Wen Hsiu Quan

When I was 16 I have found this passage in the Book of Five Rings.  And that amounts for as much as what I know about fighting multiple opponents and double weapons today. My Saturday morning workouts always include a single bokken for katana practice. Shairley has however recently given me a shorter bokken to match the black one I have. (I have a natural colour varnished one as well). So- Now having the katana and wakizashi I was eager to get see how I handle the weight of a long sword being held in only one hand. For those who don't know- This posture is Happo Biraki ("Open on eight sides"). This is a posture suited for being surrounded by multiple opponents. One thing that really feels "wrong" about this entire exercise is that the two weapons are not balanced like my sai  or tonfa .  Juji Dome- Cross Guard. The katana was further designed to be a "hand-held guilotine"- its cutting ability being optimal when both ha...

I was about to write my last post for this year when I logged in and found that the views for this blog has gone over 10 000. Yes, Vegeta. That is indeed over 9000... Thank you to everyone who have read and commented on my blog this year.  This year some people at lest got a glimpse of what Wenhsiuquan has to offer. Between the books and the blog I have managed to document a large amount of its principles. What lies ahead for next year remains to be seen. The prospect of having to move to a new town has recently reared its head. What I am going to want to do next, however, is demo videos! Let's see who I find to help with that next year.  One of the most interesting encounters I had while working on the books this year was Chris. He would have been the perfect partner for demo videos. As fate would have it, however, he and his wife Angela have returned to China.  :D Then there was Thabo- my first student. Aiya... If ...

I was actually going to write a post about Musashi Miyamoto and challenge you to take a leaf out of his book and test it at the dojo (in kumite) until the news reached me about Baby Metal's new song that got played for the first time yesterday during their epic as always performance in Yokohama yesterday. The song is playing in the background as I am typing now. You can give it a listen here. https://youtu.be/769vz2_8HTE Now I have decided to tell you about the other music I have discovered with strong martial arts themes. I have never known about Sia until a video got posted on my G+ timeline that featured Mahiro Takano (we all know her and love her, right? I still want to see a grown up do kata like her...). Don't care much for the song, but seeing Mahiro in action is always inspiring. https://youtu.be/t2NgsJrrAyM Now- on to something that is more to my taste. Anime fans will remember the Ninja Drama, Bassilisk and its moving opening theme by Japanese Metal ...

I have started reading about martial arts at the age of 9. Back then I was told that a book will not be of much help in my training. Later, at 14, I joined my first dojo and I was told to leave the books because it will not help. Funny thing is- there were times when the dojo was the laboratory in which I have tested the theories presented to me in these books. I soon realised that one can simply not expect to find all the knowledge in the world in one place. I am sure many of you will recognise these two books in the photographs. One was a Christmas gift in 2000 that had changed the way I practice for good. The other I have bought to satisfy my curiosity about how Bruce Lee would actually fight. In the martial arts community I have found the jocks and the nerds just as you would in High School. I strive to be a balance of the two. The insights a good book have to offer might just be that little something extra that you have never even known to look for....

I have been enjoying Dragonball Super for quite a while now. One character who is experiencing tremendous changes for the better at the moment is Vegeta. This proud Saiyan Prince has been plagued by being surpassed by Goku for years now. Now- we see a new Vegeta that is not only stronger than Goku (for the time being-lol), but who has changed a lot with the help of their new teacher Whis. The first huge change is that Vegeta got humble. This humility started with him begging Whis to take him as a student. Whis takes the whole humility thing even further by having him do household chores.  This may seem weird and comical, but pride is actually a huge obstacle in one's progress in the martial arts. One of the martial art's master's greatest assets is the ability to do what is needed without hesitation. This requires firstly that one can clearly perceive what needs to be done and then the ability to act on that knowledge. What gets in the way ...

Kicks are exhausting... :D In this short video kicks make up the largest part of the attacks I throw. Whether I would actually fight like that is another matter altogether.  Hand and elbow strikes may be easier than kicks, but they burn their share of calories. :D I post these videos to show what my attacks would look like when I am letting fly without the weights. The first video shows me performing a bunch of frontal attacks. Because I like practicing multidirectional attacks as well I have recorded myself attacking in various directions as well. I trust that the rest of you are also training hard. Have a great week ahead.

I love Japan's Metal phenomenon Baby Metal. I have found some photos that seem to indicate that Moa Kikuchi is actually interested in martial arts! Wonder if she knows Mahiro Takano...

Okay- I shall admit that his accent is not even nearly Australian, but his regular use of the F-word in his videos distinguishes him from other internet masters the same way Gordon Ramsay's language makes him distinguishable from all the other chefs on the Food Channel. :D Most of the videos I have seen of him demonstrate street fighting moves with a strong Wing Chun basis. I loved this one Taijiquan video I have seen of him today, though. Master Wong's no-nonsense approach to teaching appeals to those students who do not wish to embark on an academical exercise in learning martial arts and will suit those who are primarily interested in learning martial arts for self defense. I have subscribed to his Youtube channel. Below are some links to videos of his. :) https://youtu.be/xsj2LZkjdPY https://youtu.be/bP5pnhSPdUc https://youtu.be/b8WHG0hqAZ8 https://youtu.be/GHOCVoZsFHE

One of the enduring elements of the martial arts is mystery. Hell! Even within the world wide martial arts community there are rumours and speculation.We may argue that it serves a purpose in that it ensures that the martial arts remain alluring to a lot of us. One thing that I find annoying in others and completely detest in myself, however, is ignorance. Thanks to our generous colleagues on social media, however, we do not need to be ignorant. Below I have provided links to videos and posts from some of the most knowledgeable and generous martial artists that I have encountered on the internet. Although my preferences lie with Japanese, Chinese, Okinawan and Korean arts I have even included a link to an Escrima video. https://youtu.be/VxfOctXS2m8 http://www.karateculture.com/guest-blog-posts/2015/9/8/the-poor-mans-guide-to-hojo-undo-equipment https://youtu.be/0Qmoo2gwp0U https://youtu.be/g-FxOl-PTy8 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CTOZT1-WIAAjzIK.jpg https://youtu.be/IdE...

"Martial arts are for smart people" I have heard some laypersons say. When you actually start sparring at a dojo you start realising that your intellect is not of much use, though.  Sure- knowledge plays a huge part in your success as a martial artist, but we do not just seek to accumulate knowledge, but also to develop our minds. This is done by subjecting ourselves to training that does not only challenge us emotionally as well as mentally. I have realised at a very early time in my training that a lot of my performance has suffered not because I have not given it enough, thought, but actually because of thinking too much. We as humans are capable of thought and it is wonderful, but it also interferes with our intuitive responses. While you are thinking you are not actually seeing what is right in front of you. A lot of details that can be sensed intuitively get drowned out by the noise in your mind that you have created yourself. Regarding...

I am a big fan of training with weights. It is just a pity that we don't get these ankle and wrist weights much heavier than what they are. There is something left to design for someone. :D I wanted to show you how I perform Bassai Dai with this equipment. You can see what came of the first attempt at filming it here: My second attempt looks like this: The heaviest part of this whole thing is the vest. I am not really fast while wearing it. I guess I could use simpler attacks to be faster, but then again- I believe in training hard and fighting easy. :D If there is one thing for which I never stop being grateful it is the opportunity to train. Right now- at the age of 37 my training has survived moving to two new homes, 6 jobs and restrictions on which part of the yard it is okay to practice in. For a while I even managed to keep dojo days open. Don't stop training, people! Have a great week ahead!

This video came up on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djreminisemusic/videos/10152665556038869/ Those of you who have managed to train yourselves to ignore pain will know how these guys manage to take so many blows to the groin. This actually reminds me of a lesson I have learnt as early as in high school. Some of you might remember my post in memory of Wolfgang Goldner. It was in 1996 and I had a PR baton (over here we call it a tonfa as well, but I saw that people in the US use the term "PR". Can somebody be kind enough to spare me the googling and comment the meaning of this abbreviation? :D) At that time I was very happy to show off this really cool arm-lock that I got from an issue of Terry O'Neill's Fighting Arts magazine. In it this guy called Massad Ayoob demonstrated self defence techniques for policemen (and there was also an article about how proper martial arts technique could have made the Rodney King incident less of the fiasco it was back...