Tiger Crane Kung Fu gets Pepsi Refresh Project grant
Program bringsmartial arts to kids inlow-income families
* By Jake Finch
* Ventura County Star
* Posted February 1, 2011 at 9:07 p.m.
Kurtis Fujita prides himself for running a martial arts school that balks against the mainstream.
At Tiger Crane Kung Fu in Simi Valley, the emphasis of Fujita's instruction isn't racking up the cost through endless belt testing, but exposing people to the beauty and athleticism of kung fu.
But what about the kids who could benefit from martial arts whose families are struggling financially?
"I thought it would be a really good idea to extend what we do at this school," Fujita said.
So the Simi Valley resident took to the Internet and applied for a Pepsi Refresh Project grant, which awarded him $5,000 in October to offer scholarships to low-income children wanting to learn martial arts.
He produced an informational video that can be seen at
http://www.refresheverything.com/kungfu. Fujita's grant is the first awarded to a Ventura County program out of 9,100 grants awarded since the project's start.
"We're kicking off the second year of the project," said Amanda Ehrman, Fujita's grant manager with GOOD, the company Pepsi uses to facilitate its grant program.
Now in its second year, the Pepsi Refresh Project awards $1.3 million each month to 32 recipients. Grants range from $5,000 to $250,000 and cover health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhood and education. Anyone or any organization can apply for the grants, which are approved by online voters through the website refresheverything.com.
"The mission of the Pepsi Refresh Project is to reach out to communities big and small," said Shelley Kiernan, spokeswoman for GOOD.
"(Fujita) is definitely the crystallization of the intent of the Pepsi Refresh project," Kiernan said.
The program Fujita proposed will take three children, ages 10 to 12, from qualified low-income families (determined through an application following the federal poverty level formula) and teach them the traditional Chinese lion dance, usually performed on Chinese New Year.
The lion dance combines kung fu and Chinese folk dance movements. There were no lions in ancient China, and there are several stories about how it originated, but the one that Fujita follows tells of an emperor who dreamed of a lion walking through the forest. His advisers told him the lion was a good omen and represented good fortune. The emperor never had a bad dream again.
The yearlong program targets older children because the equipment for the lion dance is heavy, Fujita said.
"In martial arts, it can sometimes be an individual practice, but this will bring together the whole school," Fujita said. "It forces everybody to work together as a cohesive whole."
An application for the scholarships can be downloaded from
http://tigercrane.net. The application is listed under the "media" button. Deadline is Feb. 11.