Wen Hsiu Quan

This is usually the time when we take some time to look back to the highlights of a year. This year I became aware of the end to three things approaching. The first thing that I have seen coming to an end is this blog. Well- I am not done yet, but I can see that I am running out of things to say here. :D I used to announce my December Break from blogging at this time of the year, but this is the first year in which I have stopped writing new posts for a long time to come. Still- the Wenhsiuquan Facebook Page got started this year. You might find some new posts from me or some shared posts from other martial artists on it from time to time. Be assured, though, that I may stop blogging sometime, but I will never stop training. The next thing of which I have seen the end is single life. :D In this case I have not just seen it coming. It has arrived.  Xiaowei and I have been dating since July now. This in itself...

Hello, everyone. :) Recently I have begun teaching someone. As is often the case- this student did not approach me to learn a martial art, but needs to learn to defend himself. Well... self defense is only about a third of what Wenhsiuquan is all about, but I am always happy to share what I know in order to get the word out there. A question that came up in our conversations during lessons was what to do when somebody grabs your leg. It is not the first time I had to answer this question and I think we have the Gracies to thank for that. You see- long before they cake and ruined it for everyone schoolyard fights and barroom brawls had pushing, punching and maybe the odd bit of wrestling. Nowadays, however, a lot of kids watch MMA takedowns and now choke holds and leg takedowns get seen a lot... So... where a lot of us used to learn and rehearse responses to punches, kicks, front grabs and wrist grabs- we now have to know defense against leg takedowns as well. Before I get ...

Hello, everyone! Just when I thought that my break from this blog was going to be a long one, some smartass went and posted this on Facebook: So- I thought it necessary to say a couple of things about an attitude that seems to be spreading among people who consider taking up martial arts. Well... It seems that Greta Thunberg is a good way to get people triggered about anything, but I would most likely not have even begun writing this post if it did not have something to do with martial arts. First of all- my view on criticizing any style of martial art has been made known in an earlier post, along with my reasons for holding that view. To save some new readers the trouble of searching through my older posts- let me just say that I am against it. Okay- for my reasons you are free to search through my older posts... Secondly- I have found a correlation between people saying any technique "does not work" and unwillingness to train. It was only in very recent t...

Hello, everyone and welcome back! :) We are finally here... The last movement in the last form to be discussed on this blog. Well- at least for the time being... I had lots of fun creating these gifs and will most definitely use them in future posts. Thank you to those who have followed this series, thus far. I know many of you are far away and we may not be able to meet in person. You are, however, welcome to email me or inbox me with any questions or comments that you may have. Well... on to today's move... In the book the movement starts with an outward block like this... From there you can assume that you have a firm hold of the opponent's attacking arm when you move in with the hammer fist. After striking downwards with the hammer fist the fist shoots diagonally upwards with an uppercut or as we call it here- a cannon punch. I must admit that I am using more of a downward forearm strike than a hammer fist in the above demonstration...

Hello, everyone. Today we are at the second last movement in the Striking Form. The movement is shown like this in the book and I do admit that those are not very good photos to illustrate the movements involved. In the Form this movement takes you back to the place from which you have started. For this reason my back is turned towards you in the photos. Well... you would still get the movement if you read the text, but we do like pictures better than words, right? Well... here is a demonstration of what the movement is supposed to represent. The downward pressing block is not unusual and can be found in a number of Asian martial arts. I got tired of defending against straight punches in my gifs, so I had my shadow clone try to shove me. As you can see, I (the one without the shirt) ride the oncoming force as I step diagonally backwards. Had this been Push-Hands practice I would probably just have pushed back, but in this movement we consider a ...

Hello and welcome back, everyone. Today we look at this movement in our Striking Form. Shaolin students would probably call it "Black Tiger and Stopping Fist". Karate students may say I stole this from Heian / Pinan Nidan (although I have recently learnt that some styles actually call it Pinan Shodan...).    A demonstration of the move is here below: When we attack first it is better to attack a target that is opening up than one that is closing. We know that by now, right? We are all familiar with opening up the body with a jab to the face. As the opponent's guard raises his ribs open up and we can take the shot. Well- now we have a way to open up the face... Unless the opponent sidesteps one of two things will happen. Either he will get hit or he will block the punch to his midsection. If he retreats in a straight line he will get hit anyway... Now... if the punch does connect the opponent is likely to drop his arms in response...

Hello, everyone! Today's move is not fancy at all. The side kick is a common move to many styles of martial art that use striking. The side kick can be used to attack or to defend. If it is used for attack it would employ a half step to get into range and perhaps to build some momentum. It would then look something like this... I know that some styles discern between a side snap and a side thrust kick. That discernment has not done much to help me, so- if I talk about a side kick, I mean a straight side kick that shoots into the target. Kicks that snap upwards or just knock against the target may have some use, but I really don't see any use for my side kick to do that. Now... Using this kick in a defensive manner will have it look something like this... This move is actually very instinctive and incorporates two of the most common responses we have to someone who is moving in to hit us i.e. shifting weight backwards and turning away from t...

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to this week's post. If you have read the book you would have come across this sequence of movements in the Form.  I have practiced these movements enough times by now to know what they are and what they do. If you have read the words that go with the pictures you would also know. But still- photos of a movement don't really tell show us what we need to see, right? Well... you know by now that I have something to help with that... If only the animation moved a bit slower... right? :D What is actually happening in the gif is this: 1. I lead with a horizontal back fist strike to the side of the opponent's head. He blocks that. 2. In response to the block I take my striking hand around to the other side of the head while covering or trapping the opponent's blocking hand with my non-striking hand. From here I hit the opponent's neck artery or jawbone with an inward knife hand ...

Hi, everyone! :) It is said that a picture is better than a thousand words. I think that one thing which is better than a picture is a moving picture. Like I have said earlier- the striking form is pretty much straightforward where its applications are concerned. That is the thing about striking moves in forms- you can easily see what they are meant to represent. The openings for interpretation usually lie with blocks, parries and grappling moves. Oh! And then you do get that bunkai researcher/ analyst that will give you some non-striking applications for apparent striking moves...   Well- none of that stuff is going to happen over here. This the creator of this kata speaking and he knows very well what he had intended when he put these movements together. First thing that I want to say about this form before I get on to discuss today's movement is: The first 3 knife hand blocks in the form were only meant to place you in a kamae or ready position from ...

Hello again, everyone! This video shows the form that I had created for my book on striking. It is actually very straightforward and basic, so I did not really see the need to explain its applications at first.  Later on I decided to break this form down in later posts anyway because: 1. Along with the movements in any form comes the principles on which those moves are based- and knowing those principles are actually more important than knowing the moves themselves; 2. I have so much fun making those shadow-clone gifs anyway. Where the previous form was made to give you the feel of different ways of defending against attacks, this form is meant to give you an idea of the different ways in which you can attack with strikes, punches and kicks. In the application of these movements it is not necessary for the opponent to be attacking at all. From a moral point of view we can assume that the opponent has threatened to attack or is about to attack. ...

Hello, everyone. We have arrived at the last movement in this kata. I don't remember seeing a knife hand strike in any katas of Okinawan Karate, but I know of 3 katas in Shotokan that feature this inward knife hand strike. Kung Fu practitioners know about the knife hand strike, but I have not seen it used, except by Wing Chun exponents. I have always loved knife hand strikes and started breaking wooden boards out of my own at an early age although neither of the two dojos at which I have studied taught breaking techniques. For me it just felt like the right thing to do. If you are a Karate student, you must have a karate chop. There was no two ways about it for me... :D If you train mainly in competition sparring with the focus on long and medium range fighting this inward knife hand strike would feel too awkward, too slow and just plain too impractical to incorporate into your arsenal. If you understand the setting up and timing of this strike, however, it can serve y...

I could probably have called the movement "Tiger Bares Teeth and Black Tiger Steals Heart" because that is more or less what Kung Fu students would call it. Still- the stances featured in this movement and the techniques used are common to both Karate and Kung Fu. They can be found in Korean Arts like Taekwondo as well. The block itself here does not use the tiger claw hand form that is seen in Shaolin Kung Fu. If you want to use it, however, I really have no objection. To me the fingers spread apart like in the tiger claw form indicates a readiness to grab the opponent's wrist upon blocking it. In Kung Fu the tiger claw can also be used to dig into the punching arm's bicep, disabling that arm from further use in the fight. What I have done here, however, is a simple block and a punch. Really straightforward, actually. The stuff one teaches white belts... Nonetheless- I thought it a good idea to summon a shadow clone to show you some of the applications to th...