Wen Hsiu Quan

It's no secret. I love the Dragonball franchise- right from the original Dragonball series to the current Dragonball Super series that is currently running. I even like GT- well... a bit... This post is about something that has happened in episode 55 of Dragonball Super. The events I relate here remind us what virtue is actually about and ought to be a lesson to us all. Now- most good karate schools have a Dojo-Kun. I have the Taode Ching, Zen teachings and other classics. I'll get to the relevant quote from the Taode Ching at the end of this post. Well... to those who don't know the new Dragonball Super Universe here's a quick intro: Goku is the main character- a good hearted Saiyan (Warrior Alien) with a childlike heart and unrivalled strength. During his adventures Goku has not only met humans and aliens, but also those deities that watch over the planets and universes, These include: Kami: The Guardian of Earth The Kaioshin: Beings in charge of their qua...

Those of you who are members of our group Martial Arts Forums, may have noticed Abisha Soans in our midst. This bright young girl has taken huge interest in the group and is not shy to ask questions. This week I received notification of her question about reflexes in my mailbox. She soon had no shortage of answers. Some of the advice Abisha got came from a very scientific approach. Some of it came from a more practical perspective. With me, martial arts training is mostly about first hand experience. Now- before I go into my long explanation of my answer to her- let's just distinguish between reflexes and responses. The former relates to involuntary movements of the body or part thereof in response to external stimuli. That includes blinking or that familiar kick of the leg in response to a doctor's hammer. The latter refers to the trained responses we apply to situations. These movements are far from involuntary, but through conditioning and repetitive training...

Hi, everyone! I am typing this post while taking a nice break from a 2 and a half hour long gasshuku (training camp- I have only heard this term used by karate people, but maybe some students of other Japanese martial arts know it too.) The Olympics are on our TV's and we get to see some Judo amongst other things. I wish somebody wants to post more videos of Judo kata on Youtube and stuff, because that is much nicer to look at than the competitions. If you have not seen a Judo kata before- here is an example: https://youtu.be/q9SfzhSDjBw?t=328 That looks pretty cool, doesn't it? Now- most of the time we see something like this going on- The sequence below shows one of my favourite throws that is a good way to get someone acquainted with throwing techniques. You can see that for one thing- I am not on one leg when I am pulling my partner into the throw. Let's go through the essential elements of a good throw: 1. Keeping your stance: It looks as i...

When I am not practicing martial arts- I am at work. I find my occupation as a litigation attorney quite suitable to my personality as a martial artist and have applied the principles that I have learnt through not only training, but also education in martial philosophy, with great success. Most recently I have met a fellow litigant in Court who got sent to court with a file on which he has no knowledge of his clients' instructions, but only had his employer's instructions to proceed with the motion. It has also happened before where my employer instructed me to fight and I ended up wanting to settle. Because of the above I have a strong dislike in lawyers who consult with their clients only to hand the work over to candidates or support staff. That is not necessarily where the fault lies, though. If we look at what Master Sun is saying the problem is ignorance, not handing over of work or giving of instructions. In a one-on-one fight knowing what yo...