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 […]
Oct
29
2018
29
2018
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 […]
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 […]
Dec
29
2017
29
2017
Nov
27
2017
27
2017
Caylor Adkin’s Iron Ball, Wooden Staff, Empty Hands Training
Caylor Adkins is a well-known instructor, recognized even outside his art of Shotokan. His contribution, “Iron Ball, Wooden Staff, Empty Hands: Understanding Structure, Flow and Maneuver is Martial Arts,” is a well laid-out book of methods utilizing these traditionally used kung fu training aides. More and more we see cross-training and instrument exercise as important […]
Nov
20
2017
20
2017
Evolution of Wing Chun Kicking Techniques
Happy to announce the arrival of an important new text in the Wing Chun canon: The Evolution of Wing Chun Kung Fu Kicking Techniques. Osmond Lam’s beautiful book not only shows us some of the principles behind Wing Chun’s special and only sporadically known kicking methods, but adds a good portion of background technique on […]
Jul
14
2017
14
2017
Major New Bagua book
I’ll be honest with you: I have not yet finished Andrea Falk’s new book, “A Shadow on Fallen Blossoms: The 36 and 48 Traditional Verses of Baguazhang,” but we were so excited about the book we wanted to announce it as soon as we received copies. I can’t imagine anyone interested in Bagua not wanting […]
May
11
2017
11
2017
Iron Wire Fist Book Has Arrived
Finally. At last. The wait is over. Lam Chun Fai’s Iron Wire Fist book/DVD, Tid Sin Kuen, has JUST arrived. The 240 page book is bound in a heavy, textured paper wrapped cover, with both black-and-white and color interior pages. It also contains a bonus 9 minute DVD of Sifu Lam performing key movements from […]
May
5
2017
5
2017
Meditation’s Secret Treasure
Meditation’s Secret Treasure, by Steve Strasnick, is the story of someone who was not already indoctrinated with mystical assumptions, who did not bring a cosmology (at least, not a religious one) to the table. Yet, he found himself “Awakening to the Mystical World,” despite his feeling about himself that he was not “inclined†in that manner. […]
Apr
14
2017
14
2017
Kung Fu Saber: The Tiger Leaps
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, Plum pre-announced our newest book/DVD package by Ted Mancuso on the Kung Fu Saber. Needless to say, it took us just a bit longer to produce these than we expected, but we are thrilled to say, THE SABER IS HERE! This is the third in […]
Mar
12
2017
12
2017
Mizong Jia: Shaolin Mizong Kung Fu style
Here’s a pop quiz (no cheating!) What style is the inspiration for the two films, “The Chinese Connection” (with Bruce Lee) and “Legend” (with Jet Lee)? Want a hint? This style is associated with Kung Fu Master Huo YuanJia, Head Instructor of the famous Ching Woo Association. Ok, so the title of this post gives […]
Feb
17
2017
17
2017
Jan
27
2017
27
2017
Jan
16
2017
16
2017
Dec
28
2016
28
2016
The Karate/Kung Fu Connection: Bubishi
Just arrived, TWO books: the premier translation of the martial-world famous Bubishi by Patrick McCarthy; AND more stock on the gorgeous hardcover edition of The General Tian Wubeizhi: The Bubishi in Chinese Martial Arts. The convergence of these two—the translation (Bubishi) and the commentary (General Tian’s Wubeizhi)—mirror the revelations contained in these two texts concerning […]
Dec
16
2016
16
2016
A Wire of Iron
What a year the monkey has been! Now, we have so much good stuff coming in we can act like the Rooster Year is already here, and can start to crow a bit. In the next couple of months, we’re looking forward to adding more and more top quality books and DVDs, often in English. […]
Dec
2
2016
2
2016
Bubishi Classic, Like You Have Never Seen Before (Updated)
Plum treasures our close affiliation with Lionbooks in Taiwan, both for their extensive library of authentic, hard-to-find martial arts literature, and the exceptional job they do of making these books beautiful. So, we are excited to announce their new english language study of the Bubishi, the foundational text of Karate, including two Bubishi manuals, both […]
Nov
24
2016
24
2016
Who’re You Calling Hurt?
We just refreshed our “Hurt” books section and, boy, do we have a great selection of sale-priced gems—there are about 40 of them! As we’ve said in the past, the title “hurt” is a little misleading, since 99% of these are indistinguishable from new copies of the same title. “Hurts,” in the book industry, are […]
Nov
17
2016
17
2016
Chen With Your Hands Full
A quick announcement of three new book/vcd packages in one of our favorite series; these are on Chen Style Tai Chi Ball, Double Maces, and Eyebrow Staff. This series, which you will find scattered throughout the Plum site, gives you a book in both Chinese and English (en face) plus a VCD (in Chinese, subtitled […]
Oct
20
2016
20
2016
Three Classic Training Texts Translated
Published anywhere from 50 to over 80 years ago, here are translations of Kung Fu books emphasizing applied technique and training. We now offer Iron Thread from Hung Gar, one of the crowning forms of this style. Then there is the popular text on “Shaolin training methods,†which has been reprinted over and over for decades. […]
