Wen Hsiu Quan

Hello, everyone We are now in Week 4 of a Lockdown of which the end has yet to be determined (although the end of this month will be really appreciated.) This is the time where I have seen many martial art schools and Yoga studios turn to apps like Zoom to give live online classes. I have been experimenting with it since Thursday. I have not taught anything, but my training sessions were shared with page visitors in these videos: https://web.facebook.com/404145377031933/videos/153641686058159/ https://web.facebook.com/404145377031933/videos/240673023791568/ https://web.facebook.com/404145377031933/videos/2593914424199507/ These videos show the largest part of the training sessions that I have in the mornings. Tomorrow is Taijiquan day. Then it is a lot slower and more peaceful than what goes on on the other days. Mondays are the days for weights and strength exercises. Today's video showed most of the Saturday morning workout. I ha...

I was able to stay off this blog for 2 weeks after our President announced the Lockdown on 26 March. I thought it was going to be over really soon (like the 17th of April)- then it got extended. Going to the gym is out now. And- going to the gym is what I normally do on Fridays, because on Fridays I hit the heavy bag there and do conditioning. For reasons that I would rather not explain the landlords here do not want me to put up any kind of punching bag that is attached to the house. And- last one I had that was not attached to the house was... ummm Yes. It did not last. Nonetheless- I wanted to fill the bag's time with something else... I think you now understand how I got to this point. So- this is more or less the Friday morning workout for the next 3 Fridays (regardless of whether the Lockdown gets extended any further, because after this month I will either work or die resisting arrest after slicing up some people...) ...

My first thought was to title this post "The Empty Hand", but it would not have really suited the content. We know I love kicking, so"Hands and Feet" would have been more accurate, right? But then I would probably get reminded of the elbows and knees... And someone else might then bring up the head, shoulders and hips... As martial artists we often take for granted, especially after some years of training, how much time and effort was put into making our bodies into weapons. Sure- you have the contact areas that have to make contact with the target, but we all know that an inefficient use of the body as the delivery system may cause the fist or foot to never even reach its target... Striking, grappling, defending- all of these actions make up the art of fighting that we practice. Unlike all other weapons in our arsenal, this particular weapon can improve with regular use. It can get stronger, more durable and more effective. ...

Today we are at the second last chapter in this series about weapons with which I regularly practice. Of all weapons that I have collected I respect the katana the most. I almost never practice with it, rather using the bokken that I have. I am sure that what I have to say here can be said for some other weapons as well, but this is what I have learnt from studying the Japanese sword: Movies tend to show off weapons with a lot of twirling and excessive movement. With the katana, however, I have come to appreciate the value of being able to get the job done with as little movement as possible. Few weapons teaches one the value of timing and distance like the katana. Lastly- I find it the easiest weapon to wield in a Zen state of mind. Being a fairly simple weapon that does not have any chains, moving parts, extra handles or such it gives you very little to think about while fighting. Still- it is what I call a Final Weapon....

Of all the weapons that I have collected, this one was the last. Liking Ninjutsu and the weapons that I have seen in many Ninja movies- the Jian or Chinese Straight Sword was not high on my list of weapons to get. Besides- if there was a sword to get the Japanese Katana would be the ultimate sword to have, right? Right...? As it would happen, though- after finishing high school I have developed an increasing love for Kung Fu and Chinese martial arts movies. I am running the risk of seriously digressing here and we have not yet even started, but, let me say this- My boss at the time- Mrs Ku- opened my eyes to a whole new world of martial arts movies when she showed me this movie called the Duel. You might not know this, but among martial arts movies in China- the Jian has a whole genre (or maybe sub-genre) of movies dedicated to it. The most famous movie in this genre is definitely Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon that I have seen 20 times so far. Needless to say- soon...

Now that I have written about some weapons that do not seem to make any sense in actual combat, let's look at something simple. In fact- this weapon is so simple that I am not even going to write anything about its history. Just about every civilisation in history had this weapon. The only difference that we may find is the techniques used from people to people. While Chinese forms are famous for their spectacular staff movements we find that the forms taught by the Okinawan and Japanese schools used more direct and pragmatic movements. The Quarterstaff that we know from our medieval stories was the Western version of this universal weapon. The main reason why one would want to use such a long stick for a weapon is reach.  A staff has longer reach than most swords, definitely more reach than a knife or dagger and also more reach than most blunt weapons that we know. That means that you don't really have to know any special defensive...

Hello, everyone and welcome back. In last week's post I said that we will be looking at yet another weapon that defies logic. Yesterday we looked at the Sai and speculated about why on earth one would want to add prongs to a metal truncheon. Today's weapon is the tonfa or- as it is known in Chinese, the guai. In modern days this weapon goes by the designation PR24 (what that is supposed to mean I do not know at all.) Before I even knew that this weapon had its place in classical Chinese weaponry I have already learnt that it was the handle of a grindstone. Now- Asian grindstones are fairly simple. Two circular stones on top of one another, fashioned so that the one is slightly hollow and the other fits into the hollow. The top stone has a hole in it. A stick (which for some reason is not always attached to the device) gets inserted into the hole to be used as a handle. My friend Leo showing me the hole in the tofu maker where the handle woul...