Kung Fu hides many of its secrets in terms of opposite qualities such as fast/slow, open/close, light and heavy. But don’t let the words obscure the story. The names are significant, but it’s their entwined relationship that holds the real stash. Take heavy and light. In the martial arts community, especially the Chinese branch, there […]
Displaying posts written by
Ted Mancuso
who has written 320 posts for KaiMen.
Oct
24
2018
24
2018
Oct
21
2018
21
2018
Bak Sil Lum Sash Event
Today there are nine new Black sashes in the martial art of Bak Sil Lum (Northern Shaolin) style. At an event hosted by Sifu Scott Jensen a contingent of his senior students were awarded black sashes, a solid rank requiring years of training. Each candidate demonstrated skills, starting with a set from the empty-handed division […]
Sep
28
2018
28
2018
A Maze of Seminars
We are starting some new seminars at our school in Santa Cruz, California and I can feel my negativity to the topic returning. I’ve had my doubts about seminars, my own and others, in the past. But when I think more about them I see good attributes and also some shaky ones. One of the […]
Sep
9
2018
9
2018
Speed: Unpunch & Unkick
The following simple techniques will drastically improve your martial speed. My confidence in this teaching tip stems from the fact I have used it so many times and it always delivers. It is based on a key concept in what people call “reptile response,” or conditioned reflex; in other words, actions that are hard-wired to […]
Aug
28
2018
28
2018
Listening to the Wind: On Internal Practice
About a week ago I asked my Tai Chi class if they ever get bored doing the form. They unanimously answered “No,” their explanation being that the form always provides new material to concentrate on, things to master. This suggests that the act of repetition can be either boring or freeing, and leads me to […]
Jul
20
2018
20
2018
Tai Chi’s Long Bow
Addressing its reputed character, we get the impression that every earnest instructor tries a different approach to proclaim Tai Chi as a martial art. Considering those instructors who do try and make the point feasible, the spectrum of possible arguments is endless. For instance, one common example has the instructor picking a bystander on whom […]
Jun
18
2018
18
2018
Triple Irony
Martial artists always have something to do. In my case I have been reconstructing and improving my weapons skills—at least, I hope so considering the practice put in. It can be a slow process. It’s tough enough to fight through the quirks of each weapon. You also have to overcome the tendency for former ghostly […]
May
16
2018
16
2018
Family Resemblance
I’ve been asked to judge at the annual Tiger Claw tournament this coming weekend. One of the things unique at this event is that it will feature, in its traditional column, not one, but TWO, Shaolin divisions. This is particularly significant because, for the first time, these two competitions will offer double examples of true […]
Apr
25
2018
25
2018
Wing Lam Passes: April 25 2018
Sifu Kwong Wing Lam passed away today from kidney failure following a period of illness. His study, beginning at age 8, brought him instruction from top notch practitioners such as Sifu Yang Shang Wu and Zhao Jiao. Training with him for more than a decade, I recognized a teacher truly concerned for his art. His […]
Apr
5
2018
5
2018
Four Things Hard to Believe
At the start of your training, if you’d asked: “What do I need to be a good martial artist?†you might have gotten a list which included strength, endurance, patience, humility, Ben-Gay, and a good pair of shoes. What would probably have been missing is the word “faith.†But anyone who’s done any kind of long-term […]
Jan
15
2018
15
2018
Being Off Balance, For All It’s Worth
When you lose your balance, you can also lose orientation. When you don’t know which direction to turn, can’t determine the ceiling from floor, feel as though your are on a mile-long fall, you are disoriented. We are told, from the earliest lessons, to keep our balance and preserve our orientation. We do forms that […]
Nov
29
2017
29
2017
The Teacher’s Teacher
Last Sunday, I got a double-treat: my teacher, Adam Hsu, is in town for a couple of weeks and I had the opportunity to not only see and spend time with him, but to make his Long Fist Kung Fu class available to my own students, most of whom had never met him. Of course, […]
Nov
15
2017
15
2017
10,000 Times Answers All
The Real Meaning of 10,000 Repetitions and What You Can Do While You Are Doing Them and Whether or Not You Need to Do 10,000 repetitions Before You Are An Expert. This is a piece about the old saying that it takes 10,000 repetitions to really master anything and the huge number of people who […]
Oct
31
2017
31
2017
George Xu: Pioneer
Normally we reserve these weblog spots for a quick teaser, and designate the product pages for fuller reviews. However, since the works of George Xu often attract our special attention, we thought that this time, with his new DVD on Reeling Silk Energy, we would post our more in-depth interview along with our usual product […]
Oct
20
2017
20
2017
Martial Meets the Road
Screeech! It’s been just a few days, and we’re still shaking a bit. A week ago, Debbie and I were struck by the same automobile while walking home from the market. The car took a sudden jump from a quick turn. Immediately, the driver started too fast on the new street. Nothing looked to stop […]
Oct
10
2017
10
2017
A Final Contribution: Joanna Zorya’s Martial Power
We are gratified to announce a new Joanna Zorya DVD, Martial Power. Before Joanna’s untimely death several years ago, she told us of several unfinished projects that she was working on. Sadly, she did not have time to finish them all, such as the anticipated second volume to the Xing Yi series. But her friend […]
Oct
4
2017
4
2017
The Fierce Eye: Focusing on Martial Focus
I think this is true everywhere: there’s always someone giving advice, or rules of thumb that drift downward from earlier days and, lo and behold, these become watchwords of inherited intelligence. Verifiability is not even an issue because these ingrained insights constitute that thin yellow line between truth and—certainly not evil, but at least—superstition. In […]
Sep
16
2017
16
2017
Why Relaxation is Not Easy
The problem posed in the title is a constant concern in all CMA (Chinese Martial Arts) training. Of course, one immediate answer recognizes that relaxation and exercise are just plain difficult to coordinate. This is especially true when you add thinking to the mix. But the true approach, like all martial training, is both more […]
Aug
27
2017
27
2017
Mei Flower Boxing
Here’s a reprint of a popular article on Mei Hua Quan I wrote for Kung Fu Wushu magazine. The Mei flower is a delicate thing. The slightest breeze stirs its petals. Against the hardness of bark its softness shines like spots of moonlight. Its delicacy is a dab of beauty in the world. But sometimes […]
Aug
20
2017
20
2017
Instructor’s Notebook: Revelations
Sometimes, words that once held deeper meanings are now expressed in shallow terms. It’s just “aaawesssomme.†For instance, when people use the word, “revelation†they are probably pumping up some slight thing, like office gossip, or promoting the discovery of the correct word in a crossword puzzle. But the core meaning of revelation has more […]
