Is One With Heart a fun place for kids and adults alike? Are the folks friendly and the facilities good? Yes. So why 5 stars? What makes them different, or special even, than other places? Why choose One With Heart?
If you spend any time around the OWH studios, families and teachers, it won't take long to realize just what a unique place it is. It just so happens there is so much more on offer than martial arts. Alongside the classes, there is a caring, progressive community where all are welcome and where wonderful things are happening.
Under the expert guidance of Mas Guru Agung Janesa Kruse (founder), the school is currently developing what the Pukulan art-form really means to them and are changing/growing for the better and for the future with their community in mind.
Mas Guru Agung is hands-on with the kids all the time; she is no errant or 'mysterious' founder-teacher, someone who is revered but never there. Far from it! The students love and respect her, her passion for what she teaches is so evident and so infectious. Her knowledge, wisdom & skill is invaluable to everyone. If you are ever lucky enough to see her in action, she is a tour de force; her powerful grace a sublime extension of her own physical self.
Lead by her example, her wonderful roster of teachers - each impressive in their own right - are all highly skilled and when you witness their own capabilities in a class you realize just how amazing they are. Balancing the high energy and intense focus of the art with just the right amount of fun, fairness & discipline, they are not merely teachers; they are guides and those who wish to learn from them will never be disappointed.
With a wide range of strengths and ages, each teacher has their own style and flair, with individual personalities & the essence of each one's personal practice shining through in class. Even though at different ranks, they mentor the students one-to-one as well as in a group dynamic with dexterity and skill. They teach by showing and whatever the student's personal practice, everyone can reach whatever level they desire at their own pace.
My 10 yr-old Young Human (YH) has been at the school for just over three years and has grown in so many ways. Not only has YH developed all the things you'd expect from a martial art, such as being physically stronger/more coordinated, confident and more focused, there is also a deeper more profound sense of self respect now, an emotional strength and empowerment that can be called on for any reason.
By learning a form that transcends the more known "street fight" application of other martial arts, young students at OWH begin to embody aspects of the rich history, the language, the fluidity of form that, when combined with what they bring to the studio and their own sense of self (wherever they may be at in their practice), the history becomes current, relevant and applicable to so much around them.
Even though there is a clear path for students to take (one rank to the next) the path can be, and often is, very different for each individual. The students are taught to develop personal aspects of the art-form with continual encouragement by all the teachers for students to find and develop their own style, to commit to being the best versions of themselves they can possibly be right where they are. They do all this while teaching the structure of the forms and the nuances of each movement, practicing over and over. Every student is expected to learn the basics well; foundation instruction is key. Yet the ways in which they do it is varied and hugely rewarding for children and adults alike.
Students who may be a rank or two higher than the class students are often present to co-teach with the higher ranked teachers, something which is wonderful for the younger students to see: the "I can do that one day, I can get there" feeling becomes very palpable when exposed to that. The lines between teacher and student are defined yet flexible, the idea being that even as a teacher there is always something to learn.
Students will carry the teachings with them forever. Strength, courage, the ability to transcend whatever challenge they may be faced with, to find creative solutions for dealing with those challenges, to be both friend and teacher to their friends & classmates, to stand tall perhaps when others won't, to be the one to speak up when others are silent, to find their own grace & strength so they become true advocates for something far bigger than themselves. All honorable and wonderful attributes to have.
Just know this: if you do try it out and enroll your child, it won't be long before you start thinking: "Maybe I can do that." You should. You won't regret it. read more
