In this episode we examine the Chen family’s relationship with General Yuan Shikai, the friction between modernising and conservative factions within China and the events of the Boxer Rebellion.
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9404101/55-the-tai-chi-myth-part-5-modernisers-v
In the second Woven Energy monologue, Damon talks about the shamanic origins of Reiki, why Reiki was fundamentally a shamanic art, and the historical background behind the misunderstanding surrounding Reiki’s origins and the poor state of Reiki in the world today.
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9404101/monologue-2-shamanic-reiki-1
In this episode we look at how the effects of the Taiping Northern Expedition and the Nian Rebellion of the mid Nineteenth Century drew the confucian Wu brothers and the fighters of Chen Village towards each other for the first time.
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9404101/53-the-tai-chi-myth-part-3-wu-and-chen-f
Ok, here it is, part 2 of our history of Tai Chi Chuan. In this episode we examine the context in which the relationship between Yang Luchan, Wu Chengqing and Wu Yuxiang developed during the years of the Taiping Rebellion and the new regime of Emperor Xianfeng.
If you missed it, Part 1 is here.
Prof. Paul Bowman of the Martial Arts Studies podcast interviewed me yesterday about various things like this blog, martial arts, the intersection between Xing Yi and BJJ. It was a fun chat because I have known Paul for years and used to be his Tai Chi teacher.
Have a listen:
Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com
There’s a brilliant new Martial Arts Studies podcast now available for people who like a little grey matter stimulation with their pugilism.
You’ll find discussions here with lots of academics in the emerging field of Martial Arts Studies.
One to subscribe to!
https://martialartsstudies.podbean.com/
My last post, “Make Xing Yi Wild Again“, about how the global coronavirus pandemic is offering us a chance to reconnect with nature and change our approach to martial arts practice, inspired the latest episode of our Heretics podcast with my Xing Yi teacher Damon Smith.
In the podcast we discuss a lot of the ideas thrown up by the article including rewidling, degrowth and shamanic practice. Of course, we also delve into the martial art of Xing Yi and how it has changed over the years, what the 12 animals are really all about and we look at how we can approach rewilding Xing Yi again.
Looking for something to listen to while self-isolating? In the latest Heretics episode, we head to the movies with the Heretics’ review of The Art of Self-Defense, a 2019 film starring Jesse Eisenberg.
WARNING – CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Photo by Đàm Tướng Quân on Pexels.com
Byron Jacobs has another video out in his XingYi series, this time focussing on footwork. If you’re after the basics of XingYi then this is the best place to start. I think footwork is especially important in XingYi as much of the defending is done not by deflecting things (like you find in Tai Chi) but by moving your feet.
“Chicken leg” forms one of the requirements of San Ti Shi, and refers to the ability to keep most of your weight on one foot so the other is free to move.
Take a look:
Byron also has another episode of his Drunken Boxing podcast out, also worth a watch/listen. This podcast is about what it’s like to actually live and train martial arts in China. This time he’s talking to Michael Ashley Wix, who is a student of Beijing Shuai Jiao Master Li Baoru (李宝如).
“Originally from New Zealand, Michael has lived in Beijing for 23 years learning various Chinese martial arts, including studying for 3 years at the Beijing University of Sport, and studying Yi quan for 5 years.
Michael was involved in the early development of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA in China, and introduced Chinese wrestlers to the sport with champion Yao Honggang being one of them.
One of Michael’s missions is promoting and preserving Shuai Jiao which he used to do through the popular but now defunct website Shuaijiao.tv. Currently, he is working on publishing Master Li Baoru’s extensive body of books and articles.”
Byron Jacobs, who produced the excellent XingYi San Ti Shi primer I posted recently, has launched a new podcast that’s well worth checking out.
In the first episode, Byron talks to Marin Spivak, Chen Tai Chi disciple of Chen Yu, about what it’s like going to live and train gung fu in Beijing as a Westerner back in the 1990s and 2000s. Both Byron and Marvin made the jump to live and train in Beijing, so they have a good insight into Chinese culture, and particular gong fu culture.
I really liked the discussion of the tangled network of gong fu culture a prospective student has to find their way through in China, and which the average western student has no idea exists at all.
Enjoy. Link.
