One For The Bagua Guys

This is somewhat obscure, but I find it really interesting; two examples of Bagua from Sun Xikun's lineage.
While based on Cheng-style Bagua and with an emphasis on grappling applications, these demonstrations by masters are completely different. The first is an unknown master because I can't read Chinese:


Now here is Master T.Y. Pang doing the same Bagua steps. Pang is the local Tai Chi Chuan and Bagua master that lives in our area, and I have been fortunate to meet him and visit at his house. This is the style of Bagua our Dojo practices. Note the fluid movement, the tight coiling and supple nature of the movements.


Master Pang trained directly with Sun Xikun, and judging from the age of the master in the previous video, I assume he may have also.

So what accounts for the difference in style? Pang is young in his video, but even at his age now, his unique movements are still present.
Sun Xikun style Bagua is rare, and it's interesting to see these two interpetations.

Bad Kung Fu Series #3: Mind Over Matter - Higher Martial Arts

Mind Over Matter - Higher Martial Arts by Shi Ming

Well, I have to say I had high hopes for this book.
If you, like me, look for "concept books" over "technical books" this book has the appeal of deep thinking and experimental physiology.
But in the end, it is a continuum of verbose wordiness and partly related ideas. Every page or so there is a clever notion that pops out, but taken as a whole I had to labor through this short book.
Hey, I'm a pretty smart boy. This book wasn't over my head. It's more like a long run-on sentence that seems to present the same concepts in different ways. The translation from Chinese is by Thomas Cleary, who usually provides good text, so I don't necessarily think the re-write went wrong.
Author Shi Ming can be found in YouTube clips demonstrating "empty force" Chi-type techniques on his cadre of willing students, not very convincingly.

Here's a quote from the book to give you an idea where the author is going:

"Martial arts are a total format combining nature, society, and human life, a system with many levels of effective capacity as well as a holistic essence and potential. The purpose of refinement of consciousness through martial arts is to develop the latent abilities of the human body and brain, to cultivate supranormal capacities in the human body and supranormal levels of consciousness."

Comparison of San Shou Fighting Forms

The guys over at "The Rum Soaked Fist" have been bantering back-and-forth about their experience with 2-person Taiji San Shou forms, and since I got some skin in the game I'll post our form again at the end.

First from Steve Rowe's school; a very smooth version. However, there is less lateral or circular movement, tactilely very light, resulting in a few obvious openings- but I like the intent and smoothness:


Next, two guys in a park in China doing the form. Note the very large frame as opposed to Steve's video. This too results in the form becoming too dance-like for actual combat techniques to emerge, but this is the best pace and distance to learn the form in. It can be aesthetically very pleasing to both the performer and viewer.


Here is a version by Paul Brecher's students.
It is done so fast it starts to resemble Wing Chun or other styles, but this is the best for actually learning to use the techniques in a fight. The speed forces the players to use less yielding movement, the hallmark of good Tai Chi Chuan. The result is a lot of jamming and less leading the opponent into the abyss. I like the energy and intent though, and it can be a good workout at this speed.


And here is our version, some of you have seen it before. This was when we first learned it about three years ago and it's a little short on intent as we struggle through the form. The lineage is from Jou Tsung Hwa to our teacher Michael Gilman to us.
Clearly, this form does not teach students how to fight. But what it does is take all the techniques from Yang style Tai Chi Chuan and let the student experiment with attack and defense in a cooperative pattern.


You can check out other versions of the form and the rancorous comments at "The Rum Soaked Fist"

Martial Metanoia

My old San Ti stance, pre-correction


Metanoia:

: a transformative change of heart; especially : a spiritual conversion.
Greek, from metanoiein to change one's mind, repent, from meta- + noein to think, from nous mind
First Known Use: 1577 (Merriam-Webster)

Every now-and-then we experience something in our training that shakes our core beliefs. This is a natural process, and we are smart to learn and grow from it.
Ever since I attended the Tim Cartmell seminar on MMA concepts adapted to street use, I've had to really re-think where my training is going and what I would like to change.
First of all, let me say that nothing in Tim's presentation was new to me. With the exception of Tim's subtle ways of using angles and leverage, I had seen most of the techniques in past programs. There was a lot that took me back to wrestling techniques, knee strikes, basic chokes and focus-pad boxing strikes. These were done with the open palm, which Tim recommends for any strike to the hard head surface of an opponent on the street.
All these things are techniques I have practiced, the technical rise - returning to your feet safely MMA-style was the only really new addition and I had practiced that with Jake Burroughs a couple of weeks before.
So why did this cause me so much consternation that I would seek reflection and change?

Let's use another couple of big words to answer that: Cognitive Dissonance

Definition of COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
: psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously

Despite the fact that I've been in many, many real fights in the past - and know what that takes - I was falling into the traditional martial arts trap.
I was conflicted because I knew deep inside that half the stuff we teach in traditional martial arts will get the crap beat out of you on the street.
None-the-less, rosy-cheeked Tai Chi Chuan students begged to be taught two-person fighting sets, stuff that they thought would help them survive a home invasion or mugging at the ATM.
In teaching traditional arts, there is pattern, practice and method. Nearly all of us, especially if you have experienced multiple styles, see the building blocks that are supposed to stack together and eventually form an impenetrable castle.
So much of that is deeply flawed, yet we continue to teach it textbook fashion.
Tim's MMA for the street presentation was nothing new, but truthfully, a beginning student would get more out of that five hours than in five, maybe ten months of traditional training.

So here's my dilemma; traditional or practical?

I think I have a solution.
Our Monday-Wednesday club practice has always had sparring, self-defense and form work, all in a very non-structured way.
The grand experiment is with "The Barbarian Brothers". These guys are huge football player types that have an interest in MMA. They can easily pick my 200-pound ass up and toss me. But they know nothing about real technique. They come on Wednesdays from the mainland to practice with us and are very consistent. But when they first came, it was because another Tai Chi Chuan instructor brought them up to learn more advanced Tai Chi with us. We got stuck in the routine of introducing internal concepts to guys that have trouble with basic stances. Furthermore, they like to mix it up and follow MMA.
So we set another program for them. They come in and start with Tom, our boxing coach on basic western boxing drills. From there, Corey takes them for Small-Circle Jujitsu and related grappling and self-defense. But they still need the structure of form work so they can get familiar with their bodies, so I started them on the first of the short but effective Xingyi Five-Element Forms. They really need stance and root training.
This proved to be a well-rounded scenario, everybody participates and we get a great workout. I'm sure this program will grow and change with time and experience.

Now to the matter of My Thursday Tai Chi Chuan class.
This class is populated with a core group of people ten years older than me and the occasional young people. Seeking the balance is more difficult. Since these students all know the Yang Taiji form, I think I am going to dispense with it for a while. They need to work on basic defensive structure for when people push or grab them. They need to get out of the locked-in-your-stance immobile position and start doing some freestyle movement with a partner. Where is your defensive bubble? What angle do you choose? What gross motor skills are most effective in a simple confrontation?
Gone for now are the inner journey of internal adjustments. These oldsters will never really mix it up with anybody, they just need a little practical protection.

I'm sure other instructors have had to work through these issues, we'll see how it goes...

More Thoughts on Close Cover vs. Extended Guard

Perennial pain-in-the-ass Scott -- ("Expert" video at this link, LOL), writes in to challenge the concept of a close guard as we practiced at the Cartmell MMA seminar:

"The old masters 150 years ago had experience with real violence, they knew what they were doing when they designed the forms and they didn't do it just for muscle training! If some modern people aren't able to use the postures and stances the way they were passed down it is because they don't have the correct theory of power that goes with the movements."

Scott, with all due respect, looking at the extended Bagua guard and details of body alignment in your video you are not following your own advice. You wouldn't last 15 seconds against someone that can really hit.

Let me clarify what I believe the value of the extended guard to be.
If a guy is beyond kicking range but closing in, it is perfectly natural and smart to raise your guard up. Extended may be fine, like a "hey, back off" position. It can even appear non-threatening, especially if there are witnesses.
-But look at the video above;
Once a boxer has moved into serious punching range, you gotta' cover. It's easy to knock down or simply hook-punch around the extended guard at this range.
The technique in the above video is exactly what we practiced at the seminar last weekend.
Look, the extended guard is a natural defensive posture. There's nothing wrong with it at a certain range. I practice it in traditional form work.
But in close against someone that can really hit, without a close cover you're done.

Friday Fun: Tiger Style vs. Snake Style

Ok, I totally ripped this off from the guys at "The Rum Soaked Fist"
Watching the movements of the cat is fascinating. At first glance, it appears that the snake is faster. But as in "The Tai Chi Classics", "When my enemy moves, I move first." In other words, the cat is able to predict the snakes movement or evoke a response from the snake. The cat avoids double-weightedness, transferring to back legs allowing to swat with the paw.
There's no doubt this cat has killed a lot of snakes!

Western Boxing Influence In Asian Martial Arts

In our recent review of the book "Chin Na Fa", we read that author Liu Jinsheng held Western boxing in great regard:

""Those who have practiced these (edit-Chinese martial) arts twenty or thirty years have never defeated anyone who has practiced Western boxing or Judo. Why is this? It is because the practitioners of Shaolin and Wudang styles only pay attention to the beauty of their forms - they lack practical methods and spirit and have lost the true transmissions of their ancestors. Hence, our martial arts are viewed by outsiders merely as rigorous dancing."

In a discussion in the comments section, I brought up the theory that Western boxing had influenced the development of Wing Chun Kung Fu. This is something I had heard and read about, but never confirmed.
Sean Ledig, who writes from "Tales From The Carport Kwoon",
"DR,

Karl Godwin, a Wing Chun instructor in Altamonte Springs, Fl., wrote an article about that idea for Black Belt in 1986.
I can't remember which issue, but Google books has a complete collection of Black Belt from the first issue to present day.
Karl hypothesized that Wing Chun was a synthesis between Western Boxing and Taijiquan.
I've heard similar things. I'm sure there's some cross-pollination between fighting arts. Good teachers and good fighters, no matter what country they're from or what time they live, are always on the lookout for anything that they can add to their arsenal."

As it happens, I just started reading "Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals - A Historical Survey" by Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo (review to follow).
In a short chapter on Western boxing, the authors write:

"Noted Chinese martial arts researcher and teacher Tim Cartmell wrote, "When the Chinese army was researching and developing their hand-to-hand combat, (which later evolved into the modern San Shou/San Da tournament fighting popular today) they researched all the popular forms of martial arts, including their own. The conclusion was that Western boxing hand techniques, when it came to developing practical striking and defensive abilities in a reasonable amount of time, were superior to all others, including their own".

So it appears that there is no doubt that Western boxing had a great influence on Asian martial arts, especially after 1900.
However, in my opinion, Western boxing is not necessarily in the "Art" category. Western boxing combines exercise, sport and combat skills. It is perhaps the most effective and easily learned fighting method, but it lacks the philosophical grounding that would put it in the "Art" category for me.

Combat brings necessary pain. Art necessarily brings pleasure.

This opens the door to a future discussion, also fueled by Kennedy and Guo's book "Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals" on the integration of religion, morality and the martial arts.
Review to follow soon.

You can read Sean Ledig's training log and martial musings at "Tales From The Carport Kwoon"

Review: "Needle Through Brick"

This Kung Fu documentary, "Needle Through Brick", literally brought tears to my eyes.
Set on the island of Borneo in Malaysia, this is one piece of cultural eye-candy that looks both forward and back in history.
Stemming from the horrors of The Japanese occupation and the Communist revolution in China, many Kung Fu Masters had fled to save the lives of their families. Malaysia is an exotic island archipelago where jungle meets sea, but like the rest of the world, technology has captured Borneo's youth culture.
"Needle Through Brick" examines the legacy of surviving Kung Fu masters, their attempt to pass on their knowledge, and the age-old gripe about "kids these days". The beautifully filmed movie traces the sorrow of knowledge lost to the promise of generational change, and within that change lie the seeds that keep traditional martial arts alive.
While students have drifted towards flashy Wushu or large organizations such as Tae Kwon Do, those who stick it out know something is missing... and eventually they seek out the traditional Masters for the true Kung Fu skills.
One of the stars of the documentary, Eric Ling, is featured in my links list at the website "Many Trees, 1 Forest". Ling has traveled far and wide collecting information from Kung fu Masters and is recognized as an expert in the subject. Ling's voice is one of many that speaks to the past and future of traditional martial arts, and an entire movie could probably be made about his career alone.
"Needle Through Brick" is touching, inspiring and informative.
The website for the film can be found at THIS LINK, and Eric Ling's websites can be found HERE.

Billy Bob Thornton Does Redneck Hsing-i Kung Fu?

I've been thinking quite a bit about close-range fighting lately, and remembered this great scene from an otherwise depressing movie, "Chrystal".
I won't cover the plot too heavily, but Billy Bob Thornton's character has to settle a score with a former rival in this scene.
What I find interesting is he is basicly using a redneck form of the Chinese internal art Hsing-I. Now, this is not true to the actual art, but the two big techniques he uses are a chop-kick to the shins and knees, and a heavy overhand palm strike or slap.
Let me say, I love this, and this is kind of how I close the gap also. In true Hsing-I, the practitioner would not retract the kick and keep the gap open. He would instead drive through the opponent, "occupying" his space.
None-the-less, this is a pretty good representation of how a low kick to the shin or knee sets up a great overhand slap.
I am curious who choreographed the fight scene...