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Author Archives: Ted Mancuso
Taiwan Tales 3
Taiwan is a country on the precipice of its future, politically and culturally. If nothing else this makes for surprise moments. Our 9th floor room has a balcony; rather than waste space, it is overgrown with plants, Daoist rocks … Continue reading
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Taiwan Tales 2
In Taipei you eat at a lot of restaurants. Rather than “fine dining” we often sit down to meals of local, humble and utterly delicious food. Where Sifu Hsu, also a confirmed foodie, escorts us you would never find otherwise. … Continue reading
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Taiwan Tales 1
We’re here, safe and sound. And already working out. For those of you who we’ve made work hard in class you are vindicated. It’s already very warm here! The first move of Baji Quan about to explode. It wouldn’t be … Continue reading
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Tai Chi Campfire Tales
The art of T’ai Chi is the art of consciousness. The slow, fluid movements of the art gradually blend with the flow of the mind and reveal things often buried in the silent forests of our minds. Most people associate … Continue reading
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Tai Chi, A Marriage of Yin and Yang
People know Tai Chi as a slow, gentle and graceful dance. It’s only natural to assume that its famous health benefits arise from its meditative nature. But history tells another story. It is a story of a marriage made by … Continue reading
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Spirit Training
Can martial arts be martial arts without a spiritual component? The answer is “probably not.” Those people who only have interest in how effective it is as self-protection or kick-ass, of course, have a right to their opinion. But I … Continue reading
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Tagged chinese martial arts, Kung Fu, martial spirit, martial training, taoist martial arts
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What Do We Mean By “Martial”?
People get the wrong idea: when they hear “martial arts” they assume tournaments and grudge matches in caged environments. By the same token, they look quizzically at the ninety year old lady who proudly proclaims that she studies a martial … Continue reading
Warming Up the Martial Way
Due to the nature of Kung Fu the first thing to say about warm ups is that some people don’t believe in them. There are even some famous teachers who see no value at all in warm ups. Some of … Continue reading
Q & A: Kung Fu Returns to the Academy
Q: Tell me about the new Kung Fu class that you’ve started. A: It’s nice to be doing this again. We took a hiatus from teaching Kung Fu for a few years and now we’ve started an entirely new class … Continue reading
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The Mirror of Movement
If you try to stay in stillness for any length of time, an eruption of hidden energies will make itself obvious to you. Continue reading
Defending the Self
As the story goes a young boy wanted to avenge the murder of his parents so he went to a sword teacher and begged to be accepted as a student.
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Testing: A Zen Story
As you watch your students test you look for something about the arts that is hard to explain… Continue reading
Wu Wei: No Way!
The young man was anxious to start martial training immediately.
Posted in Articles, Philosophy
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30? 40? 50? plus…
Can you really get anything from the martial arts after the age of 30 or 40 or higher? Continue reading
Humility
There’s a time when looking less competent than you really are can be an advantage. Continue reading
