Wen Hsiu Quan

Life is not simple. Period... You may think you have the recipe for the perfect life here in this world then life shows you that your recipe does not work in all situations. One of those recipes is the belief that violence and confrontation is never to be resorted to. Before Christians get up to stone me I will remind them that there was once a time when their God had ordered the destruction of entire populations. And... David did not beat Goliath by turning any cheeks either... That being said- I am sure that you all know that everything under Heaven has its time and place. Same with fighting. In today's chapter on Sun Tzu's passage on the 5 ways to know who would win a battle we look at the first way- knowing when to fight and when not to fight. So- In general terms I am sure you will agree that fighting at all times is a certain path to one's own destruction as never fighting at all will be as well. So- it is necessary for us to ...

"So there are five ways of knowing who will win. Those who know when to fight and when not to fight are victorious. Those who discern when to use many or few troops are victorious. Those whose upper and lower ranks have the same desire are victorious. Those who face the unprepared with preparation are victorious. Those whose generals are able and not constrained by their governments are victorious. These are the five ways to know who will win." - Sun Tzu- Art of War Who is up for some ancient Chinese wisdom? I think this generation of martial artists desperately need some just to ensure that the martial arts of today are not all about tournaments, planking, plyometrics, sports science, nutrition, cage fighting and hardcore entrance music. Did I leave anything out? Well- I guess you know what I am talking about. I can remember when I read a remark by one of China's famous martial arts teachers in the 1970's in which he said that students have come to call ...

Although I am more focused on Chinese martial arts at the moment it is no secret that I have a very special place for Aikido in my heart. Long before some Youtubers went out showing how its basic techniques DO NOT work in an actual fight I have found that its principle of "blending" could actually find application in my Karate- especially in managing what we call ma ai or the distance between two fighters. As long as you match the movement of your opponent step by step with your retreat the gap will be open. Miss a step and the gap gets closed and you can get hit. A similar feeling comes from the "sticking hands" or chi sao exercise of Wing Chun Quan. Meet your partner's every move as it happens and your defense will remain unbroken. Get out of sync and you get hit. We know, however, that life outside the dojo also never stands still. Even if you prefer to "go with the flow" you still have to "go" when it is called fo...

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a really good December and that Christmas and New Year's day was a lot of fun, because now we are smack into 2019 and it is time to get to work! :) Remember when I said that I was going to try out a Yoga class during the holidays? Well- let's scroll past Dhalsim here... (He happens to be the one connection that most of us make between Yoga and martial arts- if you know Street Fighter...) Let's stop here... How awesome is she? Meet Casey Chiang! At work I have first met her as an advocate/ barrister and have found that she has quite a sharp mind and a lot of readily accessible knowledge that comes in handy in many cases. It was only very recently- towards the end of last year- that someone pointed out that my favourite counsel was also a Yoga teacher. The surprise does not stop there, though. Over here in South Africa- in the province of Gauteng- she is THE Yoga teacher and owner of the Zen Hot Yoga studio in Bryanston Johannes...