I remember reading an interview where someone asked Hawkins Cheung what Wing Chun made up his practice. In other words what was his regimen. “That’s for beginners,” he said. “I practice whatever I want.
May
14
2012
14
2012
May
7
2012
7
2012
PLUM Seminar, May 12th
We know that a lot of you are not exactly in driving distance but we thought we would keep you informed on our seminars in Santa Cruz, anyway. After all, you are family.
May
7
2012
7
2012
Video Tutorial: Primary Spear Moves
Here’s another of our video tutorials about the King of the Weapons…Learn the “Ghost Shakes Body” exercise…spearvid1 (This might take a minute to load.)
Apr
27
2012
27
2012
Apr
10
2012
10
2012
Everything About the Guard Stance Except Guarding
I love to teach the guard stance because it brings the students’ minds into focus on the whole idea of self-defense.
Apr
1
2012
1
2012
The Southern Art of Ten•Wood•Rice
Southern Kung Fu styles turn, dodge and side step quickly with “rat steps.” At the same time hands flop out and haul in forming themselves into a menagerie of claws, paws, wings and edges.
Mar
28
2012
28
2012
Standing Still
Personally, I continue to believe that standing practice is important and useful. The trouble is that there is a deep, deep contradiction in the way it is taught in many schools.
Mar
12
2012
12
2012
The Search for Jin
Fa Jin or Issuing Energy is a crucial part of Chinese Martial Arts. But what is Fa Jin, really, and —as far as combat goes— does it actually work?
Jan
17
2012
17
2012
The Speed of Thought
The point is not that they should try to hurry up their moves, but that they should abandon speed as something they can “control” or “will” into happening.
Dec
31
2011
31
2011
Training: Arms like Banners
This may sound like I am a candidate for the Wrong Way Corrigan Award but I sort of like that about Kung Fu practice. It reinforces that very true statement that the direct route is always nice, if you can get it. But there is no guarantee.
Dec
28
2011
28
2011
QA: Tai Chi Ball
Q: I have what I hope is a quick and easy question for you. I see that you and Ted are fans of tai chi ball training. What advice would you have on the kind of ball one should use for starting out and then as one progresses as far as weight, size and material [...]
Dec
5
2011
5
2011
50 Ways to do Things Wrong, One Right Way
There’s an old saying, “Learn from your mistakes.” And of course I see the sense of this. But some students have the slightly mistifying habit of wanting to back track for everything.
Nov
19
2011
19
2011
Iron Palm Training: A Word
Some people really feel this concentration of energy and find it invigorating. And, for five to ten minutes a day of training, it all seems worth it.
Nov
3
2011
3
2011
Form
When I open the door I expect the garden to be there. It would not shift in the night. That is just not the garden’s style. First I visit the olive trees which, in the morning, stand and sparkle with a.m. light next to my front door, as though they had been rehearsing to show [...]
Oct
31
2011
31
2011
Practice During the Day
But there are differences in practicing at various times of the day.
Oct
27
2011
27
2011
Instructor’s Notebook (INB) #25: A Horse Lesson
I was watching a competitive match on Youtube the other day (I do not do this regularly or I would have to spend days screening samples and answering people’s questions). A Muay Thai fellow was pitted against a Kung Fu practitioner.
Oct
25
2011
25
2011
Leo Fong’s Work
Student of Bruce Lee, enthusiastic martial artist, film maker, script writer, teacher, martial writer Leo Fong has worn many caps. He was also one of the first “indie” martial book publishers
Sep
11
2011
11
2011
The Many Faces of Chin Na
Chin Na is not a style with a single face. Over centuries of necessity, it has actually developed many different profiles. Because there are only so many ways to bend joints wrong the differences in styles such as Japanese versus Chinese is actually less significant than the different ways in which Chin Na is used. Let’s look at these differences.
Sep
9
2011
9
2011
Practicing
Every morning I walk to the park near my house and go through a particular routine. Though there are variables in the routine, it always contains the same basic building blocks.
Sep
2
2011
2
2011
INB #24: Modes of Locomotion
The problem isn’t going through the first grade, the problem is being stuck in the first grade forever.
Aug
29
2011
29
2011
Training: Tai Chi Everywhere
There is a treasure house of practice methods hidden in Kung Fu styles and many of them use the slow, focused and reflective approach of Tai Chi. Tai Chi takes slow training as an overall basic approach, and this has fooled people into thinking of it as a major theme of that particular art. Yet, [...]
Aug
25
2011
25
2011
Training with the Tai Chi Ball
We have a number of ball training disks especially in the Tai Chi field (being a ball, it would also work for Bagua practitioners).
Aug
2
2011
2
2011
The Corner Man
We all need a corner man now and then…
Jul
8
2011
8
2011
The Yin and Yang of Relaxation
I believe that people who study martial arts should not look at the Yin Yang figure as a symbol…
Jun
9
2011
9
2011
A Martial Secret Hidden in Plain Sight?
Many, if not all, of the styles of Chinese martial arts have legends of secret knowledge divulged only to trusted, “indoor” students. Speculation by those on the “outside” as to what these secrets are often borders on the fantastic, like being able to walk on the tips of reeds or killing someone with one’s mind.
May
29
2011
29
2011
Progressive Defense: #4 Evasion, head on
So far we have gone through the back three stages of Progressive Defense. We started with the block, moved to the parry and then the check. It’s easy to see that each stage moves one step further from hard confrontational actions.
May
22
2011
22
2011
Progressive Defense: #3 Cashing in on Checks
CHECKING: If it is done properly, it almost intercepts the thoughts of the opponent. At its best the check prevents what will happen before it even starts to happen.
May
16
2011
16
2011
Progressive Defense: #2 Parry Power
The parry is elegant. As people progress from hard blocking to this gliding, subtle action they feel as though they had jumped the gate.
May
7
2011
7
2011
The Truth of Progressive Defense Training
The old saying that “The best defense is a good offense” is very true, but too simple-minded. Its deeper meaning is that, if you want to build a great offense, you have to incorporate the defense face of the coin.
Mar
26
2011
26
2011
Video Tutorials: 12 Road Tan Tui with Applications
Here’s our first Free Video Tutorial. Hope you like it.
