By Dr. Craig D. Reid
By Dr. Craig D. Reid
Yes, I know, this is a film website, but as you also know, due to being a stuntman in Chinese kung fu films since 1979, any event that spreads Asian Culture as well as perpetuats unity amongst all the various Asian American communities is just as important as any good marital arts movie or Asian made blockbuster.
But in a sense, the inaugural Asian Cultural Festival (ACF) in San Diego being held May 8, 2010 at the NTC Park at Liberty Station is a blockbuster, as it will be busting up the block intersection of San Diego’s cross streets of Cushing and Roosevelt Roads with Asian martial arts, song, dance, cooking demonstrations and of course Asian food.
As you all know I have been blogging for the SDAFF (San Diego Asian Film Festival) for three years, so I am stoked that I’ll be running into many of the same fine folks that volunteer time to that festival who have now become major contributing organizers involved with the ACF.
SDAFF alumni such as Brian Thai, Edward Shaffer, Jeanette Di Pinza, Jimmy Lee, Mark Gadia, Pamela Hyunh, Paula Le, Ruriko Sato and Terry Matsuoka, as well as other dedicated brother and sister advocates of Asian unity like Chris Feraro, Cynthia Francisco, Dennis-Michael Broussard, JR Melchor, Megia Chou and Richie Edquid, have worked long hours under the banner of Asian unity to create San Diego’s first Asian Cultural Festival, which is San Diego’s official celebration for Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month.
Having practiced martial arts since 1972 and learning Qigong in 1980, both of these aspects of Asian culture are very important to me, because they both literally saved my life. (That’s a whole other story currently being written about in my current book project Five Years).
So needless to say, the main martial arts event that you must see is the demonstration put on by
JING Institute of Chinese Martial Arts & Culture, the martial arts home of Jing Jing Evans, an eight-time Grand Champion of the coveted USA Wushu-Kungfu Federation competition. No one else in San Diego can reflect her accomplishments yet they are outweighed by the dedication Jing and her husband, Chris Mendoza, teach kids the proper and respectful ways of martial arts, specifically taiji (tai-chi) and wushu.
Without being biased, if you are interested in learning about real Qigong and its far-out health benefits, and experiencing first hand the ancient new ways of Qi Healing (something my wife Silvia and I have been doing for over 23 years), then please stop by our Vivalachi booth for a free Qi Reading and to take the three tests.
The Food Challenge: We’ll instantly tell you if you are truly allergic or have food intolerance to wheat, gluten, sugar or milk; The Color Challenge, where you can find out what your power colors are and how by wearing the wrong colored clothes can make you physically weak; and The Aches and Pain Challenge, where within a few minutes we’ll eliminate just about any aches or pains your body has.
The festival is being presented by the Mabuhay Alliance, a nonprofit organization with a vision of a prosperous and thriving community where minority groups contribute to sustainability of the local economy.
Title sponsors include Barona Resort & Casino, the City of San Diego and Copao, and media sponsors such the San Diego Tribune, Asian Journal, Asia, Asian Reader and Yelp, have all banded together in honor of the Asian Cultural Festival, as a Shakespearean Band of Brothers to support San Diego’s various Asian communities under the umbrella of peace, cooperation and unity.
Of course, come visit the SDAFF booth and find out about how you can become involved in one of America’s premier Asian Film Festivals, the San Diego Asian Film, the only film festival not only in the United States but also in the world that increased their number of film screenings and doubled the length of the festival in 2009. Jolly good.