Saturday 19 July 2014

Training choices

I make so many choices each and every time I train.  What shall I practice tonight?  Basic drills?  Strength training?  Footwork?  Intent?

The past few classes have been a smorgasbord of drills, routines and exercises, all of which would be incredibly valuable to train more often.

So, what wil I train?  Well, I am thinking - taking some feedback from my teacher as an impetus for this - that lower body strength and footwork drills should be my focus.  At least for the next few weeks, anyway.

Wednesday 16 July 2014

A little is better than nothing

I'm finding that, even on those days that I'm too busy for a proper training session, I can still manage ten to fifteen minutes to run through some basic jiben shou fa.

Looking forward to class on Friday to see if I have improved enough to see benefits in my applications.

Here's hoping...

Monday 14 July 2014

Long awaited update

All the usual apologies for the delay in bringing this update to you. This was mostly due to losing my password, making me unable to log in from work or my mobile which, between them, account for 99% of the updates on this here blog. So, what is there to tell you, dear reader? Well, my attendance is back to normal at Manchester Bagua class. Speaking of which, it is that I am blaming for the achey nature of my shoulders and serratus muscles today, some three days later. Stuck here at work at the moment, but planning some more training for tonight. Went for a walk at lunch which involved a light to medium workout for my calves. As it was threatening rain at the time, though, that only lasted about 15 minutes or so.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

More obstacles to training

Okay, so it has been ages since I attended baguazhang class. Other than the odd chance here and there to eat bitter, I have done very little in the way of training full stop. That said, the main reason for this lapse is that we are currently looking for a new home. This is taking up a lot of my time. I reconcile myself with the thought that, once we get moved, I will have a garden in which to practice and, hopefully, a spare room that can double as a baguazhang/yoga room (my wife does Iyengar yoga). So, in the long run, I am envisioning my bagua routine to improve by virtue of no longer being confined to a small apartment where I can only really practice jiben shou fa and a few, limited, lines and forms. Imagine having a whole garden to walk a proper circle in! :) So, watch this space and hopefully I will soon be coming to you with tales of extended practice sessions out in the summer heat.

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Bruce Lee, UFC and why the martial arts star is a video game hero

Originally posted on: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/09/bruce-lee-ea-sports-





Bruce Lee, UFC and why the martial arts star is a video game hero

EA has announced that Bruce Lee will be a playable character in its forthcoming UFC sim. But the movie icon has always influenced action game design

The image, of course, is instantly recognisable. There he is on screen, in that familiar jumping stance, his face beneath a bowl of black hair, his shorts in that classic combination of yellow and black. This is Bruce Lee, the martial arts legend, appearing in the forthcoming fighting sim, EA Sports UFC. The star of Enter the Dragon will be available immediately to those who pre-order the title, or he can be unlocked by completing the game at Pro difficulty. Playable across four weight classes, gamers will be able to test Lee's formative mixed martial arts approach against contemporary UFC stars.

EA's marketeers knew that gaming news sites would go nuts for this and they was right – the announcement was everywhere this week. Despite the fact that this complex icon of action cinema died over 40 years ago, his legacy lives on in games. Arguably, it started in 1984, with the launch of Datasoft's platform adventure, Bruce Lee, on 8bit machines like the Apple II, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. The plot, which had the eponymous hero fighting through a wizard's temple to secure the secret of immortality, had little to do with Lee or his movies, but it was released at a time in which home video was making the actor's films easily available to a new generation of fans. And already there was an obvious synergy between Lee's highly choreographed, hyper-kinetic approach to action sequences and the potential of video games to explore and simulate combat.

Big bosses, dirty fighting

In that game, the fighting was restricted to punches and flying kicks, but in Japan a new genre of fighting sims was emerging that would explore martial arts in much more depth. Irem's seminal 1984 beat-'em-up Kung Fu Master made no reference to Lee – indeed, its Japanese title is Spartan X, which is exactly what Jackie Chan's movie Wheels on Meals was known as in Japan. However, the structure of the game – which has the player fighting through several floors of an enemy stronghold – is clearly a reference to Lee's final movie Game of Death, in which his character must battle different boss characters on five levels of a pagoda. Indeed, the whole concept of Game of Death, that a series of seemingly indestructible martial arts proponents all have a weakness that must be discovered and exploited, pretty much set the 'end-of-level boss' structure of beat-'em-up video games for the following 40 years.

Lee is there too in Konami's 1985 fighting game, Yie Ar Kung Fu, which features a lone fighter, Oolong, facing down a range of differently armed enemies. The cabinet art for the coin-op machine features an unmistakably traced image of Lee performing a high kick, while the concept of various enemies coming at the protagonist with authentic weapons, from nunchaku to tonfa sticks, again parallels Lee's movies, in which he sought to bring variety, accuracy and legacy, into his action sequences. 1985 also saw the excellent home computer fighting sim, Way of the Exploding Fist, a monicker that conjures Lee's movie titles and his philosophy of directing inner energy into points of combustive power. The game even used a sample of Lee's high-pitched combat yelp in its loading sequence.

Street fighters

But it is the modern fighting game genre that has drawn most from Bruce Lee's fighting style and iconography. In the Street Fighter series, Fei-Long employs Lee's Jeet Kune Do fighting style and wears his familiar black kung fu trousers and slip-on canvas shoes. Capcom's series also draws on the mystique and almost magical power that Lee portrayed in his movies and martial arts demonstrations; the supernatural moves such as the hadoken are effectively exaggerations of Lee staples like the "one-inch punch". Meanwhile, in SNK's World Heroes series, Kim Dragon is a martial arts movie star, clearly based on Lee, who feels he needs to prove his skill in a real-life tournament. Maxi from Soul Calibur and Jann Lee from Dead or Alive also draw from the Lee mythos in their clothing, fighting styles and attitude.

However, it is Martial Law in the Tekken series that really exemplifies the profound influence Lee has had on fighting game designers. Throughout the series, Law always has at least one outfit drawn from a Lee movie, including the legendary yellow jumpsuit from Game of Death, which was similarly appropriated by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill. Law also uses a number of throws and finishing moves drawn from Lee's action sequences, and even has a son, Forest, who carries on his legacy – a clear reference to Lee's own son, Brandon.

In Tekken too, we see the same fetishisation of martial arts lore and mythology that Lee's appeal seemed to invoke among Western viewers. The characters are ridiculous international caricatures, defined mostly by fighting styles that border on fantasy; they are figures of weird comedy and incongruity as well as violence.

Indeed, this is something most fighting games pull from Lee's canon – the idea that a plot can just be a group of disparate people meeting up for a fighting tournament. Every martial arts game ever made owes something to Enter The Dragon, Lee's multicultural beat-'em-up, with its clandestine fight club, exotic locations, and the central conceit that everyone present has a past to escape and an ulterior motive to fight through. Lee's films, like the best fighting games, combine tension, threat and humour; blaxploitation star Jim Kelly, granite-faced military veteran Chuck Norris and basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, all provided interesting, almost comedic combatants hinting at the bizarre rosters to come in titles like Street Fighter, Tekken and Fatal Fury.

Legacy of Lee

There have, of course, been other semi-official tie-ins. The passable movie conversion, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story; the terrible Xbox brawler, Bruce Lee: Quest for the Dragon; the decent Game Boy Advance side-scroller, Bruce Lee Return of the Legend. But none of these really explored the legacy, atmosphere and style of Lee's movies like the truly great fighting games. To 1970s audiences in the West, Bruce Lee symbolised the 'otherness' of Asia and this is something the likes of Street Fighter, Soul Calibur and Tekken exploit and explore with their own characters, their own themes.

Bruce Lee's addition to UFC is interesting because it paints the actor not as some cult chopsocky star, but as a serious proponent and originator of mixed martial arts. Lee's style took in everything from austere classical systems to street fighting – so of course he should be here, going up against athletes he no doubt inspired.

Really, this shows how adaptable this pop culture legend is and how, like all true icons, Lee can be molded and re-interpreted to fit the tastes and concerns of each new generation.



Thursday 1 May 2014

Women working for MMA acceptance

Originally reported at: http://www.topix.com/martial-arts/2014/04/women-push-to-legalize-mixed-martial-artsvisit-blogpost-1325178-mobile-home-category-body-6391-2



Women push to legalize mixed martial 17 hrs ago | Posted by: roboblogger | Full story: Albany Times Union

Chelsie Dessingue doesn't want to hear that mixed martial arts is anti-woman. The 15-year-old Hoosick Valley High School freshman who trains at Tigon Academy in Watervliet says the discipline and community supplied by her three years of training have only made her stronger.

Wednesday 30 April 2014

Celebrity Black Belts

Originally reported at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/10794872/Willie-Nelson-gets-5th-degree-black-belt-at-81.html


Willie Nelson gets 5th-degree black belt at 81 Country music legend Willie Nelson earns his fifth-degree black belt in the martial art of Gong Kwon Yu Sul at the age of 81


Willie Nelson, who is 81 today, is certainly not letting the grass grow under his feet. The country singer has just received his fifth-degree black belt in the martial art of Gong Kwon Yu Sul.

"Honestly, I was surprised to be getting this degree," Nelson told AP. "I don't know what else is out there. I never thought about anything beyond second-degree black belt."

In a ceremony in Austin, Texas, watched by resident Lance Armstrong, Grand Master Sam Um, who has taught Nelson for two decades, handed him his belt and joked: "He has more stamina than I do."

Nelson added: "I'm pretty healthy at 81. I think a lot of it has to do with the exercise that you do. I think martial arts is one of the best exercises you can do. Mentally, spiritually, physically, everything. I'm sure that's helped."

At the weekend, Oscar winner and fellow Texan Matthew McConaughey inducted Nelson into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame at a blowout concert. He will be playing a special birthday concert at Austin's Backyard arena this evening.

Nelson has been interested in martial arts for some time, telling me in an interview in December 2012: "I have always been interested in keeping fit and doing boxing and wrestling. As a youngster, I loved Charles Atlas, Bruce Lee and Kung Fu. But when I lived in Nashville I switched to doing Taekwondo. Last year, at the age of 78, I got my second degree black belt. And singing is the best exercise – two hours a day will keep you in pretty good shape. I think it's very important to learn from your own body. It doesn't lie to you. If it feels good, do it. If it don't feel good, don't do it."


Another quote

“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.” ― Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

Wednesday 16 April 2014

The Modern Chinese Fighter

Article source: http://fightland.vice.com/blog/the-modern-chinese-fighter


The Modern Chinese Fighter Fightland BlogBy Sascha Matuszak


Deep in the mountains of southwest China, lives an ex-bare knuckle kungfu fighter named Zou Fan. She says she fought “hundreds” of fights in the late 1980s and into the 1990s, before the Chinese Wushu Association, which governs combat sports, outlawed unsanctioned, bare knuckle matches. Now she spends her time practicing taiji in a courtyard of her Kungfu Eyrie, overlooking the lush valleys below.

Zou Fan came up in an interesting period for traditional Chinese martial arts. In 1979, after protracted infighting, a bout of nationwide insanity, and the death of Mao Zedong, the Head Communist in Charge, Deng Xiaoping, opened China’s doors and exhorted the downtrodden masses to get rich or die trying.

Part of that opening up included the establishment of a national Wushu Association, with provincial and local offices, each with the mandate to revive and sustain traditional Chinese martial arts on the Mainland.

Bruce Lee’s fame was already spreading across the globe and filtering through into Mainland China, despite the government’s—and many traditionalist’s—initial snub of the unpatriotic kungfu kid who had taken his skills to the West. The official line softened against Bruce Lee, and kungfu in general, after 1979. A generation of kids born in the late 1970s—brought up on Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan’s “Drunken Fist,” and other more obscure kungfu films, like the Wushu Association sponsored, “Little Heroes”—were finally able to legally and openly seek out kungfu masters.

From 1979 to the mid 1990s schools popped up across China, eventually leading to small fight circuits pitting martial artists from different styles and schools against each other. Zou Fan came up during this period, a wild explosion of martial arts fed by long pent up desires, and the appeal of modern martial arts movies.

I asked Zou Fan why she fought in bare knuckle matches.

“I loved fighting back then, I wanted to be the best. I fought anybody. We had a lot of organized matches, there were also grudge matches between people who didn’t like my master, or who wanted to discredit Kun Lun style. ”

Many traditional martial artists who fought or trained during this period believe that those days, when people fought for honor and pride, are over. Today, they say, it’s only money and bullshit. No art. No realness. It is ironic to hear that from traditional kungfu masters, who themselves are routinely dismissed by competitive fightersand Chinese society in general—for having no use in today’s modern world.

But a lot of what these old kungfu masters say is true. After the underground, regional martial arts fight circuits were dismantled and replaced with combat sports and performance wushu, a different type of Chinese fighter took the stage.

Today’s Chinese Fighter

Two major trends came together to put an end to the kungfu fight circuit: sportification and the one-child family.

China’s Wushu Associations are the agent of sportification. They promote performance wushu—the acrobatic routines based on kungfu forms—and Sanda combat sports through tournaments, standardized rules, state-sponsored training facilities, certified coaches, and most importantly, pay. Like most things communist, the system is heavy on numbers and low on excellence. The system basically relies on a continuous supply of work-horse fighters and performers to compete constantly within the regional and national circuit, generating a steady supply of cash from sponsors along the way. For strong provincial teams, or strong sports institutions, the fight game can be very lucrative.

And lucrative is the absolute key to growing anything in China today. Money and the pursuit of wealth rules this country and bothers the minds of all Chinese living in Mainland China. Traditionally, Chinese parents provide their children with education, and oftentimes their first home, whereupon the children repay their parents by taking care of them in old age. It’s common for three generations to live together in one home.

Now with the one-child policy, this tradition of taking care of each other is breaking down. Parents can’t always afford homes; children can’t afford to take care of their parents. There is a ton of pressure on everyone to be exceedingly pragmatic about their choices. Doing anything for “honor” is considered by most Chinese to be stupid, and contrary to one’s very basic self interest. Getting kicked in the face for pride is just ridiculous.

Most of China’s fighters come from the poorest regions of China. A lot of them are also ethnic minorities or farmers, in general a notch below everyone else in terms of living standards. For urban kids, fighting for a living makes no sense at all; for rural kids, fighting only makes sense if the paycheck is proper and guaranteed.

So today’s Chinese fighters often ask their promotions not what the win bonuses are, but how much they get paid to show. State-sponsored Sanda or MMA fighters in China receive room and board from their training facilities, and the best ones get a salary. They also fight a few times a month, outside of any contracts they have with say, the UFC or RUFF, to make extra cash. It’s a job, not a pursuit.

Major Western-oriented promotions like the UFC, RUFF, and OneFC have had issues with their Chinese fighters not taking fights seriously, not performing up to their best abilities, and not training properly. But in this context, “training properly” means fighting for excellence, and that may not be the major motivation for most Chinese fighters.

I spoke to Herb Dean on the sidelines of RUFF 12, and one of the things we talked about was the huge gap in living standards between an American MMA fighter and a Chinese MMA fighter. In Dean’s hometown of LA, people shot at each other over sneakers, but even in the worst neighborhoods, people had homes, yards, and refrigerators.

“These kids out here grow up with a lot less than any of those gangsters in LA,“ said Herb.

The New Chinese Fighter

The Chinese government is petrified of pretty much everything. One fear in particular is the fear of realness. Anyone living in a communist society is living in a big lie. Fake courts and fake judges, fake equality and fake morals. In China they are dealing with fake food and drink, fake faces and fake concrete. A famous Chinese author, Yu Hua, said that the only thing you can know to be real is a fake fake. Chinese politics dictates that the lie must be upheld at all costs.

But Chinese politics also dictates that globalization—controlled and filtered—is required in order for the state to survive.

Enter MMA. No sport, save perhaps football, is as powerful a globalizing force. And no combat sport is as real. MMA has its roots in parking lot matches and underground fight clubs, the appeal is both complete and utter realness and the power to tear down protectionist barriers and level the playing field. Everybody’s invited and fake fighters get stomped out, it’s that simple.

Moving toward realness in combat sports, and in society as a whole, seems to be a universal trend. In the US we may be going too far, as realness moves through irony into cliche in a heartbeat. But in China, the situation is unique because the people are in the very beginning stages of that movement. Chinese are sick to death of the bullshit, and they want some realness in their lives.

Combat sports is a good place to start. MMA is injecting realness back into the Chinese fight game, and the system is responding. Shows, even the notorious regional ones, place more emphasis on good fights. State-run schools and smaller, private gyms are getting serious about their training. The best fighters are rising to the top. The basic motivation remains the same, feed the family, but now there is more to fight for, because more is required by the game and by society itself.

Written by: Sascha Matuszak Tags: china, Zou Fan, kungfu

Wednesday 19 March 2014

UFC Fight Night 38: Stormin' Norman Parke is ready for war in Brazil this weekend

Originally reported at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/mma/ufc-fight-night-38-stormin-3260989

UFC Fight Night 38: Stormin' Norman Parke is ready for war in Brazil this weekend Mar 19, 2014 15:49 By Mark Spence

This Sunday Norman Parke will take on Brazilian, Leonardo Santos in his own backyard. It's a tough task but one the Northern Irishman is relishing

GettyNorman Parke faces his toughest task yet in Brazil on Sunday Since coming to prominence on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, Norman Parke has firmly embedded himself as 'one to watch' in the lightweight division.

With a current UFC record of 3-0 this weekend's clash in front of the notoriously raucous Brazilian crowd will be his most arduous test yet.

Should he prevail over Santos though, Parke's stock will rise considerably and a bona fide assault on the lightweight division could be on alongside his former TUF coach Ross Pearson.

We caught up with with Stormin' Norman ahead of his crunch match.

How has your training been going so far? Great. I was in pretty good shape before I went to America for my camp, so I didn't have to push my body too hard. We have loads of guys training for fights at Alliance so everyone was pushing each other, it was a great environment to be in.

Will this be your first time in Brazil? Yes, this will be my first venture to Brazil. Brazil is a place I’ve always wanted to visit when I was younger, now the UFC has given me that opportunity and I can't wait to get there. Brazil is like the UK in some respects: it’s a fighting nation, it's in our blood.

How are you feeling about fighting a Brazilian in Brazil? Do you think Santos will have the hometown advantage? I asked to fight on this card in Brazil so I'm going to relish the moment. As for home advantage I don't think it will make a difference to my performance, at the end of the day it's just Santos and me in the Octagon.

GettyNorman ParkeParke's mixed martial arts record currently stands at 19-2 Do you like to study your opponents in depth? What do you see as his strengths and weaknesses? I’ve watched some of his fights and he's got good control on top. As for striking, he's tall and has a good range but it’s nothing that fazes me.

What about a prediction for the big night? I'm hoping we can stand and strike for a while, but I predict he’ll probably try to take me down. If I hurt him at any time, I’ll definitely be hunting hard for the finish.

What’s next for you after this fight? I never like to look too far ahead, but that being said I’ve already convinced myself that I’ve won the fight in my head. After this I'm hoping for someone in the top tier of the division.

The UFC have announced they will be back in Dublin in July, would you be interested in being on that card? Yes, of course I would love to fight in Dublin! In fact, I’ll email Joe Silva straight after this win! I want at least three fights this year, and my goal is to be ranked in the top 15 of my division by end of the year.

UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Henderson 2 is live on BT Sport Sunday 23 March at 11pm

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/mma/ufc-fight-night-38-stormin-3260989#ixzz2wS8XB4A4 Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook

Is this the world's fastest knockout? MMA rookie hits the deck after ONE SECOND

Originally reported at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/mma/fastest-knockout-video-sam-heron-3256226

Is this the world's fastest knockout? MMA rookie hits the deck after ONE SECOND Mar 18, 2014 15:58 By Liam Prenderville

Welterweight Mike Garret connected perfectly with a kick after 1.13 seconds in London on Friday night to leave his opponent grounded and seeing stars

Getting off to a good start is everything in sport but MMA star Sam Heron obviously didn't read the manual.

After a lengthy build-up to his welterweight bout with Mike Garret, the 21-year-old was knocked out after just ONE SECOND.

Favourite Garret connected with a kick to devastating effect, leaving his opponent on the deck in the fastest-ever knockout - trouncing the previous five-second record.

Heron was still struggling to get his bearings back as he received treatment from medics, before shaking his head as the victor was announced.

In fairness to the battered and bruised fighter, he appeared considerably slighter than his rival pre-bout but nobody would have expected the outcome.

Something tells us he will be spending some time in the gym after this. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/mma/fastest-knockout-video-sam-heron-3256226#ixzz2wS7fSFSi

Thursday 13 March 2014

Are the Internal Martial Arts the "Next Big Thing"?

Originally posted at: http://chinesemartialstudies.com/2013/04/19/are-the-internal-martial-arts-the-next-big-thing/
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Chinese Martial Studies, Current Events, Martial Studies

Are the Internal Martial Arts the “Next Big Thing?”

679px-Tai_Chi_Chuan

A lot of schools have that in their motto: mental, physical and spiritual. But when you get into the school, you just fight and do forms. When do we get to that part I see at the Shaolin Temple in movies? I’m thinking as I get to the next belt, eventually we’re going to get to that part where the old master is sitting there and he’s teaching you the philosophy. And it never comes. I think kung fu schools – the good ones – are uniquely positioned to be there for that. I know my teacher made us do fighting. He made us do forms. He made us do weapons. We had to do all of it. But he also always made us understand the value of the strength of the internal arts – tai chi.

Denis Brown, Kung Fu Tai Chi, Sept/October 2010.

Introduction

There is an interesting idea floating on the wind. I have now come across it in four or five places since the start of the year. As I read, observe the media, and talk with my friends and colleagues I have heard a number of people state, rather emphatically, that we are on the cusp of a resurgence of interest in the traditional Chinese martial arts. Some individuals are even more specific. It is the “internal arts,” Xingyi, Bagua and especially Taiji Quan that are set to be the next big thing in the American martial arts establishment.

Gene Ching, the editor of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine (and a seasoned observer of the martial arts) has spoken about this in a few places. This coming resurgence was the topic of his editorial in the March/April edition of his magazine, and he has also discussed it in greater detail in a recent interview. Nor is this an entirely new prediction. It has been in the air for a few years now.

It goes without saying that I would welcome any such development. The traditional Chinese martial arts enjoyed a huge surge of popularity in the USA (and across most of the world) in the 1970s. Things quieted down in 1980s. Yet by the 1990s they were once again growing at a steady and sustainable rate. However, things began to lag in the early 2000s. This was around the time that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) really took off.

Since then a number of traditional fighting styles have struggled. Karate and Judo schools have closed, Tae Kwon Do has faced serious challenges and Chinese martial arts styles have declined. Some arts have done better than others. Wing Chun has benefited from the recent spate of Ip Man films, and Taiji has been a clear favorite among many market segments. Yet overall traditional Kung Fu has been though a rough decade and a half.

This is actually a somewhat ironic state of affairs. There is much more reliable information about these arts available to consumers now than there was in the 1970s and 1980s. In general the quality of instruction has also vastly improved. Legions of pioneers have worked out financial and businesses strategies for running schools and clubs. And consumers are just as interested in the traditional arts as ever. Simply look at the sorts of movies and television programs they watch. Notice how often the martial arts are used in television advertising campaigns. On paper the last decade should have been great, but it wasn’t.

I think that one of the less productive responses to this was to blame “kids these days.” The conventional logic seems to go something like this. Kids today are lazy. Lazy and stupid. Lazy, stupid and addicted to their cell phones. They are nothing like we were. They are not the “sort of people” we want in “our arts” anyway.

A slightly more sophisticated version of the same basic argument notes that these kids are also very much into MMA. And the more time you spend in MMA gyms, the less “lazy” these people seem. In fact, it is pretty clear that the MMA movement is producing some incredible athletes and fighters. Yet it also lacks the roots in “traditional Asian culture” that many fans of the eastern martial arts enjoy and find great value in. So we hear instead about how the octagon caters to the “I want it now” generation. Clearly this is a mode of producing and reproducing masculinity, but it lacks a critical “depth of character.” Or so the argument goes.

I suspect that insulting an entire generation of young people for having different values than their parents is not really going to fix anything for the traditional martial arts. As I have argued in a number of other posts, the deep historical continuity and “traditional values” of the Asian fighting arts are mostly a myth. It is not that these arts don’t have and promote values. They certainly do. But the arts themselves undergo a process of radical reform and evolution in each new generation.

With a few exceptions, the cultural values in the average Karate class today have nothing to do with 19th century Okinawan peasants. Instead (if they reflect anything authentic) it is a 1960s era re-imagining of 1930s Japanese cultural values. The exact same thing can be seen in the traditional Chinese arts. Most of these arts date from, or were radically transformed, during the Republic of China period. In fact, prior to the 1920s there were very few public martial arts schools of any kind in China. These arts were again reinterpreted through the lens of 1960s and 1970s popular culture before being transmitted to America.

Our “traditions” are really never quite as ancient as they seem. When you deal with the martial arts it is critical to realize that you are in fact dealing with a product of modernity. As such change is not only possible, it is likely.

In general this is a good thing. It means that the traditional fighting arts can find new and relevant things to say even as our culture and economy shifts. This adjustment can be seen on a lot of levels. It occurs not only within individual arts, but also between the dominate paradigms seen within the martial arts community.

The initial popularity of Judo and Karate in the USA appear to have been a direct response to WWII. Korean and Vietnam led to the growth of Tae Kwon Do. Paul Bowman and others have argued that the American defeat in Vietnam following a decade of social unrest was critical in shaping the Kung Fu craze of the 1970s.

Likewise it does not seem totally inconceivable to me that the more muscular national mood following 9/11, including a turn away from the “Orientalized other,” had something to do with the UFC’s commercial success and the rise of MMA (an idea that had been lingering in the background of western fighting culture since Barton-Wright opened the first Jujitsu salon in London at the start of the 20th century.)

The martial arts reflect and exist in dialogue with larger social trends. As society changes, or they move globally, the nature of those conversations necessarily shifts. Nunchucks in the hands of an Okinawan security guard in the 19th century simply do not mean the same thing as nunchucks in the hands of Bruce Lee on the set of Enter the Dragon. If change is inevitable, then perhaps it makes sense to ask what is next? Will the “internal arts” be the next big thing? And if so why?

Taiji being demonstrated at the famous Wudang Temple, spiritual home of the Taoist arts.

Taiji being demonstrated at the famous Wudang Temple, spiritual home of the Taoist arts.

Looking at the Evidence

As the inestimable Yogi Berra once noted, predictions are difficult, especially if they are about the future. Being a political economist by training I am all too aware of this simple truth. Economists in academic settings love to predict things, and it never seems to bother them that they are almost always wrong. Political scientists, on the other hand, are much more reticent to engage in “forecasting” for the simple reason that it is almost mathematically impossible to get this sort of stuff right. Social reality is just too complex. There are too many variables and they can interact in complex and unpredictable ways. In fact, as a field we have a hard enough time just predicting the past (e.g., testing our theories on historical data).

Rather than dragging out a crystal ball and speculating about what the world might look in five years, it might be more sensible to take a detailed look at what we know is going on right now. If a trend has been brewing for the last few years, and is currently picking up steam, we should be able to see it in consumer behavior. Gene Ching is uniquely positioned to deal with social elites and writers in the Chinese martial arts community, so he probably has a pretty good sense of what these individuals are saying. I always find his thoughts on questions like this well worth considering.

Still, no one can lead a movement unless there are a substantial number of people who are willing to follow. What we really need is a way to poll large numbers of potential martial arts students. Ideally we need to be able to look over their shoulder, see what sorts of topics they have been researching and reading about, and find out if they are making any moves toward finding a local Taiji class.

In the past gathering this sort of data would have involved serious survey research which is almost always prohibitively expensive. However, the internet has made each of these tasks much easier. Search engines have virtually replaced hard-bound phone books and business directories at the place that consumers turn to when looking for goods or services.

Many of the largest search providers, including Google, keep records of these searches. Using a simple tool like “Google Trends” it becomes possible to get some very quick and dirty data about what sorts of things consumers are looking for and how their interest in these products has been evolving over the last few years.

I have previously used Google Trends when writing about the declining popularity of the traditional martial arts and found the data to be generally reliable. Nevertheless, there are some caveats to note. The way observations have been aggregated and calculated has changed over time. Further, the more popular a topic is the more reliable and stable the results are. Unfortunately a lot of Chinese martial arts are esoteric by their very nature, meaning that so few people search for them that they either return no search result at all, or the results are not stable.

This is easiest to see when you search for the same topic multiple times using slight different terms (“MMA Class vs. MMA Gym” or “Tai Chi vs. Taiji Quan”) and get very different trend lines. As such care must be taken when specifying your search query. I am not sure that I would be comfortable using these numbers in a published article without doing further checks. Still, with some caution they should suffice for a blog post. On the internet as in life, you get what you pay for.

So with that out of the way, lets look at some data. There might actually be some support for the rumors that MMA is leveling off in popularity. To check this I searched for references to “MMA” on Google Trends over the last several years and restricted the search area to the American media market. Again, to get intelligible results it is often necessary to specify “where” one is searching. I think that what is going on in the USA right now is broadly similar to the situation in much of the western world, but your mileage may vary.

Google Trends Data.  Searches for "MMA" over the last ten years.

Google Trends Data. Searches for “MMA” over the last ten years.

As we can see from this trend line, searches for Mixed Martial Arts peaked sometime between 2009-2010, and appears to have actually declined very slightly in the last year. Interestingly this same basic trend is seen if we search for “MMA Gym” (a better indicator for those actually planning on training in the sport). That should give us some confidence in the reliability of this data. Given how many people are actually searching for this in absolute terms, Google can generate some trustworthy metrics.

A decline in interest in MMA might indeed open a social space for a new trend. However, interest in the mixed martial arts is still very strong in absolute terms. I wonder if perhaps they actually reached a point of market saturation in the 2009-2010 period? I suspect that we will be seeing large number of MMA gyms for the foreseeable future.

What about the internal arts? That picture is substantially more complicated. To begin with a simple search for something like “Kung Fu” suffers from a high “noise to signal” ratio. Most of these searches are actually directed to popular culture phenomena like “Kung Fu Tea” (the sort you drink) or “Kung Fu Panda.” Turning to the “internal arts” reveals a slightly different set of problems. Xingyi and Bagua Quan are esoteric enough that Google Trends cannot even generate a reliable graph for them. In absolute terms there are just too few people searching for these styles.

Taiji is a different matter. Millions of individuals outside of China have been introduced to this art, and there are probably tens of thousands of serious practitioners in the US alone.

Google Trends Data.  Searches "Tai Chi" over the last ten years.

Google Trends Data. Searches “Tai Chi” over the last ten years.

Again, this graph shows an interesting trend over the last decade. Search request (and hence popular interest) for Taiji appear to have peaked in the early 2000s, and declined steadily until sometime in the 2009-2010 time period. They stayed steady at this level for a few years, and now appear to be experiencing a small upsurge in popularity. Interested readers can zoom in on the last 12 month and see this in greater detail if they visit Google Trends.

However, stability is a problem. The same basic pattern of decline, leveling and a possible upswing can be seen if one searches for “Tai Chi Classes.” However, if you switch to the Pinyin spelling (Taiji Quan) Google lacks the requisite number of raw queries to generate a trend line.

Searches for “Tai Chi Form” show a similar pattern of decline in the middle of the 2000s, but leveling off by 2007. Unfortunately they show no upsurge of interest in the last few years. Likewise searches for “Tai Chi Sword” have actually continued to decline in a uniform manner. “Tai Chi Jian” did not return any trend line.

Yang, Chen, Wu and Sun styles all reflect similar trend patterns to the aggregate “Tai Chi” query. Of these the Yang style shows the clearest upsurge in interest while the others are basically flat. Different variations of searches for “push hands” exercises also remained fairly flat from the late 2000s onward.

The recent trend data appears to be mixed. There may be some support for concluding that MMA has peaked (or probably more accurately, reached a point of market saturation). Yet it is not clear that the internal arts must logically follow. While there are some signs of resurgence in the Taiji community, much of the picture is mixed. Many trends are flat, and those that are rising in the last 12 months have yet to come anywhere close to making up the ground that they lost between 2001 and 2009. It could be the case that a trend is starting, but we have yet to see a really clear change in consumer behavior (at least in the aggregate national date.)

A trip to any public park in China would seem to indicate that the average of traditional martial artists is increasing.  At the same time these individuals may have a greater need for strong social networks and more resources to devote to finding them.

A trip to any public park in China would seem to indicate that the average age of traditional martial artists is increasing. At the same time these individuals may have a greater need for strong social networks and have more resources to devote to finding them.

Three Approaches to Understanding the Popularity of the Martial Arts

It is probably not surprising that we do not have a clear trend in the data. After all, such questions are not really fun to discuss after the answer is clear to everyone. Still, this raises the more important question of why martial arts styles or movements become popular in the first place. Why have the traditional arts been more popular at some times and in some places than others?

Different writers and scholars have offered a number of answers. These theories can be grouped into three broad approaches. Obviously there are other schools of thought out there, but these are the three that I hear the most often and they seem like a good place to start the discussion. Also I should note that while I am about to treat these as three different schools of thought, that is largely a result of the types of scholars that pursue them and the questions that they personally find interesting. On a deeper theoretical level each of these approaches blends with the others.

Those caveats aside, it seems to me that there are three basic approaches that we might want to consider when thinking about the future popularity of the internal martial arts. These are the materialist/historical school, the question of identity formation and lastly the sociological approach.

Materialist/Historical

I suspect that the historical school is the one that most casual readers will be familiar with. Military historians like Henning and Lorge fall into this camp, as do (to a lesser degree) other historians such as Shahar or Robinson. The basic assumption that all of these authors make is that martial culture exists in a knowable realm defined primarily by non-negotiable facts. These facts might be economic in nature. Some areas of China are rich in natural resources, and others are prone to flooding. This will certainly have an important impact on the development of local society and the martial arts.

Occasionally these facts are political or social. For instance, a variety of historians have noted that the popularity of the martial arts increased in times of social decay. The late Ming and the Qing both saw important advances in the Chinese martial arts as community and personal defense became serious concerns for many members of Chinese society.

Occasionally these “facts” are a little harder to directly observe, but they still tend to be the result of tangible causes. For instance, Nancy Chen, attempting to situate the start of China’s Qigong craze in the 1980s, noted that what seemed to be a spiritual awakening was really happening on the heels of two much more political events. One was the end of the Cultural Revolution, which left many individuals with deep emotional scars they were not able to express publicly. The other was recent attempts to reform the Chinese medical system by switching to a “fee for service” model which effectively denied most of the country timely access to modern scientific medicine. As a result of both of these trends interest in Qigong, which could induce feelings of well-being and was fairly inexpensive compared to either herbal or western medicine, exploded.

This last step in her chain of reasoning reveals something critical about the materialist/historical approach. It often (though by no means always) presupposes that the subjects of the study will react rationally to these historically given changes in their environment. Perhaps this assumption of “rationality” is the easiest to defend in the realm of military history, where the environment itself is deadly and will impose severe sanctions on anyone who miscalculates its essential nature. In such a realm the ever present possibility of force may be seen as structuring action.

But even in the more nuanced milieu that Chen describes (much of her research focuses on the cross-cultural study of mental illness) she still assumes that people behave essentially rationally. When the price of a good goes up they simply switch to a lower cost alternative. Identity, norms or culture have nothing to do with it. The rise of Qigong was essentially a market driven conclusion.

Such an approach offers some immediate and interesting predictions about the future of the internal arts in America (and the western world more generally). A large number of baby boomers have had some experience with the traditional martial arts, and these individuals are not getting any younger. For better or worse Taiji has developed a reputation as an ideal art for senior citizens. It can help with the maintenance of chronic health conditions, it is a great low impact form of exercise and qigong training offers benefits in dealing with the aches and pains of aging. Further, the price of healthcare in this country is headed in the wrong direction. It is not inconceivable that the same market based drive for alternative medicines that Chen noted in China might not become a reality here.

The Question of Identity

Still, such an approach is not without its pitfalls. Rationality implies a system of universal and unchanging signs and symbols, yet these things are almost always socially constructed. Even basic concepts like “violence,” “employment” or “mental illness” are all socially negotiated and framed. They become real in our life through a mutual understanding of what these things mean. For instance, using Qigong as a treatment for chronic pain makes more sense in some societies than others because of their understanding of what the ultimate roots of that pain are and the meaning of suffering in life.

In this sort of a constructivist setting “identity” becomes a central issue because your position in society and understanding of self frames practically everything that one comes in contact with. Nor are identities simply given; they are negotiated. Individuals can attempt to reshape their identity or conception of self in an attempt to improve either their social standing or basic emotional state. Yet this reshaping of identity never happens in a vacuum. Instead it is bounded by the signs and symbols that are available in the local environment.

Very often discussions coming out of this mode start with the observation that Chinese martial artists are socially “marginal” people. Daniel Miles Amos was one of the first students of Chinese martial culture to explore this avenue in his 1983 doctoral dissertation titled “Marginality and the Heroes Art: Martial Artists in Hong Kong and Guangzhou (Canton).” Similar themes have been picked up by Adam D. Frank, Avron Boretz and Paul Bowman.

For such theorists the martial arts become a vehicle for escaping or reframing this marginality. Historians of the materialist school are quick to point out that the traditional Chinese martial arts were often seen as a potential avenue of social advancement for underprivileged youth from the country. A martial education might lead to a military career, or a higher paying job as a guard in the city.

Yet martial training deals with the issue of “marginality” in more subtle ways as well. Martial arts schools become locations where it is possible for individuals to build status and earn a type of prestige that society as a whole refuses to grant them. Within a regional martial arts association someone may be an important instructor who is admired, yet to society the same individual is simply a retired factory worker who spends his mornings with other senior citizens in the local park engaged in a feudal practice.

When exported to the west the martial arts can have even more complex interactions with questions of identity. Once again, it is often marginal individuals who are drawn to the martial arts. In the 1970s working class African Americans were drawn to the image of Bruce Lee and Kung Fu because it seemed to offer a new way of defining the self through bodily transformation. Race was not ignored in this process. Rather, the popularity of Chinese martial art provided a space where all types of individuals could start to reimagine how they fit into the American landscape.

For all of the promise of personal transformation, I detect a deep pessimism running through this school of thought. None of the informants in Amos’ field work ever really escape their economically and socially marginal circumstances. In fact, it seems that being a martial arts student or master simply compounds the problem. This is an endeavor that many people in China actually look down upon. The status that is achieved exists only within an imaginary group with little real social clout.

Likewise Bowman and others have noted that there was an unfortunate aspect to the “Bruce Lee Phenomenon” of the 1970s. Lee certainly succeeded in becoming a role model for all sorts of individuals. But very quickly the message of radical, even violent, empowerment seen in his films was transformed into an inner psychological process of self-realization. Energy that could have been diverted into actual political and economic struggle for equality was instead squandered on “personal attainment.” Likewise the Chinese martial arts were quickly commoditized and integrated into western consumer culture, rather than standing as a challenge against it.

As the opening quote makes clear, there will always be a market for philosophical discussion and deep personal transformation. Most people do not come to their first martial arts class because they are happy with everything in their lives and wish simply to defend the status quo with their bare hands. Instead students walk through the door because they are unhappy. There is either something that they are looking for, or something that they wish to change about themselves. The martial arts instructor midwifes this process of personal transformation.

Modern capitalist society and globalization are taking a toll on people around the globe. The global economy provides employment and income, yet it leaves increasing numbers of people feeling marginal and alienated. As traditional social markers and institutions are abandoned there is a need to forge a new identity, to rediscover the deep core of ontological meaning that can serve as a universal reference point, giving meaning to everything else in life.

Young people today are the most likely to find themselves struggling to establish meaning and identity in their lives. Increasingly the traditional institutions of class, religion, race and employment are failing to do this. The promise of meaning, authenticity and transformation become deeply appealing in this situation.

Sunday morning Taiji practice at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Sunday morning Taiji practice at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

The Sociological Approach

The third approach to understanding the popularity and function of martial arts communities seems to be related to the field of sociology. It starts by noting that contrary to the expectations of the previous school, no one really experiences the martial arts in isolation. These are an inherently social activity. One cannot be a “Sifu” without students, and one cannot box, push hands, or even “correct the form,” without a partner.

It then follows that the martial arts rise and fall not so much based on how they empower or create meaning for an individual, but in how they empower an entire group. Groups that are more successful are more likely to attract dedicated individuals. Groups that fail to provide value will lose students and eventually fold. At heart then is the assumption that individuals make choices about which groups to join, yet the social organization itself remains the proper subject of study.

Lin Boyuan, a Chinese historian, has written extensively in this mode. One of the themes that he returns to in multiple places in his work is the topic of urbanization. He notes that both in the Song dynasty, and then much later in the Qing, the martial arts were a critical skill for peasants streaming into the quickly growing cities. Personal protection was an issue, yet it was not the reason why most workers continued to study the martial arts. These individuals even went to considerable lengths to hire instructors and establish schools in their factories.

The martial arts schools they created were critical social institutions because they provided a range of important externalities besides simple combat instruction. The social structure of the school gave students a chance to socialize and network, to find out about new employment opportunities, to secure resources and to create a basic safety net.

This was possible only because these schools created “social capital” or decentralized bonds of trust and reciprocity. Such overlapping networks of trust based on reputation and repeated face-to-face interaction gave a real advantage to workers who enjoyed their support compared to those who did not.

The advantages of membership in a martial arts society did not end with social capital. They were also a means of building “human capital.” A variety of tasks must be performed to keep any organization running smoothly. Instructors need to be hired, dues must be collected. Arrangements must be made for the group’s charitable foundation or Lion Dance team. Finding practice spaces was a never ending task. Some groups and schools even published their own newsletters.

Many of these problems were solved by committees of members working cooperatively together. For poor youth from the countryside, this might be the first time that they were ever asked to sit on a committee, or had to learn how to keep a ledger or to negotiate with a local restaurant. Not only were these skills important for running a successful martial arts association, they are necessary for just about any sort of social advancement in life. Once these skills have been acquired here they can be applied to all sorts of other situations. Martial arts schools were able to act as an incubator for critical human capital reserves.

It is clear that many people have learned all sorts of important skills by becoming involved in the martial arts other than just fighting. Note also that these arguments feel different from the more pessimistic misgivings of the last school regarding the “trap of marginality.” Here the benefits of the martial arts are not simply mystical or emotional, they are actually concrete and empowering. The martial arts society becomes a first step in the process of interacting with the broader community for previously marginal individuals.

This theory also has the advantage of suggesting some of the reasons why we might have seen a decline of interest in the martial arts in the last few decades. The political scientist Robert Putnam (author of Bowling Alone) has noted a decline in all sorts of voluntary activities as Western society continues to evolve. This in turn affects the general level of social capital, making the formation of new groups even less likely.

Alternatively, new technologies have been developed that replace many of the networking and clerical opportunities that martial arts associations used to offer students in the past. There are just easier ways to find out about new jobs and to network with your friends from back home in the age of the iPhone. And in the age of electronic banking, no one really needs a dedicated bookkeeper anymore.

Still, I suspect that this decline is a self-limiting process. The desire for transformation and self-discovery cannot really be satisfied working in isolation. The need to belong is quite strong. People yearn for rituals of community and to experience rites of passage in their own lives. The urge to transcend the self is every bit as strong as the urge towards transformation. In fact, the two are often very closely linked. It is precisely in those moments in which you lose your identity that it is possible to enact a new one.

Conclusion

The previous post has attempted to determine whether the internal martial arts will really be the “next big thing.” At this point the empirical data is far from clear. Yet we do know that the market for martial instruction is always changing. In fact, evolution and realignment seem to be the natural order of things.

We attempted to address this question theoretically by looking at three separate answers, or schools of thought, addressing the question of why the martial arts become popular when the do. Of these I find the sociological approach to be the most satisfying as it provides the most tools for dealing with the traditional martial arts as social groups. While all of the approaches have some strengths and weaknesses, I find it interesting that each is capable of making some strong predictions as to why the internal arts might find a new audience and who it most likely to be. Will it be aging baby-boomers? A new generation of youth seeking for self-actualization? Or possibly economically displaced individuals looking for empowerment through social experience and rituals of belonging?

This will be an interesting question to watch over the next couple of years. Should the internal arts actually go into revival it might shed light on some of the most basic questions in the field of Chinese martial studies.

Morning Taiji group in Bryant Park, New York City.

Morning Taiji group in Bryant Park, New York City.

Stockton martial arts instructor's sentence more than doubled

Originally posted: http://www.redtigerkarateclub.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=13&Itemid=17

Martial arts tutor Paul Monty, who was jailed for four and a half years for child sex offences, has had his sentence more than doubled by the Court of Appeal

A twisted martial arts instructor who subjected two schoolgirls to repeated sex attacks had his too soft sentence more than doubled by top judges.

Paul Monty, 54, of Elton, near Stockton, was originally jailed for four and a half years at Teesside Crown Court in December last year after he was convicted of a string of sex crimes against the teenagers.

Appeal Court judge, Lord Justice Davis, who today upped Monty’s sentence to 10 years, said he preyed on the girls during the 1980s.

Sitting with Mr Justice Jeremy Baker and Judge Simon Tonking, he said Monty’s victims had “idolised” him as a hero, but he repaid their “adoration” by repeated betrayals of trust.

The Solicitor-General, Oliver Heald QC, attacked Monty’s original sentence as far too light.

And Lord Justice Davis agreed, saying: “We don’t think the sentence of four and a half years begins to comprehend the gravity of all that happened here.

“We have no real doubt at all that this was an unduly lenient sentence.”

He added: “This was sustained and serious sexual offending which involved taking advantage of the hero worship of these two girls.”

Monty had “exploited the adoration they conferred on him”.

Although he did not use brute force to get his victims to comply, the judge said he never needed to because they were so in awe of him.

The women told jurors at Monty’s trial how he tied them to a bed before subjecting them to degrading sex acts.

The judge said Monty’s crimes had a clear element of “grooming” and that both victims were caused lasting “emotional and psychological harm”.

Probation reports disclosed that he had shown “no real remorse”.

Monty was found guilty of several counts of gross indecency, as well as a serious sexual assault, in relation to one of the girls.

The other victim suffered an attempted sexual assault and two offences of gross indecency at his hands.

Lord Justice Davis quashed all the gross indecency counts after accepting that the charges were incorreclty framed and therefore “unlawful”.

However, the more serious charges remained in place and the judge said the sentences imposed in relation to them were far too light.

“The total sentence is now 10 years,” Lord Justice Davis concluded.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General said: “Paul Monty abused his position of trust and acted in a way that was wholly inappropriate for a teacher, committing sexual offences against young girls who were in his charge and entitled to be safe.

“I asked the court to look again at this sentence as I felt it was unduly lenient.

“Sexual crimes, especially those which breach the trust between a pupil and teacher, should be punished appropriately.

“Today the Court sent a clear message that anyone who violates the trust of children, no matter how long ago, will face the proper consequences.”

Red Tiger Karate - Manchester

This is the Karate class that my friend attends. Last year he got his black belt there. From the conversations I have had with him, I get the strong impression that it is a good club that would be worth a visit from anyone who was looking to learn Karate in and around the North West. http://www.redtigerkarateclub.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=13&Itemid=17

Recommended website

China from the Inside


http://www.chinafrominside.com/ma/


The Featured Article is an overview of Old Three Fists - "Drilling, Wrapping and Scissors" - the oldest methods of Xinyi and Xingyi.


Three Fists are recorded in old boxing manuals, however since they have been considered "Three Treasures" of Xingyiquan, they were taught only to most dedicated disciples and hence most never learnt them. Some simply re-created the techniques on the basis of their practice and experience. As the result the Three Fists are taught differently in various branches of Xinyi and Xingyi. Some understand them as specific techniques, while some as more general concepts.


The article discusses the Three Fists as taught within Dai Family Xinyi and how they are explained in Xingyi, Yi Quan as well as Henan Xinyi Liuhe Quan texts. For the first time the photos showing Three Fists of Dai Family Xinyiquan have been published.


The article also contains translations of classical and modern Chinese texts, including parts of very rare "Dai Family Xinyi Boxing Manual", for the first time published in English.


Saturday 1 March 2014

Chinese Martial Art tour of Vietnam warmly received...

By Martial News Reporter on http://www.martialnews.co.uk/story36.html

A CHINESE martial arts tour of Vietnam has been praised in the country.

The Chinese delegation included Shaolin Kung Fu masters as well as exponents from other martial arts schools.

According to Xinhau news, China, the success of the tour saw all walks of life thrilled at their performances.

The troupe all come from Henan Province. The 33-strong team toured the country from May 8th to 18th as part of a cultural exchange.

Henan's Shaolin Kungfu is widely known throughout the world. The troupe has already performed in 30 countries and territories in the world.

Kang Jie, head of the troupe, said: ""We hope that through this event, the two countries and two peoples will get to know each other's culture better, contributing to the mutual exchange of cultural activities."

Yang Jianchu, of the Chinese embassy said: "We should do more to strengthen mutual cultural understanding.

"Deeper knowledge and understanding could further strengthen the friendship between our two countries."

Yang said that Vietnam and China have a long tradition of friendship and with lots of similarity in culture.


Progress

Seems my more regular Baguazhang practice is beginning to bear fruit. I had another of my training epiphanies at last night's Manchester Bagua class. I found my basic applications working better and my teacher picked up on that. Although I already knew that the secret was simply to practice regularly, it is nice to have that confirmed with some actual, noticeable improvements that have clearly come from my practicing much more regularly than before. Now, I suppose, the key is simply to keep practising.

Monday 3 February 2014

Quotes of inspiration & enlightenment

A young boy traveled across Japan to the school of a famous Martial artist. When he arrived at the Dojo he was given an audience by the Master.

"What do you wish from me?" the Master asked.

"I wish to be your student and become the finest Karate-ka in the land," the boy replied "How long must I study?"

"Ten years at least" answered the Master

"Ten years is a long time," said the boy. "What if I studied twice as hard as all your other students?"

"Twenty years" replied the Master

"Twenty years!" "What if I practice day and night with all my effort?" the boy said

"Thirty years," was the Masters reply

"How is it that each time I say I will work harder, you tell me that it will take longer?" the boy asked.

"The answer is clear. When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the way." ~ Text from: Zen and the Martial Arts (1979 edition) by Joe Hyams


"The ideals of the Martial arts and Martial virtues teach us how to balance our mental and physical skills and to find an awareness of our center. While the Martial arts revolve around the art of personal combat, it also demands that its adherents live in accordance with a certain warrior code of conduct and honor..

The Martial arts involve both physical training and mental conditioning. The devotee must train himself both physically and mentally; therefore mental discipline is both a pre-condition of learning the art and also the result of undergoing such training.

The Martial artist who has trained properly overtime is a confident, tranquil person." ~ The Martial way and it's Virtues: Tao De Gung (2003 edition) By F.J. Chu


"In the West, the 'Martial arts' are a fashion, they have become an urban sport, a technique, and have none of the spirit of the way..

True Martial arts take their spirit from Budo rather then from sport. I have nothing against sports, they train the body and develop stamina and endurance. But the spirit of competition and power that presides over them is not good, it reflects a distorted vision of life. The root of the Martial arts is not there...

In the spirit of Zen and Budo everyday life becomes the contest. There must be awareness at every moment - getting up in the morning, working, eating, going to bed. That is the place for the Mastery of self.

~ The Zen way to the Martial Arts (1982 edition ) By Taisen Deshimaru (Roshi / Zen Master)


"The arts of peace and the arts of war are like the two wheels of a cart which, lacking one, will have difficulty standing."

~ Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors (1982 edition - trans. Wilson) (Text from: Notes on regulations - written in the year 1620) by Samurai (Daimyo) - Kuroda Nagamasa (1568-1623)


"One who is good at being a warrior does not make a show of his might; One who is good in battle does not get angry; One who is good at defeating the enemy does not engage him"

~ Text from: Tao Te Ching ~ (written in the 6th century BC) ~ Lao Tzu ~