Chinese Martial Arts Association at Cornell
Formerly the Shaolin Kung Fu Association at Cornell - SKFAC
This was CMAAC's page at the time of my graduation. Since then, Mike Wu
has taken over operation of the page. He decided to redesign the whole page, and as far as I know, he still has not
publicly published any replacement for this outdated version. (Since CMAAC no longer exists, this is unlikely to happen)
Basic Information
This club is primarily geared towards Chinese martial arts, but we welcome practitioners of all styles,
as well as complete beginners. Our intention is to have no specific teacher running all of the classes, but to allow all
of the experienced members to share their respective knowledge in an open, but critical environment (i.e. if you teach it,
be prepared to have it questioned). Many of our members are qualified to teach at some level, and we invite anyone who is
qualified to teach any art to teach classes or parts of classes. Because of the make-up of the club membership last year,
Erik and Noshir usually ran the club's classes. Sometimes Allen, Mike delRosario, Chris, or Dan ran classes as well (see
the members page and alumni page for information on their training
backgrounds). The club is open to all members of the Cornell community.
The semester is over, and we do not meet during summer and winter breaks. Regularly scheduled classes will begin again in
the Fall 2000 semester.
If you're interested in joining CMAAC, email Allen and he'll
add you to the mailing list to keep you informed of schedule changes and anything else happening with CMAAC. Unannounced
visits are welcome.
In the past, the club has collected dues that covered the costs of T-Shirts, club expenses that
Cornell didn't grant funding for, and a small payment to those who taught classes. We have decided to stop asking for
any dues/tuition. Instead, members will pay for their own expenses as they arise. For example, members are encouraged to
buy a club T-Shirt, and can buy discounted training pants and other equipment through the club. If we decide that the club
needs something that Cornell won't fund, we'll ask interested members to split the cost.
If you have questions, or want more information, feel free to contact any of the officers. Their email address
and phone numbers (during the school year) are listed in the members section.
History
The Shaolin Kung Fu Association at Cornell (SKFAC) was founded by Eddie Padlan in the Spring 1995
semester. The initial 15 members were primarily people who were enrolled in the Fall 1994 Kung Fu Physical Education class.
At the time, he had 6 years of Hung Gar training (and is still studying it), and was qualified to teach Hung Gar. People with
experience in other styles also taught: Jared Cooper primarily taught Jiu-Jitsu, Lawrence Eng taught some Muay Thai and
grappling, Mike Santiago taught some Wing Chun for a semester, Mike Torres taught Taekwondo and Hapkido, and some of the
current members were also teaching. Over the years, we have had members who held teaching-level ranks (black belt or
equivalent) in Hung Gar, Chuan Fa, Wing Chun, Five Animal Fist, Jiu-Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Hap Ki Do, Shotokan Karate, and
Washin Ryu Karate, as well as many loyal students who were with the club from the beginning. More detailed information
about SKFAC/CMAAC alumni can be found below, in the Alumni section.
When most of the founding members graduated from Cornell after the Spring 1998 semester, the graduating
officers selected some of the remaining members to run the club after their departure. Since none of the remaining people who
were qualified to teach knew a system of gung fu that is commonly considered to be one of the "Shaolin" arts, such as Hung
Gar, we decided to change the club's name. We changed the "Shaolin Kung Fu" to an all-encompasing "Chinese Martial Arts,"
though we still welcome practitioners of non-Chinese systems, and will incorporate their systems into our workouts.
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Copyright © 1998-2000 Erik Harris.