Displaying posts filed under

BaGua Zhang

Aug
10
2023

A Martial Renaissance (再生 — Zaisheng): Xingyiquan, Taijiquan

There is a Renaissance going on in martial arts, and it is not purely physical. We are talking about the quantity of high-quality martial writing in English, which includes translations of Chinese origin. This unexpected level of cogency delights us. We are seeing the maturity of an art, along with the rooting of well-planted seeds […]

Jun
6
2023

Tom Bisio’s Old Eight Palms of Master Wang Shi Tong

What excitement! Books have arrived! Tom Bisio has just published a new book on Master Wang Shi Tong’s Old Eight Palms of Bagua Zhang. Sifu Bisio, the only American disciple of Master Wang, details the forms, principles, training methods and many applications he learned directly from the Master himself. Almost every style of Bagua Zhang […]

Jun
5
2022

Formation of a Wushu Student: Andrea Falk’s New Book

Plum represents a LOT of books, among them some real treasures. Typically, when we talk about the best ones, they usually share certain qualities having to do with technical information: a teacher generous enough to reveal principles, methods, even “secrets.” Andrea Falk’s newest book, Beijing Bittersweet, certainly includes gems of instruction from her own teachers, […]

Apr
8
2022

Our First Love

Although we are smitten by many truly wonderful contemporary texts we represent on Plum, our first love was the older manuals: dusty copies found on the bottom shelves of poorly lit bookstores in Chinatown. These books telescoped us back to earlier times and teachers. Now, more than 50 years later, some of what was contemporary […]

Mar
5
2022

Spinning Bagua

When we think of Kung Fu and its long history, we tend to think of its venerable age, lineage, and established methods. But everything in Kung Fu was new once — VERY NEW — and innovative. Responding to environment, population and, most influentially, technology, these impulses sparked revolutionary changes, as well as temporary (and sometimes, […]

Feb
19
2022

Hawk Splits Sky: Good News and Great Reviews

Good news! Hawk Splits Sky: Jibengong Practice, Bagua Zhang Mastery is back in stock after selling out the first printing, and available to order.  Good reviews! In the shameless praise department, we are delighted to read what people have to say about our new book/DVD package. Here’s a new sampling: It’s a masterpiece. I’m not […]

Feb
6
2022

No One Is Perfect: Books That Go Bump In the Shipping

Honestly, considering the amount of shipping we do, both sending and receiving, it is remarkable how few bumped corners we have to report. But things DO go wrong, every once in a while. Take, for instance, a recent order from Taiwan. A few lovelies received minor bruises, hardly anything to rise up over but still, […]

Jan
10
2022

Gao Style Baguazhang

We have been receiving some exceptional Bagua material lately, so if you think we’ve been a little tilted toward the Bagua circle, you would be correct. Bagua Rubbing Bagua linked Palms Compiled, at least of this writing, is the last for a while, but it is a mighty nice offering on which to pause. Lionbooks, […]

Jan
1
2022

QA: The Benefit of Reeling Silk in Bagua

A little while back, we published a short video tutorial on Reeling Silk exercise in Bagua Zhang. We just received a nice comment on it from Lyn, plus a couple of questions… Q: Very interesting little video. The informal style of it made it easy to watch–& a disappointment when it ended! I always tend […]

Dec
24
2021

Essence of Baguazhang Back in Stock

Just a quick note, since a lot of you are waiting: just got our copies of “Essence of Baguazhang: The Biography of Liu Yun Chiao” back in stock. They are going fast, but we did get a nice stack of them, so hopefully they will last for all orders… And if you do decide to […]

Dec
21
2021

First Reviews of Hawk Split Sky Have Landed

Our new book, Hawk Splits Sky: Jibengong Practice, Bagua Zhang Mastery, is selling well. This is always good news to us as both authors and publishers, but the truly great moment comes when the first few reviews come in. Here they are: The Hawk splits the sky arrived this morning. I have to compliment both […]

Dec
15
2021

It’s Alive!

Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor covid has been able to stop our new book by Sifu Ted Mancuso, “Hawk Splits Sky: Jibengong Practice, Bagua Zhang Mastery,” from publication. But it’s not like the forces of nature haven’t tried really hard. Nonetheless, the boxes of books and the spindles of DVDs are now arrived, […]

Dec
3
2021

Kittens, Newbies, and an Old Favorite

Sort of hard to believe it is already December. In-between projects and cataloguing and writing articles, we have been keeping an eye on our two new wrestlers, Uxmal and Notte, a 6 month old (kitten) sister act who have taken up permanent residence in our home (and hearts). When they are not sleeping or eating, […]

Nov
4
2021

Liu YunChiao’s Bagua Zhang

We received several requests for this book before we even saw it, so we are pleased to actually have it in hand. And what a book! We have seen other memorials to Liu YunChiao, all admirable, but this book, Essence of Baguazhang, honors him especially by including both written remembrances, by those who studied with […]

Aug
24
2021

Forthcoming, and Then Some

A brief pause in our cataloguing work to tell you about a few items coming up that would be here sooner if we didn’t keep pausing to tell you about them…well, you get the picture. Anyway, a little while back we added a gorgeous new Chinese book from Sifu Adam Hsu on Tan Tui, this […]

Aug
10
2021

Kent Howard’s Essentials of Bagua Zhang

Thrilled to announce Sifu Kent Howard’s newest book and companion DVD, Introduction to Baguazhang: From Circle Walking to Advanced Practice. Sifu Howard includes the essentials of any Bagua practice, generously teaching routines while also emphasizing Basics and other lesser addressed topics such as response time in stress situations. His clear instruction already makes him a […]

May
8
2021

A Brief Lesson on Reeling Silk Energy in Bagua Zhang

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 […]

Apr
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: […]

Mar
7
2021

From Basics to Mastery: Jibengongs and the Bear Palm Gong in Bagua

As we have mentioned (more than once, I’m thinking), I am working on a new book/dvd project on Bagua Gongs, those special exercises that teach by principle and really infuse your practice with the flavor of your style (in this case, Bagua Zhang). The project keeps growing, and looks like it is veering into one […]

Dec
9
2020

Plum December Sale Catalogue

We thought we would try something different this year, and pick out some of our favorite books and DVDs—a few older, many more recent—to highlight for a December sale. Plum carries over 3000 books, VCDs and DVDs, so choosing among them is not easy, but we at least made sure we have enough copies to […]