Mark Seidel

Me and Mark Seidel After His Long Fist Class
(Picture from last year)

Last Tuesday I was able to visit my teacher Mark Seidel. Mark is both Allan's original Hung Gar and Long Fist teacher, as well as a former student of Shifu (Master Yang). I began training under Mark shortly after applying for the Retreat Center program. Mark is both very skilled and also a very good teacher with good training ethics. Training with him was a very painful time...Definately good memories. It was very nice to see him again.

Tuesday nights are his Tai-Ji Quan classes, which I was able to attend. After warm ups and forms we did basic push hands...something I don't yet have much experience in. I pushed with Mark which was a good time (I got my butt kicked!). However he, like Shifu has in the past, pointed out that I'm too stiff and I need to relax and be less tense. Too much Hung Gar hard Qigong on my part...Being hard is good at the right times, but still I gotta be soft too.

We used to train out of an office building however Mark recently re-opened his old school located in Scranton, Pa. Tuesday was the first time I've been there. Its a really big school with alot of open space and good training equipment.

If anyone in the area is interested in training a curriculum similar to what we train at the Retreat center, or just want hard traditional training (Long Fist, Hung Gar, Tai-Ji Quan), I definately recommend Mark Seidel's school. Mark Seidel can be reached at (570)249-1087.