Wen Hsiu Quan

A big thank you to my blog readers and to the ones who have purchased my first book. Having got some long awaited time off work I am going to enjoy my holiday workouts for the 2 weeks ahead. If you have time to train as well in this festive season- I hope you take full advantage thereof.  Best wishes to you all and lots of fun training!

One of these forms use the leopard fist in my favourite ways. My fingertips (and also those of a lot of people I know) are not strong enough for snake fist and spear hand, but anyone can use a leopard fist.  In Japanese it is known as "hiraken" or "half fist" For those of you who need a picture- here's two. This fist's two easiest target areas are the ribs and larynx. From the right position you can also attack the kidneys. The other form- again has more throws. Two of the techniques in this form deal with a straight push/ punch by grabbing the attacking limb and pulling it in. This is how leg or hip throws can get executed. Three of the other attacks uproot the opponent by seizing on of his legs. It is already a given that we do not fight in the same way we do kata. This is exercise- not fighting. It is also a good way to memorise techniques and to work on them while not under fire. What self defense techniques do you li...

For how many years do you plan to practice your martial art if this is all that it is about? Brutal as this looks- it is a sport and not real fighting. Preferring to get hit harder and hitting your training partners harder because it is "more realistic" actually amounts to you kidding yourself. There are a lot of people out there with absolutely no formal training that can do the same thing. What do you really expect to learn from your school? The poise alone already tells you that these monks learnt more than just fighting. Knowledge of techniques like the Golden Bell Cover as demonstrated above is disappearing. So also with the more mundane Iron Shirt technique. We can't allow this knowledge, and the abilities it brings, to disappear in history. Sparring with a Pushing Hands expert is a worthwhile experience. I really hope that the next generation of martial artists will also have the opportunity to do so. No. It is not real ...

Here is the order form. Fill it out and email it to boshoffm3@gmail.com. You can phone me at 084 799 7030 to check on progress- or if you just want to make sure I am a real person. (hint- just SMS me if I don't answer and tell me you are phoning about the book.)   Delivery by courier ought to be about 7 days from receipt of your proof of payment. Thank you for your support. I really hope this book will help you in the same way that the knowledge shared therein has helped me. 

The first copies for distribution are finally here. :) Although I have not yet sorted out availability overseas just yet (I still need to open a Paypal account or something like that), the first copies are ready to go out to the public. Right now I have them in A4 size for R190.00 each and in  A5 (smaller) size for R 350.00 each. The order form and information on how to order will be available in the next post. 

2 things I have been meaning to do, but never got around to until now were: 1- to design a logo for Wenshiuquan and 2- to record myself doing a traditional kata from Shotokan. I had a great time training this Saturday and this morning was devoted to an extra long Taijiquan and meditation session. Stay well and train hard. :) 

I'm sure a lot of readers will remember how Daniel-San spent days painting a fence, waxing a car,  sanding a floor and lacquering a wall in order to learn how to block.  Fact is- I loved my blocks as a Shukokai white belt. Despite having been shown the simple slapping block and pressing block for kumite I wanted to use uchi uke and all those other cool blocks. And yes- I love Bassai Dai  too. Later on (in my case as 1st kyu brown belt) I realised that my obsession with blocking was hurting my karate. Sure- I could deflect blows, attempts to grab me and the odd finger poke at school, but still sucked at kumite. The main reason for this was simple. Blocking itself does not do much (unless you are a master who is able to break someone's arm with that block- people like that exist!)- Blocking has to be followed by a counter-attack! I'm sure many readers have also come to this realisation early on in their training or were taught this universal t...