Chinese martial arts or Kung Fu as it’s known today, was developed by soldiers and ancient warriors as way of self defense. Over the centuries, Kung Fu was eventually adopted by the Buddhist monks of Shaolin and the Taoist priests of Wudang. It was in these temples that Kung Fu was recognized not only as a way of physical fitness but to be practiced as a path toward mindfulness. In this talk, Sifu Alex Lamas will explore the martial history of Kung Fu and how the ancient monastics discovered their health and meditative advantages that still benefit us in the modern day. He will discuss how the Chinese martial arts can counteract today’s over-stimulated and over-complicated lifestyles and like the monks of past and present, we might find out how it can be a way to bring us back to our true nature.
Kung Fu, Wisdom and Longevity: Chinese Martial Arts as a Path Towards Mindfulness and Physical Health
Author Bio
Alex Lamas
Alex Lamas is a Kung Fu and Tai Chi instructor in Westchester and the Bronx, NY. He received his B.A. degree in Cultural Anthropology from Purchase College. Involved with the martial arts since the age of 12, in 1996 Sifu Alex Lamas studied the Fu Jow Pai system of Kung Fu under Master Shue Yiu Kwan. In 2001 he became an instructor at Kwan’s Kung Fu and is a current member of the Kwan’s Kung Fu Chinese Lion Dance Team. Other systems that Sifu Lamas has studied are Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Shotokan Karate, and Tai Chi which he continues to develop under his teachers Master Kwan and Grand Master Wai Hong.
As a Kung Fu and Tai Chi Instructor, Sifu Lamas has brought his program to schools, campuses and is also teaching Tai Chi to autistic populations. Sifu Lamas is a practicing Buddhist who took refuge under Ven. Dhamadipa, Abbott of Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, NY. He has been studying meditation for 17 years and is an official guide at Chuang Yen Monastery.