The three most powerful words in the world.

(No, they aren't "I love you," although they are a close second.)

I deal in uncertainties. Other martial artists are certain. They are certain that their teacher knew everything. They are certain of the history of their martial art, all the way back to the Paleolithic Era. Doubting either of these things will drive them to anger.

Me, I'm never more that 70% certain about anything in the martial arts. If I am more certain than that, it's a bad sign.

The reason the martial arts are dying these days is that people's egos are closing their minds. I'm out here setting aside my own ego, even reversing it. Every day, I try to prove what I think I know wrong. I'm delighted when someone pokes a massive hole in my theories.

This has cost me, and it will probably cost me more. I'm currently releasing books on "secret" styles. I expect to be ridiculed just for claiming Taiji lineage other than Yang Chengfu.

The only way the martial arts are going to survive is if we all get together and say the most powerful words in the world:

"I don't know."

Real Training in the Chinese Arts

I just ran across an interview of Yang Fukui, a member of the Yang family who is known for his fighting prowess in full-contact competitions. I was immediately gratified to read that his training didn't consist of long forms, but rather of the individual movements in different combinations. This supports my arguments that modern Chinese arts are too focused on memorizing the forms and often fail to escape them. Here's a quotation (He's talking about Yang Banhou and Yang Jianhou, second-generation masters):

"First of all, they devoted most of their practice to gongfu and martial arts, not to health or “spiritual development,” although these two latter aspects certainly underlied their practice. Their emphasis was different. For example, they never practiced more than a two or three form or movements in sequence, in order to develop fighting skill and gongfu, and they never linked more than five forms together. There were no such things as the 24 or 85 or 108 form Taijiquan."

The entire article can be read here.

A New Book

I'm excited to announce a new book is available for order, and a revised version of an older book.

The Kunlun Green Dragon Form book is available in trade paperback format.

The Indoor Yang Wise Hammers Form is now available in trade paperback as well as workbook format.



Links have been added to the right.

Quote

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." - Napoleon Bonaparte

Spinal Awakening Sequence

I have been getting a lot of questions about the spine, and how to prepare it for Daoist martial arts training.

Here is a video clip of the general sequence Master Baaht used to use to warm up the spine at the beginning of class. I've found that it is a good all-around conditioning exercise for the spine. Practice it consistently, every day.

I will probably put together a short instruction document and put it on the website shortly.

Daoist Naming Conventions: Hidden Meaning in Movement Names, Part 3

Section III:
Internal Medicine

    One of the main areas of study in Daoism is health and longevity. The Daoists have developed quite a collection of tools in this area.



  Above is a picture of the Neijingtu, or “Internal Classic Diagram.” On the surface, we see a stylized map of a mountain range. If you look closely, you will see a map of the human body (the mountains represent the spine). This diagram very cleverly hides the secrets of Daoist internal practices.

    The general imagery you should be thinking of is simply of a mountain with a moon above it. The mountain represents the spine, and the moon represents the head.
    So, movements with names like “Moon Knocking on Mountain Gate” might have new meaning for you. “Ride Tiger, Push Mountain” or “Ride Tiger Back to Mountain” might now mean taking advantage of your opponent’s aggressive attack to attack the spine. Hold Moon to Chest might involve holding your opponent’s head to your core and breaking the neck or choking the opponent out.

    Other more cryptic names may be referring to the classical names of acupuncture points or channels.

    It’s important to remember that to a Daoist, it would be wasteful and poor Dé (efficient use of power) not to merge your healing work with your fighting work.

Daoist Naming Conventions: Hidden Meaning in Movement Names, Part 2

Section II:
Animal Styles

     Just like Shàolín, the Daoist martial arts have animal styles. They tend to be much less imitative than Shàolín arts, and these days you won’t see many specific animal forms. You will find many movements with animals in them; especially white animals. The white animals seem to originate in the Kunlun? mountains, between China and Tibet.
    The two main animals you will see are Dragon and Tiger. These represent the two main fighting strategies of the arts. Often a third animal, usually a bird, will represent the third strategy of escape.
    Dragon is counteroffensive and clever. This is your first strategy; to neutralize your opponent’s attack and then respond.
    Tiger is preemptive and dominating. It starts the fight and keeps the opponent one step behind.

    These two animals tend to create each other: Counteroffensive turns into offensive, for example, and when Tiger fails to keep the initiative, she falls back on Dragon.

    The Daoist arts usually generate their power from the ground, but there are times when this is not a good option; you have to pick up your feet and move, or you just don’t have a good foundation. This is where the footwork of the bird styles come in.

    White Crane’s lower body skills  teach how to fight from one leg, a situation which may come up every time you take a step. Its upper body skills are perhaps the most sophisticated in the Daoist martial arts, which is why you will see so many movements in Tàijíquán with White Crane names.

    Phoenix teaches fast, moving footwork rather like Bāguàzhăng (Not a coincidence), and fast targeted jabs.

    Other animals you may come across are:

    White Ape, which teaches stamping power and “loose arm” skills. This animal is the main reason the Daoist martial arts look like they have Xíngyìquán mixed in.

    White Snake, which teaches throwing techniques and grinding entries. (Think of White Snake Creeps Down.)

    Dragon Horse, which teaches trampling techniques.

    Keep all this in mind when you look at a movement named “Dragon Wanders, Tiger Sits,” for example. The movements might not look much like the animals, but the names have meaning.