Displaying posts tagged with

“On 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 […]

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 […]

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
13
2021

Our (hopefully) Last Pre-Announcement of Plum’s New Bagua Project

It is storming today in Santa Cruz, California, where we live and work. Except for one small detail, the rain is welcome in our drought-starved area. That one small detail? The storm is delaying the arrival of the DVDs we await to complete our new Bagua Book/DVD package. In the meantime, here is a short […]

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, […]

Jul
29
2021

Coming Soon!

We are in our typical state of “too much coming all at once,” so we thought we’d offer an appetizer of what to expect in the next few weeks. We’re already getting questions about a couple of these, so consider this your official update. And, of course, as soon as we post this, more will […]

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 […]

Dec
1
2020

Let The Sales Begin!

Hey, we’ve made it to December! Yes, this has been a tough year, but 2021 is almost here, so let’s celebrate with some discounts. Use coupon code December10 to get a 10% discount on any  orders through December 7, and we’ll email you another 10% coupon that you can use in January. Out with the […]

Nov
9
2020

Bagua Zhang and Xin Yi Quan

Got in a short stack of great books—limited copies on each, at the moment, but thought we would let you know about them. One of them, the book on Dai Style XinYiQuan, incorporates those QR Codes instead of including a packaged DVD, so that with a simple scan from your phone’s camera, you can watch […]

Oct
31
2020

Bagua Zhang’s Ji Ben Gongs—Plum’s New Project

    Here is a short interview with Ted Mancuso, Plum’s director, on his upcoming book/DVD project. Covid slowed us down, but now we are back at work again, and hope to have this finished in the new year.  Q:    Your new book is on Bagua Zhang Gongs. What is a Gong? Ted:     In […]

Jul
11
2020

Wang ShuJin’s Swimming Body DVD

Some things take a long time to materialize, but when they finally show up, they are worth the wait. Such is the case with Kent Howard’s Bagua Swimming Body Palms DVD, companion to his excellent and popular book of the same title. Howard’s style is clear and clean, and one realizes that he sincerely intends […]

May
29
2020

Restocks!

Happy to report the return of three unlikely roommates today. Click each image for more information and to purchase.