Superlatives these days, like cliches, are a dime a dozen. Everything is AMAZING!! AWESOME!! ASTONISHING!! ASTOUNDING!! (and that’s only the A’s). So what are we to do if we actually offer something that deserves exclamation marks? Adam Hsu’s Secrets of Bagua Zhang, Volume #3, is just such a product. This 4 disk set, comprising over […]
Aug
13
2017
13
2017
Aug
4
2017
4
2017
Muslim Kung Fu: The Fist of the Bodyguards
Comment: Of the over 700 articles and opinion pieces on the martial arts I’ve published, this one on Muslim Kung Fu has probably gotten the most reactions. Letters and question from all over the world have flooded in. There is a lot of interest there in Jiao Men, Islamic martial arts. Here is the first […]
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 […]
Jul
4
2017
4
2017
Jun
7
2017
7
2017
Liu Xiao Ling’s Presentation of Wu Tai Chi Sword
Pound for pound, Liu Xiao Ling is one of the most popular teachers on our site, especially considering the small number of DVDs he has produced from his wide range of styles and systems. The reasons are simple. His movements are accurate and simultaneously explicit. He contends himself with the “internal” arts such as Qigong, […]
May
26
2017
26
2017
Hung Gar Boxing: Clarity and Effectiveness
Here is another fine “workshop” session DVD from Sifu Don Hamby. This time his Hung style takes him to the topic of classical form and fighting. And he responds with sequences taken directly from Hung’s famous forms applied to unarmed combat. As is characteristic of the style, there are some powerful blows and even a […]
May
16
2017
16
2017
Appreciation: Double Swords, Flying Blades
There is at least one weapon in Kung Fu practice that is generally taught only to women. In fact, I have never—that I recall—taught this to a male practitioner. Leaving aside the irony of a male teaching a “female only” weapon (I’ll discuss how THAT works at the end of this article), I think it […]
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 […]
Mar
19
2017
19
2017
Random Circles—The Synergy of Taiji Quan
by Jason Tsou and Art Schonfeld By necessity, there are many levels of martial arts training. A person must develop foundational work before he can go on to more advanced work. One essential training method often overlooked today is that of Random Circle training. While this is not the highest level of training, it provides […]
Mar
6
2017
6
2017
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
10
2016
10
2016
A Welcome Guest: The Hakka Fist
I have a friend, Tek Young Lin, who is a born storyteller. He can weave a tale with every nuance—the smell, the expressions, the details—all brought to life. He can twist a yarn about anything or nothing. In fact, he tells a wonderful Daoist story about collecting holes, and how his best friend almost tumbled […]
Nov
8
2016
8
2016
Oct
7
2016
7
2016
This Is How Bagua Is Done
There are two ways to make a DVD, irrespective of a particular style. The first way is to follow your style’s structure: warm ups, basics, form and sampled applications. The second way, less common, is to offer, derived from your style, skills that might be universally helpful to appropriate seekers. Imagine a Long Fist practice […]
Sep
16
2016
16
2016
Ark Yuey Wong: 01/11/1900 to 01/11/1987
Grandmaster Wong Ark Yuey was born in Canton. His home village was Toysun Tien Cum Chien. His grandfather, the head of the family, wanted all males learn Kung Fu. His well-to-do family was worried by the persistent threat of bandits in the area. A family dispute had precipitated the rule that each Wong member would […]
Sep
5
2016
5
2016
From Taiwan: An Old Frame and a Lost Track
There are a lot of well meaning martial practitioners out there that have probably never posed in front of a camera. They make honest, traditional and studied demonstrations of each particular style. Despite the special qualities of the style, the survey of their forms may be tepid and self-conscious. No disrespect to them, they did […]
Aug
5
2016
5
2016
ON ED PARKER AND KENPO
There are now a number of videos on the market showing the teaching of Grandmaster Edmund Parker. These are no doubt historic documentaries and show Parker at his best: making jokes, expounding key points, developing analogies that force practitioners to re-think basic concepts. But we’d like to address the issues surrounding the man, not the […]