Dr. Mark Cheng: Professional resumes, CVs, & a long-overdue clarification

Recently, I've been getting quite a few more requests for different workshops, and occasionally the hosts ask me for a resume or a CV or some other sort of info about me to help them promote the workshops or events.

Over the years, I've written & re-written so many different CVs for different projects & hosts that trying to look through all the different PDFs & files to update them has gotten to be chore that I don't have the bandwidth for, especially when they ask for skill-specific CVs.

Why the difficulty with skill-specific curricula vitae? 

Because my life and my passions are INSEPARABLE from my professional pursuits. The toughest thing is having to explain over & over again that the combat arts are traditionally inseparable from the traditional healing arts as well. While more & more people are clear on that reality, it's always time consuming to have to explain over & over again that my martial arts training (especially with some of my early teachers) is part & parcel of my medical education.

Oh! You're the kettlebell guy! The acupuncture guy! The martial arts guy! The rehab guy! The Tai-Chi guy!.... Actually, step back about 50 feet and take a big picture look at what I do. 

People love to look at specific things to be able to compartmentalize. That gives them a better sense of security, of feeling like they know what something or someone is about. But that's just not who or what I am, how I operate, or how the real world is on a practical level. People who are hardcore specialists are awesome, but I'm a guy who prefers to see life in a multifactorial perspective.

In ancient times, martial arts masters were recognized as such for their practical understanding of the human body. They understood the training methods that made it work better. They understood the techniques to disable or dismember it. To be able to retain students and pass on their teachings, they also understood how to effectively treat and rehabilitate the injuries that occurred in combat training. My whole life has been centered around this reality, and there's no distinction in my heart between strength training, functional movement, manual medicine, acupuncture, herbology, injury rehab, combat sports, and tactical science.

Similarly, the hours that I've spent on studying strength training, movement screening, and diagnostic/rehab methods also fit in perfectly with martial arts by improving performance and reducing downtime from injuries.

Nonetheless, everything I just said still has to meet the public on its level of understanding before changing the paradigm. So I'm still going to post my 2 basic CVs, focusing on:

1. Human Performance & Rehabilitation (with a sub-section on Strength Training)
2. Martial Arts & Combatives Research

I'll edit these & update them as errors or omissions are brought to my attention. BIG thanks go to each & every one of you who has reminded me countless times to get this info up online. As someone who is already pretty damn busy with all of my clinical, writing, researching, & teaching.

Human Performance & Rehabilitation
Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, Santa Monica, CA - Masters Degree Traditional Oriental Medicine (MTOM) 2002
State of California - Acupuncture Licensure (L.Ac. designation) 2003
American Liberty University, Fullerton, CA - Doctorate Degree: Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine (PhD) 2005
Functional Movement Systems, Chatham, VA - Faculty Member 2010-present
Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine & Yosan University - former faculty member (Tui-Na)

Strength Training
Russian Kettlebell Instructor Certification - RKC 2006, personal student of founder, Pavel Tsatsouline
TRX Suspension Training Sports Medicine certification 2012-present
StrongFirst Kettlebell Certification - Senior SFG Instructor 2012-present

Multimedia:
Functional Movement Systems - Kettlebells From the Ground Up 1 & 2
MovementLectures.com - Prehab-Rehab 101: The Groundwork Progressions

Martial Arts & Combatives Research
California Institute of Technology, Assistant Tai Chi Instructor to Prof. Daniel K. Lee 1991-1992
UCLA Kung-Fu Club, Founder 1993-1997
Black Belt Magazine, Contributing Editor 1996 - present
American Combat Shuai-Chiao Association, Black Belt Instructor certification
Gee Yung Sil Lum Fut Ga Martial Arts Association, Instructor certification
Yod Khun Pon Thai Martial Arts Association, Level 1 Instructor certification
Inosanto International Martial Arts Instructors Association, certified Jeet Kune Do & Inosanto Kali Instructor certification 2014

Multimedia:
Dragon Door Publications - Kettlebell Warrior: Applied Combat Kettlebells for Maximum Martial Power
Unique Publications - Combat Tai-Chi
Beachbody - Tai Cheng
Black Belt Publications - Hwa Rang Do: Defend, Take Down, Submit, co-authored with Taejoon Lee
Chen Kuan Book Co., LTD - Chan Chiao: The Art & Science of Combat Shuai-Chiao, assistant translator & editor, authored by David C.K. Lin

Merry Christmas!

To each and every KBLA blog reader out there,

You've all been tremendous gifts to me throughout the year. 2008 has brought me more blessings than I could have ever dreamed of. For a nobody kid from central Delaware, I've seen more of LA International Airport (and a others) that I'd have ever imagined in my wildest dreams this year... Scotland, Denmark, Hungary, New Zealand, countless trips domestically, and plenty more to come in 2009.

Your comments, your e-mails, your instructor reviews, your phone calls, your text messages, your handshakes, your pats on the back, and your hugs have made me and my mission heartier, higher, and HARDer, and I can't thank you all enough for that.

My thoughts are never far from the men & women who are serving their countries overseas, far from their families and loved ones. May God watch over them and bring them home safe, sound, & sane.

My martial arts teachers & masters are due their special respects, especially Master David C.K. Lin & his son Sifu James Lin (Combat Shuai-Chiao) and Master Arthur Y.S. Lee & his son Sifu Harlan Lee (Sil Lum Fut Ga). I remain lifelong in your debt.

I'd like to express a very special note of thanks to one man who changed the course of my life with a few introductions that he made. Guro Daniel Inosanto introduced me to both Prof. Roy Harris (my BJJ and Kalis Ilustrissimo mentor & big brother) and to Pavel Tsatsouline (my human performance & kettlebell training mentor). Pavel, in turn, introduced me to Gray Cook, and the two of them have turned the direction of my life and my life's passion inside-out, upside-down, washed it, dried it, and ironed it to military spec.

To my students and readers around the world, thank you for opening your hearts and minds to what I've had to say, to teach, and to share. I've had unique blessings to drink directly from the fountains of knowledge that are shaping our understanding of orthopedic medicine, physical therapy, elite human performance, and combative martial arts. With each time you open your worlds to me, you allow me to share the experience with you. And I get the greatest satisfaction when I get to see you all share that message with your clients, students, and patients. This is why the KBLA RKC instructors are my greatest professional joy!

I wish you and your loved ones a VERY Merry Christmas! May 2009 bring us all a STRONG YEAR!

GOD, I love this $hi# !!!

It's a beautiful thing when you get a rush from what you do for work. It is an ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL thing!

As many of you know, I started off with my clinic, the Chung-Hua Institute, focused intensely on orthopedic medicine and using the lens of traditional Chinese manual medicine (Tui-Na) as my main modality for healing treatment, with acupuncture, herbal medicines, and Chi Kung instruction as secondary methods.

I love Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and I came to love it through my participation in traditional Chinese martial arts, which I've taught for well over a decade now.

And now that I'm really doing a lot more cutting edge stuff with kettlebell rehab, thanks to my education with Pavel, Gray Cook, Brett Jones, Rif, and guys like them, my workdays are just a buzz for me!

The last patient I just saw this evening came in to see me because he had incredible lower back pain. He's a young guy and was none-too-thrilled about the prospect of not being able to play the sports he loved (basketball, volleyball, & golf) because of the sharp pain and incredible cramping he was experiencing in his lower back. He expressed his dim hopes that he'd at least be able to move without having to suffer those horrible lower back cramps. His MD recommended kettlebell training as a possible means of strengthening and rehabbing his back, but his physical therapist scoffed at the idea.

I ran some basic orthopedics tests on him, and there were no major problems with nerve root compression, joint misalignment, or anything that would really require intervention. However, his posterior chain was quite weak and his hips were inflexible. From just focusing on Wall Squats, KB deadlifts, KB swings, & pistols, he regained his ability to move in a vital, strong, powerful fashion. Halfway through the second session, I took him out to the balcony and had him sprint, side shuffle, and leap. He was shocked with not only his ability to do those moves at full speed and full commitment, but to be able to do them without pain.

After 2 kettlebell rehab sessions, he could move fully without any sign of pain or hesitation, and expressed his satisfaction with being able to move strongly without apprehension and the joy of being able to function pain-free.

I tell you... Those sorts of moments fill most of my days. How can I not love what I do? :)