• Saturday, May 18, 2013, noon - 1:30pm
  JING & Buj Culture:
  Shiatsu
  
  Shiatsu, Japanese for "finger pressure", originated in Japan from traditional Chinese medicine, with influences from more recent Western therapies.  The traditional explanation of how Shiatsu works is that the pressure and massage stimulates the energetic pathways of the body, known as the meridians.  One scientific explanation for its effectiveness is that shiatsu calms an overactive sympathetic nervous system, and therefore improves circulation, relieves stiff muscles, and alleviates stress. It us used today to treat back pain, headache, anxiety, arthritis, depression, and a host of other illnesses.   
  
  Learn about this Japanese healing method from our very own Ph.D in Physiology, Dr. Jim Cummings!  From the Bujinkan website:
  
  Jim is a 10th degree black belt (Shihan), a senior instructor at BTSD San Diego, and is the resident silver-back. He is a Colonel in the US Army Veterinary Corps and has deployed overseas into combat zones several times. He is also certified to teach Shiatsu and Reiki healing. Jim is the founder of Okinawa Bujinkan Taka Seigi Dojo and has been training in the Bujinkan for over two decades. He is an instructor at the Ready 5 program and holds Ph.D in Physiology and is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

• Wednesday, May 22, 6-6:50pm
  TaijiFit with David-Dorian Ross!
  
  "Groovy modern music, a roomful of swaying bodies, Qi coursing through your body - and best of all, the classes are FREE! RSVP today!"
  
  
  
  
  

• Master's Class for TaijiFit Instructors following at 7pm.

• Monday, May 27, 2013
  Memorial Day Holiday (no classes) and ….
  Memorial Day Murph!
  
  Starts at 8:30am, potluck and barbeque to follow. Come find out more at JING, sign up, donate, and work out!

April 2013

• Saturday, April 27, 2013, 2pm - 3:30pm
  JING & Buj Culture:
  Chinese Music - the Er Hu and its family
  
  The distinctive wails of an Erhu instantly signal that a song is Chinese, and the Erhu is one of the most popular of the traditional Chinese instruments. It is an integral part of almost all Chinese musical ensembles, and is a very common solo instrument, as well.   The very talented Mr. Zhang Xiaonan, a frequent performer in the thriving Traditional Chinese Music scene of San Diego, will be bringing his Erhu and other instruments in the Chinese Violin family!  
  
   
  
  If you have never heard the ErHu, then visit this video to see and hear how it can be played!
  
   

March 2013

• Sunday, March 17, 2013, 11am--1-ish
  JING & Buj Culture:
  Dim Sum 点心
  
  Enjoy this Southern Chinese tradition with JING!  
  Meet at Pearl Chinese Cuisine on Sunday morning at 11am. Bring your appetite!
  
  Directions to 11666 Avena Pl, San Diego, CA 92128:
                   I-15 towards the Rancho Bernardo area
                   Exit Bernardo Center Drive - go East
                   Drive 2 blocks, then U-turn on Lomica Drive
                   Turn right on Avena Place.
  The restaurant is at the end of the cul-de-sac, facing Webb Park.

February 2013

• Saturday, February 9, 2013, 2-5pm
  JING & Buj Culture:
  Chinese New Year Celebration!
  
  Come Celebrate the Year of the Snake with JING! We will be celebrating with games and food and crafts and, of course, education the JING way!  恭喜发财！
  

• Saturday & Sunday, January 12 & 13, 2013.   9am - 5pm both days.
  T'ai Chi Fitness Instructor Training (F.I.T.)
  
  
  From David-Dorian's website:

  Are you ready to Touch Your Qi and help others find balance and Harmony in body, mind and Spirit? Become a T’ai Chi for Exercise instructor with the T’ai Chi Fitness Instructor Training (F.I.T.)™ certification program. The T’ai Chi F.I.T.™ certification prepares instructors to teach T’ai Chi for Exercise (known as taijicao in Chinese) in fitness environments, including gyms, community centers, senior centers, senior centers, hospitals, clinics, private studios, yoga & Pilates studios, etc.

  Get certified through the #1 T’ai Chi fitness instructors’ training program in America, and earn 13 CEC hours from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) with David-Dorian Ross, America's T'ai Chi Champion and host of PBS's "T'ai CHi, Health, and Happiness".
  

                                 
  

  on Saturday, January 12, 2013, 9am - 5pm 

  The program starts with Tai Chi F.I.T. Flow™ training, a course that teaches you how to lead a class (or individual client) into the most overlooked aspect of fitness: Flow, the experience of connectedness and synergy in the body, mind and Spirit.

  on Sunday, January 13, 2013, 9am - 5pm

  The second course in the Tai Chi F.I.T. program is Tai Chi FIT Tools™. Using the flow movements and flow concepts from the basic training, we start adding apparatus. Take T’ai Chi for Exercise to a whole new level of intensity – without losing your harmony!

  Location: JING Institute of Chinese Martial Arts & Culture
  Cost: $250 per Certification, or Both Certifications (both days) for $400
              
  More Information: 949-945-8153 / drtaichi@aol.com
  REGISTER ONLINE: www.daviddorianross.com/seminars

• Sunday, January 27, 2013, 12:45 - 2pm
  JING & Buj Culture:
  Archery & Asia
  Come do Archery with us! (Traditional costume not required :) (Much more modern bows available for use.)
  
  Maximum 16 students, $20.00/student, equipment included.
  8 years old and up.
  At Performance Archery at 8390 Miramar Pl. Ste. C

December 2012

• Saturday, December 1, 2012, 2-4pm
  JING Culture:
  Tile-Decorating with Chinese & Square Calligraphy
  
  Make wall-hangings, trivets, and paper-weights. Make great gifts!
  
  Jing Jing will teach the basic elements of Chinese Calligraphy and (English) Square Calligraphy, and teach you to write/draw auspicious Chinese characters!
  
  $5 per person/family for 4 tiles.
  16 people/families maximum.
  Please register by email or at JING!

• Saturday, December 22, 2012,6pm
  JING & Buj Culture:
  忘年会 bōnenkai -- Japanese "Forget the Woes of the Past Year and Look Forward to the Bright New Year" Dinner
  
  Pre-registration with Laura required.   Welcome!

November 2012

• Saturday, November 10, 2012, 1-4pm
  Stage & Film Combat Workshop
  with Andrew Provisor and Dr. Craig Reid
  
  aka How to Look like You’re Beating Your Friend Up Really Badly,
  but actually you’re just putting on a show :)
  
  
  

• Tuesday, November 20, 7:30-9pm
  Multi-Artist Musical Night @ the North Coast Repertory Theatre
  
  Jing Jing performs GuZheng at this special event that benefits the Arts for Healing Program and the Women's International Center. Please also bring canned or dry food donations for the San Diego Food Bank barrel for Thanksgiving.
   

October 2012

• Saturday, October 20, 2012, 11am-3pm
  JING 11th Anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Yes! We have been teaching Chinese Martial Arts to the good people of San Diego for 11 years now! Please come celebrate with us! We will have Classes and Crafts and Performances and Potluck and Generally Great Celebrations!
  
  10am: Wushu Kids and Taiji Adults class (as usual, and open to friends and family)
  
  11am: Crafts Booths and Information Booths open!
  11am: Tactical Pen class (practical self-defense for ages 13+) (free to JING/Buj/Ready 5. $15 for visitors
  
  Noon: BBQ and Potluck!
  
  1pm: Axe-throwing (ages 13+) (free to JING/Buj/Ready 5. $15 for visitors)
  
  2pm: Performance! Children’s Chinese Recital, Wushu, &Taiji!

September 2012

• Saturday, September 1, 2012
  AKA American Open / Kung Fu Magazine.com Chinese Championship
  
  
  

• Monday, September 3, 2012
  Labor Day Holiday - JING closed for classes.
  
  

• Saturday, September 15, 2012,  1:30-2pm
  Mira Mesa Street Fair performance
  At the intersection of Camino Ruiz & Mira Mesa Blvd
  
  

• Saturday, September 22, 2012, 5-9:30pm
  JING Culture:
  Mid-Autumn Buj/JING Festival
  
  The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. It has been celebrated for over 3000 years, though it has only been popular since the early Tang Dynasty (618 907). It is a celebration of the Autumn Harvest and the Full Mooon (actually on September 30 this year, but we can have a party a week or two early!).
  
  Come learn the story of the Moon Goddess (Chang-e), do crafts (Calligraphy and Origami, our last two Culture Classes)(and make Lanterns), play games (Mahjong, our earlier Culture Class), and eat mooncakes (my treat!) and potluck (that means you :) from 5-7pm, then enjoy a family-friendly martial arts movie at 7pm!
  
  Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

August 2012

• Saturday, August 4, 2012
  JING closed for classes.
  We will all be at the
  5th Las Vegas ICMAC Tournament! 
  Come compete with us!
  
  
  
  

• Saturday, August 18, 2012, 2-4:30pm
  JING Culture:
  Write Chinese Calligraphy
   
  As Yin is the pair to Yang, so Chinese Calligraphy is the pair to Chinese Martial Arts. In Asia, it is said that much a person’s character can be seen through their handwriting; as such, it has always been an integral part of a cultivated person’s education that he or she learn calligraphy well. Even today, Calligraphy is used as a form of meditation, artistic outlet, emotional release, and personal cultivation. In this class, we learn the history and philosophy of Chinese and Japanese Calligraphy, and most importantly, we practice doing Calligraphy.

• Saturday, July 21, 2012, 2-4:30pm
  JING Culture:
  Learn to Fold Origami
   
  There’s nothing quite like the joy you get from transforming a plain square of paper into a frog, or a flower, or a boat, or a plane, a useful chopstick-rest, or an esoteric geometric window ornament. This class covers the aesthetics of Chinese and Japanese paper folding, the development of paper folding as an art in China and Japan, the science behind pa importantly, how to fold many fun and interesting animals and flowers and household items and decoratives!

• Saturday, June 16, 2012, 2-4:30pm
  JING Culture:
  Learn to Play Mahjong!
  

 
While there is some debate about who created the game of Mahjong, my favorite origin myth suggests that Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, developed the game in about 500 BC. The three dragon (cardinal) tiles agree with the three cardinal virtues: Hóng Zhōng (紅中 red middle), Fā Cái (發財 prosperity), and Bái Ban (白板 white board) represent benevolence, sincerity, and filial piety, respectively.

Another theory is that Chinese army officers serving during the Taiping Rebellion created the game to pass the time. Yet another theory is that a nobleman living in the Shanghai area created the game between 1870 and 1875.

Whoever created this game, it was banned by the government of People's Republic of China when it took power in 1949. The new Communist government forbade any gambling activities, which were regarded as symbols of capitalist corruption. After the Cultural Revolution, the game was revived, without gambling elements (ha!), and then the prohibition was revoked in 1985. Today, it is still a favorite pastime in China and other Chinese-speaking communities.

Come learn the fun game that has dominated Chinese Communities since as long as anyone can remember! Pre-registration required, so we know how many mahjong sets to bring - email info@JINGinstitute.com or sign up at JING!

• Saturday, May 12, 2012, 12:30pm
  JING Performs at the Asian Cultural Festival!
  

 



• Sunday, May 20, 2012, noon and 1pm
  JING Performs and Teaches at the San Diego Museum of Art Family Festival!
  





•  Saturday, May 26, 2012, 1-2:30pm
  JING & BTSD Culture:
  All About Japanese Kimonos
  

 
The word "kimono" (着物) literally means a "thing to wear" in Japanese. Another name for a kimono is gofuku (呉服), literally "clothes (服) of Wu (吳)", as the earliest kimonos were heavily influenced by traditional Han Chinese clothing during the extensive Chinese culture adoptions by Japan starting in the 5th century AD.

The kimono is a Japanese traditional full-length robe worn by men, women and children, usually only worn on special occasions. A woman's kimono may easily exceed US$10,000 (you can also find very simple ones for $15, but let's get back to the fancy clothes:); a complete kimono outfit, with kimono, undergarments, obi, ties, socks, sandals, and accessories, can exceed US$20,000 . A single obi (sash) may cost several thousand dollars, as experienced craftsmanship is required to make it.

Come learn about why a robe could cost so much, and learn about all the different types of kimonos - men's vs women's, married women's vs unmarried women's, spring kimonos vs summer kimonos, tea-ceremony kimonos vs wedding kimonos vs geisha kimonos! Come learn with us at JING on Saturday, May 26, 1-2:30pm!

• April Culture: Traditional Chinese and Japanese Gardens at the Huntington Library

  Date: Sunday, April 29, 2012
  Time: 8:30am – Carpoolers meet at JING
           After Tour – lunch at the Garden Tea House or Library Cafe and independent exploration!
  Location: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Garden
                 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108
  Cost: $20 General Admission, $10 Students age 12-18 with Student ID, $6 ages 5-11, Free to under 5.

  Registration and Carpool Sign-Up: At JING!

  
  What to Look Forward To: The Huntington Library is truly a unique and wonderful place. Where else can you study European Art in an American Library, contemplate bonsai trees in a Japanese Garden, sip tea in a Chinese Garden Tea House, and then stroll through a Jungle and a Desert Garden, all in one day? The Library encompasses 120 acres and more than 14,000 different varieties of plants showcased in more than a dozen principal garden areas. We are going to visit, learn about, and enjoy the Chinese and Japanese Gardens on the last Sunday in April.

  From the Huntington website:

  The Chinese Garden:

  

  Inspired by the centuries-old Chinese tradition of private gardens designed for scholarly pursuits, 流芳园 Liu Fang Yuan, or the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, combines the scenic beauty of nature with the expressiveness of literature to give deeper meaning to the landscape. A walk through its paths enriches the mind and spirit alike.

  The garden’s name, Liu Fang Yuan, has both literal and symbolic meanings. The words liu fang, or “flowing fragrance,” refer to the scent of flowers and trees, including the pine, lotus, plum, and other native Chinese plants found here. The Chinese poet Cao Zhi (192–232) first used the words in his “Rhapsody on the Luo River Goddess” to describe how the fragrance of flowers trailed in the goddess’s wake as she walked among the scented flora. And liu fang echoes the name of famed Ming dynasty painter Li Liufang (1575–1629), known for his refined landscapes.

  A Chinese garden often is compared to a work of art: a scroll painting composed of carefully arranged scenes. As you stroll through its pathways and pavilions, new vistas are revealed as if a scroll were being slowly unrolled. In the garden, as in a painting, several key elements play an important part in creating balance and harmony in the composition: Architecture – Pavilions, bridges, covered walkways, and windows are places from which to view the landscape, as well as objects to be admired for their own beauty; Water, Rocks, and Plants – Water (symbolizing the ever-changing) and rocks (the eternal) create harmony in the garden, balancing nature’s yin and yang; Literature and the Arts – Throughout Liu Fang Yuan you’ll see poetic names and inscribed calligraphy accompanying different scenic views. Let them open your eyes to a new way of experiencing the pleasures of a walk through the garden.

   

  The Japanese Garden:

  

  The Huntington’s breathtaking Japanese Garden is among the oldest and most elaborate of its kind in America. It is also one of the most beloved.

  Occupying nine acres on the slopes of a canyon, …(it contains a)… five-room house, pagodas and lanterns, and many mature plants …. A walled courtyard containing a rock and sand garden and a bonsai exhibition area was added in 1968. The garden boasts several beautiful forms of Japanese red pine, handsome spreading junipers, large cycads, arbors of wisteria, and thirty-foot-high sweet olives.

  The rock and sand garden, also known as Karesansui, is intended for contemplation. The gravel is raked to evoke the feeling of a flowing stream, interrupted here and there by rocks. This is a very symbolic garden where the viewer quietly uses his or her imagination to interpret the scene. The garden glows in the fall as the leaves of the ginkgo turn to shimmering yellow.

• Saturday, April 7, 2012, 1-5:30pm