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 ...