Wen Hsiu Quan

If you have not yet seen Sensei Iain Abernethy's videos then now would be a good time to start. The video below would not mean as much to you if you have not been studying Karate for at least 3 years. In some styles it may take even longer to see the katas that he discusses.  What many of us experience when practicing kata is that the movements do not make any sense. Here in Bassai Dai for instance we have two blocks that are not followed by any kind of visible attack. So- what are we to believe? That the opponent will just walk away if he sees that you have blocked the only two punches that he was willing to give to this fight? That is where Sensei Iain helps a lot. After watching the first of his videos I have made a point on finding out what he has to say about the obscure movements of every new kata that I have learnt. Sensei Iain does not do Kung Fu, though. I have thought that I have Kung Fu pretty much figured out. On Kung Fu pages and in Kung Fu groups online you may get el...

I admit that Ninjutsu fascinates the hell out of me. Thanks to Stephen Hayes and Ashida Kim I have been able to learn sword techniques, shuriken throwing and of course- some interesting unarmed fighting techniques.  The Mi Lu Kata- or Lost Track teaches techniques that rely on misdirection to get past an opponent's defense in a fight. I am not certain whether this kata has any ties with the Mizongyi (Lost Track) Boxing that is attributed to the legendary Huo Yunjia. I am not even certain whether this kata exists outside of Kim's school on Ninjutsu. I have however, had a lot of fun learning it and have started practicing it again. With the details about Ninjutsu having become even more uncertain in this day and age than how they were 40 years ago I doubt that anyone is able to say for certain exactly how Ninjas used to fight in the 17th Century. What I am certain of, however, is that these techniques do not seem like fighting techniques used by Japanese warriors at the time. I c...