From Instructor Charles

When I began my training the physical rush - the release of endorphins - was the most satisfying aspect of the nightly classes I attended as I continued to learn the new and compound ways my body could move. The coordination of these movements was extremely challenging and rewarding at the same time. The ability to move repeatedly through unique postures began to have the intended effect: strengthening my body and increasing my flexibility while learning how these movements applied in self defense. It took a while, but somewhere along the path, instead of just surviving the physical lesson, I began to challenge my ability to control my breathing while doing the movements.

Like a snowball barreling down a hill I began to notice how this enhanced the awareness I had of my body. I started paying attention to my manner (how I carried myself), and was pleasantly surprised when people in my work-a-day world started to comment that something seemed different about me. They thought I seemed happier. Well, something was different, I was striving to gain control over myself in many different ways. I was seeing the success (winning over myself) that comes with a concentrated and focused effort, guided by practitioners who had clearly achieved a fantastic level of skill - one that I hoped to reach. Their skill was apparent not only in their physical ability, but in their confidence level, their focus, and their determination. I wanted to emulate their serenity, how they carried themselves, and their strength of mind as well as body.  

I began practicing every day while balancing my role as a single parent. Often my children would do their homework or read a book in the waiting room while I participated in the nightly lessons.  As each month of my initial year of training passed, I could do more with body and breath control. These physical abilities allowed me to begin putting more of my mental energy into the desired result of each lesson.  This mental focus, or mind, compounded the changes in my biology. I was sleeping less, I was more energized, I noticed greater mental acuity, and control over my emotions was increasing in great strides. 

Early on in my training, one of my Instructors advocated washing my uniforms separately from other laundry. As I did this I started to notice the level of toxins (murkiness of the water) decreasing. This further confirmed in my mind the change in my biology. I wondered about the veracity of this finding and started strictly controlling the wash cycle of my 3 uniforms to privately challenge what I saw before my very eyes.  The need for 3 uniforms in rotation was due to the time it took for them to air dry; I found the dryer was very harsh on their life expectancy.  By the culmination of my 2nd year of training I was absolutely convinced that I had changed my biology through my practice. I believe it to this day, and teach it to my students.     

Martial Arts and Healing

Our ongoing goal for the students of Zhen Ren Chuan Martial & Healing Arts Center is to help them enhance their well being and life skills by virtue of practicing physical movement.

The real challenge of this blog is to bring awareness of this life altering gift to the public. Practitioners of Martial & Healing Arts find great benefit in strengthening the body-mind connection; the combination of physical movement and mental focus improves mental perception and awareness. This system of physical movement combines proper structural alignment and breathing techniques, allowing natural energy flow to occur within the body. Movement training includes learning how to relax the body while holding position, proper alignment, and intent, while transitioning from one position to the next. Intent is the mental component, and is powerful enough to affect the biology of the practitioner. After a cycle of movement is completed over a number of practice sessions the muscle memory of the body will change. This prepares the body to accept the challenging process of focusing the mind to achieve deeper changes on a biological level, allowing internal healing.

People of any age, including younger practitioners, benefit significantly from martial training. Capacity and aptitude of the student work hand in hand, producing noticeable and quantifiable results. When students enjoy their time in school they are inclined to continue. The responsibility of an instructor is to inspire, challenge, and engage the student, all the while being mindful of the goals of the individual, or, with younger students, of the parent and the child. Instructors must balance ability to manage the moment, as well as maintaining vision to maximize the lives of a large number of people from age 4 to 101. In the months to come this blog will continue to provide information that will introduce the process of determining practical goals for each student, supported by testimonies of life-altering results of practitioners, both written and on video.

On our website, www.zhenrenchuan.com, you can find information about our school, and testimonies of parents about their children and of students who have overcome challenges using this system of physical training. The purpose of this blog is to introduce the processes which create life-altering results, and to explore every possible avenue to show how complete this “Chuan” (physical manifestation) can be.

Welcome to Zhen Ren Chuan

The purpose of this blog is to provide an opportunity for dialogue between myself and the Arlington community about the unique approach to personal training our school provides.

My name is Charles DeVirgilio. In July of 2010, Master Ian Factor and I founded Zhen Ren Chuan Martial & Healing Arts Center, located at 301 Broadway, in Arlington Center. Our desire was to establish a school based on a non-competitive environment, where the intent would be to “win over yourself,” versus “winning over others.”  We have done that; the practice of the movements we teach, coupled with the utilization of correct breathing techniques, have allowed countless number of practitioners to gain, mentally and physically, from their practice.

I have studied this style of martial training for many years, and in 1996, came to the school at this location. Over the next 11 years the school fell into disrepair, and in 2007 I purchased it. We began to revitalize the building inside and out with the help and passion of our students.  In April of 2009 we donated a public garden to the Town of Arlington in front of the school, which the students of the school maintain year round.

Before

  After

We offer classes for all age groups, and have been very successful helping young students learn to focus their energy. There are many testimonials posted on our website, as well as reviews on the internet, which speak to the effectiveness of the training we offer; I myself have repaired spinal cord herniations in my lower back and neck. This was accomplished with the correct sequence of Baguazhang movements and Chi Gong Breathing, techniques from our curriculum. 

Part of proper training is being part of community. Along the way, we initiated a Martial Arts Club at Arlington Catholic which ran for two years, donated classroom time to the young women of Germaine Lawrence Treatment Center, and initiated fund raisers for the Children’s Room of Arlington. We involve our students in a number of food drives and contribute to the Arlington Food Pantry.

Our class schedule, background on myself and Instructor Ian, videos, and our class schedule can be found at http://www.zhenrenchuan.com/ourinstructors.html. In January we are starting a Saturday morning (8:00 AM) Tai Chi/Chi Gong class, for those who would like to experience the unique quality of training at Zhen Ren Chuan on a per-class fee basis.

We welcome questions and comments, and will share more of our unique philosophy about personal training in the weeks to follow.