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Realizations Radio

“Your host Jia H. Jung, going long with individuals of uncommon expertise, trades, crafts, and passions!”

March 11, 2020 New EP. 10 – MICHELLE H. LIN

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Michelle Lin is a Shaolin Kung Fu and Yang-style Taijiquan (Tai Chi) teacher within Yang’s Martial Arts Association (YMAA). Michelle and her partner, Jonathan Chang, have taught around the world and currently offer classes, workshops, online live lessons, and video tutorials through their company, Barking Rabbit.

Michelle began her training in Shaolin Kung Fu in 1997 at Yang’s Martial Arts Association (YMAA) in Andover, MA. In 2001, she took a break to attend Tufts University. In 2008, she learned that Jonathan Chang (now her partner) had been accepted into the YMAA Retreat Center’s 10-year program in Miranda, CA. Inspired and encouraged, she resumed her training at YMAA Andover. With a fresh perspective, she became deeply appreciative of the arts and aspired to learn more.

In 2013, Michelle became the first female student ever to be accepted into the YMAA Retreat Center founded by renowned martial arts teacher and author Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming in Humboldt County, California. She embarked upon a 5-year program to train full-time in the disciplines of Shaolin and Taijiquan. Upon her graduation in June 2018, committed herself as the first female disciple of Dr. Yang.

Michelle has competed in and served as a judge at several tournaments. In 2016, amidst her training at the YMAA Retreat Center, she was in the feature film “Assassin’s Creed,” directed by Justin Kurzel and starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. On the silver screen, she played a modern day assassin – coincidentally named “Lin” – who is descended from Shao Jun,” star of the video game “Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China.”

Michelle views martial arts as a positive way of life that she aims to share with others through teaching. Michelle is continually inspired by mentors, training partners, students, and those who strive to improve themselves. She is forever grateful to Dr. Yang and her second family, the YMAA community.

For more about Michelle and her offerings with John Chang, please :

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August 31, 2016 EP. 9 – STEPHANIE GANCAYCO

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Stephanie Gancayco is a New York-based, Bay Area-raised Filipina-American womenswear designer with a deep passion for indigenous rights and women’s economic empowerment. After finishing her formal fashion design education at California College of the Arts, she began her career in the fashion industry in 2007 and has worked with some of the industry’s leading designers such as Anna Sui, Jen Kao, and Vince Camuto. With her own brand, Stephanie collaborates with indigenous women artisans in the Philippines to translate traditional attire and textiles into contemporary ready-to-wear that feels distinctly Filipino + American. She aspires to promote and preserve Filipino culture, bring income to indigenous communities, and pride to Pinoys about their pre-colonial roots. Stephanie is also working on an online platform for conversations on Filipina identity called hellapinay.com, set to launch in late 2016. She is currently the product director for Citizen x Hound, a locally-produced line of dog accessories that celebrates the bond between human and hound, and also designs knitwear for one of the largest women’s retailers in the world.

April 9, 2014 Ep. 8 – JASON FRIED

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Jason Fried is a native New Yorker. Educated in both Math and Music, he moves freely between the realms of art and science in his everyday life. He is a co-founder of the Brooklyn based perfume startup Bergamot, which operates on a unique model of monthly subscriptions to hand-curated, small-batch assortments of niche and rare fragrances. He is also a founding member of the Shed Story Salon, where people convene in a night-lit backyard in Red Hook to tell true stories. His desire to create unique experiences began during his days founding myopenbar.com in 2007, when he and his cohorts helped NYC residents drink for free, throwing endless free parties in the oddest of venues. In this episode, he shares with us the story of his rise to the fragrance industry, tales of the trade, and fun facts about how smell pervades everything from psychology to society to economy.

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January 27, 2014 Ep. 7 – RAYMOND GENIO

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Raymond Genio moved to New  York City from his native California about two years ago. He was drawn to the city to do photography and videography, and has additionally found himself working as a freelance camera operator for ESPN 3. He acquired a taste for vaping (or the act of consuming electronic cigarettes) during summer break back on the West Coast, where the industry was already blossoming.  His newfound interest in vaping brought him into the brand new Henley Vaporium last spring after his return to NYC. His apparent expertise and enthusiasm for the increasingly popular activity instantly landed him a part time job with the steadily growing lounge/e-cig flavor bar/organic cafe in Soho. The community friendly space is more than a haven for those who want to quit cigarettes, those who want to find top notch vaping equipment, or those who just want to try free flavors all day long. It’s more than a social hot spot that has been covered by CNN, Yahoo Financial, and The New York Times. It is the physical representation of national and international growth in alternative nicotine consumption. In this fresh episode, Raymond talks about the origins of vaping, the current mainstreaming and future growth of the e-cigarette industry, the parallel production processes of manufacturing e-juice flavors and e-cigarette hardware, differences between the ethical and health  impact of vaping versus conventional smoking, the coil-and-wick mechanics of vapor creation, and of course, what consumers get, dollar for dollar, milliliter for milliliter.

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January 5, 2014 Ep. 6 – ROB SCHWIMMER

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This special extended episode offers a rare and thorough look into the musical, aesthetic, scientific, and technical facets of the quirky theremin as only by master thereminist Rob Schwimmer can provide.  Recently featured in the CBS Morning Show, this Oscar winning composer/keyboardist/musician is also at the helm of the New York Theremin Society, which serves as the world’s only true outlet for the global community that is keeping the enigmatic electromagnetic invention of the 1920s fresh and futuristic. A perfect-pitched prodigy since the age of 3, Schwimmer’s home studio in Brooklyn, NY is also home to a continuum, an organ, a celeste, a harpsichord, an array of other obscure keyboard instruments, and a Steinway grand piano. Regarding his relationship with the Steinway brand, Schwimmer shared a captivating story off-air about a recurring dream he had throughout his childhood, of disappearing into a Peter Pan/Alice in Wonderland type of treehole to find himself in a magical den filled with a myriad of fine pianos. As a young adult, he visited Manhattan’s Steinway Hall, only to realize that his recurring visits to a fantastical pianoland had been inspired by the reality of this very place, which he had visited with his parents when too young to remember.

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December 24, 2013 Ep. 5 – SEAN BOWMAN

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Oakland-grown D.C. resident, federal employee, world traveler, extreme eater, Marine Corps Marathon runner, two-time cancer defeater, and life maximizer Sean Bowman shares his expertise as a host for Couchsurfing International, Inc.. Christmas Eve is the perfect time to sit by the digital fireside to listen to how Mr. Bowman has made room at his inn, so to speak, for over 100 people hailing from 35 different nations, compensated only in the form of modest gifts and zany experiences such as meeting a stem cell transporter from Germany, enjoying the home cooking of gay hookup app creators from New York, being propositioned by a popcorn-demanding woman from an undisclosed country, and hearing the tall but true tales from a Finnish man who survived a sauna set at 115 degrees…Celsius.

October 19, 2012 Ep. 4 – NANCY WOLFE

Nancy Wolfe, 27-year-old producer of upcoming feature-length documentary “Fit To Print” about the U.S. newspaper industry, has been a lover of film and journalism from a young age, writing from the age of 8 and producing her first short film at 16. She attended the The New School in New York City, where she produced her first small documentary about YouTube culture in a changing user-generated era. Once graduated, Nancy worked on various films in production and post-production, including “Loveless” in 2011. She also pursued a career in journalism on both the editorial and publishing side. She began working on “Fit To Print” in 2010 and believes it is the true marriage of her interests and career goals. “Fit to Print” is a documentary film that takes the viewer on a behind-the-scenes journey through the current upheaval in the U.S. newspaper industry and the decline in funding for investigative reporting. The film includes interviews from reporters, staff members, and media experts within several major U.S. newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, among others. Also interviewed were modern philosophers, including Noam Chomsky. More information about the film and release updates in late fall can be found on Facebook  and Twitter, with a trailer on Vimeo.