Almost by accident I watched Onama vs Landwher from UFC: Marlon Vera vs Dominick Cruz this morning and heavens above, that was one hell of a fight! Possibly the fight of the year. I’ve no idea how you’d score it. Landwher won by decision, but it was possibly the MMA fight of the year. Wild … Continue reading Internal power and the 3 internal harmonies: Going beyond words like Xin, Yi and Qi to direct experience
bagua
Baguazhang article and applications
The next episode of the Heretics podcast is going to be about the martial art of Baguazhang, so to get in the right head space here's a classic Bagua applications video by Luo Dexiu along with a great article by Ed Hines of 21 c Bagua. The article has some great ideas, especially about forms … Continue reading Baguazhang article and applications
Stop mashing together Chinese martial arts history!
Ching Dynasty soldiers, with a rifle. I often come across a particular attitude to Chinese martial arts history amongst martial artists. They treat it as if it happens all together and all at the same time. One common refrain you’ll hear is something like “the principles are all the same between Tai Chi, Bagua and … Continue reading Stop mashing together Chinese martial arts history!
Interview series with Jarek Szymanski
Jarek Szymanski's website, China from Inside was one of the first and best resources on the web for the history and practice of Chinese Martial Arts, written by a European living and working inside China. It was particularly good for finding out how internal martial arts, like XinYi, XingYi, Bagua and Taijiquan were actually practiced … Continue reading Interview series with Jarek Szymanski
Walking the circle
Another of the Internal Arts of China is Bagua, the core practice of which is walking a circle with various different palm positions. While I don't really practice Bagua I do have a great circle walking training tool at my local park. Check it out: As you can see, it's important to fit your training … Continue reading Walking the circle
Sink the chest and pull up the back
No.2. in Yang's 10 Important Points is "Sink the chest and pluck up the back". Yang says: "2.) Sink the chest and pluck up the back. The chest is depressed naturally inward so that the ch'i can sink to the tan-t'ien [field of elixir]. Don't expand the chest: the ch'i gets stuck there and the body becomes top-heavy. The heel will be too … Continue reading Sink the chest and pull up the back
The Tai Chi Notebook 