InFocus Magazine

Say the words Kung Fu to someone on the street and you might just get back a spontaneous display of karate chops, neurologist
high-kicks, and loud yells mimicking the moves of Kung Fu movies stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal or Michelle Yeoh.

But say the words Kung Fu to Corny Martens, and he says back “Accomplishment through effort.”

Martens is Sifu (a traditional Chinese title given to a martial arts expert meaning teacher or master) and founder of the Comox Valley Kung Fu Academy on McPhee Avenue.  For the past two years, he has been teaching a style of martial arts known as Wing Chun to Valley residents in a converted warehouse building across the street from Courtenay Elementary School.

The Academy is a non-competitive, family centre that emphasizes fun, fitness, and personal improvement for all ages.  Classes are available to anyone who wishes to learn, regardless of skill or fitness level.  And while Martens’ goal is to teach his students how to take care of themselves physically in a confrontation, he is also determined to impart more than martial arts skills.  On the Academy website he writes:  “You will learn the life skills on how to manage the battles in everyday life that truly make a peaceful warrior.”

According to Martens, that statement reflects the history of Wing Chun, and his own experience with the art.

Legend states Wing Chun was invented in the 1600s by an 80-year-old nun and Chief Abbot at the Southern Shaolin Temple in China named Ng Nui.  Over the centuries, the temple had become a safe haven for critics of the government and other wanted citizens, who used the monk’s right to teach martial arts as a front for raising rebel armies.  At the time, martial arts styles mimicked animal movements, and it could take 10 to 20 years to train a competent soldier.  And that was just too long.

“So they pooled their resources, took all the techniques that were working for them, and analyzed them,” says Martens.  “What came out in the end is the human/animal style, using the strengths that people have naturally and turning that into a fighting system.” The monks could now train a competent solider in three to five years.

When the government learned what was going on, however, they raided the temple.  Ng Nui escaped and settled near a village.  There she met a young girl named Wing-Chun, who was being forced into marriage with a bandit.  Ng Mui taught the girl how to defend herself using the human/animal system.  Because this new fighting system relied on the natural movements of her body, Wing-Chun learned quickly, and without developing great strength.  The girl defeated the warlord in a martial arts match, and won her freedom.

The story reflects Wing-Chun’s reputation as a softer martial art that teaches students how to defend themselves using structure, balance and stance.  Punches, kicks and holds rely on technique intended to wear down an opponent and create the opportunity for escape rather than brute strength.  Students practice specific movements intended to create muscle memory and innate responses for deflecting an attack.

Despite the defensive nature of Wing-Chun, Martens admits people tend to find their way to him because, “first of all, they want to learn how to fight.  And the same for myself—I wanted to learn how to fight.  I had no idea that it was literally going to open a door to a whole different way of living.”

Martens’ own story starts as a child with a passion for the martial arts.  “It was originally the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that got me really interested,” admits Martens with a slightly sheepish smile.  “And I had an uncle that had his third degree black belt in karate. So I was always saying, ‘Show me stuff, show me stuff!’  Even before that, my older brothers had let me watch some late 70s/early 80s ninja movies.  I was like ‘That’s what I want to do!’”

However, as the ninth child in a family of 11, money wasn’t available to put Martens into a formal training program.  It wasn’t until the age of 16 that Martens got serious about martial arts.  That’s when two things happened—first, he got a job as a cook at Pizza Hut and could pay for his own lessons; second, students from a rival school started bullying Martens and his friends.

“It was a difficult situation,” says Martens quietly.  “It was particularly bad because there was no respectful fighting, where two people have a quarrel that they felt had to be dealt with physically and people stood back.  It was literally three, four people jumping on one person.  A lot of times we’d get jumped and so I wanted to learn how to defend myself.”

Martens eventually found his way to the Wing Chun School in Kelowna (now called Great Wing Martial Arts).  “For six years I kept going and going and going,” says Martens.  “After two years, I had really decided this is it.  The moves were very simple. For me I was quite small and it made it so even I could defend myself.”

Wing Chun was an eye-opener for the younger Martens.  “In this art, it was literally the people who had been there a week longer than me, were that much better than me. Technique is fundamental to the practice of Wing Chun.  I couldn’t be quicker.  It was the most unsuspecting people who were throwing me around,” he says.

The Kelowna school was non-competitive, meaning no competitions or tournaments. Instead, students were taught to compete with only themselves, striving to be a better person that day than they had been the day before.  Martens took that to heart, and delved into the philosophy of Wing Chun.  That’s where he learned the actual meaning of the words Kung Fu—achievement through effort.  In China, the martial arts are typically referred to as wushu.

“There’s a saying: winning 1,000 battles is great, but if you can avoid one battle that’s even more significant,” says Martens.  “The highest level of Kung Fu is to never have to fight, ever.  And that really doesn’t come about unless you really get to know yourself and who you are.  And by knowing yourself, you become better at Kung Fu.  Everyone has struggles and whoever is trying to start a fight with you is probably having a bad day. And so you almost feel compassion for the person.

“It really comes down to people’s confidence and self-esteem,” he adds.  “Just knowing you can take care of yourself.  I kind of released my ego and the people who were bothering me didn’t really bother me anymore because I felt like I could really hurt someone, so I didn’t want to do that.  The confidence just might open new doors for you and other ways to enjoy more of life.”

Martens’ student Brishona Yeoman certainly agrees with that.  I met Yeoman at a beginner technique and cardio class held Monday evenings at the Academy, where her delight in deflecting strikes and delivering kicks belies the effort it took for her to walk through the door.

Yeoman learned about Martens more than a year ago from a poster at a friend’s house. She drove down to the Academy during closing hours and peeked in the window for a look.  “But I couldn’t do it,” says Yeoman.  Despite her interest, she was just too scared to try.  Four months ago, Martens invited the staff at Yeoman’s favorite coffee shop (Coffee Ladybug) to a session, and a friend brought her along.

“From the first class, I loved it,” Yeoman says.  “I really think it’s changed my life.  I’m more confident.  I’m more positive.  It’s improved my physique a lot.  And I really like the pledge because it makes me think about how I am behaving outside of class.”  The pledge is a declaration recited at the end of each class, where students commit themselves to following a code of behavior that reflects the philosophy of Wing Chun.

“I also like that it’s a defensive art,” says Yeoman.  “Corny always says you never throw the first punch, but you can hit first.  And anybody can do it.  It doesn’t matter what you look like.  Every time, you learn something different.”

More importantly, Yeoman loves the equality of it all.  There are 10 levels of learning in Wing Chun, but the belt at every level is black.  “It signifies that everyone is in the dark,” says Yeoman.  “You’re all equal, even if you’re at different levels.”

Only Martens wears the yellow teaching belt he earned in 2004 along with his Level 10 teaching certificate.  The yellow signifies coming into the light.  And if Monday’s class is any indication, it’s that light Martens is eager to share with every one of his students.

“That’s what I think my biggest goal is,” says Martens.  “I’m teaching people how to take care of themselves in life in general.”

For more information call 250-702-3780 or visit www.cvkungfu.ca.
Say the words Kung Fu to someone on the street and you might just get back a spontaneous display of karate chops, plague
high-kicks, viagra and loud yells mimicking the moves of Kung Fu movies stars like Bruce Lee, pills
Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal or Michelle Yeoh.

But say the words Kung Fu to Corny Martens, and he says back “Accomplishment through effort.”

Martens is Sifu (a traditional Chinese title given to a martial arts expert meaning teacher or master) and founder of the Comox Valley Kung Fu Academy on McPhee Avenue.  For the past two years, he has been teaching a style of martial arts known as Wing Chun to Valley residents in a converted warehouse building across the street from Courtenay Elementary School.

The Academy is a non-competitive, family centre that emphasizes fun, fitness, and personal improvement for all ages.  Classes are available to anyone who wishes to learn, regardless of skill or fitness level.  And while Martens’ goal is to teach his students how to take care of themselves physically in a confrontation, he is also determined to impart more than martial arts skills.  On the Academy website he writes:  “You will learn the life skills on how to manage the battles in everyday life that truly make a peaceful warrior.”

According to Martens, that statement reflects the history of Wing Chun, and his own experience with the art.

Legend states Wing Chun was invented in the 1600s by an 80-year-old nun and Chief Abbot at the Southern Shaolin Temple in China named Ng Nui.  Over the centuries, the temple had become a safe haven for critics of the government and other wanted citizens, who used the monk’s right to teach martial arts as a front for raising rebel armies.  At the time, martial arts styles mimicked animal movements, and it could take 10 to 20 years to train a competent soldier.  And that was just too long.

“So they pooled their resources, took all the techniques that were working for them, and analyzed them,” says Martens.  “What came out in the end is the human/animal style, using the strengths that people have naturally and turning that into a fighting system.” The monks could now train a competent solider in three to five years.

When the government learned what was going on, however, they raided the temple.  Ng Nui escaped and settled near a village.  There she met a young girl named Wing-Chun, who was being forced into marriage with a bandit.  Ng Mui taught the girl how to defend herself using the human/animal system.  Because this new fighting system relied on the natural movements of her body, Wing-Chun learned quickly, and without developing great strength.  The girl defeated the warlord in a martial arts match, and won her freedom.

The story reflects Wing-Chun’s reputation as a softer martial art that teaches students how to defend themselves using structure, balance and stance.  Punches, kicks and holds rely on technique intended to wear down an opponent and create the opportunity for escape rather than brute strength.  Students practice specific movements intended to create muscle memory and innate responses for deflecting an attack.

Despite the defensive nature of Wing-Chun, Martens admits people tend to find their way to him because, “first of all, they want to learn how to fight.  And the same for myself—I wanted to learn how to fight.  I had no idea that it was literally going to open a door to a whole different way of living.”

Martens’ own story starts as a child with a passion for the martial arts.  “It was originally the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that got me really interested,” admits Martens with a slightly sheepish smile.  “And I had an uncle that had his third degree black belt in karate. So I was always saying, ‘Show me stuff, show me stuff!’  Even before that, my older brothers had let me watch some late 70s/early 80s ninja movies.  I was like ‘That’s what I want to do!’”

However, as the ninth child in a family of 11, money wasn’t available to put Martens into a formal training program.  It wasn’t until the age of 16 that Martens got serious about martial arts.  That’s when two things happened—first, he got a job as a cook at Pizza Hut and could pay for his own lessons; second, students from a rival school started bullying Martens and his friends.

“It was a difficult situation,” says Martens quietly.  “It was particularly bad because there was no respectful fighting, where two people have a quarrel that they felt had to be dealt with physically and people stood back.  It was literally three, four people jumping on one person.  A lot of times we’d get jumped and so I wanted to learn how to defend myself.”

Martens eventually found his way to the Wing Chun School in Kelowna (now called Great Wing Martial Arts).  “For six years I kept going and going and going,” says Martens.  “After two years, I had really decided this is it.  The moves were very simple. For me I was quite small and it made it so even I could defend myself.”

Wing Chun was an eye-opener for the younger Martens.  “In this art, it was literally the people who had been there a week longer than me, were that much better than me. Technique is fundamental to the practice of Wing Chun.  I couldn’t be quicker.  It was the most unsuspecting people who were throwing me around,” he says.

The Kelowna school was non-competitive, meaning no competitions or tournaments. Instead, students were taught to compete with only themselves, striving to be a better person that day than they had been the day before.  Martens took that to heart, and delved into the philosophy of Wing Chun.  That’s where he learned the actual meaning of the words Kung Fu—achievement through effort.  In China, the martial arts are typically referred to as wushu.

“There’s a saying: winning 1,000 battles is great, but if you can avoid one battle that’s even more significant,” says Martens.  “The highest level of Kung Fu is to never have to fight, ever.  And that really doesn’t come about unless you really get to know yourself and who you are.  And by knowing yourself, you become better at Kung Fu.  Everyone has struggles and whoever is trying to start a fight with you is probably having a bad day. And so you almost feel compassion for the person.

“It really comes down to people’s confidence and self-esteem,” he adds.  “Just knowing you can take care of yourself.  I kind of released my ego and the people who were bothering me didn’t really bother me anymore because I felt like I could really hurt someone, so I didn’t want to do that.  The confidence just might open new doors for you and other ways to enjoy more of life.”

Martens’ student Brishona Yeoman certainly agrees with that.  I met Yeoman at a beginner technique and cardio class held Monday evenings at the Academy, where her delight in deflecting strikes and delivering kicks belies the effort it took for her to walk through the door.

Yeoman learned about Martens more than a year ago from a poster at a friend’s house. She drove down to the Academy during closing hours and peeked in the window for a look.  “But I couldn’t do it,” says Yeoman.  Despite her interest, she was just too scared to try.  Four months ago, Martens invited the staff at Yeoman’s favorite coffee shop (Coffee Ladybug) to a session, and a friend brought her along.

“From the first class, I loved it,” Yeoman says.  “I really think it’s changed my life.  I’m more confident.  I’m more positive.  It’s improved my physique a lot.  And I really like the pledge because it makes me think about how I am behaving outside of class.”  The pledge is a declaration recited at the end of each class, where students commit themselves to following a code of behavior that reflects the philosophy of Wing Chun.

“I also like that it’s a defensive art,” says Yeoman.  “Corny always says you never throw the first punch, but you can hit first.  And anybody can do it.  It doesn’t matter what you look like.  Every time, you learn something different.”

More importantly, Yeoman loves the equality of it all.  There are 10 levels of learning in Wing Chun, but the belt at every level is black.  “It signifies that everyone is in the dark,” says Yeoman.  “You’re all equal, even if you’re at different levels.”

Only Martens wears the yellow teaching belt he earned in 2004 along with his Level 10 teaching certificate.  The yellow signifies coming into the light.  And if Monday’s class is any indication, it’s that light Martens is eager to share with every one of his students.

“That’s what I think my biggest goal is,” says Martens.  “I’m teaching people how to take care of themselves in life in general.”

For more information call 250-702-3780 or visit www.cvkungfu.ca.

They may be from different parts of the world and have completely diverse business backgrounds, but a common interest in building an economically sustainable community has Comox Valley residents Michael Linton and Pieter Vorster collaborating on a unique local project.  They call it ‘Community Way’ and it is just one of many systems of an ‘open money’ program.

“Open money is simply a means of exchange freely available to all,” explains Linton.  “Any community, any business, any association—indeed anybody—can have their own money system.  The basic premise of open money is that it is not just banks and governments that can create currency—we can do it ourselves and, in many ways, we can do it better, creating money networks that truly serve the community of users.”

While Vorster is fairly new to the project, Linton has been developing community currencies for almost 30 years.  He began his research in 1982, when a recession had rocked our country, interest rates shot sky-high, and people of the Comox Valley (and elsewhere) complained that there was ‘no money’ to be earned, spent or invested.

Linton, an articulate and well-educated man who emigrated from the United Kingdom and holds an engineering degree and an MBA, among other professional designations, was one of few who were not discouraged.  He began working on a system that he believed would generate and keep ‘money’ in the Comox Valley.  This was about the same time the LETSystem, a model that has reportedly since been replicated more than 3,000 times around the world, was conceived.  The ‘LETS’ name is based on the concept of LETS PLAY, which is an open invitation to all to come and go freely, play safe, and make everyone a winner.

After considerable research and development of a LETS model, in 1999, Linton launched a pilot project based on similar principles in the Comox Valley.  Rather than printed bills, it used ‘Smart Card’ technology to keep track of the currency transactions.  The ingenious system caught the attention of social activists and the media nation-wide.  Linton’s community currency project was profiled in Maclean’s Magazine and other national news media.

“Unfortunately, both the technology and the concept of open money were a little ahead of their time,” recalls Linton.  “We were considered cutting edge in a community that wasn’t ready to embrace change.  I am pleased to report, however, that the Community Way open money program, launched in the Comox Valley in 2009, has been highly successful.”

If you are like me, you are still trying to get your head around the concept of community currency and are challenged to ‘think outside the bank.’   You have raised your eyebrows and are wiggling in your seat wanting to ask questions.  “Who prints and distributes the money?  What are the tax implications?  Is it like a discount or a coupon?  Is it legal?”

As a business owner specializing in social media solutions and website development, Vorster is used to having to spell things out to people who don’t get it.  He smiles sympathetically and clarifies in his gentle South African accent that this current protocol of open money systems is called Community Way dollars (cw$).  It is loosely based on the old-fashioned barter system.  Remember, the good old days when a doctor might get paid for a house call with a live chicken and a sack of potatoes?  In today’s society, that would not likely be considered a fair trade.  After all, not everyone wants a chicken and you can’t pay your bills with potatoes!  Also, with the barter system, there are tax implications of not claiming revenue earned.  And bartering can devalue products sold or services offered. Trading in cw$ brings these old-fashion ideals right back into fashion.

Another analogy that may be more familiar to consumers, says Vorster, is to think of Community Way dollars in terms of Canadian Tire dollars or Airmiles®.  These two examples are widely accepted and perfectly legal.  You simply collect credits/points, then spend or redeem them according to parameters established by the participating businesses.  One important distinction between the Community Way program and other points programs, however, is that the cw$ are valued in units equivalent in measure to the national currency.  For example, cw$1 equals exactly CAD$1.  The other important difference is that is not just one store honoring the money, but many.

The existing Comox Valley Community Way program is administered by an open money development group, which operates like a limited liability partnership or LLP.  It is not a non-profit association and does not hold charitable status.  It is just an informal, not-for-profit community service organization.  While Linton, Vorster, and others have put some cold, hard Canadian cash into the system in order to launch the program, most of their investment over the years has been in sweat equity and time.

Community Way dollars are printed in denominations of cw$1, cw$5, cw$10, cw$20, and a series of commemorative cw$100 bills.  Like traditional currency, they are difficult to duplicate.  This money is managed and accounted by the development group and put into circulation when a business signs up for the program and elects to make a donation of cw$ to the local not-for-profit group of their choice.  The business is also asked to pay an optional registration fee, in cw$ of course, to help cover operational costs of the program.  Some transactions also take place online, as Community Way participants have the ability to access and manage their own cw$ account.

It is important to note, says Linton, that businesses make their donation to charities in cw$, not Canadian currency.  Their commitment of cw$ is recorded in a ledger, very much like bank transaction (only there is no interest charged on the balance owing).  If, at some time in the future, the business decides to cancel their participation in the program, they are obligated to honor the money they have issued by directing cw$ they have accepted from customers to bring their balance owing back to zero.

At present, close to 40 local charities are benefiting from cw$ donations.  This includes a few schools and community groups such as the Comox Valley Hospice Society, the Boys and Girls Club, Lush Valley Food Action Society, Dawn to Dawn, Kitty Cat PALs, and others.  Non-profits interested in being on the beneficiary list should contact Community Way for more information.

The non-profit group receiving the cw$ donation may issue a tax receipt to the business and then spend the gifted cw$, no differently than cash, at any one of about 75 participating businesses in the Comox Valley. Current participating businesses include everything from food and lodging to health and wellness, business services, music lessons, sports, entertainment and more.  Each business sets the parameters as to what percentage of a bill may be paid with cw$.  Some businesses accept 100 per cent cw$.  Others, such as restaurants, may accept only 50 per cent.  A gas station may only take part at 10 per cent.

For example, if a product or service costs $50 plus HST (for a total of $56), you may be able to pay $36 in Canadian currency (or on your credit/debit card) and the $20 balance with cw$.  The business is still required to calculate the tax on the total amount of the sale and record the cw$ in their till as another form of payment.  The non-profit may also ‘gift’ cw$ to staff or volunteers as a measure of appreciation, or sell them to supporters as a fundraiser, as a way to generate Canadian currency.

For anyone with a soft spot for charities—but not a lot of time to volunteer or Canadian currency to give— this is an excellence way to market products and services while doing something good for your community. By enabling non-profits and any business participating in the program to pay a portion of your fee with cw$ you are, essentially, reducing their hard costs, without de-valuing your services.  The end result will always be money in a customer‘s pocket that is ready to be spent with a community-based business, which then continues the cycle.  It truly is a win-win-win situation.

“Our launch of the new cw$ program this time around was highly successful due, in part, to the participation of Adil Amlani from SURE Copy and Print Centre in Courtenay,” says Linton.  “Adil was the ‘glue’ that initially held the program together.  He had a good client base and a service that most people can use at some time or another.  Once he joined the program, other businesses followed.  There is now more than cw$140,000 circulating in the Comox Valley.”

The main idea behind the community currency is that the money stays in the Comox Valley.  Vorster can attest to the fact that with Community Way dollars, what goes around does indeed come around.  “I once drew a little cartoon on a cw$ bill and, months later, that same cw$ came back to me,” he says with a laugh.

Vorster adds that he has also used cw$ as an effective means to build his home-based business, Continual Palingenesis.  “I am from South Africa and I met my wife, Caila Halbrook, while working as a magazine editor in Taiwan,” explains Vorster.  “Caila is from Powell River, so we eventually moved to Canada.  We settled in the Comox Valley and, while my wife was able to find work, I was not.  After I had exhausted all options for employment I decided to start my own business. When I went to SURE Copy, to order promotional materials, Adil told me about Community Way.”

Like most people, Vorster’s first reaction was, “What’s in it for me?

“Because I believe in social activism and I needed to build my business, I registered with the program and started to give to my community,” explains Vorster.  “As soon as I started to give, I started to get back. Within two years I had succeeded in creating a viable small business in a community where I formerly could not secure a job!  What was in it for me was the satisfaction of knowing that when I did something good for my community, I was rewarded.”

Before they fully understand the program, charities invited to become part of the Community Way program also often echo the ‘What’s in it for me’ mantra.  Some are just a bit apprehensive; others have turned down the opportunity to be involved.  Considering that most non-profit groups are managed by a volunteer board of directors who are accountable to their membership and to the government, their concerns are understandable.  Change is hard to accent, sometimes even harder to implement.  Once they accept their first donation and the cw$ start circulating, participating charities soon realize the benefits and reap the rewards.

Project Watershed is a prime example.  This enterprising non-profit society works in partnership with local stewardship organizations, industry and all levels of government, to promote community stewardship of local rivers and streams, fish spawning areas, and wetlands.  Project Watershed was one of the first non-profits to benefit from a cw$ donation and have made good use of the ‘money.’  Over the past two years they have received more than 16,000 in cw$ donations from Comox Valley businesses.  The organization openly acknowledges this fact on its website:  “We are thankful to local businesses for supporting our cause and helping to restore and protect the unique and diverse habitats of the Comox Valley.  We use cw$ in our everyday operations and, of the cw$16,000 that was donated to date, we have exchanged or spent approximately cw$14,000.”

The Comox Valley Community Way program can now be deemed a success and other communities in British Columbia are showing an interest in developing their own system of community currency.  A replication of the program for Powell River is in its infancy; another in the Kootenay Region has been launched, and several communities in Vancouver are considering implementing the program, too.

“The bottom line is that cw$ is all about networking and community collaboration,” concludes Linton.  “It is a way of empowering local business, individuals, and non-profit associations by providing a hand-up, not a hand-out, and supporting the local economy.”

For information on the Comox Valley Community Way program visit www.communityway.ca or call Pieter Vorster at 250.792.2874.

For information on open money systems in general, visit www.openmoney.org.