Newsletter - September

The Chinese Martial Arts AcademyMonthly Newsletter September

Dear Friends,

It’s that time again.  Please visit our website to get all of CMAA’s exciting news!

School Closings and Class Cancelations All Kungfu and CrossFit Classes are canceled Sept 28^th as Shifu will be traveling with CMAA competitors to Boston for the International Chinese Martial Arts Competition.

Tai Chi will be held as regularly scheduled. 

Sash Test Please note that we will be holding our quarterly Sash Test on:

Date: Sunday, September 8th Time: 11:00am (Remember early is on time, on time is late, late is unacceptable! Teach your child the VALUE of being on time for important events they have committed to.  Whether is a competition, SAT or job interview it in important to learn these lessons now!).

You know exactly what we will be testing but if you have any questions, check the Sash Requirements page on the website and feel free to clarify things with me during class. http://www.martialartsalbany.com/kungfu-sash-requirements/

If you are unsure whether or not you (or your child) are ready to test, please speak with me before or during class, via email at AlbanyCMAA@gmail.com or by phone (518) 755-7512.

Register in Advance Please register and pay your testing fee by Sept.6^th.  By signing up on at the school you will agree to pay by Sept. 6^th or have it charged to your account. 

White/Yellow/Green/Blue: $25 Red/Purple/Orange: $50

Remember, you will not “get” your sash at CMAA – you will EARN it!  There is a big difference.  It’s important that your child (you) learns the value of their sash- the value of hard work!  Let’s stay focused and step up our training so we’re fully prepared for the test!

Tai Chi Push Hands Seminar What:  Tai Chi Push Hands Seminar with Shifu Jiang Jianye When: Sunday, September 22^nd at 11:00am-12:30pm. Cost: $35

Pushing hands works to undo a person's natural instinct to resist force with force, teaching the body to yield to force and redirect it. Health oriented TaiChi schools may teach push hands to complement the physical conditioning available from performing solo form routines.

Pushing hands is said to be the gateway for students to experientially understand the martial aspects of the internal martial arts: leverage, reflex, sensitivity, timing, coordination and positioning. Push hands allows students to learn how to respond to external stimuli using techniques from their forms practice. Among other things, training with a partner allows a student to develop 'ting jing' (listening power), the sensitivity to feel the direction and strength of a partner's intention. In that sense pushing hands is a contract between students to train in the defensive and offensive movement principles of their martial art: learning to generate, coordinate and deliver power to another and also how to effectively neutralize incoming forces in a safe environment. Competition Recap

CMAA enters students in first competition and dominate!

With ten students participating CMAA brought home 6 Gold Medals, 3 Silvers, and 4 Bronze.  Lead by team leader Scott Beiter, CMAA participated in the The 1^st Annual Kungfu Wushu Tournament in Hadley, MA.  Congratulations to all the competitors.  It takes a lot of courage to get out there.  Win or lose I hope everyone drew inspiration from the experience.  Just like sash tests, the true value of competition is still self-improvement.  All the fun and team bonding is just a nice extra!

Jump Kicks With our recent success in our first competition it was obvious that our foundation in basics wins gold medals.  The foundation of Kungfu is rooted in stances.  However, as we progress we will continue our jumping skills as a way to showcase our talent in the advanced divisions.  In an effort to works toward new heights, we had a master of jump kicks Master Tom Collins come visit CMAA for a great jump kick seminar.  Take a look at a video of the highlights of the action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvML74J7xFo

Chen Taiji What an experience!  With over 20 years of experience in the martial arts, years of training in China, and a decade of teaching Tai Chi and Pilates, Peter brought to CMAA a wealth of information presented with a unique perspective of Tai Chi and kinesiology.  From ideas of transverse balance exercises and qigong relaxation we certainly got more than just an 8 posture Chen style Tai Chi routine.  Chen 8 will be continued and refined in our Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday Tai Chi classes.

CMAA Chinese Wall Scrolls As you know, CMAA has four large Chinese calligraphy scrolls on the wall.  These four scrolls are special for a few different reasons.  They are not simply Chinese scrolls bought at the Asian Imports store in the mall.  I thought long and hard about what different things we emphasize in the art we practice.  After months of deliberation I found a saying that I thought best encompassed our approach to training Chinese Martial Arts.  On the day of our grand opening Grandmaster Shifu Jiang Jianye presented us with four beautiful, personally handwritten scrolls which read: “Xi Wu Yi Cu Xue” Study the Martial Arts to Promote Learning

“Lian Wu Yi Qiang Shen” Train the Martial Arts to Strengthen the Body

“Shang Wu Yi Qin Zhi” Practice the Martial Arts to Develop Will

“Han Wu Yi Xiu De” Do Martial Arts to Cultivate Ethics

In this case “Wu”, or Martial Arts is the common character connecting all four lines.  This is the same “Wu” symbol that adorns our school’s wall and uniforms.  We are not a school that emphasizes martial arts for combat, but a school that recognizes the inherent multitude of benefits from training in the martial arts.  It is for these reasons that CMAA has students male and female, spanning ages 4 to 84.  It never ceases to amaze me how everyone is benefiting from martial arts for so many different reasons.

Summary

There is so much happening right now.  With so many seminar, tests and competitions right now, I look forward to planning some more “fun” activities (potlucks and movie nights) this October.  Please stay tuned for more details.

Best-

Shifu

Newsletter - July

Dear Students, Time just seems to fly by!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Chinese Cultural Gala What a blast!  The CMAA Kungfu performance was again the highlight of the show (in my own humble opinion)   From language to philosophy, food to historic sights and spectacular scenery, Chinese culture is incredibly unique and beautiful.  However, it is sometimes difficult to showcase such things and make them enjoyable for kids and adults alike.  Chinese martial arts are not only a great form of exercise, they are also a thrilling show to spectate.  The Chinese Cultural Gala was great for a number of reasons.  In addition to bringing awareness to a unique and wonderful culture, it was also a great event for our students.  The practice and team building that goes in to preparing for such an event is an important part of what CMAA is all about!   Please see the attached photo of just some of our students posing after the show.

Kungfu Class Schedule Improvements In an effort maintain both high quality instruction and safety, we will be revising the current schedule to better suit the needs of our students.

We will be adding a Tuesday/Thursday 4pm-5pm Kungu class.  This will be an empty hand class for all students ages 5-12.  Tuesday/Thursday 5pm-6pm, will now be a weapons class for yellow sashes and higher).

In addition, Tuesday/Thursday evening class 7-8pm for ages 8+ will now have open mat time after class for additional training.

Sanshou (Kickboxing) Suspension Please note, that due to low enrollment we will be suspending our Sanshou (Kickboxing) program.  I will continue to gauge your interest and will and be glad to resurrect our program when we have enough students.  Until then, we will use time after class to do additional Kungfu training. CrossFit Summer Champion Challenge You must be ready for anything and everything. This 60 day challenge will force you to analyze all areas of your training including your strengths and your weaknesses and set goals to make improvements.  Do you have what it takes?  Will you accept this challenge and work toward becoming the strongest, fastest, most HEALTHY you?  If you are determined and ready for self-improvement – keep reading http://www.lathamcrossfit.com/wods/summer-champion-challenge/

Kungfu Competition

What: The Chinese Wushu Kungfu Academy’s 1^st Annual Wushu Kungfu Tournament When: Saturday August 17^th, 8:30am-4:30pm (Pre-Registration ends July 31^st) Where: Hopkins Academy in Hadley, Massachusetts Who: All Levels Welcome

From goal setting and learning to perform under pressure, the entire competition is a great learning experience. Please let me know if you are interested and we can try and organize our registration and plan a way to coordinate our traveling.

Best-

Shifu

Newsletter - June

Dear Students- Welcome to another exciting installment of The CMAA monthly newsletter!

CMAA Anniversary! Two years ago The Chinese Martial Arts Academy became the successor to The Capital District Tai Chi and Kungfu Association.   It was with a great sense of honor that I accepted this responsibility and made a promise to carry on its traditions.

In two incredibly short years, we have more than tripled the number of classes, tripled the number of students and moved to a home that we can all call our own.  We have done all this while carrying on the tradition of our predecessor in offering the highest quality instruction and fostering a warm, friendly environment full of positive energy.

We have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.  With the best intentions, hard work and the involvement of a lot of wonderful people CMAA has done great things and will surely do more in the future!  Thanks for your support!

Sash Test All I can say is “WOW”.  I am so proud of your progress!

The way you trained, organized yourselves, and performed on Sunday was VERY IMPRESSIVE.

Keep up the hard work! Congrats on your sash advancements!

You should be hugely proud of our progress as a team, and equally proud of your progress as martial artists!  Congratulations!

Please see photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.470341646377526.1073741824.129157007162660&type=1&l=1e57b7faf9

Chinese Cultural Gala Day 1-3:30pm Sunday, June 30th Clifton Common – Community Center, Clifton Park NY 12065 (518)383-3143

Come join the Chinese Martial Arts Academy for a day of fun with Chinese culture at the Chinese Cultural Gala Day! The Town of Clifton Park will host the Chinese Cultural Gala Day on Sunday, June 30, 2013. The FREE event is sponsored by the town’s Community Arts and Culture Commission in partnership with Clifton Park resident Xinhua Lee and Asian Culture Inc.

Please feel free to show your CMAA pride and wear your school shirt to the event. I look forward to seeing you there:)

Residents of all ages will be able to enjoy Chinese ribbon and fan dances, our martial arts demonstrations, Chinese musical, dance performances and ethnic food (available for purchase.)

The Chinese Cultural Gala Day strives to bring Clifton Park residents together to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Chinese music, dance and culture.

Tai Chi Schedule Please note that Shifu Jiang’s Wednesday Tai Chi class will now be conducted from 6pm-7pm.  We will continue to review Chen Style Straight Sword until 7:15pm and then move onto Shifu Geller’s portion focusing on Tai Chi walking exercises, the Yang 10/24 and Shaolin Yi Jin Jing Qigong.

GOOGLE! If you’ve ever had a positive experience at CMAA, myself or Jiang Shifu, let the world know about it.  Help others find a great martial arts school, help others find CMAA!

To like, review and/or rate us on Google please go here: https://plus.google.com/114214925743395737365/about?gl=US&hl=en-US

Friends of Martial Artists

We train together, encourage each other and talk with each other. A group of parents would now like to take it one step further and form a committee committed to working towards a common goal: the wellbeing of our family members.  They would like to bring even more to an already outstanding community.

The focus of the Friends of Martial Artists committee is broad and not fully developed, but they like to find ways of assisting members with the cost of uniforms, weapons, tuition, etc. as needs arise. Because they want this to represent everyone in the school, they are inviting you to become part of this venture.   If you have any experience or interest in nonprofits, business, charity or just want to learn more about this group please consider joining them for their first meeting and becoming an active member of the Friends of Martial Artists!

Date: Saturday, June 15th at 4:00p at The Chinese martial Arts Academy.

Monthly Challenge – June

Build yourself a time machine and get in shape!  Go back to the year 2012 and revisit Tabata - a method of Japanese conditioning designed to get you in awesome shape – in just 4, grueling, minutes.  Keep reading to learn more about this month’s challenge!

http://www.martialartsalbany.com/cmaa-challenge-june-2012/

Summary

As always, please stay tuned for more exciting news!

Best-

Shifu

Newsletter - May

 

Newsletter – May 2013

Chinese Martial Arts Academy

Dear Students and Friends,

School Closings Please note we will be closed this month, May, Saturday the 18th through Weds the 22nd.

Chinese Cultural Gala Day 1-3:30pm Sunday, June 30th Clifton Common – Community Center, Clifton Park NY 12065 (518)383-3143

Come join the Chinese Martial Arts Academy for a day of fun with Chinese culture at the Chinese Cultural Gala Day! The Town of Clifton Park will host the Chinese Cultural Gala Day on Sunday, June 30, 2013. The FREE event is sponsored by the town’s Community Arts and Culture Commission in partnership with Clifton Park resident Xinhua Lee and Asian Culture Inc.

Please feel free to show your CMAA pride and wear your school shirt to the event. I look forward to seeing you there:)

Residents of all ages will be able to enjoy Chinese ribbon and fan dances, our martial arts demonstrations, Chinese musical, dance performances and ethnic food (available for purchase.)

The Chinese Cultural Gala Day strives to bring Clifton Park residents together to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Chinese music, dance and culture.

Chinese Community Center Kungfu Party ???5?11???????5?15?

??????????3A Johnson Rd, Latham NY 12110?

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????: Please RSVP by 5/6 in person, or by email/phone

AlbanyCMAA@gmail.com (518) 755-7512

Monthly Challenge May Share your knowledge!

Do you ever reflect on your training and think about what you’ve found to be most helpful, interesting or encouraging? Do you have particular interest or knowledge of a certain area of martial arts practice?

I’d like to challenge you this month to sit down and write about it!

Write about anything in the martial arts (Tai Chi, Kungfu or health and wellness) and share it with us. It might be a list of talking points shared in class, a report on something you’ve recently read, or simply an account of your progress. It can be as long or as short as you’d like.

Please email at AlbanyCMAA@gmail.com and at the end of the month I would like to select an article or two to share with our CMAA members.

Sash Test As a reminder, we will be holding our next quarterly Sash Test on Sunday June 2nd. More information coming soon!

CMAA Apparel New “soft” style jackets with full zippers in all kids and adult sizes are now in and they look great! They are available for just $60 ($15 less than our other style!). Please note the original half zip warm up style jackets are still available as well.

Summary As usual stay tuned for more exciting news and information about upcoming events! More info coming soon about another Tai Chi documentary (on Chen style Tai Chi), Kids Kungfu Movie (Disney’s Mulan) our Sash Test, and a CMAA martial arts performance June 30th!

Best-

Shifu

Newsletter - April

Chinese Martial Arts Academy Newsletter – April 2013

Dear Students and Friends,

Sash Test- Congratulations!

Congratulations to those who tested! You have all made such great progress. I was hugely impressed with your performances. Not everyone passed on the first try, though everyone has since passed in their re-tests. Although that was disappointing, I knew you had what it takes and I WILL always hold you to those expectations! Keep up the hard work - our hard work will make you and CMAA GREAT!

Next sash test will be in the first two weeks of June.

School Closings: Please note we will be close next month, May, Saturday the 18th through Weds the 22nd.

Monthly Challenge: Think about what is that inspires you and share it! Whether it’s physical, mental or spiritual - what things do you look to for inspiration? Do you look to the vibrant, bright eyed old masters, or the incredible athletic prowess and artistic display of power of the young kungfu master? Whatever it is that has inspired you, a book, film (documentary or fiction), individual or experience, let me know so I can share it with the others at CMAA! Feel free to tell me more in class or send me an email.

In the last few months these are a few short but really awesome videos I’ve seen on youtube. None are about Tai Chi or Kungfu, but they’re still so awesome to watch. If you’ve ever said or heard, “I’m too old”, “I’m too overweight”, “I’ve got bad knees”, or “I’ve got a bad back” as an excuse to not get more exercise and healthier then I dare you to watch these videos and say it again!

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oaH1jaNHNE Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448 Video3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nXkyeQ91f8

How to Master Anything, at Any Age:

Whether your goal is to sustain employment or enrich your life, continued learning is paramount to growth. Learn new skills, overcome challenges and find fresh meaning in 9 steps: http://www.nextavenue.org/blog/how-master-anything-any-age

Summary As usual stay tuned for more exciting news and information about upcoming events! More info coming soon about another Tai Chi documentary (on Chen style Tai Chi), another Kids Kungfu Night, and a CMAA martial arts performance June 30th!

Best-

Shifu

Newsletter - March

Newsletter March 2013 Dear Friends,

Welcome to another monthly newsletter full of important information and exciting news!

Chinese New Year Performances: WOW! CMAA worked hard to prepare for several exciting demonstrations (demo’s) and boy did we put on a show! Please see the attached photos from our performances at the Clifton Park Half Moon Library and the Egg! I may be biased, but I'm sure we were the most exciting performances at these eventsJ CMAA has been asked to do more already including an upcoming cultural Gala in June. Great job guys! If you were not involved with the demo this time, it is possible to be included in future performances. We are working hard on developing a strong martial arts demo team and will continue to evaluate students in class performance for qualification.

School Closings: Monday the 11th, Tuesday the 12th and Wednesday the 13th: All classes are canceled! (Kungfu, Tai Chi and CrossFit) Shifu will be taking a much needed vacation to visit his grandparents. Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with Grandpa Geller at age 92 on the secrets of longevity!

Kungfu Sash Test: Please note that we will be holding our quarterly Sash Test on Sunday, March 3rd at 11am.

You know exactly what we will be testing but if you have any questions, check the Sash Requirements page on the website and feel free to clarify things with me during class. http://www.martialartsalbany.com/kungfu-sash-requirements/

If you are unsure whether or not you (or your child) are ready to test, please speak with me before or during class, via email at AlbanyCMAA@gmail.com or by phone (518) 755-7512. Remember, you will not “get” your sash at CMAA – you will EARN it! There is a big difference. It’s important you (your child) learns the value of their sash- the value of hard work! Let’s stay focused and step up our training so we’re fully prepared for the test! White/Yellow/Green/Blue: $25

Is your child a future Olympian? Wushu has been bidding for a spot in the Olympics since 2008. It’s been on the short list of 7 sports to potentially be included since then. Now that wrestling has been cut, Wushu has again risen to the top of a short list of sports to be potentially included in the 2020 Olympics!

Will Wushu Replace Wrestling in 2020 Olympic Games? http://www.isportstimes.com/articles/5816/20130212/wrestling-cut-2020-olympic-games-wushu-replace.htm

See an exciting display of wushu in the original IOC Wushu Promotional video from 2008 (event demonstrations beginning at 2:50!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsgQ6YuVYUY

As a former member of the USA National Wushu Kungfu Team, CMAA can help your child reach the elite levels required for competition. Shifu Geller has been invited to judge at the 2013 USA Team Trials (the national team’s qualifying event). From a technical perspective to all the unwritten rules and politics – Shifu Geller knows exactly what it takes to qualify. March Challenge:

Study the greats! Whether you practice Kungfu or Tai Chi, you should study the greats. Know who the “all time” best were. Not “Jackie Chan”, or “Zhang San Feng”, but the “Prince of Wushu” Yuan Wen Qing and the lineage hold of Chen style Tai Chi- Chen Xiao Wang. Watch their movements, see why they are legends, and LEARN from them! Want more? Ask Shifu who to watch. Eagle? Xu Xiangdong. Praying Mantis? Yu Hai. Bagua? Liu Hai Bo. Tiger? Yang Shiwen. There is a master of every style and each master is someone we can learn from!

Summary

As always, lots of exciting things are happening right now. Stay tuned for more great updates!

Best-

Shifu

Newsletter - February

Newsletter Feb 2013

Dear Friends -

It’s that time again. Welcome to another monthly newsletter full of important information and exciting news!  I got to say it last month but now I get to say it again: Happy (Chinese) New Year!  2013 is the year of the snake!

Chinese New Year Demonstrations

The word is out- CMAA is THE school associated with authentic Chinese Martial Arts.  Not only do we have the most qualified instructors (if I don’t say so myself;), we have an impressive young performance group!  Based on our previous performances at the Egg in 2012, SUNY Albany, RPI, Clifton Park Community Center, Schenectady Gazette Parade and more we are now inundated with requests by many local organizations and groups to showcase our rising talents!

In fact, I have had to turn down most of the requests to due time and scheduling constraints.  However, we will officially be organizing two demonstrations for the Chinese New Year!

Saturday, February 2^nd Clifton Park Half Moon Library Chinese New Year Demo on February 2^nd at 2:00pm.  Performers, please note that we will be meeting at the Library at 1:30pm!  We will leave from CMAA at 1:00 pm.  You are welcome to follow and drive over together or meet there separately.  Please double check and make sure you have your shirt, pants, shoes and staff/sword!  You are not expected to wear your sash during the demo.

Saturday February 9^th The Chinese Community Center Chinese New Year Celebration at the Egg at 2:30pm.

Please enjoy a video of Dean and Shifu at last year’s demo at SUNY Albany.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-gFzyI7ibA

Class Cancelations:

Due to the times of the Chinese New Year demo’s mentioned above we will be canceling the following classes:

Sat, February 2^nd: 1:00pm 13+ Kungfu, 2:00pm CrossFit.

Saturday February 9^th: 12:00pm 8-12 Kungfu, 1:00pm 13+ Kungfu, and 2:00pm CrossFit.

Make up training times: For those interested in additional training, there will be an open/demo practice held at 4:15pm on Sunday Feb 3^rd and Feb 10th!  If you’re Kungu Class was canceled that Saturday then you are welcome to join us that following Sunday!

School closing: March 11^th, 12^th and 13^th.  Shifu will be taking a much needed vacation to visit his grandparents.  Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with Grandpa Geller at age 92 on the secrets of longevity! J

Kungfu

Kungfu basics and forms training make up a majority of our training. The warm up, flexibility training, basics practice, forms training and conditioning helps to develop all of the most important attributes of the martial artists which include power (strength, speed), flexibility, balance, coordination, and mental fortitude.

However, there is still much more to learn.  For students 13+ years old, or ranked green sash or higher we will be introducing a new element into our practice.

8pm Tues/Thurs evening classes will now include an additional 30 minutes (from 8-8:30pm) for qualified students to begin learning the most applicable techniques.  We will work a variety of kicking/punch drills on various types of padded equipment so that our students are better able to identify correct technique, accuracy, timing and application of power.  From self-defense, to self-confidence this new emphasis is sure to be an exciting and fun new element to our already awesome program!

Tai Chi:

By request, we will be addressing the Wednesday evening and Saturday morning schedule to include time for the practice of Yang Style Tai Chi basics, Yang 24, 32 Sword and the Shaolin Qi Gong form Yi Jin Jing!  For newer students to build a foundation, and for senior students to revisit the basics, our emphasis on some of the forms many of us started with will be a refreshing addition to our current course curriculum. More news to come!

February Challenge:

Virtuosity: performing the common uncommonly well.  Focus on this during your regular practice and you will learn the true meaning of Gongfu (Kungfu – Great skill acquired through hard work).  It doesn’t matter if you practice Kungfu, Tai Chi or CrossFit- focus on the basics!  The foundation isn’t just the basis for your future development, it defines your practice.  Read more here!

http://www.martialartsalbany.com/monthly-challenge-february/

Summary

As always, lots of exciting things are happening right now.  Stay tuned for more great updates on what’s happening at CMAA in the year of the snake!

Best-

Shifu

Monthly Challenge - February

February Challenge:

I've been talking about it for months now.  You may have heard my pizza analogy during class.  I've been really impressed with the kids ability to understand the fine points of the concept.  However, it's not just a lesson for kids or for new practitioners.  It's an ideal that anyone looking for mastery of anything needs to understand!

Virtuosity: performing the common uncommonly well.  Focus on this during your regular practice and you will learn the true meaning of Gongfu (Kungfu – Great skill acquired through hard work).  It doesn’t matter if you practice Kungfu, Tai Chi or CrossFit- focus on the basics!  The foundation isn’t just the basis for your future development, it defines your practice.

All too often Kungfu practitioners focus on the high flying jumps, Tai Ji students focus on developing powerful internal energy and CrossFit athletes look for rip hundreds of pounds of steel without properly developing the most basic techniques.  The front stretch kick and the horse stance for Kungfu students, Tai Ji walking basics and CrossFitter’s squat and deadlift form are what we learn on the first day of practice.  We are engrained with a linear learning pattern that allows us to believe that once we learn something we can progress to something more advanced.  This might take the form of a no handed cartwheel, a traditional long routine, or more complicated lift like the snatch or clean and jerk.  We forget that becoming great doesn’t mean doing more, it means doing things better – perfecting our skill.

I don’t just look at tornado kicks and shaolin monks meditating for inspiration. I see mastery in the head to toe front stretch kick, in a powerful golden rooster taiji posture and repping out air squats with perfect posture.

Remember, practice does not make perfect.  Perfect practice makes perfect.  Focus on the technical execution of “basic” skills and learn the true meaning of virtuosity.

The challenge for February is to identify the fundamental practices of your chosen discipline and concentrate on developing those key skills.  List the techniques and concentrate on bringing the ideal practice to the forefront of your consciousnesses during your training this month.  Focus on virtuosity and journey down your path towards towards mastery!