Wen Hsiu Quan

The Ten Commandments tell us that there is one day of the week to cease work and to dedicate to God. The Bible tells us in Genesis that even God rested on the 7th day. This wisdom is of much use to us today as it was in the days of Moses. Negative energy (here meaning stress, anger and bad feelings) gather as we work and interact with the world. One who does not take the time out to get rid of these will even find himself becoming physically ill. In martial arts training this is also true. I actually saw in an episode of Street Fighter- Assassin's Fist (Episode 3 on Youtube if you haven't seen the series yet) that Gotetsu told his students to "cleanse their spirit" with meditation after training. Beside physical exertion- your training will also put stress on your mind and anger and frustration can easily set in. This is harmful. Meditation serves to restore balance and to rid ourselves of the mental clutter from training. Shaolin students will further tell you t...

The fights really worth fighting are usually against powerful adversaries that normal people are wary to face. Facing enemies like this often means death to those who actually do. It is what evil people like this count on. They count on the fact that those they oppress are afraid to lose what is valuable to them and that they are afraid to die. Wherever in the world we find people like this they will stay in power until somebody actually makes the sacrifice. If you consider yourself a warrior and think your martial arts were made just to look cool or to just defend yourself- you miss a great deal of what being a warrior is about.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_j1-xQA_ufE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWPJO-W2Vbw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rw1iZnkGyU Life is often serious enough. I have shared these links so that those who have not yet seen these videos can laugh a bit. Yes- for us who practice a form of fighting that seems obsolete in an age of firearms and MMA our dedication is a given- something we don't think about. Now what would happen if that same dedication- and the conviction that our way is the correct way- get applied to utter rubbish like this guys "ninjin'"? Well- now I am getting serious again... Just watch and laugh a little.

I have not yet sat down to write down a specific code of ethics for Wenhsiuquan. This does not in any way mean that I do not view ethics as important. I rather view a sound code of conduct to be of paramount importance in any martial art. I am not going to discuss at legth as WHY we need ethics. Anyone can tell you that. What I do want to let you know is that correct practice of a martial art like Wen Hsiu Quan actually cultivates a calm, compassionate heart that is at the same time courageous. Yes- Martial Arts can actually change the psychological make-up of a person. This is because we as humans all have the capacity to attain enlightenment- or to come pretty damn close. :) Martial arts training- I mean REAL martial arts training- unlocks that part of us. To find out how exactly you are welcome to email me at boshoffm3@gmail.com 

A year after taking up Shukokai- when I was 16- our sensei once asked me to open up the top of my gi. What he wanted to show the class was how my abdominal and pectoral muscles have toned and developed since I started. This- he said- meant that I have been doing it right. I remember hearing the saying "nan quan bei tui". It means "Southern fists Northern legs." It referred to the fact that Southern Chinese martial artists relied relatively more on upper body strength than Northern martial artists. Naturally- the style you would practice would influence whether you have strong legs or strong upper body. The difference between a martial artist and one with knowledge of fighting techniques (or someone who has attended a self defense course) is training. We train to be stronger, faster- to hit harder to kick higher. In the fire of that training our bodies get forged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCH6pCzyT4g https://www.facebook.com/groups/taichisecretmovements/ I always believe that if you really want to know the essence of any style- you should study its kata. Styles without kata- well... it's just that much less fun. So far- I have been lucky enough to have an instructor who taught me the application of each movement in the kata I have learnt. I have also learnt later on that not all forms are a rehearsal of combat techniques. Often the kata in itself is an exercise to develop speed or power. In this post I will give a couple of hints on understanding kata better. Here are some pointers: 1. A slow kata is meant to develop power and technique. This means that you pay should pay attention to aspects such as your stance and breathing, when your muscles have to be relaxed and when which muscles have to tense. 2. Fast katas are meant to develop speed and agility. This is no chance to take shortcuts through movemen...

Depending on the type of competition or whether it is a real fight or competition it is very important to know what  distance is close enough to touch the opponent and what range is close enough for some real damage. This fight probably comes to anyone's mind when we think about fighting a taller opponent. The Legendary Musashi Miyamoto is said to have fought a samurai called Kojiro. Kojiro's advantage in combat lay in his sword, which was longer than what was the norm at the time. Musashi, however, remedied the situation by beating Kojiro to death with a wooden oar which he had modified to fight with. I am not going to deal with projectile weapons and guns here. Everyone knows that the range of those is far longer than even a 7 foot staff can muster. What I will discuss, however, is what assumptions about range are wrong- and even dangerous- and which approaches deliver the best results.  First of all- It is not always a good idea to stay out of your o...