate things- there is you and you are comprised of all of these different aspects.


Well, believe it or not, this focus tool will become a focus for your mind, then your chi will follow it, and finally your body will follow your chi. As we will discuss later, this concept is extremely, extremely important in terms of getting Tai Chi or any other Martial Art right.

Assistance for Seminar Participants

Welcome to our blog. My name is Anna Boggess and I am the Office Manager at The White Oak Institute. Please feel free to call or email me if you have questions about or seminars. I can be reached at 828-551-0320 or aboggess.woi@gmail.com. I look forward to assisting you!

Upcoming Tai Chi Seminars

We at The White Oak Institute are providing seminars utilizing Tai Chi for dealing wiith the stresses of daily living. Our next seminar is Febuary 8th and the information is on our web site
http://www.thewhiteoakinstitute.com/. More information will become apparent on this blog adddressing concerns about our seminar system.
Jim Green green3176@bellsout.net
Anna Boggess annawoi@bellsouth.net