Wen Hsiu Quan

Hello, everyone. Today's post is old news to Taijiquan students, but if you study karate at your average Western dojo (Take note: average- I know there are teachers who go the extra mile) this stuff may be news to you. I don't know about you, but I find a tremendous amount of the classical teachings in the mythologies of Dragonball Z, martial arts films and stories. I am going to use these stories as examples to show where the forces of Yang and Yin work in our stances. Now- just so that we start off at the same place: In this context I am not going to talk about good and evil, light and dark and other irrelevant manifestations of this concept. The forces I am going to discuss are gravity as the Yin force and then - as the Yang Force- that force that resists it. The anti-gravity force... If you have watched Dragonball Z you'd know that Goku flies. This levitation phenomenon was often mentioned in classical tales in the Chinese martial arts world. Having ...

Hi!  I have just finished my Saturday morning workout tonight, because I have to work tomorrow. Now that I am done I feel like relaxing and chatting.  So- grab a seat, light a smoke (stop being a hypocrite if you smoke. I smoke!), grab a beer(yikes!)and let's talk about how the martial arts in movies have changed over the years. Well- I was born in 1978. By the time I was old enough to notice what's going on on television I could see that some secret agents (sometimes beautiful ladies) made men collapse with a well placed chop on the shoulder with their bare hands.  In a society where honourable men did not use kicks when they fought people who used kicks in screen fights stood out. Little Annie swept a grown man's leg with a low kick in the shin while some boy in a Disney movie threw a thug to the ground using a Judo throw. Have you seen these movies as a kid? Back then Karate and Judo grasped the imagination of Western audienc...

This book is the last on Wenhsiuquan technique. There is now a book on grappling, defense and striking. This is also the last book in which I needed a partner to help me demonstrate techniques. The next book is on physical exercises that form a vital part of each training session. I think I can do that without a partner. My friends have taught me a valuable lesson with the writing of these 3 books. I was always aware of how many people had involved me in their schemes and hare-brained ideas, but now I realised that I also had people willing to help me realise some hair-brained ideas of my own. Each one of the 3 books contain a form ( taolu or kata ) at the end. I have added a video of the kata in the most recent book. At present this style has 7 forms for basic practice. When I am done modifying the 7 katas from karate we shall have 14 forms. Thank you all for following this blog. Next year the contents of the first book shall be posted on this very blog for ...

Go to a karate class nowadays and you will find that free sparring is full contact (here in South Africa anyway). Ask the students why and they will most likely tell you that it is the best way to prepare you for an actual self defence situation.    If you look at the techniques they use while sparring you will find that they only use the techniques permitted in tournaments. They'd tell you that it's for safety reasons. The culture of stopping attacks short of contact during sparring can be traced back to Shaolin Kungfu's early days. A large number of these techniques were known to cause permanent damage. I still remember reading in Wong Kiew Kit's book about the risk of the head of an arm bone being broken off with qin na attacks. I was not satisfied with calling myself a martial artist if all I had to offer was a series of punches and kicks found in any other style- and a way of fighting which is already known and predictable. We ...

Which of you has read this book? I'll be the first to admit that I am not rich yet. I have, however, been able to develop a really cool technique from it. A lot of teachers, mentors and just about anyone giving us advice can easily tell us what to do and how to do it. What few people ever realise, however, is that what you think and feel while doing something is really important. I mean- really important. Now- instead of going into a long psychological explanation of why the technique works (I am very fond of doing so, btw, but today I prefer to have you experience it rather than just reading) I am going to give you some homework: Take a technique or a kata that you feel needs some work- or maybe it's your kumite, then take that- and spend some quite alone time thinking about it. Now here comes the trick- Don't think about how you struggle doing it- think about how it is doing it right. Imagine yourself doing everything perfectly- like the epitome ...

Get a book on Taijiquan and it is likely that you will not understand a large part of what the author has written. One such book is on my shelf and contains lots of valuable information, but also a complicated mess of things that I do not experience in my day to day life. I have come to think that Taiji instructors do this on purpose... Ian Sinclair on the other hand has no need to appear knowledgeable by going into a deep forest of Chinese terms (which I have found not even some Chinese people don't understand) or by going off on some hippie trip about qi, meridians and whatever confuses the hell out of you. Make no mistake- Sifu Sinclair knows these terms. He has studied under the type of masters that would make most of us kungfu fanboys jealous. He just does not keep them shrouded in mystery. Ever since I have subscribed to his Youtube Channel I have learnt a lot about martial arts in general. Funny thing is- Judo has this maxim of "minimum effor...

How many friends do you know that you can walk up to and say "I have developed my own style of martial art that I want to document. Will you help me?"? When I had first asked my friends for help they did not bat an eyelid. They did not share my love for martial arts, but understood how much this project means to me. Documenting and teaching Wenhsiuquan is the next step in my journey on this path. While my other friends Chen Feng and Chris have decided to leave this country for the safety and economic stability of their homeland- Shirley is still around. She already owns copies of the first two books and has shown it to quite a number of people. Oh! One more thing! I see my blog got more than 5 000 views! Thank you all for showing interest. Although I do not have any full time students yet I have received lots of positive feedback on the advice and information I have provided. It means a lot to me. In my next post I will tell you about two people who have provided m...