“Charity Demonstration a Success”
Article by Jonathan Pett Miller
On Sunday, April 24, martial artists from seven schools joined together for a demonstration of Chinese martial arts to raise money for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Organized by the United States Chinese Kuo shu Federation (U.S.C.K.F.) and the International Tien Shan Pai Association, the event raised over $4,000 to help the research hospital continue its fight against pediatric cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
Representatives from U.S. Kuo shu Academy (Owings Mills, MD), Freedom Martial Arts & Wellness Center (Bel Air, MD), FreeState Martial Arts Training Center (Millersville, MD), German Chinese Kuo shu Institute (Neu Ulm, Germany), Siu Lum Pai Chinese Boxing Academy (Harrisburg, PA), U.S. Martial Arts (Gaithersburg, MD), and U.S. Martial Arts Academy (Timonium, MD) demonstrated over 40 traditional Chinese martial art forms, self-defense techniques, and chi kung exercises. The forms demonstrated included empty-hand and weapon single and two-person sets performed by four generations of Tien Shan Pai students, instructors, and highlighting Grandmaster Huang Chien-Liang, who performed Tien Shan Pai’s “Through the Heart Straight Sword.”
Special guests included Master Kevin Preston from Siu Lum Pai Chinese Boxing Academy (Harrisburg, PA) who demonstrated chi kung and self-defense techniques, and Dai Andrews, a Tien Shan Pai student who is a Guinness World Record holder in the ancient art of sword swallowing. Mr. Andrews has been featured on CNN and the Discovery Channel, and performed both his incredible sword swallowing and his amazing straight jacket escape.
This event was Grandmaster Huang’s latest charitable endeavor. In the past, he has also organized demonstrations that have raised thousands of dollars to benefit the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, the 9/11 relief effort in New York City and Washington D.C., the March of Dimes, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.