Category Archives: Training

Sanshou: Partner Practice in the Age of Quarantine

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Why is partner practice so different from solo practice? In my daily Taijiquan practice in a time of sheltering-in-place, the answer of course is quite obvious. As a martial artist, I find I am missing the feedback I feel, the energy from a partner’s response, and our discussion as we explore via push hands, partner forms, and apply specific applications taken from our Yang and Chen Taijiquan sets. But on the other hand, practicing by myself for many years, I have learned to use my imagination as I focus my Yi, my intent, on how my spiraling energy wraps around … Continue reading →

Practiced Intent

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Internal martial practice is an important step to deepening and improving your kung fu. In this video, Sifu Ted demonstrates and teaches a short exercise learned decades earlier from Sifu Wing Lam, for developing and incorporating intent into movement. Following the instruction is an interview with Ted, where he further elaborates on these concepts.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGc4FdYOzrg?rel=0    

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Telescoping

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This guy has a huge jaw! A damned big jaw. By far, the largest jaw I’ve ever seen. At least, that’s what twirling around my brain as I face my sparring partner. Of course, the truth is that his jaw—in real life—is just average size; but in my imagination, his jaw has an appetite of its own. There’s a well-known phenom that comes into play when conflict exists, whether you are sparring with an individual partner or dealing with a global virus. Some people call this “telescopic vision,” which is a pretty accurate description of the actual conflict between one’s … Continue reading →

Xingyi Sheltering

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Practicing in isolation due to Shelter in Place orders has me reflecting on the time-honored tales of incarcerated Kung Fu masters. There is a story of when Xingyi Grandmaster Guo Yunshen (1829–1898 郭雲深) was imprisoned for accidentally killing an opponent in a duel. By some accounts, he was shackled in handcuffs and leg irons, limiting his ability to practice. He resolved to focus on a short Xingyi technique that his fetters would allow, a powerful basic attack called Beng Quan or crushing fist (崩拳). He allegedly used a half step to accommodate his leg shackles. After three years, he was … Continue reading →

Kung Fu Training: You Always Hurt the One You Love

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Over my years of teaching martial arts, I’ve had quite a good time explaining some of the more obscure switches of Kung Fu’s winding pathway: the splits, front and side; gyrating and rolling children, long past their bedtimes; and the fine art of setting things on small altar stacks, then crushing them. And that is not even considering my favorite: the technique of slamming your own body with your own limbs. Seeing this for the first time may bring the reaction; “Boy, my teacher is so powerful he can hit himself and scare attackers off.” The art of striking yourself … Continue reading →

Copper Whiskers

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This is an article about one of the great weapons, a weapon that has been employed in real combat but which is also considered an instrument of beauty and style. People react variously to a two-edged straight sword; some see its performance as art. This is rare. Traditionally, scholars wore a straight sword to blend the literary with the martial. It is said, that Confucius wore a sword for just this reason. It is not typically a battlefield weapon, but those who protected their villages commonly wielded the two-edged blade with authority. Today, most who pick up this weapon say … Continue reading →

Beng Jin: Kung Fu’s Hidden Skill

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Here’s a new video on Beng Energy. If you’re one of our Tai Chi students you have probably heard me lecture on this special quality, and are undoubtedly practicing this right now! But Beng Jin exists in all styles of Kung Fu, and is worth exploring, especially when your temporary opponent might be that nice fig tree in your backyard.

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Playing Around with the Rattan Ring

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Our first video for you at home utilizes a training tool called the Rattan Ring. Actually, there are several alternatives you can substitute if you don’t have one of these hanging around!  Please stay safe, and keep in touch! Ted, Linda and Debbie Since we are not able to hold in-person classes at our studio, we are creating some online training for our dear students. May all be well and healthy. The rattan ring is an unusual training device originally geared for martial artists. Its possibilities are almost unlimited; the ring entices participation, rolling defensively, uncovering tremendously tactile information. The … Continue reading →

The Teacher’s Teacher

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Last Sunday, I got a double-treat: my teacher, Adam Hsu, is in town for a couple of weeks and I had the opportunity to not only see and spend time with him, but to make his Long Fist Kung Fu class available to my own students, most of whom had never met him. Of course, there is always a bit of trepidation presenting your students to your teacher: will they look good to another and more experienced eye? Will my teacher take me aside and, without sarcasm, ask what the hell I have been teaching them? Will my students look … Continue reading →

Adam Hsu Linking Fist

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We are happy and proud to teach one of the best beginning Kung Fu forms:  Sifu Adam Hsu’s Linking Fist. This combines elements of traditional practice with modern methods of instruction. The entire form is 16 movements with not one repeated. These take you through kicks, punching patterns and crucial stance training. A great beginner’s form! For a glimpse of the set, go to  Sifu Marie Anthony’s Cupertino Kung Fu school.

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Slow Learner

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Next October, I will celebrate my 50th year in the martial arts. When I started studying, I had no idea or plan to make this a lifetime practice. I joined up for the same reason a lot of 16 year olds do: I was getting bullied at school and I wanted to learn some self-defense. Wait— you mean it took me 50 years to learn to defend myself? Am I just a slow learner, or did I find something else to keep my interest all these years? Honestly, the answer is “both.” I had learned all the self-defense moves I’d … Continue reading →

Martial Basics: Not What You Think

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Everything starts with basics. And when you are young and/or just beginning a long term study of expertise, whether your taste runs to the piano or the basketball hoop, there is always a sentinel line of basics to be crossed before you get to the “good stuff.” But the surprise—slow and sometimes disappointingly painful—is that there is no end to the study of basics. When you have learned the most exotic parts of some discipline‑let’s be obvious and say martial arts, for instance—and mastered the strangest weapons, you will put them away, at least for most of the time, and … Continue reading →

Training and Training: Shifu Sweats!

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There’s training and then there’s training. In Kung Fu there is a kind of training that so challenges the way of thinking AND the body that people successfully ignore it for years and even decades. So begins Shifu’s newest article, printed on our sister site, adamhsukungfu.com. Click the picture to continue reading. We are a little more than two weeks into our Taiwan trip, and have been very busy eating delicious food, meeting Shifus and publishers and, of course, training. Shifu Adam Hsu teaches 7 days a week and encourages his students to practice every day, even if not in … Continue reading →

Warming Up the Martial Way

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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 these teachers say, “After all, you can’t warm up before a fight.” They believe that you should do the warm ups and the basics as a whole, that the warm ups and basics should be so close together that they are indistinguishable.

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