It's the sudden release of energy. The build up and discharge. You can almost feel it from the far end of the stage - the sign of a budding master of the martial arts. It's more than just a series of motions and poses. It's energy - channeled through your whole body and focused on a point. This really is fighting without fighting - executing a form before a panel of judges with no opponent to endure the impact. And no matter how many times you go through it, no matter how rigid the dictates of the style, each time it's unique.
Kyle Loehr drove over 700 miles to compete at Tiger Claw's 2nd KungFuMagazine.com Championships. Once again, the Championships were held in cooperation with BASKA's 2010 Shark City Nationals. In 2010, for the year of the tiger, these two tournaments held a unique combined event, the WildAid Tiger Champion. Kyle took two firsts and a third in the KungFuMagazine.com Championship and was the Adult Wushu Grand Champion. He also placed fifth in the WildAid Tiger Champion event. Kyle is disturbingly good natured and dedicated. He is very good at what he does and is constantly seeking to improve. Admirable doesn't quite cover it. He embodies what you would hope a martial artist is like in real life: powerful, dedicated, and modest.
I followed Kyle throughout his day at the tournament, videotaping and photographing each event, harassing him with questions about his progress. I'd worked with Kyle before in a photo studio, making him jump as high and dramatically as he could with a kwandao. And I've watched him compete many times before that, mainly at the Tiger Claw Elite Championships in Florida. He's good. And so dedicated. And modest. Makes walking around with a camera all day seem a bit easy.
WildAid's mission is to end the illegal wildlife trade within our lifetimes. To achieve this, WildAid uniquely focuses on raising awareness to reduce the demand for threatened and endangered species products and to increase public support for wildlife conservation. Through Tiger Claw's non-profit branch, the Tiger Claw Foundation, Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine has been running WildAid's public service announcements all year. WildAid delivers a simple and chilling message. When the next year of the tiger begins on February 1, 2022 there may be no more tigers living in the wild. Their primary message has been "When the buying stops, the killing can too." You would be surprised at how many products out there that are exploited from tigers, sharks, rhinos and other endangered species.
WildAid's spokespeople include the heavyweights Yao Ming, Vincent Zhao, Harrison Ford and Jackie Chan. I spoke with Jason McArthur, WildAid's representative at the event. Jason is a passionate and experienced activist for this vital cause. His enthusiasm is commendable. It is far too easy to believe that this is a mission without hope. Hopefully the young people who embrace the martial arts and meet in this arena will heed the message and advance its vision. Hopefully we will see the third decade of the twenty-first century roll around and there will still be tigers out there in the wild.
Through the Tiger Claw Foundation, Tiger Claw is producing special limited-edition T-shirts to benefit WildAid. There are two designs, both winners of a T-shirt design contest held by WildAid specifically for the year of the tiger. You can choose either the WildAid Year of the Tiger shirt by Mari of Miami or Todd of Brooklyn or both! These make great gifts too. Remember, proceeds from the purchase of each shirt go to help preserve tigers in the wild.
About Marc Arsenault: Kyle Loehr trains at Dynamic Martial Arts in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, see DynamicWushu.com. Marc Arsenault is an artist and musician living in the San Francisco Bay Area. His photographs of martial artists have appeared in many issues of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine and elsewhere. View his photos from Tiger Claw's KungFuMagazine.com Championship. To learn how you can help WildAid help wild tigers, visit their website at www.wildaid.org.
It's the sudden release of energy. The build up and discharge. You can almost feel it from the far end of the stage - the sign of a budding master of the martial arts. It's more than just a series of motions and poses. It's energy - channeled through your whole body and focused on a point. This really is fighting without fighting - executing a form before a panel of judges with no opponent to endure the impact. And no matter how many times you go through it, no matter how rigid the dictates of the style, each time it's unique.
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