wujimon tumbling

"The [Diablo 3] Monk is designed to be a fragile, melee-based character that performs some amazingly..."

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:12:23 -0500

“The [Diablo 3] Monk is designed to be a fragile, melee-based character that performs some amazingly agile moves. With skills like the “Seven-Sided Strike” and “Way of the Hundred Fists,” we’d say he’s stripped from a different golden age — from the reels of 1960s and ’70s Kung Fu serials. The only detail that’s missing are the Bruce Lee yips.”

- BlizzCon 2009: Martial arts secrets of Diablo 3’s Monk

"I just finished editing a wushu video I shot back in May of 2004. It was a demo done by a bunch of..."

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:56:03 -0500

“I just finished editing a wushu video I shot back in May of 2004. It was a demo done by a bunch of kids and is very inspiring to see the level of skill for their age.”

- Wujifa: Wushu Video

"After the match, Shifu was so disgusted by our lack of fighting sense that he taught us a few basic..."

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:32:07 -0500

“After the match, Shifu was so disgusted by our lack of fighting sense that he taught us a few basic combat drills. No, these were not any less tiring to do then the foundation exercises. And they were much more difficult to do correctly too, since they were rooted in the basic movements I still had not yet mastered.”

- eastpaw’s yeast pause: Beaten by a teenager, and the power of Ma Weiqi Bagua

"Functionally, if you are this focused you lose awareness of your surroundings. You are susceptible..."

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:07:50 -0500

“Functionally, if you are this focused you lose awareness of your surroundings. You are susceptible to attack by outside forces. If your fighting a skilled opponent, he may be able to use his eyes to feint, fake, and otherwise deceive you. In such a case it could be a weakness your opponent can exploit in you. Looking directly and focusing increases reaction time compared to peripheral vision.”

- Eye Training: Where to look and how | Murphy Martial Arts

"… Kind of like what a local restaurant owner said to a couple at the next table to us when..."

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:45:41 -0500

“… Kind of like what a local restaurant owner said to a couple at the next table to us when they asked for Chow Mein and said they sure hoped it tasted like the “good stuff they bought at the supermarket”. The proprietor responded with: “would you like it served in the can or out?””

- Classical Tai Chi Blog: The work that Stephen Hwa has taken on

"… have you ever watched a martial artist who has claimed 40+ years of experience, but turns..."

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:03:38 -0500

“… have you ever watched a martial artist who has claimed 40+ years of experience, but turns out to be terribly unimpressive and unnatural? The reason why is because most of that person’s 40 years has probably been spent in TALKING about how great he/she is rather than practicing. They also very likely trained themselves into a box during their first 5 years and just sold that same package over and over again without any substantial branching out, diving inward, and improving.”

- 10,000 Hours to Mastery…For Martial Artists | Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way

"Many people zone out when they engage in different types of training … There are so many ways..."

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:01:22 -0500

“Many people zone out when they engage in different types of training … There are so many ways people can disconnect from their training. Awareness is key. Where are you noticing? Where are you focusing? What else are you focusing on? What is the purpose you seek to train for?”

- Wujifa: Spacing out in training

Umm… last night I was focusing on watching Sopranos while doing zhan zhuang. Is that bad?? ;)

"Zhan zhuang (pinyin: zhān zhuāng, lit. “standing like a post” , sometimes called..."

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:43:16 -0500

“Zhan zhuang (pinyin: zhān zhuāng, lit. “standing like a post” , sometimes called “standing like a tree”, “post standing” or “pile standing”) is a method of training in many Chinese martial arts in which static postures are used for physical training, to develop efficiency of movement, perfection of structural alignment; and hence maximal strength, for martial applications. It is most often among practiced among the internal Chinese styles such as tai chi chuan.”

- Zhan zhuang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wow, I didn’t know that Zhan Zhuang was on Wikipedia. Nutty that it’s more mainstream now

"I believe that training the mind is just as important as training the body, for where the mind goes..."

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:46:05 -0500

“I believe that training the mind is just as important as training the body, for where the mind goes the body follows, something many of us forget in our pursuit of physical mastery. It is almost impossible to achieve our full potential as martial artists unless we acknowledge the fact that the mind plays a significant role in our over all development. It is the key to all growth and without it we are merely puppets on a string, all physical movement and lacking in the depth and understanding that’s absolutely necessary to take us to the higher levels of mastery.”

- Mind Training for Martial Artists | Urban Samurai

"Jiayou (pinyin: jiā yoú) is a Chinese figure of speech or idiom. “Jiā” means add,..."

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:54:13 -0500

“Jiayou (pinyin: jiā yoú) is a Chinese figure of speech or idiom. “Jiā” means add, “Yoú” means oil or fuel.”

- Jiayou - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"When pushing hands, the static peng should be eliminated entirely to avoid telegraphing ones..."

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:14:59 -0500

“When pushing hands, the static peng should be eliminated entirely to avoid telegraphing ones movement. At a very advanced level the peng can be performed without the opponent realizing it is a peng … It was a very odd feeling because apparently he was moving directly against my forward push, but my hand did not feel anything to push on or resist, yet I was still moved backward. Although I have not achieved this level of skill I trust my teacher’s advice that that move in particular can only be achieved though softness not strength. That is the peng of no peng, or a force-stopping move which itself does not stop its flow.”

- The Peng Problem « Yield Turn Push

"I learned something new about how when doing standing meditation, the body will move from stillness..."

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:45:36 -0500

“I learned something new about how when doing standing meditation, the body will move from stillness to natural movement on it’s own. The secret to feeling this is being aware and observing it instead of letting your mind drift from observing your body and breath.”

- Fong Ha seminar « Becoming Aware the path to Enlightenment

Clip from “Chen Tai Chi 38” DVD from Sifu Ken...

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:56:00 -0500

Clip from “Chen Tai Chi 38” DVD from Sifu Ken Gullette (via kungfukennyg)

The Chen 38 form created by Chen Xiaowang was the 2nd form I learned in the Chen Village taijiquan curriculum. It still has a place in my heart to this day.

Here is a video of Chen Bing doing the 38 form.

"trying to emulate the application before putting in the necessary work of form practice to..."

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:44:49 -0500

“trying to emulate the application before putting in the necessary work of form practice to viscerally understand the principle is putting the cart before the horse.”

- Classical Tai Chi Blog: Relationship between “form” and “function” in Classical Tai Chi

"A big problem for me when practicing Zhan Zhuang has been the habit of “zoning out” or..."

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:51:15 -0500

“A big problem for me when practicing Zhan Zhuang has been the habit of “zoning out” or “trancing out”; a feeling of dissociating kinesthetically from my body, of being “out there” instead of “in here”. (This entire experience begs the question of ‘Who is “I” ?’ if “I” am not “my body”.)”

- Zhan Zhuang: Breaking the Stance Trance | Internal Gong Fu

"In ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’, Holmes recounts to Watson how he used martial arts to..."

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:11:51 -0500

““In ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’, Holmes recounts to Watson how he used martial arts to overcome Professor Moriarty and fling his adversary to his death at the Reichenbach Falls. He states that ‘I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.’ The name ‘baritsu’ appears to be a reference to the real-life martial art of bartitsu.” – wikipedia”

- Sherlock Holmes - Robert Downey Jr’s Martial Arts Detective | Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way

I saw the preview for the Sherlock Holmes movie for the first time this weekend. At first, I thought the martial arts stuff was just put in for mass appeal. Shocks me that ‘baritsu’ was mentioned in the original book!

"So what has jie jin [borrowing force] got to do with the BLH [“Beautiful Lady’s..."

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:00:07 -0500

“So what has jie jin [borrowing force] got to do with the BLH [“Beautiful Lady’s Hand”]? In this style of Taiji, the ability to borrow the force of others is dependent upon 1. being able to sense the movement intentions of others and 2. not giving away your own intentions through subtle or unsubtle tension in the hands.”

- Yield Turn Push | Cheng’s Change

"Keeping a meditation Journal: Keeping a journal helps you to find patterns in your life and during..."

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:04:16 -0500

“Keeping a meditation Journal:
Keeping a journal helps you to find patterns in your life and during meditations. A journal can allow you to better judge how a particular practice effects you. Journaling can also help you to develop a habit of practicing . By Journaling you also get used to being aware of events in you life and how they effect you.”

- Balanced Awareness: Journaling can help Awareness

Journaling is not only good for meditation related activities, but why not extend them to taiji insights and training? In fact, my wujimon taiji blog is pretty much like my own taiji journal ;)

"Last night in my meditation, I was considering what it means to be a student, and how maintaining..."

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:25:17 -0500

“Last night in my meditation, I was considering what it means to be a student, and how maintaining the student mind seems to open up a great relational dynamic … I think it’s a really good thing to be able to doubt properly. If I’m not able to question the assumptions and first steps I have made, how will I ever be able to see when they are no longer useful to me?”

- Dan’s Wujifa: Being a Student

stand still be fit - day one (via laptopshop). My first exposure...

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:48:12 -0500

stand still be fit - day one (via laptopshop).

My first exposure to zhan zhuang was via Lam’s book, The Way of Energy, given to me by my taiji instructor. He told me to read the book and do 40 mins of zhan zhuang a day.