Sifu Slaughter’s Students Compete at Master Zang’s Tournament

Sifu Slaughter’s Chinese Martial Arts school competed in the Zang Invitational Martial Arts Championship on Saturday November 13, 2021.  The school was represented in individual competition by 4 of Sifu’s senior black belt students, joined by 8 color belt students competing for the first time as part of Sifu Slaughter’s demo team.

Sifu Slaughter’s students that competed (left to right): Ryan Barnes, Celia Bauer, Susan Cruz, and Barb Dakin

The black belts competed in individual open hand forms (called “patterns” in tae kwon-do tradition), individual weapons forms, and as part of

Susan Being Awarded Grand Champion

Sifu Slaughter’s student Susan Cruz won Grand Champion in the women’s traditional Chinese Kung Fu category for her age group, sweeping the division with 4 gold medals. Mrs. Cruz has been a student of Sifu Slaughter for the past 11 years and a student of martial arts since 2006. Mrs. Cruz’s win marks the 4th international Grand Champion win for Sifu Slaughter’s CMA school!

Ms. Cruz reacted to her win with her characteristic humility, but her fellow students all recognize that her hard work and

June 13, 2021 — Orlando, Florida

Sifu Slaughter’s Chinese Martial Arts school competed in the 2021 International Chinese Martial Arts Championship in Orlando, Florida in June, with resounding success!

Ms. Cruz

The school was represented by two senior adult students, one young adult, and 2 adult students, who competed in open hand and weapons young adult and senior divisions, partner forms, and sparring.  Two of the students were participating in a tournament for the first time, and one of those students – a beginner at Kung Fu – won a bronze

     The following article was first published in “The Acorn” newsletter (March 2021), by the Sherwood Oaks retirement community where Sifu Slaughter has taught tai chi classes for residents for the past 20 years.

Tai Chi is a slow-motion, low-impact set of movements that benefits the mind and the body. Some of the ways it does so include improved balance and flexi-bility, better focus and concentration, stress reduction, and overall well-being. The movements are done in a slow, relaxed, and coordinated manner that helps increase circulation to the brain and

Sam Everson has been a Kung Fu student with Sifu Slaughter for 12 years. Now a black belt in Kung Fu, Sam is also an accomplished fencer. He is captain of his high school’s fencing team, competes for the Pittsburgh Fencers Club, and was recently among 32 individuals selected out of more than 1,000 nominees for the Positive Athlete of Western Pennsylvania award, a program spearheaded by former Steeler Hines Ward. Sam credits his Kung Fu training for his fencing success. “I had a bit of an advantage coming from

Kung Fu (and any form of martial arts) places a lot of demands on the human body. Your body must be able to perform with speed and strength in both short explosive bursts and for sustained aerobic endurance.  Your body must be able to reposition itself quickly into a wide variety of martial movements requiring extreme flexibility without injury.  None of this is possible without basic conditioning:

Strength and flexibility training through weights and bodyweight exercises (ex: push-ups) and stretches, and,
Aerobic exercise such as kicking, punching, running, cycling, and jumping.

A basic

Strength training is a critical part of any conditioning program, whether you’re doing it to improve your martial arts performance, or just for overall good health. The good news is you don’t need a gym or a lot of space to keep up your routine. Push-ups strengthen arms, shoulders and core. Work your way up to fingertip push-ups to increase hand and finger strength for advanced martial arts movements. Standing on one foot with arms extended holding hand weights not only increases arm, leg and core strength, but also improves

Don’t let the exotic name fool you. A fast-growing body of scientific evidence suggests that Tai Chi offers real health benefits as an adjunct therapy to standard medical treatments for many age-related health conditions.

October 19, 2019 — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sifu Slaughter’s Chinese Martial Arts school competed in the Master Zang TKD Martial Arts 9th Invitational Martial Arts Championship Tournament on October 19, 2019.

The school was represented by eight of Sifu’s senior students (six adults and two youths) who competed in open hand forms (called “patterns” in taekwondo tradition), weapons forms, and point sparring. The team did well against fierce competition, with 3 students competing in the Grand Championship finals. Overall the team took 5 first place awards, 1 second place awards, and 2 third

October 5, 2019 — Akron, Ohio

Sifu Slaughter’s Chinese Martial Arts school competed in Grandmaster Yang Shu-Ton’s Wu Tang “Hall of Fame” Open 2019 International Chinese Martial Arts Tournament on October 5, 2019 in Akron, Ohio.  The school was represented by six of Sifu’s senior adult students who competed in open hand and weapons adult and executive divisions, open weapons, and partner form divisions.

Sifu Slaughter’s tournament team results:

Executive Division team took gold, silver, and bronze in both open hand and weapons divisions
Partner Form teams took gold and silver in weapons, and gold