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KUNG
FU KICKING
Just
about everyone loves to kick, at least a little. This is a group
of books that are not really attached to style or sect but shows
the versatility of Kung Fu kicing skills. The old saying, "Northern
Legs and Southern fists" is often misunderstood to a frightening
degree. More properly we should say "Northern footwork"
because, as we all know, the secret to what happens when you lift
your leg to kick is determined by what happens when you leg is
still on the ground.
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#EKK12 12
Fatal Leg Attacks
by Wang Xin-De translated by He Zhou
US $ 9.45, English/Chinese, 127 pages, softbound
Printed
in Hong Kong this en face book explains in both English and Chinese
leg attack of the Shaolin School. This particular branch is known
as the JinGang-Chan school thusclaiming its lineage to Vajra Buddhist
warriors. All of these methods contribute to the famous 108 legs
attacks with the preceding book "64 Leg Attacks" and
a still- uncompleted 32 Ground Spinning leg attacks.
The names of the techniques alone are almost worth the price of
the book. They call up such classic names as ...
The Golden Leopard Climbs a Tree •
The Tiger Bumps the Trunk • Golden Vulture Attacks its Prey
• White Ape Presents FruitThis
is a well constructed book with nice line illustrations and clear
text.The techniques are traditional though the students who posed
for them "hammed it up" a little. On the other hand
the wide arms positions and definitely extreme body inclinations
emphasizes correctly the purposely "awkward" side of
Shaolin with, given its Chan (Zen) influence, shows a similarity
to the almost extinct Tzu-Ran "Natural" style. A well-translated
and intelligent book.
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#EKK24 24
Running Foot
Attacks
by
Lee Ying Arng
US $ 9.45, English/Chinese,
127 pages, softbound
Yet
another incarnation, but at least an authorized one, of Lee Ying
Arn's classic Kung Fu breakthrough book, "Secrets of Chinese
Leg Manuevers". This book has indeed had a strange life.
First Lee published it and it became something of a bestseller
being one of the first Kung Fu books ever published in English.
Then its Hawaiian publisher actually ripped off their own author
and released an unauthorized edition. Now here is a Hong Kong
edition from Yin Mei with the photos from the original cut out
and pasted up for "clarity", with supplementary information
and exercises added.
Plum is/was/tries to be one of the last places you can find the
original hard bound editions which have been scooped up by collectors.
Here, if you just want the information, is a soft bound, less
expensive edition which - in accordance with this book's unique
lineage - might in itself become a collector's piece. Stranger
things have happened in the world of Kung Fu.
This
book demonstrates true Northern leg actions with almost no hand
manuevers whatsoever. Lee was long-legged and elegant in his movements.
Some of this is retained in this edition. Plus you get an en face
Chinese/English text.
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#EKK16 The
Advanced
Chinese Leg Manoeuvres
translated
and compiled by H. C. Chao
US $ 12.45, English, 144 pages, softbound
Well
it's not the first time a publisher has undermined an author.
This is the "Advanced" (read: pilfered) edition of Lee
Ying-Arn's classic "Secrets of Chinese Leg Maneuvers".
Why McLisa, the publisher, chose to use the French spelling of
"Manoeuvres" is probably just as logical as why they
would simultaneously publish and compete with their own author,
Mr. Lee. Posed with cut-out photos by a particularly untalented
model. Much of this material duplicates the hard-to-find original
hard back edition of Lee's book and the inexpensive and more text
available we have at Plum. However, if you are awild-eyed completist
you may, as they said in the old corn flake commercials, "Want
to collect the whole set."
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OUT OF STOCK!
Please place
me on your
WANT LIST
for this item.
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#EKK64 64
Leg-Attack Methods of SHAOLIN Kung Fu
by
Wang XinDe
US
$14.95, 364
pages, softbound, illustrated,
This
is a neat book. Representing the JinGang
ZiRan branch (Buddha¹s Warrior Natural School) of Shaolin.
This large text really does show 64 pretty spontaneous-looking
attack with legs, knees and ankles. Good line drawings, some pretty
great names such as "The Golden Dragon Drinks" and "The Viper
Strikes at the Heart" this has more applied leg usage than most
other books. A long standby and in ENGLISH and CHINESE.
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