In this short response to a video sent to us by Steven, a Bagua student, Ted Mancuso briefly describes one of the most—if not THE MOST—important elements of Bagua Zhang: reeling silk energy, or Chan Ssu Jin. Reeling silk energy is in the DNA of all of the traditional Chinese martial arts, but is particularly […]
Displaying posts written by
Plum Staff
who has written 835 posts for KaiMen.
May
8
2021
8
2021
Apr
27
2021
27
2021
Master Cai Haikang’s Leg Techniques of Bagua Zhang
Quick announcement: For those awaiting the return of Master Cai Haikang’s Leg Techniques of Bagua Zhang, it is back! And, at this time, we appear to have the last copies available; the publisher is trying to decide whether or not to reprint, so the stack at Plum is limited. More good stuff coming soon (hint: […]
Apr
20
2021
20
2021
Last Chance
Plum has been in business for more than 25 years and, of course, with almost 4000 products we have amassed a cacophony of styles, teachers, and the occasional who-knows-what. While most items go through our cataloguing process, there are some (ok, several boxes worth) that for, whatever reason, never make it to the site. In […]
Apr
14
2021
14
2021
Tai Chi Training Secrets: How Do You Practice Martially, When You Are By Yourself?
A recent letter from one of our favorite correspondents, Gary Shapiro, put the question: “We spoke about how practicing taiji with the martial aspects in mind enhances it’s health effects. So— how does that work? Can one practice “martially” solo? (and how?).” In our newest video, Sifu Ted answers this and offers some training tips […]
Apr
1
2021
1
2021
Young Forest, Traditional Skill Northern Shaolin Vol. #2
Plum is experiencing a plentiful Spring this year, starting with the reappearance of Sifu Bow Sim Mark’s early works; then the masterful new edition on White Crane from GM Lee and Master Bernard; and now the long-awaited second volume of Shifu Wing Lam’s compendium on Northern Shaolin (Bak Sil Lum). Although there is much here […]
Mar
28
2021
28
2021
NEW! Authentic White Crane Kung Fu Book
In traditional Kung Fu, we often talk about the shape of an Art, although that shape cannot always be easily defined. It might include a short list of specific qualities, a couple of hard-won principles, certain approaches to its qigong, methods learned from its secret songs…It is elusive and typically closely-held. The experienced eye might […]
Mar
21
2021
21
2021
Sifu Bow Sim Mark
I believe that I first saw Sifu Bow Sim Mark perform at Brendan Lai’s 1984 All Master’s Kung Fu Demonstration in San Francisco. Those were the pre-pre-youtube days and, other than pictures of her in the Kung Fu magazines, I had never seen her movement. I—along with the friends who accompanied me that night to […]
Jan
25
2021
25
2021
New Sha Style DVDs
In between our filming and editing of our new Bagua Zhang book/DVD project, we have also been doing some cataloguing of material we have neglected. Two of these DVDs are from Sha GuoZheng style, on Liu He Tong Bei Roads 1 and 2. From our experience, Sha’s work is always an interesting and, at times, […]
Jan
6
2021
6
2021
Chen XiaoWang Tai Chi DVDs
A quick note to let you know that we have a couple of returns back in stock…sort of. About a year ago, two of the VCDs from the popular series by Chen XiaoWang went out of print, one on Lao Jia and one on Internal Practice. Well, we have finally restocked those two, but in […]
Dec
28
2020
28
2020
Xiantian Bagua Zhang: Gao Style Bagua Zhang Circle Form
This may be one of the Bagua books you did not know you were waiting for. C.S. Tang has produced another excellent and comprehensive text, this time on Gao Style Bagua Zhang. Tang Sifu, known and respected for his martial scholarship, has produced a large fine volume, inclusive of everything from origin stories to advanced […]
Dec
23
2020
23
2020
Dennis Rovere’s Chinese Military Combat Series
Happy to announce the addition of Dennis Rovere’s 2 Volume (3 Disk) DVD series, Secret Fighting Skills of the Chinese Military. Mr Rovere, an Independent Scholar who has both trained and taught widely in Combat Techniques, is also represented on Plum by his popular and authoritative book and DVD, Xing Yi Quan of the Chinese […]
Dec
9
2020
9
2020
Dec
1
2020
1
2020
Let The Sales Begin!
Hey, we’ve made it to December! Yes, this has been a tough year, but 2021 is almost here, so let’s celebrate with some discounts. Use coupon code December10 to get a 10% discount on any orders through December 7, and we’ll email you another 10% coupon that you can use in January. Out with the […]
Nov
9
2020
9
2020
Bagua Zhang and Xin Yi Quan
Got in a short stack of great books—limited copies on each, at the moment, but thought we would let you know about them. One of them, the book on Dai Style XinYiQuan, incorporates those QR Codes instead of including a packaged DVD, so that with a simple scan from your phone’s camera, you can watch […]
Nov
9
2020
9
2020
Beware The Rabbit Punch
From our astute and ever-watchful correspondent, Gary Shapiro
Oct
9
2020
9
2020
Short Stick Superior: The Whip Stick
One of the questions readers most ask us is , “What short stick videos do you recommend?” People love the short sticks. We do actually represent quite a few on our site, and among the best is Sifu Jack Yan’s Whip Stick book/dvd combo. So we are always happy when our customers agree! Thanks to […]
Oct
7
2020
7
2020
The Newest Great Items
Today’s diverse selection of new material available is really all about the classics: two DVDs of an older master presenting the rarely seen style of “Xin Boxing;” a completely redone and reimagined instructional DVD on Water Boxing (LiuHeBaFa) from Helen Liang, whose original work on the subject was one of the first; and the original […]
Sep
1
2020
1
2020
A New Book Bevy
Well, we are happy to mark ourselves safe from the devastating fire that, over the past two weeks, destroyed over 80,000 acres in and around Santa Cruz county, the place we call home. Several friends had to evacuate, but none lost their homes or lives, although almost 1000 residences were destroyed, and it will take […]
Aug
22
2020
22
2020
Fire!
Hello all, Sorry we have been absent for the last week. As many know, we live in Santa Cruz (California) and there are fires in and around our town. We are safe so far, and it seems that we will continue to remain so, but just dealing with preparing to evacuate (in case it comes […]
Aug
8
2020
8
2020
Adam Hsu Tan Tui
Decades ago, when I taught franchise information to a group of fledgling martial school owners, I was exposed to a process known as “total immersion.” This was an unstructured method of training where a manager might be awakened at 3:00 am by “some potential student” pretending to want information in the middle of the night. […]
