From our astute and ever-watchful correspondent, Gary Shapiro
Nov
9
2020
9
2020
Mar
22
2020
22
2020
Safe, Sound and Shipping
Dear friends, Just a note to let you know that we at Plum are all healthy and safe and still open for correspondence and business. We are monitoring the shipping situation around the world and, so far, packages are being delivered, although it may take a few extra days to receive them. Having suspended classes […]
Mar
21
2020
21
2020
Chen Style Taijiquan—A Tangled History
Happy to announce the arrival of a new book to our Plum catalogue, Mark Chen’s Chen Style Taijiquan: Collected Masterworks—The History of a Martial Art. Chen has done wide and deep research on the origins of Chen Taiji, not an easy matter. His main focus is Chen ZhaoPi, but he incorporates other voices in the […]
May
1
2019
1
2019
Jun
14
2017
14
2017
Daniel Mroz on Tao Lu: Formal Movements from the Martial Arts
Here is something wonderful. Daniel Mroz, an associate professor in the Theater Department of the University of Ottawa and also a longtime friend, correspondent and Plum customer presented a lecture at last year’s Martial Arts Studies Conference in Wales. The subject of his engaging talk is Tao Lu, the martial art routine we call set […]
May
31
2017
31
2017
Mina at the Kung Fu Tournament
The noise in the Kung Fu tournament hall never lets up. The waves of brass and drumming rolled along the ceiling fabric only to crash against an opposing wave of raucous sound from the opposite direction. To me, it vibrated like someone in leather and beard revving a Harley directly between my ears, but I […]
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 […]
Apr
4
2016
4
2016
Dec
11
2015
11
2015
A Modest Proposal
Through much experimentation and some little research I have come to an opinion about martial arts, all martial arts. Nothing too radical, but the catch is that I feel this should be universal and it is hard to convince such a contrary crowd as my cohorts about anything universal. I propose, simply, that every style […]
Oct
28
2015
28
2015
Tai Chi: Wu and Hong styles
Today, we add the last installment of our selection on the Chen Tai Chi exclusive branch named Hong style. Chen style has a well-known “short fist” version. And this style, developed by teacher Hong JunSheng, presents a smaller frame, demonstrating a soft, slow elegance. This last DVD shows many throws and takedowns with high emphasis […]
Nov
1
2012
1
2012
Sticky Telepathy
This is one of those things that veteran martial artists know; once in a while we mention it but we don’t talk about it…
Mar
28
2011
28
2011
Push Hands Improves
Why are we Pushing? How important is rooting? What are we doing here, anyway?
Jan
1
2011
1
2011
The Hardest Thing
What do I mean by cooperation? I DON’T mean just being a rag doll.
Aug
3
2010
3
2010
Sifu Ma Hong LIVE at Plum!
Last week we announced our excitement over the SIX Ma Hong DVDs that we had reviewed, and were expecting. Well, the wait is over! They are ALL here and ready for sale. We are not big ‘gushers’ here at Plum, but this series is pretty exciting. There is a certain intimacy in these DVDs, that […]
Jul
10
2010
10
2010
Why is Push Hands so bad?
To explore this topic we’ll have to assume the basic premise that Push Hands is bad…
Aug
15
2009
15
2009
The Open Door
A note on the give and take of “information” when it regards the ancient art of Kung Fu.
Jun
8
2009
8
2009
A Lesson from Cousin Push
It was during one of those conversations that pepper a good workout that Robert Nakashima, Eddie Fong and I found ourselves agreeing that there were all sorts of problems to Taiji’s famous Push Hands, especially regarding the clarity—or lack of it—to students of Taiji.
