Taijiquan
Yang Luchan on the Silver Screen
During the late Qing dynasty, a young man from Hebei named Yang Yuqian leaves his village to seek out a kungfu master. After many travails and escapades, he ends up in Chen Family Village in Read more…
Taijiquan
Going to Court over Taiji
I came across an article originally published in 2007 in the Eastern Daily (from here) that illustrates how deep feelings run over historical/lineage issues in China, and thought I’d share it. “For the last 80 years, Read more…
Yiquan
Reminiscences of Yao Zongxun – Part II
The following forms the second part of my translation of a long interview with Cui Ruibin (taken from here ). “A: Just now, you said that there was quite a difference between the teachings of M Yao Read more…
China Trips
Beijing Trip 2015 – Liang style bagua of Zhang Xue’an
One of the pleasures if doing IMA is meeting other fellow enthusiasts who often have travelled hundreds or thousands of miles to study the arts at their source. On my previous visits to Tiantan I Read more…
China Trips
Beijing Trip 2015 – Dachengquan of Deng Fuli
During my trip to Beijing over the Chinese National Holiday, I made several visits to Tiantan park, which is one of the hotspots of CMA activity in Beijing. In addition to the taijiquan groups which Read more…
China Trips
Beijing Trip 2015 – Xingyiquan of Wang Deli / Wang Jiwu
Readers who have been following the internal martial arts (IMA) for a while and in particular xingyi enthusiasts will have heard of the book Xingyi Neigong by Tim Cartmell and Dan Miller (originally published way Read more…
China Trips
Shanghai Training Diary – 2012
Just came back from training for a week with Wang Senlin of Shanghai, who I have mentioned in this blog before. Like most Chinese kungfu teachers, Master Wang teaches and practices in a park near Read more…
Random Thoughts
Becoming a Disciple – The Baishi Ceremony
In traditional CMA, there is a saying “the teacher observes the student for 3 years, the student also observes the teacher for 3 years” (shifu kaocha tudi san nian, tudi kaocha shifu san nian). Obviously, Read more…
Random Thoughts
Downsides to the traditional teaching system
Just thought I would write a note on my impressions coming to the end of my first year in China (3rd year overall). Of course, all opinions are based on my experiences in one city Read more…
Uncategorized
I Liq Chuan – A great teaching system
Through a friend, I was recently introduced to Sam Chin’s I Liq Chuan. First impressions are that it has all the hallmarks of an internal art – namely the emphasis on power through relaxation, the Read more…