Grading Schedule detailed as follows:

Due to the availability of our instructor, the weekly class has been moved from Tuesday to Wednesday. This is effective from Wednesday, 17th of May 2023 until further notice.

The training time slot remains the same, which is from 7pm to 8pm.

Teens from age 16 and above are welcome.

Adults from any age are welcome.

The focus of our Wednesday evening classes is on application of traditional martial arts techniques for the use of self defence. Personal protective gear is mandatory for all full-contact sessions.

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Stay Healthy & Fit in your Golden Years

Most elderly people will think that yoga is only suitable for young people or people with good flexibility. But in fact, yoga is suitable for all ages and fitness levels. The latest research shows that yoga is especially helpful for people over the age of 60, improving their flexibility and balance.

If you are new to yoga, it is not easy at first. But this should not prevent you from participating in yoga practice, because of the many benefits of yoga:

8 benefits of yoga for the elderly

01 Dredge the meridians and strengthen the viscera

Through breathing, stretching and asanas, the meridians of the human body can be dredged and the functions of the internal organs can be strengthened. Restore energy and spirit to achieve all-round health preservation and health care.

02 Relieve muscle stress

As we age, muscle mass deteriorates. The beauty of yoga is that even an ordinary hatha yoga practice can relieve the practitioner’s muscle stress and enhance muscle toughness. Downward Dog Pose, Plank Pose, Warrior 1 Pose, and Warrior 2 Pose are all poses that are especially suitable for yoga beginners, and they are very effective in improving the strength of practitioners.

03 Enhance flexibility

With the passage of time and the reduction of activities, the muscles of the elderly lose some elasticity, and even some elderly people have difficulty bending over and kneeling to tie shoelaces in daily life.

For these elderly people with poor flexibility, it is recommended to try to sit and bend forward. For those who find it difficult, they can stretch their shoulders and hamstrings with the help of yoga straps; cat pose or wheel pose can also flex the spine; sprint pose can open hip flexion muscles; side bend mountain pose can stretch the muscles along the trunk.

04 Pain relief

Studies have shown that yoga is effective in treating certain types of chronic pain, including pain and stiffness from arthritis and repetitive stress syndrome. Much gentler than some weight-bearing exercises that put undue stress on joints, yoga helps reduce muscle tension throughout the body.

Both Cobra Pose and Baby’s Pose can help relieve pain; Bound Angle Pose can help with hip pain. Standing forward bends help increase spinal flexibility and reduce lumbar pain in a targeted manner.

05 Improve balance ability

Loss of balance is common in people over 65 years of age. It is from this that the elderly are prone to falling. As we all know, the physical function of the elderly declines, and a fall may be life-threatening. Practicing balancing poses in yoga can help older adults strengthen their bones and keep their bodies stable while walking and standing.

Depending on individual circumstances, yoga tree pose, side plank pose, and half moon pose can all better help the elderly improve their balance. For those who want to challenge their balance on one leg, leaning on a wall or a prop is a great way to do it.

06 Strong Bones

Osteoporosis is one of the biggest health problems of the elderly. Studies have found that yoga can improve bone density in patients with osteoporosis or osteopenia. Yoga uses opposing muscle groups and gravity to stress the bones to promote the production of bone-growing cells. Yoga triangle pose, warrior 1 pose, warrior 2 pose and plank pose can all highlight the antagonistic muscle groups.

07 Improve concentration and focus

As we age, the brain changes with it. This means that concentration and memory will decline in most older adults. Yoga like pranayama and meditation stimulate the brain and nervous system, improving concentration and memory.

Pranayama, through focused breathing, keeps the mind clear and relaxes the nerves. Meditation can also help you maintain peace of mind. As the meditation time increases, it will help practitioners get rid of their predicament and gain inner peace.

08 Increase positive emotions

Some elderly people feel lonely. Joining yoga classes can broaden the social circle of the elderly and make more friends. In addition, yoga is a recognized “mood booster”. Opening yoga poses and back bending poses like cobra pose, boat pose, and bridge pose have been shown to increase positive emotions in patients with depression. Practicing yoga asanas, pranayama, and meditation can all help improve your mood, bring more positive energy, and reduce anxiety.

The full range of healing and transformative power of yoga is applicable to all ages.

Invitational Martial Arts event.

In the spirit of unity, taekwondo practitioners from ITF and WT styles are coming together to celebrate Merdeka.

Date: Wednesday 31st August 2022

Time: 0800 – 1600 (To be confirmed)

Venue: Utropolis Marketplace

Entry Fee: RM80 per participant

Closing Date for Payment and Registration: 31st July 2022

Prizes: Certificates of Participation for all participants. Winners will get medals and certificates.

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Main Events – Pattern Competition and Sparring Competition

Sparring Contest

Since the contest will include participants from two different styles, the Sparring Competition is utilising a modified ruleset.

Pattern Contests

Pattern contests will be divided into respective styles.

Other Fun events

Other fun events will be available to all, including the general public and visitors to Ohana 2022.

• Speed kicking
• Flying/Jumping Side Kick
• Others!

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Contact For Information and Registration

Contact: Coach Michael Goh is an international instructor accredited by World Taekwondo OhDoKwan.

School Holiday Programme for children aged 8 years to 12 years.

Conducted over Zoom. Contact Coach Michael Goh for more information or register here at: https://forms.gle/KUHWDNPrZyn3mEoR9

Duration

Monday 13th Dec to Friday 17th Dec, 2021.

Schedule

Monday 13 Dec, 5:00pm

Briefing, Introduction & Martial Arts Exercise

Materials/Preparation

Exercise clothes/Dobok

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Tuesday 14 Dec, 10:00am

Diorama Craft with Michael Goh

Materials/Preparation

Corrugated Cardboard (from discarded carton boxes)
Scissors/Cutter
Glue/Hot Glue Gun
Brushes & Paints (Acrylic or Poster)
Other materials optional

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Wednesday 15 Dec, 10:00am

Story and Art Session with Jin and Chang Zhen

Materials/Preparation

A3 Art Paper (from drawing block  or watercolour paper)
Paints/Crayons/Colour Pencils

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Thursday 16 Dec, 10:00am

Craft workwith Shin Ri

Materials/Preparation

2 – 3 A4-sized Paper/Coloured Paper
Many Toilet Roll Cores
Art Markers/Colour Pencils
Scissors/Cutter
Ball of Yarn (Any 2 colours)

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Friday 17 Dec, 10:00am

Surprise Craft Activitywith Michael Goh

Materials/Preparation

2–3 Empty Plastic Bottles, Old Bamboo Chopsticks
3-6 Ice Cream Sticks, Manila Card
Scissors/Cutter, Needle nose pliers
Rubber Bands, Paper Clips, UHU Glue/Hot Glue Gun

Watch the video:

If you search around the internet these days, everyone seems to have an expert opinion on martial arts. Many eastern styles have suffered under the barrage of blows from keyboard warriors. The general comments range from ‘this so-and-so style does not work on the street’ to terms like ‘mcdojo’ are quite rampant. Even martial arts practitioners themselves make it a point to chime in and ‘call-out’ other martial arts practitioners. I wonder if it is done in the name of social justice or something more selfish.

Taekwondo or Tae Kwon Do : A Look Behind the Martial Art

Taekwondo, the Korean national martial art is also a world-famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) sport and martial art. In the aftermath of the second world war, the nation of Korea was rebuilding much of the country including cultural heritage lost as a result of foreign occupation. Part of this cultural heritage being recovered was in the area of their fighting arts.

To cut the long story short, the different martial arts masters contributed to form a national organisation and call their art Tae Kwon Do. Since 1959, the martial art known as Taekwondo has split into different organisations. The two largests are known as World Taekwondo (or formerly the World Taekwondo Federation or WTF) and the International Taekwondo Federation (or ITF).

As a practitioner, I have to admit that there is an overwhelming influence of Karate in the art of Taekwondo. Even historical evidence shows that many founding masters of Taekwondo were practitioners or Japanese Karate. With the suppression of Korean martial arts during WW2, it is not expected that much of the old indigenous Korean arts survived to heavily influence Taekwondo.

Martial means Combat

Culturally, the popular belief of martial arts have been helped by television and film. Famous movies and martial arts stars have helped popularise the fighting arts. Bruce Lee is perhaps the most famous. Chuck Norris, JCVD, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yet to name a few. The mystical nature of Japanese arts and their bushido warrior code also became popular as samurai movies became well known. Ultimately, the systemised fighting arts were for one purpose:- combat.

Honest.

Bruta.l

Truth.

Modern Martial Arts. Combat Sports.

I for one am fortunate to live in a country that is in peace, not at war with anyone. Relatively, many are in this situation. The need for extremely violent forms of martial arts practice is low for the average civilian. Military personnel who are going to frontlines may prepare differently.

So where does this leave the martial arts. Well, we have seen their revival and evolution to what is known as Combat Sports. Taekwondo is one of the many arts that have evolved. In my opinion, Taekwondo has evolved the most (for better or worse, depending on who you ask again…) in the direction that utilises technology, and also in the most peaceful direction. Just looking at the sport of Taekwondo as developed by Kukkiwon and the World Taekwondo organisation as practiced in the Olympics, we can see this evolution to a non-violent form of sport that has drawn combat elements from the past.

Many old timers may lament that this make Taekwondo useless on the street, and MMA (another new evolution). But speaking of the street, are you seriously thinking of picking a fight on the street like a young punk? If it’s peacetime, there is no need to go look for trouble. As a practitioner, my opinion is a bit more in the middle ground. While I appreciate the developments made by the KTA/Kukkiwon/WT trio, the combat parts of the once deadly form have been stripped from Taekwondo.

Sport Taekwondo is here to stay and continue to evolve. I applaud the efforts of Kukkiwon/KTA/WT in this direction. I believe that this is good for peace. I’m certainly not a fan of war. However, we do need some training in effective combat ability. That said, I believe in the balanced practice of the art.

Humbly, the art we know as Taekwondo is heavily based on kicking. So we do need to look into the past, the history and roots of what formed Taekwondo. The immediate ancestor to check out is Karate, and Okinawan Karate. Further back would be chinese Kung Fu (Tang Soo Do’s ancestor, also a contributor to the art of Taekwondo). As a martial artist, one must be humble enough to recognise ones own weaknesses and seek to improve. If anything can be learnt from the late Bruce Lee, it is to ‘Absorb what is useful; Disregard that which is useless’. (I have to admit that this line can be interpreted differently by different people, depending on ones end goal).

Balance of Combat Effectiveness and Safety

In my opinion, we need to practice effective combat techniques that will work when we need them. So, there is a some degree of violence associated with combat training. While the actions are inherently violent, we need to establish a peaceful intention in our mind while practicing. Otherwise, we may fall to the dark side, and thirst for violence.

Our mission is Personal Safety – not blatantly beating the life out of others.

In the end, it is an art of self-defence.

Happy training.

The 3rd Full Movement Control Order is now in force. Our classes has since moved back to the Distance Learning mode. While we understand that online classes do not fully accomplish what the studio-based session are capable of, we strive to make the best of this medium. The structure of the Distance Learning Programme is as follows:

Virtual class

Objective: Movement and physical activity.
In general, younger children need to workout and use up their energy. Correct and accurate movement that is specific to martial arts will become less important for the virtual classes. So, in the 1 hour of class, I will bring the students through a series of movements, execution of taekwondo techniques that are dynamic and generally more fun. The idea is to keep them engaged and moving their bodies.

Follow up 1-to-1 sessions

Objective: Focus on building their correct and accurate martial art specific movement and techniques
I will schedule personal 1-to-1 sessions or even small groups of 2 via Zoom to spend some time to achieve this.

NOTE: The Follow up 1-to-1 sessions are only for students undergoing the DLP. This is a tutorial based learning session that is meant to help bridge the insufficiencies of the online medium to some degree. Fully studio-based learning will not require this.

Parental support

While it is my responsibility to impart martial arts skills and knowledge to all my students, with the support of parents of young children, it can be much more effective. 1 hour of physical class, followed by 15 -20 minutes of personalised attention per week can be supplemented by your assistance and support.

Some suggestions for parental support:-

• Ask your child to show you what techniques they have learnt
• Holding a pad out for them to strike/block
• participate in physical activity during the virtual sessions

Once again, I would like to offer my gratitude for your continued support to your children’s growth, and also to my martial arts centre.

Yours sincerely,

Coach Michael Goh
Activkix Martial Arts

Update as of 20th April 2021

All students, kindly refer to this calendar for your classes.

Activkix 2021 Calendar, up to August 2021 (PDF document)

Greeting!

The upgrading for Taekwondo students at Activkix Martial Arts is confirmed to be held on Sunday 25th April 2021. 

As per the previous grading, we will be holding it in Activkix Martial Arts, 15-3, Jalan Sri Hartamas 7, Taman Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur. All participants, parents and guardians are advised to follow the SOPs set by the Government of Malaysia for this event. 

Please arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of your time slot to prepare for your turn.

1. It is the holy month of Ramadhan, and as such arrangements have been made for Muslim students undergoing the grading to be arranged to attend at the earliest available slots.
2. Grading fees remain as RM60 per student. Kindly return the filled grading form, along with payment by email or Whatsapp.
   mg@activkix.com // +6012 2060 126

Payment:
Activkix Martial Arts
Public Bank
3214951018

3. The tentative schedule for upgrading can be found here in this link:
   • http://www.activkix.com/gradings/Activkix-Grading-Schedule-2021-04-25.pdf
4. To control the spread of COVID-19, the SOPs in place are as follows:

• No parent or guardian may remain to observe at the studio/grading venue. Kindly drop off / pick up your children only. 
• If a participant is having any flu-like symptoms, please consult a medical practitioner and do not attend the grading. Please inform coach Michael Goh by phone or text. 
• All grading participants are required to register via the MySejahtera app or by registering in the book provided for contact tracing.
• It is advised to wear a face mask at all times. Grading will be short and not extremely physically intense. 
• Do not share protective equipment
• Maintain physical distance of at least 1 meter when assembling before your turn.
• Wash/sanitise hands before and after the grading.
  

5. In the interest of providing a record of the grading, a private Facebook group will be created and the grading will be streamed through FB Live. You may log on to watch it live. 
6. I wish all students undergoing this upgrading, best of luck, and keep training. 

Best wishes,

Coach Michael Goh
Activkix Martial Arts.