Martial arts can be a mirror. Like Alice, I stick my hands out and they sink into the loking glass. The nature of martial arts encourages looking inward, staring outward and trying, somehow, to get audience and self-perception to agree. It’s important to know just who and what you are looking for. It’s important to […]
Apr
8
2017
8
2017
Feb
24
2017
24
2017
Feb
10
2017
10
2017
Jan
10
2017
10
2017
Stillness & Movement: Part Three
Dynamic Balance There’s a very old martial arts saying that we should “find stillness in movement, and movement in stillness.” It’s not just an old saw. For instance, say someone punches at you. You move out of the way extremely rapidly, but not so hurried that you resemble a bad example of the startle response; […]
Jan
9
2017
9
2017
Stillness & Movement: Part Two
Thinking About Movement Learning movement–and therefore footwork–is a progression through four modes of stepping. First, when the beginner has just walked in off the street and you ask him to punch, he will shoot arm first, before stepping. Envision tense shoulders, chest out and arm fully extended as he steps/falls awkwardly. Here’s the first, or […]
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. […]
Aug
5
2016
5
2016
Managing Forms
You’ve been practicing awhile. You are no longer a novice. Your belt or sash no longer wears stiffly as though it were just a larger version of a bow tie. You now have “rank” whether or not it is formally recognized in your style. You have accumulated some formal training, too. You may have collected […]
Jul
21
2016
21
2016
Natural Speed: Three Step Program
I won’t keep you in suspense about what the three step is, so here’s the saying: “Slow is fluid, and fluid is fast.” On at least one level, pretty much everyone might agree with this. And, as your Kung Fu skills increase, that border between fluid and fast will start to wash away. The hard […]
Jun
9
2016
9
2016
A Walk in the Young Forest: Northern Shaolin vol. 1
This is the first volume, by Sifu Wing Lam, of a proposed series on Northern Shaolin containing history and development of the art. It outlines the shape of that branch associated with Iron Palm master Gu Ru Zhang. In the background section there are a lot of stories and facts about the temple and some […]
May
31
2016
31
2016
Instructor’s Notebook #29: Metaphorically Speaking
Teachers have tools, great teachers make tools. But that’s not all. Students also make tools, in their minds. And the persistent teacher will go inside those active minds too, creating new ideas and ways to view things. All, of course, to the student’s benefit. Everyone who teaches the martial arts can fall victim to micro-management […]
May
8
2016
8
2016
Li Tianji’s Xing Yi Legacy; Andrea Falk’s Dictionary
Plum is adding another text by Andrea Falk, a translation of significance to Xing Yi practitioners: Li TianJi’s The Skills of XingYiQuan; 311 pages, with hundreds of illustrations. This is a thorough text on the style handed down to Li Tianji from his father, Li Yulin. It’s very well laid out with sections covering basic […]
Apr
23
2016
23
2016
Tong Bei, Loose and Powerful
Here is a pretty advanced Kung Fu puzzle: along with Bagua Zhang, Xing Yi Quan and Taijiquan, what do all of the following styles have in common: Liu He Ba Fa (Six Harmonies, Eight Methods,) Mi Zong (Lost Track,) BaFa Quan (Eight Methods,) Liu He Quan (Six Harmonies Boxing) and Tong Bei Quan (Through the […]
Mar
18
2016
18
2016
Reprint: Stillness in the Martial Arts
Here is a piece I wrote for the now defunct Journal of Asian Martial Arts. A number of people have asked about the “myth” at the front of the piece. I believe it hints at the dialog between stillness and movement that can–and must– be found at the heart of martial practice. If nothing else, […]
Mar
7
2016
7
2016
Spring and Autumn of Martial Arts: 206 b.c.e.
from the SPRING AND AUTUMN of WUSHU excerpted from Professor Kang Ge-Wu’s book of the same name Time: 206 B.C.E. Liu Bang destroyed the Chin Dynasty and went to HongMen to meet with Xing Yu. At the banquet Xing Zhuang said, “We have no entertainers in the army. May I perform a sword dance?” And […]
Mar
6
2016
6
2016
Another Modest Proposal
Through my entire martial career I have been listening to everyone’s questions and problems with traditional forms. For most people, it all centers on practicality. For some people, the answer lies in detailed analysis of the forms and what self defense and fighting treasures are hidden therein. For still others, it’s a lost cause and […]
Mar
6
2016
6
2016
FISTS AND PETALS
No one understands because no one can understand. There is something. There is something about martial arts. Opening and closing. Like the wind rising then dying down again. Like the mind with a thought blowing past. Thoughts like the rustling of trees in the invisible wind. Mind pours through the trees and they shake, they […]
Feb
29
2016
29
2016
Feb
12
2016
12
2016
Just a Handful of Books
We have SO many new texts in Chinese to offer that we are just picking some at random. Some are on rare material like Shi style Bagua, others are those classic collectibles taken at the beginning of the last century with dodgy photos and famous masters still young men. We picked a few subjects at […]
Dec
29
2015
29
2015
Adam Hsu Interview, Complete: Parts 1 – 8
All episodes now available! Watch and listen to our extensive (and intensive) interview that we conducted in Taipei with Adam Hsu. No stranger to controversy, Adam Hsu discusses usage, teachers and the problems of teaching, “spreading the word,” and what is necessary for practice in Parts 4 and 5. As always, expect to hear a […]
Nov
20
2015
20
2015
“If I could just interject one thought here…”
For the umpteenth time I am re-designing the basics practiced at my school. This may come as a surprise to people for a couple for reasons. I know that there are styles which have probably taught the same basics for decades, even centuries. I used to study at a school that taught two distinct and […]
