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...

If it isn't fun you won't feel like doing it, right?

Somehow the first thing that seems to disappear when a style goes full-contact is traditional stances. Yes- I also know the story where Bruce Lee punched the martial arts master and told him that he does not pull or push. Some of you may have seen that as a master's blessing to let go of an odious part of your training. Well- fact is: MMA has taught us that punching and kicking only gets you so far. (I am still not a fan of MMA, but you can learn a great deal from watching MMA fights.) Further I trust that many will agree with me that the adversary that is probably going to test your self defence skills is not necessarily going to be in your weight class. Further- not all attackers punch, kick or swing a weapon at you. Many will push, grab and maybe even pick you up. In my post on footwork I have already touched on the subject on how stances help us move faster in a fight. What else do stances do for us? 1. First of all- proper stance gives techniques...

For the light, mobile fighting stance which is mainly on the balls of the feet we can thank Western Boxing and Bruce Lee.   This may not be the popular fighting stance in your dojo, but Chinese fighters did very well using it. And we have teachers saying that you can't move fast enough from this stance... I remember my days as a white belt (and even up to Brown Belt) obsessing over my footwork. Like many karateka we were taught a fighting stance that did not feature in any of our kata. Legs were kept bent and ready to spring forward, but we never leapt towards or opponents- or maybe we did, but very very low above the floor... At the time I made a point of retreating very quickly, but when the time came to counter-attack I was not so quick at reaching my target. Also- I often got hit on my way to attack. By the time my fighting improved, however, my opponents found themselves getting hit while they have not yet even finished attacking. They found...

The first sample of my first book on Wenhsiuquan came fresh from the printers yesterday.  Although I am very excited to see an actual printed copy I have to make sure that the book that goes out to the public looks like the type of thing I want to release into the world. This is about my martial art after all... In due time I'll post the link to a separate page on which the book can be ordered. At the moment I am certain that it will be available in South Africa. Because I have no PayPal account- or know of any other way to receive money from overseas yet- availability overseas is going to be very limited. Instead of writing about the entire style in one go I have decided to first write a separate book on each aspect that I feel deserves specific attention.This first book is about pulling and pushing techniques. That means it will explain the mechanics of throws and joint locks amongst other things. Other books to follow are going to be about kicking and...

Wolfgang Goldner I moved to Nelspruit with my parents in 1995. Back then we were 17. Back then as well I was fanatic about martial arts. On my second day in school I found Wolf giving a someone a quick demonstration of his techniques. Now- there will always be karate kids that get made fun of. I think it is safe to say that nobody would have dared to take this guy lightly... At the age of 17 his speed and technique was lightyears ahead of that of his peers and even those older than him. In 1995-1996 he was definitely the one guy that you would not have been able to beat up. Although Wolf had the ability to literally kill a grown man with his bare hands- he was one the least aggressive people I know. Not that it helped much- He still scared the living shit out of me. Wolf never told me what style he practised, but what he showed me was that a lot of black belts out there are not ready to face an opponent like him. Inwardly I am grateful for the fact that the ...

Many traditional kung fu students know about this or that medicinal ointment or treatment for those injuries commonly associated with training. I am currently nursing a cracked rib. Rib fractures don't really have any quick remedies and unlike limbs, ribs can't be put in a cast. These plasters I got from my friend, Chen Feng (She and her husband Chris helped me with my book, remember?). It's been 2 days since I have put them on and I am now able to laugh without pain and to cough with minimal pain. I breathe and move normally now. I am going to keep this up for the week to come and report back. Remedies like these that use menthol and camphor stimulate the body's circulatory system which in turn helps to relieve pain and facilitates recovery. It works especially well on sprains and bruises. Anyone interested in this product or other Chinese health products (or massage therapy) can contact Feng Chen on Facebook. She is based in my hometown, Nelsp...

Did anyone read my post about how I once left my Shotokan dojo and went on to study other stuff? Well... to sum up anyway before I continue this post I got fed up with the entire school here at the time after a grading in which I got failed while I watched others with much less skill get their black belts. Now- here's the story of my return to Shotokan and my departure from it for good: It was early in 2014 when my sensei from back then came back to Nelspruit after a long absence. A long enough absence for me to learn Jeet Kune Do and a whole lot of cool stuff and to develop my own style which I have come to treasure. Now Sensei Roelf was quick to ask me to take up karate again. And I agreed and soon found myself showing up for the first couple of classes in which I was to reacquaint myself with kihon and kata  that I have un learnt over the years. Not kumite , though. Nobody touches my way of fighting! If you want to teach me a better way to fight- then fa...

Have fun training!

Most martial artists know that an opponent using a long weapon like a staff, baseball bat or sword is at a disadvantage as soon as you have managed to get past the weapon itself and close to him. Most of us are more comfortable with using our hands to manage the weapon and stepping past it to get to the opponent. Most adversaries would most likely expect you to do that as well... Now the major advantages of using a kick like the crescent kick I am showing in the sketch are the following: 1. It uses a limb more powerful than the arm; 2. It leaves both hands free to attack; 3. It opens up a path for you before you bring your body in range; 4. It gives you the element of surprise on your side. To me- a weapon that is held poised and pointed toward me is a bigger threat that one that is being swung. A swinging weapon can be timed and often clears the way for you to move in by itself. A poised weapon, however, is a trap! The crescent kick is a good way to c...

I like having my legs as available as weapons as much as my upper limbs are. In another post I will show some defences against weapons that rely on quick feet or light legs. This warm-up exercise is a great way to get the legs ready to deliver some powerful explosive kicks,  Start in a horse stance and step into a cross-stance. The leg with which you have stepped forward is now the supporting leg. Now from whichever side of your supporting leg the other leg's foot is resting, swing it over in a wide arc through an imaginary target at head height. The supporting leg is firm and the swinging leg is relaxed. The kicking foot should now come to rest at the other side of the supporting foot- to shoot of in another high, wide arc to the other side. Repeat about 10 times each side and switch legs. Real kicking would require you to tighten the kicking leg's muscles at the moment of impact. This exercise has none of that as it is meant to loosen the limbs before tr...

I really pity those of you who train with an instructor who does not teach anything about Qi! The one big difference between Wenhsiuquan and Jeet Kune Do is that Qigong is expressly part of Wenhsiuquan's training regimen.  Last week I have learnt a really cool training method from Wu Style Taijiquan. I must admit that the writer of the book actually gave a lot of complex information that I have still not digested, but one really cool technique did find its way from the pages into my morning work-out's warm-up. It goes like this: Standing in an upright posture ( yoi for the karate people), feet flat on the ground, shoulders relaxed, and so forth (Taijiquan people know the drill...) you begin to stretch your neck upwards so that all the vertebrae have a space between one another. This is not done by straining, but rather in a relaxed posture and while breathing slowly.  Just by doing that I have already felt a surge of Qi course through my veins. Not qu...

Mixed Martial Arts is actually ancient. Even karate came from combining techniques from different styles. Taekwondo even more so. Bruce Lee is well-known for pointing out that a style is a mere crystalisation of what is actually real. Let's face it- real fights are chaotic and each traditional style attempts to find order in this chaos. That is why I am convinced that Jeet Kune Do was not developed by asking "what works?", but rather- "How were we meant to fight?" Bruce Lee made no mention of Qigong in his Tao of Jeet Kune Do. I get the idea that he did not like it much... When I developed Wenhsiuquan I did not want to abandon what I trust in a quest for formlessness. This was because form gave me efficiency. The question I asked when selecting my style's techniques was: "How will my energy best be utilised?" It is for this reason that the techniques of Wenhsiuquan do come from different styles, but at the same time also belong together. The o...

Martial art sports that use percussive techniques will always have punches to the face. Many participants believe that punching an opponent in the face will give them the advantage they need. Fact is, however, that the head is a smaller target and easy to get out of harm's way. The amount of body movement necessary to evade a face punch is much less than that needed to move an entire body. One of the advantages of ducking and slipping is that you stay within range for counterattack while being out of danger for that moment. For advice on how to perform ducking and slipping techniques you are welcome to email me at boshoffm3@gmail.com.

Hello, everyone. While I am training like mad at the moment- and loving it- I thought of those guys my age who do not kick so high anymore. While a lot of people (like the Thai boxer below) can take a split, tilt the hips a bit and then have a high roundhouse kick a lot of us cannot split that far. Is all lost then? Short answer- nope!  I know Shukokai people will not accept this and Shotokan people can act as if they knew this secret for a long time (because they did!), but here is my tip for that jodan mawashi   geri: See the sketch? You notice the front stance? Yes- that is not a Shotokan front stance, but it will do (you guys can't hog the spotlight here). Notice how far your back leg can stretch just because the front leg is bent? Now- bending the supporting leg and aiming your kicking hip as high as it goes (yes- we aim with the hips and NOT the knees!) let that kick shoot out.  Pretty cool, huh?  This means that as long as you...