OK, we admit it…we can no longer keep this to ourselves. We receive such warm and enthusiastic letters from customers that we just feel the need to boast a little. What many of these letters show is that people all over the world are interested and clamoring for good and true Martial Arts. We have a company because we have good–no GREAT– customers. Because people care. Because there is a community out there, however loose-knit, of practitioners and students and teachers and scholars who all share in the goal of partaking in and preserving these Traditional Martial Arts. We could not play the role we do without all of you. The bow and salute goes to all of us! A few of the letters we have received…

JUST LETTERS

Greetings. I have ordered your vcd’s, White ape Tongbei to be exact, and they were incredible. Everything you said they would be and more, in spite of no english translation. (G.-UK)

I received your Bagua video. Thanks! I have over 200 martial arts instructional videos and I can say that yours is one of the best. Very clear information and no fluff or needless filler. I will look forward to future volumes. (MH-USA)

My reasons for writing are that it’s great to read the books, some of the reviews etc, what got me was the Seniors advice. This is the kind of thing that makes it all alive for me, the way, so to speak. The real life experiences. (AL-South Africa)

I have been ordering products from your website for quite a while now and have been continually impressed by the quality offered on your site. I especially enjoy the videos produced by Plum Publications. The videos I have seen are a cut above the typical martial arts video that is only offering a demonstration and leaves the watcher feeling that, while he or she may be able to copy the form, they are no closer to understanding what the form is teaching and the true flavor behind the particular art. Your videos have a unique way of involving the watcher. In my opinion they are taught not only as a piece of a larger Kung fu puzzle, but as though they can be learned and practiced as an independent art themselves. The 24 Beats tape is an excellent example. After viewing the tape and taking up the practice, one is able to become immersed in the practicing of the 24 Beats on many levels. After learning the basics, learning the form, then onto the two person practice, a student is almost able to label himself a practitioner of the 24 Beats style. I also enjoyed the new instructor’s section. You continue to distinguish yourself as the premier site for matters and products concerning traditional kung fu. I’m so glad you take the time to make these second to none tapes and Sifu Mancuso is a fantastic teacher I wish I lived closer.Thank you and keep up the great work! (CH- USA)

I take a minute of your time, first of all, to express my sincere admiration for your fine work spreading the true kung fu knowledge in your brilliant articles. I have been reading your work during many years. I have read a couple of notes published in Asian Martial Arts, which I enjoyed a lot reading, and found them so clear, good written and instructional. (HDR- Argentina)

It’s great to have a site that will differentiate the contemporary from the traditional. I’ve been burned before paying high dollar for a form that, when viewed, has been “WuShu-ized”. (T. -USA)

Just to let you know that My order arrived today – Damn that was fast!! (J.R.- UK)

As a side note, I really enjoyed your Web site. A very informative yet humble/sharing feel to it. Your love of the art comes through. Very refreshing. (R.F. -USA)

Got the VCD’s and I know you’re probably tired of all my praise, but growing up I spent a fortune on martial art video tapes and they were for the most part OK containing pretty general material. But the VCD’s are straight from an enchanted land of Martial wonder… (T.R. – USA)

I just wanted to take a moment to thank both of you for your help in my product purchases martial arts information; I highly value your assistance insight. You guys do a great job. (J.G. -Canada)

What a fantastic selection! All the stuff I *actually* want for a change. (J.K. – USA)

I received my order today and I just wanted to say what excellent and fast service you gave me. And an excellent product as well. (J.M. -USA)

Your website is pretty brilliant. Thanks for a great information source! (RH – NZ)

A belated thank you for the great service on my recent order. The book and VCDs arrived within a few days of submitting the order, actually quicker than most orders I place here in the UK! (GC -UK)

Thank you very very very much. After viewing Bagua: The Art of Change, I am compelled to write and say thank you. I have purchased videotapes before but none with so much good clear instruction. Sifu Ted Mancuso took a complex art and made it easy to learn. (ER – USA)

Thank you very much for the professional and very friendly handling of this order. You are doing the very important work of promoting the true chinese martial arts. (AG -Switzerland)

I literally spent hours and hours browsing through your web site. So much information. So many forms, so little time! (KO -France)

I must say you guys have phenomenal customer service! (JW- USA)

I just received my vcd of Baji Small Frame. Great!!! This really IS like spending an hour with a master… Even though I only know a tiny speck of Chinese, it wouldn’t matter if I were fluent in the language… The instruction on this VCD is so precisely demonstrated, that it is very easy to understand the movements of the form… I am truly satisfied. (RC -USA) Before coming to the order I just wanted to say a big thank you for supplying me with the GM Liu Yun Jiao’s book. As a student of Wutan it is a complete treasure to be able to see GM Liu do the different forms. (JE -UK)

Thank you so much for the sevice you people provide. What you contribute to the dedicated martial arts community is invaluable and unavailable anywhere else. I don’t know if you can fathom the benefit that your company makes by the passing on of such valuable knowledge; it is very very important at this juncture in time. (PR- USA)

Look forward to receiving the products and will keep an eye on your site – which, if I may say so, is certainly one of the most substantive martial sites I have come across. (AS -South Korea)

First I have to say that I love your site. Not only does it show that its being run by other martial artists who truly love what they do, but they also have a real understanding of their art, something that’s missing in a lot of other sites….Thanks for offering these products, and for hosting a great archive of essays and information (it’s my favorite part of your site). (MS–US)

I like your website. I feel that it is made by Chinese martial arts lovers. This is probably why I trust you. (MT-France)

By the way, interested in just how large your Plum Community is? Here is a fairly comprehensive country list of our customers and correspondents… Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Britain, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Netherland,s New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, Wales…and growing

Comments and Questions

Hi Debbie,

No inconvenience at all! I probably won’t have the time to master all of those forms before the other arrives (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk). One thing that kung fu has taught me well is patience (and not to mess with sifu when he is in a bad mood). A quick question… Do you have or know of any other resources available for Long Fist? I have Dr. Yang Jwing Ming’s Chang Chuan training videos, which are all bare-handed sequences. I would like to learn some of the more fundamental weapon sets, but have not found anything available. Any help would be greatly appreciated. As always, thank you! JW

Dear JW,

Just sitting here at night and finally getting to answer some of the many questions we get. As far as Long Fist this can be either a technical or a generic term. In the general all of Wing Lam’s Northern Shaolin tapes are pretty good Long Fist examples. More specifically Adam Hsu’s PiGua and BaJi tapes (at our site) are definitely Long Fist representatives, especially PiGua. The Wah Lum people also specialize in Long Fist from the Tan Tui Mantis styles. These are good examples of traditional I know available. As you are probably aware Long Fist was the basis for contemporary Wushu so a lot of the forms have been stretched out even further for performance reasons. Generally speaking, though, the Cha; Hua: PiKua: Mi Tsung; and other lesser known in the west styles have preserved their distinctive Long Fist flavors.
Yours in the martial arts, Ted Mancuso

I apologize for bothering you, but I have a question. I am currently studying Hung Gar kung fu and I wish to add an internal style to my repertoire. I have dabbled in taichi and xingyi. My real fascination however lies with Bagua. What I am getting at is that I wanted to get some recommendations of what to get from your selection of VCDs.

Thank you very much, CB ,KS

Dear CB,
First, not to be an old fuddy-duddy, but I believe that “Internal” and “External” are levels of expertise, not styles. All of us old instructors know that everyone uses those phrases (including us!) but that’s really for people outside the arts. For instance, technically, Hung IS an internal art. In fact, we Northern Stylists say “the nice thing about Southern Style is that you’re learning internal simultaneously with the movements, as opposed to separately, as in many Long Fists.” But I get what you mean though. Some of my recommendations are among the Liang Style DVDs (in English) or on VCD (in Chinese), particularly #128, #130, #132, and #134. Also, in Chinese, the Li Jing Ru series, especially #114 (a triple set). And get at least one of the Tian BaGua VCDs, just because it’s so different. That should keep you going for a while!

Yours in the Martial Arts, Ted

Dear Shifu Mancuso:
First of all congratulations on a great web-site! Secondly, I am interested in Bagua and in some of the tapes you offer. I do have a few questions before I make a purchase. I am looking for a system of Bagua that captures the essence of Bagua. I would like for it to be concise yet profound. I have seriously considered Sun Lu Tang’s Bagua style because of its brevity. I am also interested in the Official Chinese Wushu standard Bagua form but don’t know much about its origins, how it was compiled or even where to see it. The “Wu Dang” style seems to be a combined style but I’m uncertain of its quality. I am also intrigued by what Professor Kang Ge-Wu has put together. Is it the “standard” Chinese Wushu form?? I know that you have probably seen it all when it comes to Bagua and I would be very interested in your thoughts or opinions. As you can tell, I need some direction with regards to Bagua.
Please let me hear from you soon. sincerely, AP

Dear AP,
As far as a standard or a generally accepted and yet a respectable bagua, the so-called New BaGua, or Chiang Style, is probably one of the best to start with. It is relatively clean, easily understood, and yet doesn’t violate the basic principles of Bagua. Once you have a grounding in this, which is the subject of Kang’s and other books and tapes, you’ll probably find many variations that intrigue you. BaGua is a great deal like Tai Chi, in that the concept has often been borrowed to create styles that aren’t “pure” but are interesting in their own right. For instance, our Chun Yang Style does a lot of its sets in a circle. It is, after all, a WuDang derivative. Continuing along that line, I have seen a great deal of WuDang BaGua, much by practitioners claiming linnages that precede Dong HaiChuan’s. But as far as any historical event, I would stick to the more recognized schools like those of Yin Fu and ChengTingHua. There’s a lot of circling out there, but not all of it is BaGua. All this considered, I recommend Kang’s Chiang Style, (which I also have a tape on: Bagua: The Art of Change), Adam Hsu’s Chuan Lin (video), Li Jing Ru’s Cheng Style (vcds), and/or our very good Liang Style (vcds or DVDs). Hope this helps!
Yours in the martial arts, Ted Mancuso

Dear Plum,
First I would like to say that it is an honor to know that you are the same Ted and Debbie from all the articles on Gong Fu that I read from you all. I know that you all are doing a very excellent job spreading the knowledge of northern Chinese gong fu especially those of the Moslems style and I really appreciate all that you have done for martial arts. My question is, is it necessary to study all the forms within any style in order to become a competent fighter as well as gain more insight to y.o.u. ( your own universe) in connection with the macrocosom or the universe around us? I’ve already bought vcds from you in the style of Liang Shan and it is good but from examples that I’ve seen as of late, I’m really interested in Tong Bei, Bajiquan and Pigua and also Yin Fu Bagua. What will be the best way that you see that I should go as far as more martial attainment? Please email me as soon as possible. Hotep (Supreme Peace)

Dear AM,

No, it is not necessary to learn all the forms within a style to gain full competence. Often, a number of forms are simply means of reinforcing information which has already been absorbed. On the other hand, the fact that the style does not have to be completely exhausted, should not encourage the practitioner to take on too many alternatives at once. Many of the styles you mentioned are excellent but so distinctive that mixing all of these flavors, at least in a short time, might create a very unsavory soup. Just as an example, each of the styles you mentioned has certain salient points. For instance, Tong Bei specializes in wave-like energy. It’s very snappy. In BaJi, the energy is deeper and heavier. PiGua emphasizes wrapping while Yin Style BaGua, of course, highlights reeling silk. To a complete Chinese Martial Artist, you need all of these attributes. But each of the styles mentioned HAS all of these attributes. the difference is what order they are studied in. Therefore, go slow, think a lot, acquire deeply.
Yours in the martial arts, TM

STRONG OPINIONS

Hello Debbie

The package has arrived yesterday, faster than I expected. …

Talking of Shaolin, I surely know only a small fraction of what Ted knows, so I would be happy if anything from my review will be of any use for you.

Generally, people buying VCDs must not be disappointed with the content. After all, you site contains the very honest section “What we really think about these VCDs” (other vendors just praise everything they sell). Nowadays, anyone who tries to understand anything about kungfu must be prepared to invest the significant time, efforts and money (especially if he/she lives not in California or China and therefore has a little chance to find a good teacher …). Your VCDs are very well selected; you invest your experience in comments (others just roughly translate introductory text from disks); all I have bought so far added something to my knowledge. Viewing CDs is however not a substitute for a regular training in a chosen style and, alas, I have not seen so far a single video series containing the complete and balanced training program in any system of kungfu …

—— By the way, there exists another relatively new Shaolin series …., nearly the same quality as one we are discussing. The interesting thing about this second series is that, unlike other collection, it is not fully centered around the “old frame” Shaolin cycle. It includes also few forms from other groups, for example:

– the first set of the “Home (or Family) Protecting” cycle (complete cycle contains 13 sets; I have the book that is said to be a compilation of the older Shaolin texts; all 13 sets are documented there; VCD matches the book; there exists a typical Shaolin tale associated with these sets – “… there were 13 gates in Shaolin; each gate guarded by 2 very best master monks; these monks were secretly taught the most effective fighting system; each pair of monks mastered a single set of this cycle; to exit the temple one had to fight the guardians, …” – etc.)

– the Shaolin Mantis set (well, really the Long Fist with some Mantis flavor)

– the strange set “Short strike” (mainly hand techniques, almost southern in appearance, with one sequence almost identical to the piece of “9 rings” from TzuRanMen, and with the Mantis-like sequence at end …)

– some nice looking long weapons sets too (well, I am not a specialist in weaponry – houses in Switzerland have low ceilings) …

… and various other things not available in other Shaolin video series.

To the best of my understanding, sets are authentic; the demonstration is very clear (each move is repeatedly shown from three different angles). The demonstrator is quite competent. If you will finally decide to include the “Old frame hammering …” to your collection, you may be interested to review this second series

Kind regards AX