“Yī’, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā, jiǔ, shí!” “Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyu, ju!” “Hanna, dul, set, net, dasot, yasot, elgob, yadol, ahop, yol!” For those of us in the martial arts, there are, I would imagine, very few of us that cannot count to ten in the language… Continue reading Fighting Words: The linguistics of martial arts.
The cover of "Chinese Duan Bing" by Ma Xianda The following is a selection from the book “Chinese Duan Bing” by my teacher’s father, Ma Xianda. Ma Xianda is probably best known for his contributions to Modern Wushu and teaching Jet Li what would become his specialty set, Fanziquan. In fact, Ma Xianda was the… Continue reading Ma Xianda: A brief history of Duan Bing and its characteristics-短兵格斗简史及其特点
I read a nice article today by Gene Ching, of Kung Taichi Magazine Fame, over on the YMAA website. He speaks about the confusion that faces westerners in the naming and language issues that are present in Chinese martial arts, highlighted by the term Taijiquan. Or Tai Chi Chuan. Or T’ai Chi Ch’uan. Or how… Continue reading Taijquan or Tai chi Chuan: code switching and martial art
Like it or not, the continued existence of Chinese martial arts through the later part 20th century is largely due to modern Wushu. Many deride the modern sport as being a corruption of traditional martial art, trading substance for flash. And it is true, the current level of the sport is very far removed from… Continue reading Li Tianji李天骥: Wudang Sword Methods
A legendary weapon that many were named after, the true Song Zhan Ma Dao is a mysterious and elusive beast. 6 pounds of steel, approximately 4-5 feet long, used in the wars with the Steppe Empires, and associated with the Great General Yue Fei. The name has been applied to many weapons in the past… Continue reading Resurrected: The Song Zhan Ma Dao宋 麻扎斬馬刀-Lk Chen Review
The Chinese Longsword has had a long history. But it is a sporadic one. It seems that while the jian its self has enjoyed an almost continuous place in the halls of honored weapons, the two handed sword waxes and wanes in and out of popularity through the years. The Han dynasty(202 BC – 9… Continue reading Gentleman’s Sword by Jin Yi-ming-君子劍-金一明
Terra Prime Fighting Words 