Keru Uma Budo
Kicking horse martial arts symbolizes the life philosophy we adopted after 25 years of practicing and teaching budo.
Purpose and Mission
Our purpose is to help people live healthier, happier and more balanced lives through Tai Chi and Mindfulness.
Our mission is to provide the roots and principles to get students started on a lifelong journey that they can eventually take to the next level on their own.
Body and Mind
Keru Uma Budo
Keru Uma Budo - kicking horse martial arts - symbolizes the life philosophy we adopted after 25 years of practicing and teaching budo (martial arts).
Like a wild horse, enjoy life and your freedom, roaming green pastures under wide open skies. Build affectionate relations and friendships. Be compassionate. Have fun. There is no limit to what you can do.
However, you never want to get in the way when a kicking horse feels that it needs to defend itself or its family.
Tai Chi
Tai Chi Ch’uan / Taijiquan is an ancient Chinese martial art and health system focused on preventive care. It is often referred to as meditation in motion.
Through slow and precise movements we will work on our balance and body control. In all exercises we keep close awareness on our breath and energy flows. This will increase awareness and counterbalances our often stressful lives through an hour of mindfulness.
Multiple studies have shown that Tai Chi decreases stress, improves balance, bone density and overall wellness. It has also been proven to slow down age related memory issues.
Practicing Tai Chi will make you feel more energized and will improve your posture.
Ikebana
Ikebana is the traditional Japanese form of flower arrangement.
There are hundreds of different schools of Japanese flower arrangement. The one Uli is teaching is one of the newer ones. The Sogetsu school of Ikebana was founded by Teshigahara Sofu in 1927 and is now headed by his daughter.
Working with flowers and seeing their inert beauty teaches appreciation for nature, meditation and fits perfectly into the recent uprising of minimalism.
Finding the Heart
PRINCIPLES FOR TAI CHI AND LIFE
"To find and to understand the principles means to find the heart.
In western cultures, we often look at martial arts more as a form of acrobatics. Few people look at what is behind the outer shell. To find and to understand the principles (the essence) means to find the heart.
Furthermore, those principles are the basis for a life of morality, humanity, justice, acceptance, and wisdom. This book tries to offer those principles as a foundation for the student who embarks on the journey to discover the art on a deeper layer. Understanding the essence will provide a solid foundation to further develop the technical movements of the art of Tai Chi.
Alfons and Uli have found their path and shared their personal emotions, sensations, and thoughts in this well-written book."
- Hilmar Fuchs, 2018
Uli and I have been practicing various forms of martial arts for over 25 years. We learned Karate, Kobudo and Tai Chi from our teacher Hilmar Fuchs. We studied Aikido for a while with a friend. We explored Jodo with one of the leading experts in North America. We spent some time learning the Yang family style teachings in the school of a direct decedent of the Yang family and current leader of the style. We learned how defensive shooting techniques and empty hand fighting can be combined into a coherent system.
Most of the principles and thoughts in this book come from what we have learned over the years from our teacher Hilmar Fuchs. Some were inspired by other leaders in martial arts and outside of that realm. And yet another set was driven and inspired by questions from students in our classes. Occasionally we had some insights on our own.
With that, we hope you will enjoy the book, find a few things that make sense to you and maybe enrich your own practice. We cannot teach universal truths, but we aim to offer ideas for your own explorations.
While we prefer the printed version for fidelity and better ability to be used as a working book during your practice, we also have a Kindle version of our book.
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Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO LIVING HEALTHIER, HAPPIER AND MORE SUCCESSFUL IN 52 WEEKLY STEPS
"You will read about many of today's energy sources and drains in this book, while also finding excellent tips and suggestions on how to manage them. Decide and pick the ones that are working best and are most meaningful for you.
With this book, Alfons and Uli offer a plan in simple weekly steps and short, clear chapters that can be readily applied. Look at those suggestions as a menu, a selection, an offering of ideas, impulses, and opportunities that are both simple and proven over time.
The key is to do it and to find the right balance. The same is true for deliberately doing nothing. I hope you will enjoy this straightforward, beautiful and inspiring book."
- Thomas Aschenbrenner, 2019
Alfons has been working at Amazon, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard in Executive and Senior Leadership roles for the last 25 years. He has studied various martial arts over the same period. As time progressed those worlds and their principles merged for him and enriched each other. When he became a parent, a whole new world of insights opened up.
Ulrike is a well-known Tai Chi and Ikebana teacher in her community. She serves as a staff teacher for ‘Mindfulness for Kids’ at our Elementary school, where she also leads the PTSA art docent program. Before moving to the US, Uli practiced as Medical Doctor (OBGYN) at the University of Aachen in Germany.
LIVE HAPPIER, HEALTHIER AND MORE SUCCESSFUL IN 52 WEEKLY STEPS
At many points in my professional life, I felt challenged to ‘go all in’ and sacrifice family health or my personal passions for success at work. Not that I was asked to do it, but I thought I had to. Luckily, I caught these imbalances early enough to avoid going down on a doom spiral. I started to pay close attention to principles and methods that helped me be more efficient and allowed me to have both a great professional career as well as a healthy and fulfilling personal life.
Live is a marathon, not a sprint.
Our lives must be balanced to have sustainable success and fulfillment. In this book, I want to share the principles that helped me achieve that balance. Those principles and methods are based on scientific research as well as what I learned from mentors and role models at work and in my personal life.
Much of what you will read stems from martial arts lessons and strategies I learned in business. A significant contribution also comes from my wife Uli and her thoughts on minimalism, simplification, the arts, and focusing on experiences rather than material possessions.
None of what you will read is rocket science or my own discovery. However, it is a summary of principles and approaches that worked for me over the past 25 years, leaving out all the things that I learned the hard way not to work. Those principles helped me stay sane and healthy in environments of extreme challenge and pressure.
While we prefer the printed version for fidelity and better ability to be used as a working book during your practice, we also have a Kindle version of our book.
Your Review Matters
Authors depend on book reviews for their work to be seen and considered by readers. Can you help?
We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please leave a review on Amazon.
Thriving in High-Pressure Environments
Lessons from Amazon, a global pandemic, and other crazy times
Forged by fire
In April 2020, our family moved to Bozeman, MT, where I took on a new role as Managing Director Strategic IT at Montana State University. From my first day on the job, the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic forced us to think on our toes, constantly change our strategies and tactics, and always be ready for surprises.
Applying my learnings from high-stake, high-pressure roles in Amazon allowed me to help transform the organization and culture while rebuilding team morale and keeping motivation high. During the pandemic, my team delivered high-impact outcomes at an unprecedented velocity and volume. We were rewriting every process in the book while running at top speed, keeping up with ever-changing demands and constraints to serve our customers during those challenging times.
The world population lived through challenging, demanding, and emotionally taxing times in the year 2020. Times like that make you break or come out stronger on the other side. I tried to help my team come out stronger by sharing my learnings from the decades with Microsoft and Amazon in what I called ‘weekly reflections’. Most often, those reflections discussed approaches and thought models to deal with specific issues that I observed during that week.
A different set of challenges presented themselves when Uli took over a role as Site Manager for the Montana State University COVID Testing Center and later their COVID vaccination program. Some of my thoughts and lessons were inspired by those challenges.
This book summarizes the lessons, approaches, and principles that I shared with my team as we all did our best to deliver exceptional service to our customers in circumstances that no one was prepared for.
I hope that some of the strategies and principles will work for you as beautifully as they did for me. I hope they will help you thrive in challenging situations and help you get one step closer to your dreams.
"This common-sense approach to discussing what has been learned is easily understandable and was readily adapted to a variety of challenging situations that we as business people experienced in the recent past. It also provides a structured guide to apply those same “learnings” as we move through future weeks, months, and years.
If you seek theory, you will be disappointed. If you pursue reality and the associated efforts of discovering new and creative ways to resolve issues, you will be very satisfied. A concept that I encourage and attempt to adhere to myself is “change, assess, and then change again”. This book will provide the foundation for taking action, assessing, learning, and taking action again."
- Michael Trotter, Vice President and CIO, Montana State University
While we prefer the printed version for fidelity and better ability to be used as a working book during your practice, we also have a Kindle version of our book.
Your Review Matters
Authors depend on book reviews for their work to be seen and considered by readers. Can you help?
We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please leave a review on Amazon.
Shu Ha Ri - How we learn
Teaching and learning in traditional martial arts is divided in three phases: Shu (obey), Ha (detach) and Ri (leave). Over the years of studying the art, a student moves through those phases until she finds her own way. Don’t try to hasten to Ri too quickly, it takes decades. Trying to find shortcuts will distract and confuse rather than help the progress.
Shu – This is the phase that every student in every martial art starts with. The purpose is to exactly follow the teacher’s instruction and precisely copy her. During this phase the body will learn the movements and subconsciously get a ‘feel’ for the principles at play.
Ha – After years of practice a student will more deeply understand the principles that are lying behind a martial art and its techniques. She will understand what’s critical for the art and what’s just an expression of style from different teachers. The student will start to learn what interpretation and variation will work best for her body. This is the time when students start to experiment with the art and slowly and carefully go beyond the boundaries of what they are presented with in class.
Ri – After decades of practice, the student’s body will have learned the principles of the movements. It will have become a natural part of her body. The student will have discovered what works best within the special abilities and constraints of her body as well as what works best for others that she teaches. It is now time to find her own interpretation, to develop the art further and contribute to keeping it adapting and alive. The student will leave the teacher to find her own way, although she will never lose the connection to her roots or her teacher. Even in Ri a student is not finished learning. She will seek out other masters and other arts to broaden her understanding and bring new ideas back to her art.
About Us
Alfons Staerk
Alfons has been practicing Tai Chi, Karate, Kobudo and other martial arts since 1992 and holds a 4th degree black belt in Karate (awarded 2005; he received his 1st degree black belt 1996). He has been giving classes for all age groups since 1993 with a special focus on self defense as well as health aspects.
Alfons received his Karate instructor and examiner licenses from the German Olympic Sports Confederation in 2004 and his Tai Chi instructor license for Komatsu-Ha 2009 in Florida.
Professionally Alfons work as Manging Director at MSU. In the past he was a senior technology manager at Amazon and Microsoft. His passion is coaching and developing people.
Ulrike Staerk
Uli started Tai Chi, Karate and Kobudo in 1993 and holds a 3rd degree black belt in Karate (awarded 2006; she received her 1st degree black belt 1999). She has been giving classes for all age groups since 1997. Uli has a strong interest in holistic health and wellbeing, combining exercise, nutrition and the arts.
She received her Karate instructor and examiner licenses from the German Olympic Sports Confederation in 2004 and her Tai Chi instructor license for Komatsu-Ha 2009 in Florida. In 2016 she was awarded with a Yonkyu Shihan teacher diploma by the Sogetsu School in Tokyo, Japan.
Uli is a well-known Tai Chi and Ikebana teacher. Currently Uli is leading MUS's Testing and Vaccination centers. She previously served as staff teacher for ‘Mindfulness for Kids’ at the local Elementary school, where she also lead the art docent program. Before moving to the US, Uli practiced as Medical Doctor at the University of Aachen in Germany.