There is no question that new tools and technology are making language translation easier to accomplish and more accessible. Anyone with a phone or a scanner can dabble in the fine art of bringing words and thoughts from one language into another.

But, just like with other technologies that have ‘democratized’ the floodgates, it doesn’t mean that anyone with a camera and a Vimeo account can make a great film; nor does it mean that anyone accessing AI can produce a great translation. For one thing, martial vocabulary — aside from “kick, then punch” — is actually quite specialized; for instance, if you enter “八卦” into a translation tool like google translate, you will most likely get returned “gossip,” not “bagua.” So, while basic instructional translation might be enough to learn a form, things like principles and theories might not roll so easily off the keyboard.

At Plum, this means something to us, and as with everything else we represent, we seek out the worthy translations. But what makes a translation worthy, other than the correct words? Well, one great thing is experience with the actual style or teacher. The subtleties of systems are evident in good translations, because the translator has seen the move, or the principle expounded.

All this long prologue to introduce two new books just posted:
Andrea Falk’s third volume in her Chaquan series — this one focusing on weapons in the style,
and
Russ Smith’s first volume in a series on Quanpu, Southern Boxing manuals, — this one on the elusive Taizu.

Falk has translated the work of one of her teachers, and Smith is working in a field with which he has decades of experience.

You can click on the images to take you to each book to learn more, and to purchase, but one more thing: we take every opportunity we can to encourage people to check out Andrea Falk’s marvelous dictionary, Falk’s Dictionary of Chinese Martial Arts — Chinese-English. Whether you are curious to start translating small passages on your own, or just want to know the meaning of all those wonderful phrases in your own school, this work is essential.