Sometimes a book comes along dealing with a topic in which you thought you had little interest. Then you open it and—wow!—it reciprocates to open up a world for you. Lingnan Hung Kuen: Kung Fu in Cinema and Community is one of those books. It looked like a nice gift item. But once we got […]
Displaying posts written by
Plum Staff
who has written 752 posts for KaiMen.
Oct
29
2018
29
2018
Oct
15
2018
15
2018
More on the “Hard” Wing Chun
Here is a DVD on the Wing Chun “Upper Arm” set which we believe correlates to “Searching for the the Bridge” in the Yip Man tradition. This is a “harder” form of Wing Chun, and related to Hung Gar. It is not the only Hard version, but one of the better known. This DVD offers […]
Oct
3
2018
3
2018
New Bak Sil Lum (Bei Shaolin) DVDs
Bak Sil Lum (or Bak Siu Lim) is the Cantonese pronunciation of Bei Shaolin, or Northern Shaolin style. It is recognized by experts as an extension of the real Shaolin Heritage. Its most famous exponent was Gu Ru Zhang, known as a master of Iron Palm (striking arts) and Golden Bell (body conditioning arts). In […]
Sep
23
2018
23
2018
Restocked! Shang Style Xing Yi Quan
Starting off a season of newly arrived books and DVDs—some we’ve had before, some never seen. The first of these are the three volumes on Shang Style Xing Yi Quan—we only got a handful in our last shipment—unfortunately, these classics are few in number—but for now you can click the image to get more information, […]
Aug
16
2018
16
2018
Four Books, Five Elements: Tong Bi With a Dash of Qigong
Announcing FOUR new books in our Traditional Chinese Section! The first three display an abundance of riches; all are on Wu Xing Tong Bi, or Five Elements Through the Arm Boxing, a style of ancient moves and modern popularity. Like Bajiquan, attention to this style is growing rapidly. Distinctive, fast, elegant and powerful, Tong Bi […]
Aug
4
2018
4
2018
8 + 8: Bagua plus Baji
Happy to announce the return of a couple of hard-to-get items: Sifu Su Yu Chang’s rare DVD performance and instruction of Liu Da Kai (Six Great Openings) Baji, detailing this important form, including applications with some atypical additions such as tie-ins to Chinese medicine, courtesy of Chang Sifu’s training as an acupuncturist. Sifu Sun Zhi […]
Aug
2
2018
2
2018
Foundation Building: Two New Bagua DVDs
Without a doubt the work of Bagua stylist Sun Zhi Jun has been one of our most requested and purchased teaching series. The forms and shapes are extensions of Chinese medical theory. Now, after Sun’s passing, his disciple, Li Chun Ling, has taken up the banner and is issuing two pruned and simplified forms, one […]
Jul
11
2018
11
2018
Celebrating Skill and Friendship
Last week, we wrote about Sifu Donald Hamby’s Gathering of the Masters kung fu exhibition, showcasing some of the best traditional kung fu teachers and performers. This week, we have some video footage that we shot while there. These three videos feature a smapling of the rare and unique forms we saw there—many of which […]
Jul
7
2018
7
2018
Principle-Driven Skill Development
A book like Principle-Driven Skill Development was inevitable. The western attraction to de-construction can be highly functional and, as demonstrated here, is particularly applicable to martial principles. In this book, teacher Russ Smith not only presents solid information but dissects years of experience to show the foundational principles of martial studies. He really thinks about […]
Jun
27
2018
27
2018
A Gathering Indeed
Friday, we drove south, over 350 miles to Monterey Park, in Los Angeles, in answer to Sifu Don Hamby’s invitation to attend his 3rd Annual Kung Fu Gathering of the Masters. Despite expectations based on decades of tournaments and events, we could not have anticipated what we encountered once the drumming started. Sifu Hamby, widely […]
Jun
21
2018
21
2018
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Jun
10
2018
10
2018
More Living Treasures from China
Adding nine new DVD from the estimable China’s Living Treasures series. These include some excellent instruction on the Wu/Hao branches of Tai Chi, which is very rare in the west. Also included are instructional DVDs showing smooth and graceful performances by Yang style master Ye Xiao Long. George Xu returns with an advanced form of […]
May
29
2018
29
2018
Jeet Kune Do & Wing Chun: Inexpensive Intro to Bruce Lee’s art
We’ve just added to our hurt books division one of the best explanations of Jeet Kune Do, its working and goals, that we’ve ever seen—Basics of Jeet Kune Do. This is one of the special series on Basics (we also have one by Sifu Paul Eng of Praying Mantis style) relying more on detailed explanations […]
May
26
2018
26
2018
May
22
2018
22
2018
Sunday, After the Tournament
Packing up over a hundred books and DVDs, we departed the Convention Center Sunday, about noon. The two-day spread of the TC Media Kung Fu tournament had allowed us to schmooze with a lot of teachers, students and fans. We felt like we’d been talking continually for two days, but then again, conversations spin off […]
May
13
2018
13
2018
Coming Events
Plum will be travelling in May and June to a couple of kung fu tournaments: 10th Annual Tiger Claw Elite Kung Fu Magazine Championship, May 19-20, 2018, San Jose, California This year’s 2 day event will feature a NEW EXTERNAL DIVISION dedicated exclusively to Songshan Shaolin – the Kung Fu directly from Shaolin Temple alongside […]
May
7
2018
7
2018
The Gift of a Teacher
Yesterday we attended the memorial for Wing Lam, my teacher for a number of years. Over a hundred students and family gathered in the chapel to pay last respects. Many people crowded the middle aisle, most of them dressed in black or white, as per the formal instructions for a Daoist ceremony. The middle aisle […]
Apr
15
2018
15
2018
Mar
27
2018
27
2018
Tutorial: Tai Chi Tips, Stepping
If you’ve spent more than 5 minutes at Plum, you know how highly we prize basics as the foundation of good movement. ‘Stepping’ in Tai Chi, is one of those fundamentals that you might learn on the first day of class, and which you might be refining well into your advanced practice. We prepared a […]
Mar
14
2018
14
2018
