Enjoying a tasty meal. Used to dine here all the time a few years back. Nice food and really friendly service. We must come back when we have Freyja with us...
Peking Court buffet, Manchester
Tuesday 23 July 2013
Hong Kong marks 40 years since death of martial arts icon Bruce Lee
Story taken from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-20/exhibition-marks-40th-anniversary-of-bruce-lee-death/4832970
Lee helped put Hong Kong on the movie world map, and his films acted as a bridge between the cultures of East and West.
The Heritage Museum is displaying more than 600 of the actor and filmmaker's personal items, including the tracksuit Lee wore in his final film Game of Death.
Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, says it is her father's philosophy of life and the message in his films that people still respond to.
"It's the depth behind the films that keep him relevant today," she said.
"And we can take his words, his actions and apply them to our own lives. And people do, all time."
Ms Lee was four years old when her father died from swelling of the brain aged just 32.
"The way I know my father is not through media. The way I know my father is in number of different ways," she said.
"It's through the people who knew him well, his friends, my family. It's also through his own words, because he wrote voluminously.
"I have all of his library books, thousands of books and he would underline in them and write notes in the margins, so I know him from him."
Some of those notebooks, poetry, and family photos are among 600 items which will showcased in the exhibition at the museum until 2018.
A 20th century cultural icon who founded Jeet Kune Do, Lee's untimely death in Hong Kong in 1973 left fans around the world reeling.
"I remember the funeral in Hong Kong primarily, because it was just so chaotic. There were so many people," his daughter said.
"It was hot, humid, and it was just sort of like this whirlwind. And there was so much going on and so much sadness and as a little kid, I just sort of remember being dragged through that whole process and the feeling of the chaos all around me."
Lee's legacy lived on, inspiring a new generation of actors such as Jackie Chan and breaking down barriers for Asian actors in Hollywood.
"He won his fame from Kung Fu, which does not need language to deliver," Lee's biographer Roger Lo said.
"Just like dance and music. You can watch it whoever you are. It is like Charlie Chaplin whose silent movies were borderless.
"Lee was also a bridge between the cultures of East and West. He was educated both in Hong Kong and the United States.
"He appeared on American televisions and also Chinese movie theatres."
Chaplin Chang, the author of a new biography The Bruce Lee They Knew published this month, says that Lee's real personality, not just his screen persona, is part of his enduring appeal.
"People may give him god-like status. But he is just a human," he said.
Mr Chang, in the Chinese-language version of his biography, attempts to portray the action hero from an unconventional perspective, showing that the screen icon could be difficult at times but was generally friendly towards subordinates.
"He was not only [about] movies, nor was he only [about] martial arts," he said.
"With his philosophy, his legacy lives on for generations. Therefore, he is admired by many even now."
Updated
An exhibition in Hong Kong is celebrating the life of Bruce Lee, 40 years after the death of cinema's first martial arts hero.
Lee helped put Hong Kong on the movie world map, and his films acted as a bridge between the cultures of East and West.
The Heritage Museum is displaying more than 600 of the actor and filmmaker's personal items, including the tracksuit Lee wore in his final film Game of Death.
Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, says it is her father's philosophy of life and the message in his films that people still respond to.
"It's the depth behind the films that keep him relevant today," she said.
"And we can take his words, his actions and apply them to our own lives. And people do, all time."
Ms Lee was four years old when her father died from swelling of the brain aged just 32.
"The way I know my father is not through media. The way I know my father is in number of different ways," she said.
"It's through the people who knew him well, his friends, my family. It's also through his own words, because he wrote voluminously.
"I have all of his library books, thousands of books and he would underline in them and write notes in the margins, so I know him from him."
Some of those notebooks, poetry, and family photos are among 600 items which will showcased in the exhibition at the museum until 2018.
A 20th century cultural icon who founded Jeet Kune Do, Lee's untimely death in Hong Kong in 1973 left fans around the world reeling.
"I remember the funeral in Hong Kong primarily, because it was just so chaotic. There were so many people," his daughter said.
"It was hot, humid, and it was just sort of like this whirlwind. And there was so much going on and so much sadness and as a little kid, I just sort of remember being dragged through that whole process and the feeling of the chaos all around me."
Lee's legacy lived on, inspiring a new generation of actors such as Jackie Chan and breaking down barriers for Asian actors in Hollywood.
"He won his fame from Kung Fu, which does not need language to deliver," Lee's biographer Roger Lo said.
"Just like dance and music. You can watch it whoever you are. It is like Charlie Chaplin whose silent movies were borderless.
"Lee was also a bridge between the cultures of East and West. He was educated both in Hong Kong and the United States.
"He appeared on American televisions and also Chinese movie theatres."
Chaplin Chang, the author of a new biography The Bruce Lee They Knew published this month, says that Lee's real personality, not just his screen persona, is part of his enduring appeal.
"People may give him god-like status. But he is just a human," he said.
Mr Chang, in the Chinese-language version of his biography, attempts to portray the action hero from an unconventional perspective, showing that the screen icon could be difficult at times but was generally friendly towards subordinates.
"He was not only [about] movies, nor was he only [about] martial arts," he said.
"With his philosophy, his legacy lives on for generations. Therefore, he is admired by many even now."
First posted
Wednesday 17 July 2013
Luo De Xiu Manchester seminar 2013 & old article
This year's seminar with Luo Laoshi was amazing. So much to take in that, though I learned a great deal, I still lament all the things I will have inevitably been unable to memorise. Times like this make me wish I had an eidetic memory.
The seminar included Hebei Xing Yi, Gao style Baguazhang and Chen Pan Ling Tai Chi. Though I'd only really experience the bagua before (excluding the Xing Yi we often touch upon in class), I really enjoyed every single moment, regardless of which particular style we were learning about at the time.
Luo Laoshi was so remarkably generous and good-natured, I honestly can't count the number of times he demonstrated a particular technique upon me, or corrected my posture, et cetera.
So, I found online this old (not sure how old, though) article written about Luo Laoshi. I have to say, there was nothing like the crunching thump during our training (other than a few comedic (to us) techniques demonstrated on our teacher).
Webmaster's notes: I found this article on the web a while ago. I thought it was a good piece on Luo Dexiu. Don't know when it was written.
Bagua Training with Master Lou De Xiu
By Mario Sikora
This article was originally published in The Edge Self-Defense and Fitness Quarterly.
Thump.
The student gets up and attacks again and the master moves slightly and slams his palm into the student's chest. There it is again, the resounding thump. The master spins him around and deposits him on the floor. The moves are impressive enough, but it's the sound of palm hitting chest that gives you pause. And the way the student's head jerks back when the master grabs his arm and yanks him off balance. Your body starts to ache just watching.
This is bagua, an internal martial art. The internal arts are supposed to be slow and gentle; great for health, great for people who don't like to fight. Then comes the thump again and the student is tossed like a rag doll.
He struggles to look serene, but you know it's an effort.
Unless you've been involved in the martial arts for a while you've probably never seen or even heard of bagua zhang. If you have seen it, you've probably wondered why those guys are walking in circles and doing those weird things with their arms. There aren't many bagua instructors around, and those that are are less than impressive. As a matter of fact, they start looking downright silly after you see the real thing.
Master Lou De Xuo recently gave a bagua demonstration in Philadelphia, and everyone there knew that any
bagua they had seen before was mere imitation. His art is a fighter's art, seeming to contain principles from a number of other more modern arts. Only his art was graduate school to their junior high. One gets the impression that a lot of the young bucks out there claiming to have combined systems and created new martial arts are just reinventing the wheel.
Master Lou also took some time to speak about his art.
He started his martial arts training, studying bagua, tai chi, and hsing-I in 1970 as a teenager in his native Taiwan. He says he didn't have much focus on what he wanted to accomplish; but he did like to fight. In the early 1970s, Taiwan was the host of a number of full contact tournaments that allowed Lou to satisfy his desire to fight and test his skills.
The rules of the tournaments were simple: the only protective equipment was a pair of thin cotton cloves, you could do anything except poke to the eyes or strike to the groin. (Animated throughout the interview, Lou really comes alive as he describes these tournaments through his interpreter, thrusting at the interpreter's eyes and groin. The interviewer slides his chair back slightly.) The winner was the last man standing.
The tournaments were open to all styles and Lou found himself fighting boxers, wrestlers, Thai boxers, and karate stylists. Eventually, the enormous number of serious injuries to participants (even the winner could barely walk the next day) caused the government to crack down on the tournaments and enforce more rules and the use of safety equipment.
After military service in 1978-79, Lou decided to devote himself to bagua. Even though he had been victorious in all the bouts he had entered, he was on the small side (although he is not small anymore) and didn't have the confidence he felt he needed when fighting a larger opponent. He believed that the body movement of bagua would give him the skills and the confidence for which he was searching. Watching him demonstrate his art leads one to believe that it did.
The exposure to real fighting in his early training made it easier to understand the theories of bagua that he learned later on, says Lou, but he would not recommend the same approach for everyone. It's just how it worked out for him. He advises others to explore the theory, philosophy, and meditation aspects of the art as well as the combat aspects if they want to reach the higher levels.
Going in Circles
So why do bagua practitioners perform their forms while walking in a circle? Lou offers a simple explanation: the art is based on angulation--moving off your opponent's line of attack and placing yourself in an advantageous position to counter-attack. The counterattack is usually linear, coming straight from that advantageous position. Bagua also has numerous linear forms, Lou says, but most western practitioners are not familiar with them.
Issuing Chi
When asked how he feels about claims by many internal-style martial artists of issuing internal energy, or chi, Lou just grins and says, "We like to stay neutral on that issue. I don't know about others, but I don't do it."
Nonetheless, chi development is important to his art, but he calls it "I" (pronounced "ee") development, or mind development. Instead of being some mystical force existing independently, chi occurs whenever the yin and yang are in balance.
Lou says that everyone has this energy, but resistance in the body and the mind impede its flow. If the impediments are removed, the energy will flow and one will feel the chi.
Proper bagua training seeks to balance the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems; the first excites the body and the second settles it. This hormonal balance, a balance of yin and yang, produces chi.
This idea of balance permeates Master Lou's bagua. There must be a balance between circular and linear techniques, a balance between the combat techniques and the health aspects of the art, a balance between focus on the opponent and the focus on the self. Finding proper balance takes years of practice under a legitimate master of the art. Most western practitioners and instructors have only studied with a master for a few years before going off on their own, which is why Lou believes that most of the bagua here is watered down, and even kind of amusing to watch.
Standing Meditation
Standing meditation is often overlooked by many who practice bagua, says Lou, and their art suffers for it. Daily practice of such meditation teaches the mind to focus and remain relaxed at the same time. It allows the body and mind to reset, something needed by everyone in our high-stress times. Don't focus on chi flow during meditation, he says, because if you concentrate on it you won't know if the energy is real or imagined. Instead, one should focus on heightening sensitivity.
Imagine the body surrounded by a bubble, he says. Move your finger slightly and feel the movement throughout the bubble. After the animated discussion on combat, Master Lou is settling down as he discusses meditation, becoming tranquil.
Have you ever heard your heart beat? he says. That is the goal.
It is that question that sums up Master Lou De Xiu's art, and martial arts training in general. Developing the strength and skill to punch straight through an opponent's chest, and developing the sensitivity and peace of mind not to do so. Developing the sensitivity to hear your heart beat.
Friday 14 June 2013
Luo DeXiu London seminar 2013
Taken from: http://www.palmchange.com
Book & Pay NOW for Luo DeXiu London seminar 28/6/13 - 1/7/13
Evening of Friday 28th June - 3 hours of Fighting methods
All day Saturday 29th June - 6 hours of Houtian (Post-Heaven) Line 1 - Guiding principles
Morning of Sunday 30th June - 3 hours of Chi kung
Afternoon of Sunday 30th - Bagua wrestling/throwing
Evening of Monday 1st July - 3 hours of Xiantian (Pre-heaven) circle palm changes
For full Description of content and material depth please see the facebook event here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/358953124221667
You must follow the following two steps please in advance to attend this seminar:
1. Pay first by clicking the paypal button on the left and selecting the payment for you. You need to pay 100% in advance.
2 Send an email to chris@palmchange.com stating your name, the seminars that you are attending and when you paid and any other details needed to track your payment - for example if paying through a company or different name - supply details.
If you have any specific questions please contact chris@palmchange.com .
Strictly limited to first 30 practitioners - So don't miss out :)
For more info, see: http://www.palmchange.com
Thursday 13 June 2013
Jet Li sets up business to promote Tai Chi
KUNG Fu movie start Jet Li has teamed up with a Chinese internet entrepeneur to promote Tai Chi.
Li, star of "Hero" and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor", joined forces with Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, the world's biggest retailer.
Ma recently stepped down as the CEO of the company, saying he wanted to concentrate his energies in education and the environment.
Like Li, Ma is a long time follower of Tai Chi and has used its teachings in his business strategies and his former company.
The duo have opened a school in Hangzhou, Zheijiang Province, eastern China.
A statement from the company said the school would teach Tai Chi and other martial arts under the tutalege of a well-known master.
In keeping with Ma's environmental beliefs, the school is part of a larger building which also houses commercial services. The park is in wetlands.
Tuesday 11 June 2013
Books to assist with Martial Arts training
Here is a list of books and DVDs. This is mostly for my own reference, so when I have some spare cash (not that it's likely that'll happen any time soon) or when someone wants to get me a gift, I/they have something to which we can refer.
Anatomy Trains
Excellent book on anatomy which is very useful for internal martial artists. Especially in reference to fascia, et cetera.
Somatics
Interesting looking book that I hope will help me with my development within internal martial arts.
Anatomy Trains
Excellent book on anatomy which is very useful for internal martial artists. Especially in reference to fascia, et cetera.
Somatics
Interesting looking book that I hope will help me with my development within internal martial arts.
Gao Style Baguazhang book
I recently purchased this book, "Beginning Bagua". It is a really good introduction and reference to Gao style Baguazhang. The text is in plain english and the diagrams and photos are clear and informative.
Beginning Bagua is probably the most down to earth, practical book about Bagua currently available.
It is written with the goal of providing concrete, directly useful information on Bagua. This book covers the basics of body use stepping, static posture training, Qigong, key movements, striking and throwing applications, circle walking as well as how Bagua's intellectual framework applies to martial tactics and to general training.
Much of what you will find in this book is useful not just to practitioners of Bagua, but to martial artists in general.
Beginning Bagua is extensively illustrated with photos of both solo movements, basic exercises, palm changes and martial applications.
Bagua is often presented as mysterious, complicated and difficult. It certainly requires study and practice, but this book provides the keys to make sense of the 'abstract' movements, to see the logic behind them and begin to develop useful skills. This book can save you a lot of grief and confusion!
The information itself is presented in a straight forward way, based on direct experience and written with at least occasional humour.
Beginning Bagua is the first book in a series that will look at aspects of Bagua with increasing detail and an emphasis on practicality.
I'm definitely looking forward to the next instalment! It is the most-read martial arts text on my Kindle app.
Beginning Bagua is probably the most down to earth, practical book about Bagua currently available.
It is written with the goal of providing concrete, directly useful information on Bagua. This book covers the basics of body use stepping, static posture training, Qigong, key movements, striking and throwing applications, circle walking as well as how Bagua's intellectual framework applies to martial tactics and to general training.
Much of what you will find in this book is useful not just to practitioners of Bagua, but to martial artists in general.
Beginning Bagua is extensively illustrated with photos of both solo movements, basic exercises, palm changes and martial applications.
Bagua is often presented as mysterious, complicated and difficult. It certainly requires study and practice, but this book provides the keys to make sense of the 'abstract' movements, to see the logic behind them and begin to develop useful skills. This book can save you a lot of grief and confusion!
The information itself is presented in a straight forward way, based on direct experience and written with at least occasional humour.
Beginning Bagua is the first book in a series that will look at aspects of Bagua with increasing detail and an emphasis on practicality.
I'm definitely looking forward to the next instalment! It is the most-read martial arts text on my Kindle app.
Friday 31 May 2013
Sunday 19 May 2013
Saturday 20 April 2013
Feeling positive
I am feeling very good about ny baguazhang training at the moment. Had a great bagua lesson last night. Starting to really feel it around my shoulders as I sit here typing this.
I have a good idea what I need and want to work on and I know I'll get a chance to train now I'm getting up early every weekday.
Even tried a little baguazhang after getting home from a christening. Sadly, bagua, corpulence and slim-fit suits don't mix.
Thursday 18 April 2013
Rainy morning
Today's 5.30am bagua practice included an extended warm up and loosening of the joints followed by my working on opening my kua.
Wednesday 17 April 2013
Training addendum
In the spirit of, "Hey, well.... It all counts.", I had to run an errand to the bank during my lunchbreak at work. While I did so, I worked a little on my calves (essentially just engaging them as I walked).
Not exactly a marathon workout - but it all adds up (and I really need to focus on my lower body at the moment).
Not exactly a marathon workout - but it all adds up (and I really need to focus on my lower body at the moment).
Ante-meridian (morning) training
Have practiced some single palm change this morning. Would have done more but it was interrupted by my daughter waking up in tears.
Still, a good start to the day.
Monday 8 April 2013
IMA training vs Families - Motivation
I've been training Baguazhang for some time now and, probably akin to many other IMAists of my generation, I have also become a father within a similar timeframe.
Naturally, this causes a number of conflicts of interest. Being a normal, well-balanced human, I place my family at the top of my list of priorities. Yes, even above my baguazhang training. Imagine that!?
Equally, though, I am a realist and won't kid myself that I can improve meaningfully relying only on what I glean from one two-hour lesson per week. I accept that to keep in line with my ambition, I need to enshrine some daily practice into my routine.
However, having a family, my daily routine is pretty full already. After a day at work and the associated commute, I want to spend whatever quality time I can with my fiancee and daughter. Add to that the need to relax and de-stress from the hectic day and whatever domestic chores are required and very little time remains.
What I decided of late, though, is that my baguazhang training is important to me. I want to improve and find myself a more capable martial artist within the next few years. With that in mind, I have decided that my second priority will be my training.
If I have so little time, though, how will that help? Family taking all my time (and justifiably so) will mean that my baguazhang will end up like the Mad Hatter's jam. (Always tomorrow, never today).
Even with a busy lifestyle and pressing commitments, I still find there are many times in a given week when I am, essentially, 'wasting time'. Playing around on the laptop, surfing on Facebook or playing pointless little games. Slobbing on the sofa watching a tv programme I don't really care for. All those times, rather than killing time with something that doesn't matter to me, I could have been practising my bagua. Wasted time.
It will take quite some discipline, but I intend to stop myself from doing these wasteful tasks and practice my bagua instead. This includes, horror of horrors, actually getting up an hour earlier than normal to do an extra hour of bagua in the mornings. Again, that will take quite some discipline, but it is acheivable.
Eventually, I hope to get myself up to around 90 - 120 mins of bagua practice per day (probably with weekends off as we often end up going places where it isn't always convenient (or strictly polite) to engage in practice.
Naturally, this causes a number of conflicts of interest. Being a normal, well-balanced human, I place my family at the top of my list of priorities. Yes, even above my baguazhang training. Imagine that!?
Equally, though, I am a realist and won't kid myself that I can improve meaningfully relying only on what I glean from one two-hour lesson per week. I accept that to keep in line with my ambition, I need to enshrine some daily practice into my routine.
However, having a family, my daily routine is pretty full already. After a day at work and the associated commute, I want to spend whatever quality time I can with my fiancee and daughter. Add to that the need to relax and de-stress from the hectic day and whatever domestic chores are required and very little time remains.
What I decided of late, though, is that my baguazhang training is important to me. I want to improve and find myself a more capable martial artist within the next few years. With that in mind, I have decided that my second priority will be my training.
If I have so little time, though, how will that help? Family taking all my time (and justifiably so) will mean that my baguazhang will end up like the Mad Hatter's jam. (Always tomorrow, never today).
Even with a busy lifestyle and pressing commitments, I still find there are many times in a given week when I am, essentially, 'wasting time'. Playing around on the laptop, surfing on Facebook or playing pointless little games. Slobbing on the sofa watching a tv programme I don't really care for. All those times, rather than killing time with something that doesn't matter to me, I could have been practising my bagua. Wasted time.
It will take quite some discipline, but I intend to stop myself from doing these wasteful tasks and practice my bagua instead. This includes, horror of horrors, actually getting up an hour earlier than normal to do an extra hour of bagua in the mornings. Again, that will take quite some discipline, but it is acheivable.
Eventually, I hope to get myself up to around 90 - 120 mins of bagua practice per day (probably with weekends off as we often end up going places where it isn't always convenient (or strictly polite) to engage in practice.
Thursday 4 April 2013
"The Kua"
For my future reference:
http://internalartsia.wordpress.com/2006/07/20/function-and-usage-of-the-kua/
http://internalartsia.wordpress.com/2006/07/20/function-and-usage-of-the-kua/
Sunday 24 March 2013
Tuesday 19 March 2013
Changing habits//Convenience
I managed a minor victory today. I got up at 5.30am and did some bagua practice before my day properly began.
I have to confess I'm feeling it a little now. Is is that my imagination? I probably feel no worse than I do most mornings.
If I can keep this up, training will become much more convenient for me. I should easily manage an hour a day. My girlfriend goes to the gym some evenings now. There is danger of a clash there - unless I train in the morning.
Kinda suits the usual image of the IMA
player practicing at sunruse, too. Doesn't it?
Sunday 10 March 2013
Erle Montaigue bagua vid
Watch "Bagua Fighting: The Beginning, Volume One: Montaigue" on YouTube
Interesting ideas about peripheral vision.
Ouch
Still aching from class on Friday. Have the day off work tomorrow. Ostensibly to decorate the bathroom but I hope i can get some training in too. Probably lower body as it feels like I'm on the cusp of a breakthrough.
Sunday 24 February 2013
Intermission
I hate when illness and such take me out of my usual training regime.
Still got a bit of a cough, but back to normal tonight.
Sunday 3 February 2013
Saturday 2 February 2013
Keeping motivated
Training regularly is much easier in the right frame of mind. Deciding to enjoy the time spent training, for me, involves:
1. No longer focusing on what I can't do or applications I have trouble with.
2. Bear in mind that regular training will bear fruit in time. Even if it doesn't feel like it mid-train.
3. Training is not a chore - it is a simple decision to enjoy it. I find a cup of lapsang souchong helps with that.
4. If you miss a day or can't train for a while, it is not the end of the world. And certainly no reason to stop altogether. Just carry on again when you can.
Just a little reminder for myself, while I sit here on my phone, not training!
Monday 28 January 2013
Dedication to Tyr
I have made what you might call a resolution to up my training significantly.
I also hope to train wiser and target those areas in which I am currently lacking.
When I think about it, it is such a small thing to include more bagua practice into my day. The reality of my life, though, is that there is always something else that could also be occupying any time I do give to training.
I guess I just have to accept that I need to prioritise my bagua to ensure I get more training done. Sacrifices might even have to be made.
I also hope to train wiser and target those areas in which I am currently lacking.
When I think about it, it is such a small thing to include more bagua practice into my day. The reality of my life, though, is that there is always something else that could also be occupying any time I do give to training.
I guess I just have to accept that I need to prioritise my bagua to ensure I get more training done. Sacrifices might even have to be made.
Sunday 20 January 2013
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