December Announcements

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Free Self-Defense Seminars Portland

This summer Quantum PDX will launch free self defense seminars focused on helping empower our community. Quantum is a safe space for all, we believe that self defense is about having confidence in yourself. Quantum aims to give people the tools to move comfortably in the world being themselves. Human rights are under attack right now all over and certain communities are being targeted with hate. We do not accept this. Whoever you are if you have love in your heart, we stand with you.

We at Quantum Martial Arts aim to help bring light into the world by standing tall with our community and helping people learn how to protect each other. These seminars and our classes aim to give our community, which includes minorities, women, LGBTQ+, people of color the tools needed to help change the world. Change starts with being confident in who you are, building your voice, standing up for what you believe in and having people start standing with you. Quantum wants to make a space for people to show up brightly and confidently, a space where they trust each other so we can do the hard work.

Part of our training is working on our edge of comfort that is where the learning happens. Past trauma tricks our brain into flight or fight mode so we want to begin by bringing people back to their breath, help them find their center and then give them some tools to navigate when life gets hard. Our goal is to show people that self defense comes from a defensive mindset and we want our community being one step ahead. We focus on enhancing the greater consciousness, being mindful and staying mentally aware in the difficult moments. We look at self defense through the lens of becoming a martial artist.

If you are interested in learning more please reach out we hope to have our first Self Defense seminar in early August of 2022 but we offer free entry level classes every week. No experience is needed for our classes just come with an open mind, a willing body and a strong spirit.

Quantum PDX Launches Kids Martial Arts Program

Starting in March, Quantum PDX kicked off our Kids Martial Arts Program in Portland. We did this by launching the Quarks program which is for ages of 4, 5 and 6 year old children. At 6, we begin to transition them into our Kids Program for ages 6 to 10, which we are also hoping to launch in the next couple of months. We offer sliding scale membership and scholarships for any student in need of financial aid.

Quantum has been successfully teaching this age group in Seattle and San Francisco for the last 5 years. Our Chief Instructor in Portland, Brad Lyons, kicked off the launch of the Quarks program in San Francisco in 2017 and has been assisting in it ever since. He is excited to now launch this program here in Portland in a time when it is highly needed.

The last couple of years has been especially hard on preschool aged children and their parents trying to find ways to socialize and build community. By starting with this age group, we hope to support our students and their families building a strong community that the kids can grow up in. Quantum believes that a non-competitive environment focused on allowing kids to safely take risks, set their own boundaries and learn in the presence of their peers builds confidence.

In addition, the agility and martial arts component of our program teaches our students body awareness and how to focus on following instructions when chaos is all around us. We combine learning and a action packed environment, giving our students a chance to learn while being kids. Our students are given space to shape the growth ahead of them, learning is incremental and achievable. We encourage our students to keep trying and to cheer for each other, which is exciting for everyone. All of our lessons embody the five tenants of the martial arts: Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control and Indomitable Spirit.

Students are tested regularly, every 2-3 weeks in our Quarks program, so they see their growth and experience it with their peers.

It will be exciting to see this next cohort of kids grow through our system together. Many of our Quarks in our other programs are now reaching higher ranks in our kids program and with that are having success in and outside the dojo.

All of our kids programming lines up at some point with our adult programming, though we do keep the programs separate. This gives everybody a chance to have their own training but also creates a common language within families to share their learnings. We hope to offer some family classes in Portland at some point.

Mindful Movement Class

Quantum Martial Arts is now offering a weekly introductory class to the Community on Mindful Movement. This class is a donation based sliding scale offering with a recommended donation of $15/class for non-Quantum members. We offer this class Monday’s at 4:30 pm PDT via Zoom during the winter months and add in person park classes as the weather improves. The class is attended by community members from all over and is held at a time that allows for different time zone participants.

In this class, we look at the interconnectedness of the body and focus on the cultivation, harmony and free flow of energy. Participants will experience moving the mind inward, following their breath and will begin to explore and thicken the awareness of their internal energy. From this internal viewpoint we begin to work on internal tissue stretch and release, opening the body and mind to allow the free flow of energy. We use movement and stillness to combine elements of Qi Gong, Taiji, Nei Gong and meditation. This particular class is good in conjunction with any martial art or movement art. Each class, we look at proper physical alignment and structure to prepare the body for the free flow of energy. We also spend time opening the joints through relaxation and integrated movement.

This class is open to all experience levels and free to Quantum members.

To learn more email: brad@quantumpdx.org

Building a Dojo

If you have been around gyms much in your life at all, you understand that each training center has a different feel that reflects on you as the student or teacher. When you walk into a training center or gym for the first time, you are going to instantly have a first impression. Your senses are going to tell you 99% of what you need to know in the first few minutes. Only you know what you are looking for and what you need, but the space tells you everything if you allow it to. You will take in the cleanliness, the customer service, the colors, the smells as well as the overall look and feel. You will notice the music, the people, the way the people interact with each other and even the way they are dressed. Generally speaking, you will be able to describe how you feel about the training environment in under 5 minutes. Ultimately, we all decide very quickly on whether we think a gym is good fit for our needs.

At Quantum Martial Arts we take a very intentional stance on how we want our space to look, feel and be for our community. We know that what we build will influence the character of the people who are drawn to us, and we are looking for smart, articulate, creative people who share a passion for learning. We want our space to be a reflection of the world we want to live in, and we ask our students to participate in that ownership. We have found that for martial arts to be successful, the students must feel they own their journey and are a part of a living art. This feeling deepens the commitment and the dedication it takes to be a life-long martial artist. The dojo also must give the student the feeling that it is open for them to participate in freely and enjoy the art of movement without fear of being physically or emotionally attacked. The irony is that we also want to create a space where we can push each other and ourselves to explore our edges, to play with flight or fight instincts and to grow our confidence, balance and strength.  

When you walk into a Quantum dojo, we want the space to welcome you in a way that sparks your curiosity. We want it to feel safe and for you to feel inspired. Our goal is to help encourage you to explore what martial arts could mean to you. There is a certain mysticism that you will probably feel when you enter one of our dojos. This feeling comes by building a space with intention, rooting it in ritual and focusing on good energy flow. This feeling never goes away, and in time, the space draws you in. The space itself shares in your story, supports your growth, and challenges you to take risks on and off the mat. With the right approach, failure will be met with growth and will help remove mental and physical limitations. The dojo itself encourages openness and resonates the truth; as you evolve, the space evolves with you. As you seek the truth in the dojo, you let go of the past, move into the present, and a whole world of opportunity opens up. This, in itself, is the path of the martial artist.

Over the years our community has built several dojos. Each time we get a little bit better at building a space that serves our community. As we grow, we learn more about what our diverse community needs to create the blank canvas and how we can serve each other. We consider our dojo to be our training partner, and the best training partners are there for you when and how you need them to be. Our dojos are never complete; they are living breathing spaces that are dynamic and free flowing. We believe that our dojo is a reflection of the collective energy of our community.  We want our community to be able to bring the dojo into their own life and to understand that a dojo can be created anywhere. The mentality of transporting the dojo into your life and creating spaces in your own world that center you is part of what Quantum hopes to instill.

In Japanese, the word dojo means the place of the way. We believe the way to be embodied in our martial arts as the grace of movement and the integration of mind, body and spirit.

So, here we are in Portland, OR where we just founded our new chapter in 2020. Quantum Martial Arts was originally founded in 1995 by Master Rachael Evans. We now have over 27 years of experience building dojos, and we have learned many lessons. Quantum Portland includes an experienced group of martial artists and teachers locally who have been teaching and training together for some time prior to moving to Portland. Over the last two years, we have had the opportunity to intentionally visualize what we want our Quantum dojo and community to look like. Our community, though small, is built on resiliency. Over the last two years, we have trained in the rain, in the sun and in the shade with a cool breeze. We have trained virtually, in person distanced with masks, with no contact, with contact and in every way you can imagine. We have learned to elevate the consciousness of our group and bring our sense of dojo to every place we train. Now we are ready to establish our roots.

As we move forward and grow, we are looking to create an inviting safe space for our diverse group of teachers, students, parents and extended community members. We want the space to encourage people to challenge themselves. We want it to be a space for healing and self-actualization; a blank canvas for creating our journey. We want the art to enhance how families treat each other and to give kids the tools they need to succeed in life. We have now settled into a shared space with Traditional Tae Kwon-Do in the Southeast district of Portland. We are adding  training time, a variety of classes, new equipment, and we are figuring out what our community needs. In essence, we are building our dojo, and we look forward to sharing in that experience with our extended community.

With the help of our students and volunteers, Quantum has transformed spaces before into Quantum unique dojos, and we will do it again! This time, we are fortunate to enter a partnership with a well-established dojo and community. Master Gil Johnson of Traditional Tae Kwon-Do was kind enough to open his space to us after training with Quantum several years back in San Francisco. Master Johnson has been training in this Portland location for nearly 40 years, and he brings a passion to safety and student well-being that is shared with Quantum. Together both schools have an opportunity  to share in this exciting experience.