Watching a Wing Chun expert apply their art, you will never see a failed attempt to punch. Every strike hits the target. The reason for such consistent success is not size, strength, or natural talent, but strategy.
Multilayered Tapestries of Combative Anachronism
The term “martial arts” is mostly synonymous with Asian fighting systems, and the alternative combat traditions of 19th century Europe are all but forgotten.
Kosta Danaos on Combat Sports and Martial Arts
Excerpted from The Rediscovery of Panmachon by Kosta Danaos:
Anyone with a more than elementary involvement in the martial arts and combat sports is able to tell the difference between the two. A combat sport is, by definition, an athletic contest between two individuals, the main intention of which is, in the end, to assure the participants’ safety. Wrestling, judo, taekwondo and boxing are principal examples of combat sports. Techniques that are by definition hazardous to the participant’s health and continued wellbeing are (or should be) prohibited. It is plainly understood that contestants are not allowed to (nor desire to) attack one another’s eyes or genitals, bite through each other’s flesh, or attack the spinal chord and skull using lethal strikes, locks, or other techniques. Killing or permanently disabling the opponent is not the objective of combat sports, though injuries abound…
Single Whip: The One True Method?
Dan Bian (Single Whip)
by Cheng Man-Ching
Single whip is one of the signature postures of Taiji. As such, you might expect a broad agreement about its ideal characteristics: hand and stance height, incline of the back, and so on. However, no such concurrence exists among Taiji masters of the past or present.
No matter how you choose to perform single whip, you can find a famous master whose personal demonstrations support your preference.
Breaking The Drama Triangle
The drama triangle is a model of dysfunctional social interaction, created by psychotherapist Stephen Karpman. Each point on the triangle represents a common and ineffective response to conflict, one more likely to prolong disharmony than to end it.
The Drama Triangle
Participants in a drama triangle create misery for themselves and others. By applying the physical principles of martial arts to the psychological realm, you can transform this lose-lose situation and create a more positive outcome for everyone.
How to Stay Safe While Practicing at the Park
I prefer not to play Tai Chi at home. Each of the Five Directions holds an unwelcome distraction. Look left: unpaid bills. Gaze right: a pile of laundry. Whenever possible, I head to a local park instead, where the sunshine, fresh air, and vibrancy of nature provide a pleasant environment for practice.
I have practiced outside daily for years, and I would recommend it to anyone, with one caveat: you need to know how to handle your audience. Here are a few tips to keep you safe and out of trouble.
Introduction to Rooting Skill
The easiest way to rob your opponent of their power is to break their connection with the ground. Thus uprooted, Newton’s Third Law compromises their ability to generate penetrating force, and reduces any continued aggression from a potentially deadly threat to a mere nuisance.
The complementary skill—the ability to keep your footing amidst incoming force—is known in Chinese martial arts as rooting.
Typical demonstrations of rooting skill consist of a wushu master in a static posture, with a pack of disciples pushing and pulling to no avail. These shows are impressive, but often fail to highlight the most important characteristic of the skill:
Could Lao Tzu Make Money With AdSense?
Lao Tzu is perhaps the world’s most popular author. In the 2600 years since its initial publishing, Lao Tzu’s masterpiece, Tao Te Ching, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and reprinted more often than nearly any book in human history.
Lao Tzu was a great teacher, and a master of brevity. Though the Tao Te Ching is merely five thousand characters (less than fifty pages of English text), it conveys profound wisdom. His writing was potent, concise, and meaningful: all qualities which would prevent Lao Tzu from succeeding as an AdSense publisher.
No, Lao Tzu could never support himself on income from AdSense, or other contextual advertising systems. He probably couldn’t even earn enough to feed his water buffalo. Why?
The Top 4,465 Things In The Known Universe
Another Group Writing Project
My previous post, Jackie Chan’s Greatest Fight Scenes, was one of the 893 entries in Darren Rowse’s Top 5 Writing Project. Since I benefited from incoming traffic as a contestant, it seems only fair that I pass on some link love.
Here a few contest entries related to the topic of this website, martial arts for personal development:
Jackie Chan’s Greatest Fight Scenes
If you know Jackie Chan strictly from his American films—The Tuxedo, Shanghai Knights, and other assorted stinkers—then you don’t know Jackie Chan at all. To appreciate the brilliant physical ability that made him an international action hero, you need to see his earlier work. Here are a few of his best movies, from his prime years in the 80s and early 90s.