“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.
At long last and at the behest of many of you loyal viewers, we have officially announced our “Terra Kasi” project. This is a play on the Star Wars universe martial art named “Teras Kasi” using two Finnish words for “steel” and “hand” respectively. This is the martial art of the mandalorians and of many… Continue reading Terra Kasi: to Fight a Jedi
https://youtu.be/ZF3ZZr2bij0 Star Wars day is here! and this marks the return of TPLA Live! Joining us for a discussion on all things Star Wars, Charley Cummings: Owner of The Saber Legion. Kyle Vaz: Owner of Ki Sabers Darth Alice: Our good friend and Master Saber-smith and progenitor of the now ubiquitous "Katana saber", Todd Johnson.
One of the defining characteristics of particular styles of kung fu are the hand shapes. In the USA, many kids who grew up on Sunday afternoon/night “Kung Fu Theater” shows in the ’80’s have done some version of the Shaolin Five Animals by striking poses while stating the names. And even kids complete unaware of… Continue reading Hand Shapes
A little something different today. Marvel has just posted the trailer for “Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings” which comes out this September. For comic book and martial arts fans, there is probably no more anticipated title slated for Marvel this year. Check it out below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giWIr7U1deA&t=3s A quick background on… Continue reading Shang-Chi Trailer
Kata, Tao Lu, Dulon, Forms, Patterns, Sets, Routines. Solo forms are the signature of most Asian martial arts. These 30 second to 3 minute long choreographed routines are a crowd pleasing event and one of the most enjoyable parts of many of the martial arts. They can provide quiet in a busy day, a way… Continue reading Martial Art Forms: 3 Most pervasive myths about solo training.
