What Exactly IS Black Sun Boxing?
We center our training around Wing Chun Kung Fu, a southern style of Chinese Boxing designed for close quarters combat, the tight space between typical modern striking and grappling. And Wing Chun is especially strong for smaller practitioners to be able to take on larger opponents with our focus on technical efficiency and close range. Wing Chun is best known for being Bruce Lee’s foundation, and has more recently been popularized by the many Ip Man films, depicting the founder of our lineage. We are directly in Ip Man’s lineage, and strive to keep the fighting spirit he promoted. More About Our Wing Chun…
As the old maxim goes, 詠春拳理 其用無窮 Wing Chun’s theory is limitless in application. Even so, we round out our curriculum with Kickboxing and Catch Wrestling classes. When we say BOXING, we mean it in the original meaning of “fist fighting”. Whether Chinese Boxing, via our Wing Chun roots and history with Kenpo, or French and English Boxing, we mean the total striking package. Classically, boxing involved three aspects: Striking, Holding, and Throwing. Our Kickboxing classes will help you develop striking in all ranges, how to seize and hold an opponent to maximize the effect, and to throw him to the ground when necessary. Our curriculum explores historical bareknuckle fighting from France and England, as well as modern Chinese and French Boxing. More About Our Kickboxing…
Our Catch Wrestling program comes through Old School Grappling Catch Wrestling Association, and we teach Coach John Potenza’s curriculum. We truly believe that Catch Wrestling is the best choice of grappling for the MMA athlete and the average joe concerned with self defense. Catch as Catch Can Wrestling specializes in takedowns, top dominance, and brutal submissions. Wrestlers have long dominated MMA more than any other style. More About Our Catch Wrestling…
We’re All-In!
Martial: Pertaining to the domain of Mars, god of war. Art: a learned skill. We consider ourselves a martial arts guild, and we approach our craft like a skilled trade. While we have a framework from which we teach, our ultimate goal is to help you find your best life through physical culture and personal development. A sort of martial alchemy of principles. In a way, we are coaching you to discover your own style (but that doesn’t mean what you might think it does.) Through our apprenticeship program, you will gain Intelligence, Strength and Skill. Intelligence to understand and parse information to make useful decisions. Strength to withstand and overcome trials. Skill to employ and apply knowledge and power effectively and efficiently.
All-In was the call for all styles to compete together. First applied in England, they meant all boxers and wrestlers to compete under one rule set. It was MMA before MMA. It spawned many more specialized combat sports, leading to modern MMA. Now, we must be clear, we cannot teach you anything we don’t know. This is why we have a core curriculum. But the ultimate goal is to make you competent enough across the broad range of skills that you could walk into any school, seminar, or competition and not be lost. Our core arts serve to address the various tactics and strategies of hand to hand combat, and even some historical weapons combat. Black Sun Boxing is ALL-IN!
Who are we,
and where have we been?
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
As of April, 2024, leads for our move have dried up, and we will be taking up residency in the park. We started in the park, we survived the lockdowns, and we survived partners bailing on us. We will make it through. See our schedule to join us.
Black Sun Boxing Ethos
Mission Statement
We are a martial arts and physical culture club. We understand martial arts to be defined as the skills necessary to combat (in its many forms); and physical culture, of which martial arts is a part, to be defined as the pursuit of development of the human body, and its ability to perform tasks in various environments. To this end, we promote a simple motto of “Intelligence. Strength. Skill.” Intelligence to understand and parse information to make useful decisions. Strength to withstand and overcome trials. Skill to employ and apply knowledge and power effectively and efficiently.
Intelligence to not only perform techniques, but to know the why and how of what you are doing, and when to apply it. You will learn how to read a situation and make decisions based on the available data. Proper timing, proper positioning, proper structure, purposeful effect. “The unexamined life is not worth living” ~~Socrates
Strength to be physically capable. Powerful, Tough, Agile. You don’t have to be the biggest dog in the fight, but strength is never a weakness. We can consult on both modern and classical methods of physical culture, and our regular rounds of sparring and drilling will help your conditioning along the way. You will have the opportunity to make a fitness transformation like you never imagined. “Be strong to be useful.” ~~Georges Hebert
Skill. Martial arts is a set of skills to help you solve interpersonal problems. Sometimes those problems are mental/emotional, and sometimes they’re physical. Whether it be standing up to a bully, or finishing a fight ethically and conclusively, we will help you develop the skills you need to resolve conflicts in your life. Competence, Confidence, Dominance. “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” ~~Bruce Lee
BYLAWS
(Standards and Practices)
We reserve the right to amend these rules as necessary.
Pay Your Dues: We do not employ contracts, and we leave our prices publicly available. When I was young, my dad told me, “If they don’t state the price, it’s too expensive.” People who hide their pricing are trying to sell you. They believe they have to manipulate you to make a sale. We don’t believe in that here. We believe you’re a capable adult who can make decisions for yourself without having to be conned by a carnival barker. The same philosophy goes for contracts. We believe that it is unethical to legally bind someone to payment for something they are not using, or no longer want.
“There can be no truly moral choice unless that choice is made in freedom.”
~MURRAY ROTHBARD
As responsible adults who value their time and money, you understand how important it is to be timely and honorable. We expect tuition payment on time, and may allow a grace period if you communicate with us prior to the due date. Failure to pay on time will put your membership on hold, and failure to return to classes within one (1) month will remove you from membership, and you will have to sign up again, without the benefit of any special promotions you may have enjoyed previously. All special promotions are contingent upon continuous membership, and discontinuing membership will subject you to whatever the then-current tuition is. Discontinued membership will also close your access to members only benefits like private groups and forums, student discounts, and special events. Special price promotions are for brand new students only, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Your tuition buys you access to the school during regularly open hours, according to the class load you have purchased. Tuition does not buy you a specific number of classes, or a specific schedule, it buys you a class load (a number of classes per week that you may attend). You may attend classes on whatever schedule suits you best at the time, according to your purchased class load. It is your responsibility to make use of your class load. There are no “make up” classes.
Attendance: We are more of a club than a school. Showing up late to class only harms you, the individual. If you choose not to attend, that is your decision. There are no “make up” classes. However, if you are going to be more than 15 minutes late, you should notify us prior showing up, if you don’t want to arrive to a locked door. We will give prior notice if we need to cancel class, unless it is an emergency, in which case we ask for your understanding. Class may be canceled due to lack of attendance without notification. You may contact us to verify class schedule if need be. If the instructor is late starting class, the instructor will run the class long to compensate for it. Classes may occasionally run long anyway, and you are free to leave on time (or early) as you need to.
Students must be clean and conscientious: Wear clean, appropriate clothes, use deodorant (but please avoid strong perfumes, colognes, and other scents), have reasonably trim nails, and you should remove any potentially hazardous jewelry (at the school owner/manager/instructor’s discretion). Any other potentially hazardous clothing or accessories, should also be removed before stepping on the mat. Mat shoes may be worn if approved by the instructor. They should be mat shoes only (not street shoes) and have flat, soft soles. If you use school owned equipment, please return it to the same place you got it from, and if it is a wearable item, it should be sanitized prior to being put away. It should go without saying, don’t show up sick.
We do not require uniforms. Our martial arts are not based on playing dress-up, and our arts do not require any special clothing to practice. There may be gear you wish to purchase, but you are free to do so voluntarily. We also sell shirts with the school logo and some graphics on them. These are not required, but purchase is greatly appreciated. School shirts do not confer membership, standing, or rank, and are publicly available to any who wish to purchase them.
Students must be sober while in the facility. Showing up intoxicated is grounds for removal. If you show up smelling of alcohol, smoke, or other chemical smells, you may be asked to leave, or remedy it prior to training.
Respect is earned, but courtesy is mandatory: Please be conscientious of those you are working with, and try not to be disruptive to class, or the learning environment. We reserve the right to remove disruptive forces from our premises. You do not have to like your training partner to work productively, and we will not tolerate personal squabbles in training.
Respect everybody’s, including the school’s, private property. Ask before you touch something that is not yours, and treat it with care.
We do not teach children*. Children certainly should be involved in martial arts, but that is not our calling. They would do well to join the local school wrestling team, or practice a simpler, more athletic curriculum offered in a place that is equipped to handle them. We aim our training at serious adults who lead busy lives, and teenagers (adolescents) who can be trained like and with the adults.
*Children, here being defined as anyone under the age of thirteen (13) years old.
Be a gracious host and guest: Do not brag to, push around or test, or show off to visitors. When you visit another school, you are expected to train as instructed. Do not make arguments, “Well, my teacher said this was the right way…” or any other such contentions. Do not drag us down with indecorous behavior. There is more than one way to do a thing, and we all have our preferences and reasons for those preferences.
All classes are contact classes: You will hit and get hit. Grappling is a regular part of our curriculum, and you will have to make close bodily contact. This is a major part of why cleanliness is important. Even more so, it means that you will feel pain and frustration regularly. That is an important part of the learning process. We strive to keep the training as safe as is manageable to still be effective, but accidents can and do happen. We expect you to behave like adults when things get difficult. Remember not to treat others in a way you yourself would not want to be treated. It should go without saying, we will not tolerate assaults of any sort, nor malicious intent to harm. If anyone touches you inappropriately (know the difference between uncomfortable, and assault), please bring it to our attention. Training to fight is not the same thing as starting or escalating fights.
Freedom of Speech: We recognize your right to your beliefs and practices, however, divisive topics of discussion are not welcome on the mat, which includes discussions of politics and religion, and specifically the dogmas thereof. Such discussions are not pertinent to training, and may serve only to distract from valuable training time. We are, as an organization, non-political, and secular.
“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”
~MARK TWAIN
We want you to enjoy your training, and build camaraderie, and so as long as you can put in the necessary work to develop your skills, please feel free to have light conversations, and laugh and joke while you train. We encourage people to speak freely as long as it does not detract from training, and that may often include coarse language that some are sensitive to. There is no such thing as a “bad word” only “bad intent”. Learn the difference and don’t let mild vibrations in the air bother you. At the same time, if you are aware of someone with a sensitivity, try to be as accommodating as is reasonable to keep friction low.
Personal Development, Personal Problem Solving: You are an individual. What is right for you is not necessarily right for the next guy. So to that end, while we teach our system with a general architecture, we also try to coach the person as a party of one. To this end, you are encouraged to ask questions, do personal research, bring a notebook, take pictures, experiment, etc. (provided it is not disruptive to class). We also encourage you to take hold of your own strength and conditioning practice, which we will happily consult on, if necessary, but should be done outside of class, and/or during open mat time. Only you know what makes sense to you, and what you struggle with, so please communicate questions and concerns as they occur.
“The ultimate diverse population is a population of individuals, so you let the individuals sort it out.”
~DR. JORDAN B. PETERSON
We will not tolerate a mob mentality, or appeals to authority. In fact, appealing to the group or to authority are both logical fallacies. “Because my teacher said so.” is not a valid explanation of why something is correct or useful, nor is, “because all these people say so.” You must be able to articulate the problem, and also articulate and justify your proposed solution using logic, science, experience, and meet the burden of proof. If you cannot articulate, you cannot argue.
