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 […]
Displaying posts written by
Plum Staff
who has written 739 posts for KaiMen.
May
22
2018
22
2018
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
Apr
3
2018
3
2018
Spring Into Summer with New Classes in Santa Cruz
Just a quick announcement for those in the Santa Cruz area: New 6 week and 13 week classes starting at our Academy in April and May. Here is a great opportunity to train with Narrye Caldwell in Tai Chi Chuan, and Ted Mancuso in Tai Chi Chuan, Bagua Zhang, and Adam Hsu’s Kung Fu Linking […]
Mar
27
2018
27
2018
Tutorial: Steps to Tai Chi 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
Mar
9
2018
9
2018
The Yi Bone’s Connected to the Qi Bone
Q: I started reading a book which examines the 5 major Tai Chi styles and uses quotes from the classics to show what they all have in common, and what is unique to each style. Anyway, lots of repetition of “yi leads the chi” and “chi leads the body”. I kind of always thought that, […]
Mar
5
2018
5
2018
What’s Old is New: 3 Traditional DVDs
Despite the fact that Plum has built a catalogue containing almost 4000 books, dvds and vcds (!) we are actually quite picky about our products. We review a lot of material, choosing only what we believe will add to the martial conversation. So imagine how pleased we are when we are able to offer three […]
Feb
23
2018
23
2018
C.S.Tang Tells the Story of XingYiQuan
Plum has worked with CS Tang for a long while. And after meeting and spending time with him a few years ago, our admiration deepened when we found that his breadth of information was made that much better by the thoughtful depth he brought to his subjects. His recent and new-to-Plum book, “The Mysterious Power […]
Feb
22
2018
22
2018
Some Long-Awaited Restocks
It’s been a few months since we have been fully stocked on our “En Face Books” (the books in this series have English text ‘facing’ Chinese text). They are among our customer favorites, because they have so much to offer: A book and accompanying VCD showing complete routines in both Chinese and English. What more […]
Feb
13
2018
13
2018
Randy’s Back and Plum Has Got Him
For many years, Plum has represented the entire line of Randy Williams DVDs. But over the last year, some titles became scarce or went out of print. Good news! We are once again stocked on the ever-effervescent Sifu Williams and his valuable commentary and instruction on Wing Chun. We have glowed over the years about […]
Feb
5
2018
5
2018
206 B.C.E.: THE DANCING ASSASSIN
Just a short excerpt from Professor Kang Ge-Wu’s martial history, The Spring and Autumn of Chinese Martial Arts. If you are interested in the broader view of Chinese Kung Fu, this is a must have. It is the first—and only— book issued in English on the 5000 year history of Chinese Martial Arts, and Plum’s first […]
Jan
31
2018
31
2018
Verses & Thoughts
Geometry The shortest distance between heaven and earth is a straight spine – Peter Thelin Swordtip Sticking simply to the point, the sharpened sense which in us moves, that subtle probing of the blade might flick aside this dunce’s crown – Simon Cowper
Jan
28
2018
28
2018
Review: Essence of Lien Bu Chuan
We want to congratulate Artie Aviles, James Man Chin and Nelson Tsou on two excellent reviews they have received for their book “The Essence of Lien Bu Chuan.” We are especially grateful to both Nick Scrima at The Journal of Chinese Martial Arts, and Nancy Fiano, from the Xinyi Dao Academy and the World Fighting […]
Jan
25
2018
25
2018
Tony Yang & Bajiquan: A Repeat Appearance
Just a quick note to say we are now stocked, once again, on Sifu Tony Yang’s elusive 2 part DVD on Bajiquan. Yang Sifu studied Bajiquan in the Wutan tradition with Grandmaster Liu Yun Chiao, in Taiwan, and has been teaching this for many years. If you’ve been waiting, get them while they are here! […]
Jan
22
2018
22
2018
Play Ball! No, Really, It’s Good for Your Martial Practice
If I’ve learned anything in my martial career it is that knowledge never walks in a straight line; while wandering through a labryinth, things like to leap out from behind the next hedge. We just acquired a new text, Ball Playing for Health, Illustrated (Nongwan Chienshen Tushu), a partial inspiration for Caylor Adkins text on […]
Dec
31
2017
31
2017
From Us to You
Happy New Year to all of our dear customers. We treasure and appreciate all of your correspondence, contributions, friendship and patronage. We would not be here without you. In this last year we have taken some major steps in reducing the price of international shipping. In the coming year, we have big plans to further […]
Dec
29
2017
29
2017
Dec
22
2017
22
2017
Come To The Party
Right before the end of the year, we welcome back a few old friends, Chinese Kung Fu books that are always welcome at Plum. We’ve got a lot of new material coming, too, in the next little while, so keep an eye on this spot. (Click each book to get more info, and to purchase). […]
