Tales from the Carport Kwoon

Going Hard at Home

2011-04-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

Though this blog is called "Tales from the Carport Kwoon," I probably do at least half of my workouts away from home. My side yard is a little cramped, what with fitness and martial arts equipment and yard tools.

The backyard, though wide open, is where the dogs play. I don't want to have to worry about them while I'm swinging kali sticks or a kwan dao.

In the past, I've done a lot of training in the front yard, especially a lot of my forms work. However, Roxanne and The Tsarevich have taken that over for their garden, which is coming along beautifully.

In addition to the increased space I have when practicing at Rivercrest or Lowry Park, I thoroughly enjoy the out-of-doors, the reasonably fresh air and a chance to see some of the nature for which Florida is known.

Practicing on my dummy in the Carport Kwoon. It's a little cramped, but it's where I keep all my equipment and weapons.

On the other hand, my Carport Kwoon is better equipped than most commercial dojos. I have everything I need there: bags; a wooden dummy: a power tower; weights; and mats. I'm also close to my medicines, both Chinese and more mainstream first aid equipment. And, I have all my weapons and training gear in one place.

I used to do a lot of my weapons and forms training in the front yard, due to lack of space in the Carport Kwoon. But now, my wife and the Tsarevich are turning the front yard into a garden, which means much less space to practice weapons at home. (See photo below).

Tomato and cucumber plants in Roxanne and Vitaly's raised garden, which they just completed in the front yard.

On Monday, I returned to a hard workout after skipping training on Sunday. While The Tsarevich worked in the garden, I went through a good long, rigorous circuit involving: high repetitions of the basics; the ab wheel; several runs each of the wooden dummy and Biu Jee forms; and more than 100 claw pushups, spread out over six to eight sets.

It's a lot different doing those pushups at home rather than the park. At the park, I have nice, soft earth, which is a lot less punishing on my hands. At home, I do those pushups on the padded floor of my kwoon.

I can't do as many in a set on the padded, concrete floor as I can on the grass. However, that small change challenges me. It keeps me fresh as I struggle to maintain my strength and continue my goal of doing 108 pushups in a single set.

For now, I'll continue on the circuit training. It keeps me fresh and constantly challenges my muscles and my metabolism.

And I'll continue to alternate between my Carport Kwoon and one of the beautiful parks in West Tampa.

Playing through the Pain

2011-04-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

By Thursday morning I was pretty wracked with pain.

It took a few days of some moderately hard workouts and long walks with a weight vest, but there was no doubt about it: I was hurting!

Knowing I had an overdue practice session with Richard, my sole regular student, I decided to save myself for our workout. Even then, though, I took it pretty easy. Since my wife and The Tsarevich were both sick, I didn't want to make myself sick. My own throat was starting to tickle, too, a sign of either an illness coming on or my allergies.

Also knowing that I have only a few weeks left before hopefully starting the Masters of Education program at the University of Tampa, I'm determined to cram as much as I can into Richard's head as possible. I have to give him a lot of credit - he works hard and he has a passion for learning what I'm teaching him.

I started teaching him in 2006, when I used the Northwest Community Church building for classes. Eventually, I gave it up due to a lack of interest. But Richard never lost interest. He emailed me regularly over the next few years, asking when I would start teaching again.

I started again with him last summer. His chi sao has improved greatly and he's almost through the Biu Jee form. My goal is to at least take him through the Biu Jee (Shooting Fingers Form) and the Mook Yan Johng Kuen sets by June. If possible, also to include the Luk Dim Bun Kwan (The Long Pole). I believe that with those sets, he should have enough of Wing Chun to effectively use it in self defense.

The Mook Yan Johng Kuen: The Wooden Dummy Form.

Still in some pain on Friday, I managed to squeeze in a short workout on the river. I've been pleasantly surprised by the increase in flexibility and some shrinkage in my waist. But like Thursday, I kept it short, preferring to focus only on the stretching and the Wing Chun hand sets.

Also on Thursday, I finally tracked down all my Yau Kung Mun DVD's. I even found that Holy Grail of YKM DVD's, the video of Sigung Garry Hearfield teaching Don the Say Mun Bagua Kuen.
Not only is that DVD a great source of information, but I do derive some pleasure watching Sigung Garry harangue Don over his forms.

In addition to maintaining everything else, my goal for this week is to begin work on the Say Mun Bagua Kuen.

Doing a Little Bit Every Day

2011-04-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

Practicing the Wing Chun Biu Jee (Shooting Fingers) form at Lowry Park near my house.

One secret to maintaining a training regimen is to do a little something every day.

Since I began preparing for the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship in Orlando, that's what I've kept in mind. Even if I just do a little exercise, even if I just get outside for a little while, then I feel like I did something and I don't get discouraged.

Weekends are usually the hardest time to train, especially now that I'm a parent. My wife and son both demand my attention. As a result, unless Don comes by for one of our early Saturday morning sessions, I don't usually do anything on weekends.

So on a spur of the moment, I decided to just take a walk. There's a one-mile loop that goes around Lowry Park. I invited the Tsarevich to join me. He brought his scooter and I put on my weight vest.

We repeated that on Sunday evening only with his bike.

The weight vest is definitely one of my better fitness investments. I've always felt so much stronger after accompanying The Professor (i.e., my old man) on one of his death marches through the Sierras. I don't get out there anywhere near as much as I'd like, so hiking around the park with a weight vest is about as close as I can get to a backpack trip through the Minarets, Desolation Wilderness, the Wind River or any of the other trips I've done with the Professor.

Come Monday, I felt some soreness in my legs from those short walks. Even carrying 20 extra pounds makes a big difference.

That day, I packed up for Rivercrest Park to squeeze in a workout before picking up The Tsarevich. I marched down to the docks carrying my long pole, my water bottle, a Thai pad (for hitting) and my camera. The latter was in case I saw the manatees again.

I haven't seen the manatees again, but Vitaly pointed out this baby alligator sunning himself on a rock at Lowry Park today.

Following a long and leisurely stretch, I began a work on some hard Wing Chun basics consisting of the individual punches and kicks.

Feeling pretty winded in the hot Florida early afternoon, I pushed it through with five runs of the Biu Jee form. I also meant to do five runs of the Luk Dim Bun Kwan, but only made it through three of them before I had to pick up The Tsarevich.

Tuesday, I took my workout back to Lowry Park. I thought I'd gotten a little too much sun the previous day, so I wanted a place to practice with lots of shade. Beneath the oaks near the big picnic area, I ran a circuit consisting of basic techniques, claw push ups, and five runs each of the Biu Jee and the Luk Dim Bun Kwan.

My sifu's grandmaster, Sam Kwok, demonstrating the Luk Dim Bun Kwan form.

Going through that pole set makes me laugh. So many people think it is easy to learn to effectively use a weapon. They don't realize that any weapon, from a pocket knife to a nine-foot oak pole, is added weight. That means it takes more energy to use it than to use bare hands.
The Luk Dim Bun Kwan is easily one of the most punishing weapons I've ever studied. It takes full-body strength to control that pole, to thrust and strike effectively with it. After five runs of that set, I felt it in my entire body, but especially my legs.

For today's workout, I got a little discouraged. I meant to focus on Yau Kung Mun Kung Fu forms and techniques. However, I misplaced my master video tapes and all except for one of my Yau Kung Mun DVD's. That DVD I did find didn't include Don doing his versions of the forms. Not only are those versions more familiar to me, but Don did a better job of shooting them than whomever did that tape of the guys in San Diego.

I felt discouraged, but determined not to let it ruin my day. Instead, I returned to the Carport Kwoon, which looks better than it has in months. I decided to continue to focus on my Wing Chun techniques. Taking advantage of the increased space as a result of my cleaning last week, I devoted most of my time working on the dummy. It's a big change going from practicing individual basics on the air to doing those same basics, alone and in combinations, on the dummy. It gave me a sense of the type of spatial awareness and timing I would need in the Chi Sao competition. It also gave me a helluva workout.

So now I'm off to located those DVD's. It could take me a while, but I'm determined to find everything I have on Yau Kung Mun and Wing Chun.

Lastly, I'll be returning to eBay next week. I've got a lot of comics, paperbacks and LP's I'll be posting on there, as well as selling locally on Craigslist.

If you're into comics, go ahead and email your wish list to heykidscomics(insert symbol for "at" here)tampabay.rr.com. If you're into stuff from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's, give me a try. I've got more than 3,000 I'll be willing to part with.

"Still Training" or "Whipping Out My Pole for the First Time in Years"

2011-04-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

I have been training. Honestly. I just haven't had time to write about it.

For the past couple of weeks, my main activity has been cramming for my Florida Teachers Certification Exam for Middle School Science. I've read that study guide through at least three times. Yesterday, I spent four hours reviewing it.

My only breaks for the past couple of weeks have been housework and training. For the most part, my training sessions were short and intense.

Today, I had a little more time than usual for practice. I decided that to keep my mind fresh and relaxed I wouldn't do any studying the day before of the day of the exam. Since the test is tomorrow, that meant I had extra time to train.

Following a relaxing morning of sleeping late, I drove to Rivercrest Park along the Hillsborough River. I brought along my luk dim bun guan, a Thai pad which I've been using as an improvised sandbag, and my camera. The camera was in case I saw those manatees again.

Well, the manatees never showed, but I got in a good 90 minutes of stretching, forms and basics.
Following a good stretch, I went out on one of the docks overlooking the Hillsborough River. Not only do I enjoy the fresh air, but the wood decking is a lot easier on my joints than training on most other surfaces. That's something to consider for all martial artists if they want to have a long training life.

It's also a link to the past. Many of the classical southern Chinese kung fu styles, particularly Wing Chun and Hung Gar, were practiced by sailors. The Red Boat Opera Troop traveled from town to town on rivers and canals in Southern China. Their performances were also a perfect cover for their anti-Manchu activities. Their Kung Fu training served them well, no only in performing stage combat, but to fend off river pirates and actual Ching spies.

Other sailors, who traded with the Japanese and Okinawans, shared their Kung Fu with the native peoples, giving birth to the predecessors of Karate.

Practicing by the river gives me a feel for those old masters.

My main Wing Chun sifu, Hunter von Unschuld, demonstrating the Wing Chun pole.

I was pleasantly surprised how well I've done going through my basics and my forms. Lately, I haven't trained as hard or as often as I should. I strongly suspect my commitment to practicing Hung Gar Kung Fu last year did a lot to prepare me. Hung Gar is a very demanding art, especially the forms I practiced: the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen (Taming the Tiger Fist) and the Dai Pa (Great Fork Trident).

A demonstration of the Hung Gar Tiger Fork. Practicing with this really kept up my strength during the Year of the Tiger.

After running through the basics and the three hand sets of Wing Chun, the Siu Lam Tao, the Chum Kiu and the Biu Jee, I closed with three runs of the Luk Dim Bun Kwan, AKA the Wing Chun pole.

I expected that would be much more difficult than it was. Unlike the other Wing Chun sets, it uses the classical stances of Chinese Kung Fu, particularly the cat and the horse stances. Also, a nine-foot pole can give you a helluva workout if you're not used to it.

I can only say "Thank God, I did my Dai Pa last year!" All that training with such a heavy weapon did a lot to prepare me for the Luk Dim Bun Kwan.

"It is like a finger pointing to the moon." An instructor can only point the way. It is up to the student to follow the path and see where it takes him.

P.S. If you check out Dojo Rat, he has a great blog post today about the importance of solo training. As a martial arts student and instructor, one thing I've learned is that to be a good martial artist, you have to be self-motivated. You have to be willing to train as best as you can on your own between regular classes with your instructor.

When learning Wing Chun from Hunter von Uschuld, I could only train with him at most once a week. He lived about 30 miles away from me and to get to his home, I had to drive on some of the worst roads in two counties.

And while learning Yau Kung Mun and Hung Gar from Don Weiss, I've had to contend with his regular, extended work-related trips to various Third-World hellholes.

But as hard as it is to be separated from our instructors, we modern martial artists have some huge technological advantages. For example, it doesn't matter if Don's at home or on the road, I can almost always reach him via email when I have questions or need suggestions.

We also have video and DVD's, both commercially available and homemade ones. We can capture our teachers, seniors and classmates in action to preserve their forms and techniques.

And yes, we can also travel farther and much easier than martial artists of the old days.
But the important thing to remember is that our instructors can only point the way. It is up to the actual students to get off of our asses and do the actual work.

Back to the Beginning with Training and Bloggin'

2011-03-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

About three years ago, I started with the idea to have a training blog on Myspace.com. I would chronicle my preparations for the 10th Annual International Chinese Martial Arts Championship. My goal was to try for the Southern Style Grand Championship and by sharing my progress, I would hopefully entertain, inspire and inform others while also keeping myself accountable.

I trained hard on my lunch breaks, doing multiple reps of my weapons sets and my empty-hand set. I still have scars on my hands from the iron rings I wore on my arms, to provide added weight to my arms when doing the forms. The rings gave me some hellacious blisters, but I was just too stupid to know when to quit. I also skipped lunch for several weeks, preferring to go to the college gymnasium and squeeze in a good training session.

But immediately following my return from a fantastic week of camping, hiking and rock climbing in California with my son, The Tsarevich, and my father and step-mother, I got the axe from my job. Just another victim of cutbacks in higher education, they told me.

It took the wind out of my training. Knowing that I had only a limited time until my salary and benefits ran out, I decided to forego the tournament that year.

That was three years ago. I've continued training with a lot of the usual ups and downs, chronicling them here with you, my friends. I occasionally drifted off into other subjects, like the stupidity of taking guns to political rallies and Disney's purchase of Marvel Comics.

I also shared excerpts from my novel, "Taming the Tiger."

Lately, I haven't done much with this blog while I focus on illustrating "Taming the Tiger", as well as continue in my efforts to get my writing career off the ground.

All that is in addition to some family struggles.

Well, my financial situation still sucks! I'm now focusing on hopefully going to grad school at the University of Tampa to get my Masters in Education degree. If I get accepted, I'm looking to start a new chapter in my life as a science teacher.

But despite my finances, despite all that I have going on, I'm looking to enter the 13th Annual International Chinese Martial Arts Championship in Orlando. I'm doing this because, based on what I've seen at other INCMA tournaments this year, there will be three events for Wing Chun practitioners: Wing Chun Hand Forms; Wing Chun Weapons; and Chi Sao.

I took 2nd place in Chi Sao in 2005. I've been wanting to go back and try for the gold for more than five years.

But now, I find that they have forms and weapons events for what is pretty much my core art. No matter what, I will go. Somehow, someway, God willing, I will go to that tournament and compete and win the Wing Chun events.

Of course, I'll also enter the Over-35 hand sets and weapon events, using Yau Kung Mun/Bak Mei Kung Fu sets. Hey, I didn't spend a shitload of money three years ago for a top-of-the-line kwan dao only to have it sit and collect rust!

Now comes the hard part. No, I'm not talking about training. That'll be a bitch, but that's not what's killing me.

No, it's the fundraising. I estimate it will cost roughly $300 to $350 for entry fees, transportation, a new Wing Chun pole, videotaping fees and spectator admission for my family. I have been trying to sell off large parts of my personal library for no other reason than to make some room in my house.

But whether the government and the media want to admit it or not, we are in a depression. That stuff just ain't selling right now. And most of what I had that was worth any value, I sold to help pay for my son's adoption.

So as I return to this blog and some heavy training, I'm going to appeal to you, my friends and readers. I new I'd never get rich off of blogging, especially about something as personal as my own training and fitness regimen. That was never my intent to make any money off of this.

So I very humbly ask you, my friends and readers, if I have said anything here in the past three years that entertained, informed or inspired you, if you feel you'd like to return the favor, to throw a little money in my hat via my paypal account at rsledig(insert symbol for "at" here)tampabay.rr.com.

In return, I will keep you all informed of my training progress. I will also let you all know how much I've collected and publicly thank anyone who does contribute on these pages. You will know how every cent you've contributed has been spent.

Also, if you are in the market for old comic books, LP's, rare books and paperbacks, keep checking here, too. I'll be linking to my eBay and Craigslist postings with great deals for collectors. And, if you happen to have any wish lists for old Marvel, DC or independent comics, email me at heykidscomics(insert symbol for "at" here)tampabay.rr.com.

Thanks for your support!

Another Year of the Tiger Draws to a Close

2011-01-20T06:21:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. Yeah, it's been a while. It's been an interesting fall and believe me, I haven't been idle.

Starting in August, due to requests from several people, I revived the Hand2Hand Chinese Kickboxing Club. It was off to a decent start with a couple of regulars.

Then the pneumonia hit, taking me out of action for several weeks.

In the fall, I decided to get back into shape and work hard on the basics. I narrowed my focus to five things: Stance training; the Yang Taijiquan long form; the Yang Taijigim (sword set); the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen of Hung Gar; and the Dai Pa (Great Fork) of Hung Gar.

I chose those forms based on the advice of two of my teachers: Chan, the Medicine Man and Don Weiss.

Chan was the guy who supplied me the ingredients for my dit da jow, and was the medicine expert at Oceanic Trading Company. I don't know for sure if he ever studied Kung Fu. He always denied it when I asked him. But he always gave me good advice on training.

One of our typical conversations went like this:

Chan: You should always do your Taiji, even if you just go through the form once, before you do your Kung Fu practice.

Me: Thanks, Chan. Why do you recommend that?

Chan: I'm not a Kung Fu teacher. You should speak with your sifu about it.

Though he played it mysterious about his own martial arts background, I have to admit that he never steered me wrong.

So this fall, I made it a point to do my Taiji sets before any other sets or hard practice.

Meanwhile, Don Weiss set this year's goal in both of our training to do the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen set at least once a workout. The form's name can be roughly translated as "Taming the Tiger in an 'I'-shaped Pattern Fist."

The reason was two-fold. First, I've been writing a novel called "Taming the Tiger." The novel is completed and I'm now working on the illustrations for it. Also, it was in honor of the Chinese Year of the Tiger, which began in February 2010.

(To read excerpts from "Taming the Tiger," Chapter I Part 1 can be found here. Chapter I Part 2 is here. Chapter VI is here. And Part of Chapter VII is here. )

I've kept that resolution. Earlier in the year, and recently, I followed it with a run of the Dai Pa, or Tiger Fork set from Hung Gar.

During the summer, I took time off from that set, though I continued to include the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen. Suffering from some chronic pain in my right knee, I temporarily removed forms from my practice repertiore which included duckwalking or knee drops. Since there is some duckwalking in the Dai Pa set, that meant it had to go.

Chuck Berry, doing his famous duckwalk at 2:19. I had to take a few months off from doing that. (No! Do not fast forward to the duckwalk! Watch the whole damn video! Show some respect to one of the greatest rock gods to walk the Earth!)

But following the time off, as well as by working my stance training, stretching and using various traditional Chinese and modern medicines, I can at least do the duckwalking again.

A somewhat different version of the Tiger Fork set than I practice, but it shows the knee drops and duckwalking I was avoiding during my summer practice.

As of today, I've got two weeks left before the Year of the Tiger gives way to the Year of the Hare. During that time, I intend to continue with the pattern I started in the fall until the New Year's Celebration on February 3.

After that, I'll be focusing on the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship, scheduled for July 8 through 10 in Orlando. I'll write more on that and my training goals in a future post.

One last thing. As I said earlier, I've revived the Hand2Hand Chinese Kickboxing Club. Our new class schedule is as follows.

Wing Chun Kung Fu and Jeet Kune Do Concepts: Tuesday, 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Filipino Tribal Arts and Southeast Asian Fighting Arts: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Taijiquan and Qigong; Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

All classes are held at Al Lopez Park (formerly Horizon Park) at 4810 N. Himes Ave., Tampa, FL. Workouts will be held in the rear of the park, across from the dog park, south of the big playground.

FIRST TWO WEEKS ARE ABSOLUTELY FREE! For more information, contact me at hand2hand@tampabay.rr.com.

POSTSCRIPT: Nearly two weeks ago, a federal judge and several innocent bystanders were killed, and several others, including a U.S. Congresswoman were wounded, at a public appearance by Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

If you've been following this blog, you'll know I predicted something like this would happen, as well as the reaction of various pundits and politicians to use this incident to call for more restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.

Believe me, I really hated being right. In the meantime, I want to say to the Teabaggers and others who brought guns to various public forums last year, THANKS FOR RUINING IT FOR THE REST OF US!

"Taming the Tiger" from the 7th Chapter

2010-06-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I'm back again with another excerpt from my novel, "Taming the Tiger." In this chapter, Charley Batchelor starts to use his artistic talents to create a manual of Hung Family Kung Fu.

Enjoy.

Al and I arrived at his house immediately after school on Tuesday, just as we planned. Simo greeted us in the kitchen.

"Albert! Charley! How are you?"

"Fine, Simo," I said, giving her the salute. She smiled and saluted right back at me.

"I have something I'd like to show you, Simo."

"Yeah, Mom," Al added. "You gotta see this. Charley's an artist."

I smiled, and tried not to blush as I put my backpack on the dining room table. I pulled out the sketchpad with my notes and diagrams from the weekend. I opened it to the pages with the sketches of the ceremonial bow.

Simo looked inside. I scanned her face for any reaction, but her expression never changed. She flipped the pages, looking over my pictures and text describing the horse stance and the various punches. Lastly, she checked out my failed attempt at showing the applications of the fighting techniques within the ceremonial bow.

I didn't really want her to see that. Those were nowhere near complete. I would have rather waited until she or Al could help me with getting those right.

Her face relaxed as she closed the sketchbook.

"Very good, Charley," she said. "I think someday that you should put together a training manual for Hung Family martial arts. It would be a great honor to have you do that."

My eyes opened. I started grinning. I wanted to laugh, I was so happy to hear her say that.

"But first," she added. "You need to develop a good understanding of our family's art. I think writing and illustrating a training manual for us would be very good for you to help with that endeavor.

"In China, we believe that you cannot be a true gentleman unless you are versed in the arts of the pen and the sword," she said. "You are already on your way with the first and I look forward to having Albert help you with the second.

"Now get into your exercise clothes and train!"

I saluted Simo and followed Al into the garage. We changed our clothes faced each other. After the ceremonial bow, Al told me that we would not do any warm-ups.

"Class time is very precious and very short," Al said. "I hope you're practicing at home and not just drawing pretty pictures. You will need to keep up on your basics and your exercises on your time. Most of our time together will be spent learning new techniques. As soon as we complete our horse stance training, we have a lot of new ground to cover. I hope you're ready and I hope your shoulder is better.

Al set the kitchen timer and placed it on the table behind him. As we settled into our stances, I felt confident that I would do well. After all, the horse stance and my stretching exercises were the only things I could do while my shoulder recovered.

It didn't seem very long into our time before my legs started trembling. I've come to expect it, but I didn't think it would happen so soon. Shortly, I could almost feel my heels want to rise off the floor. My back muscles started to tighten and contract.

What's more, I started pouring sweat. I blinked repeatedly as drops ran into my eyes, burning them. The sweat mixed with tears, both to flush out my eyes and out of the pain in my eyes and my leg and back muscles.

I could see Al was also starting to feel some strain, too. It surprised me as he made it look so easy last week. His legs were still rock steady, but sweat poured down his face and soaked his t-shirt and sweatpants. He hardly blinked even as the sweat ran down his forehead and cheeks. I'm sure some of that sweat was also mixed with tears as I know the sweat must have burned his eyes as well.

But Al never let on it bothered him. At least not until the timer went off.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!" Al said, standing straight up. I followed.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Pretty good, but it seemed harder than the last time and I've been practicing over the weekend," I said.

"Well, we did 15 minutes!" Al said. "I've been neglecting my horse stance. Since I've been training you, I've had to work on all kinds of things that I haven't worked on in a while."

Fifteen minutes. I was amazed. Surprisingly, my legs didn't seem as tired as I thought they'd be when I got out of the stance.

From there, Al took me into the basic kicks. A snap kick, with the toes extended; a front "stomp" kick with the heel; A sidekick, also with the heel; and a roundhouse kick, with the lower shin.

By the time we were done, the ground of the garage was soaked. Our sneakers slid in our own sweat. The windows on his garage were completely steamed over, almost like someone took a shower in there.

That's what it felt like, too. I knew it would be in the 50's on my way home tonight, but inside that garage it felt like summer.

"Now, we're going to start on the first form of Hung Gar," Al said. "It's called, 'Gung Gee Fook Fu'. It can mean 'Challenging the Tiger' or 'Tempting the Tiger' or as Mom prefers it, 'Taming the Tiger.'

"Now stand next to me and do what I do."

I took a position next to and slightly behind him. We both faced the mirror, so I would be able to see what he was doing from both the front and rear.

Standing there, I followed Al through a series of dynamic tension exercises. We thrust our palms forward with the fingers upward and the edge of the hand facing away from our bodies. The air hissed from Al's mouth and I could see the muscles flexing throughout his entire body - his back, his shoulders, his arms. In the mirror, I could see his chest and ab muscles flexing beneath his shirt. It reminded me of some of the exercises I'd seen Bruce Lee do in magazines and movies.

Turning his palms upward, he curled in his fingers to make a pair of fists. Suddenly, he pulled those fists back to his chest. His back arched forward. He looked almost like Muhammad Ali doing his rope-a-dope pose.

Opening his chest, his bent arms flew to his sides like a pair of saloon doors flinging open in a western movie. His hands were in the bridge hand position from the ceremonial bow.

Using dynamic tension, he pushed his arms out sideways, like he was trying to stop the walls from closing in on him. Each time he used dynamic tension, his face turned red and the air hissed slowly from his mouth.

After three reps, he thrust both hands open and out to the side. After doing the dynamic tension, my hands felt very light and very fast, like a rubber band snapping. Then, clenching the right fist and making the bridge with the left hand, we repeated the ceremonial bow.

"Have you got that?" Al asked.

"Yeah," I said. Even though we only did a few moves, it took a lot out of me. Going from normal movements to dynamic tension then back to normal movements takes a lot out of a person.

"Is that the whole form?" I asked.

"Oh no!" said Al, laughing. "That's just the beginning."

"Oh," I said. "Then why did we do the ceremonial bow twice?"\

"Because we're very polite," Al said. "Hung Gar is the most polite form of kung fu. We'll also do the ceremonial bow at the end of the form, too. Just in case anyone missed it the first two times."

I waited for Al to make another joke. Then I realized, he wasn't joking.

"I told you before, Hung means 'upright and moral,' " he added. "That's the most important thing in Hung Gar. And if you can't be upright and moral, then you have no business here.

"Even when you leave this kwoon, Mom and I still expect you to behave in a manner that will show us both respect, especially her!" Al continued. "And because you're our student, we have an obligation to make sure that you behave in an upright and moral manner."

Sam Chien? Who's that?

2010-06-22T12:58:00.001-07:00

Miyagi Chojun, the founder of Goju Ryu Karate, considered Sanchin to be the most important kata in his art. So much so that his students learned nothing but hojo undo (strength training), high repetitions of basic techniques and multiple repetitions of Sanchin kata for their first three years.

His contemporary, Uechi Kanbun, founder of Uechi Ryu Karate, shared those sentiments. He believed that the core techniques of karate were found in Sanchin and two other kata.

Until recently in my martial arts training, I never liked Sanchin. I still don't like the way that most people perform it with an emphasis on dynamic tension. If I got nothing else of value from my years of Yang Taijiquan, it was breaking the bad habits I acquired as a result of dynamic tension exercises.

There are also good arguments to be made that dynamic tension is bad for your health. Some have argued that Miyagi's death at 65 from a heart attack was due to his practice of Sanchin with dynamic tension. I've also heard that Miyagi and his student, Yamaguchi Gogen, suffered from severe hemorrhoids as a result of their dynamic tension training.*

But there is more than one way to do Sanchin, or its Hakka Chinese predecessor, Sam Chien. My friend, instructor and training partner, Don, brought back a version of that form from a trip to Malaysia several years ago.

Uechi Kanbun (above) and Miyagi Chojun (below, checking a student's kata) both considered Sanchin Kata to be the core set for karate students. Though I disagree with their use of dynamic tension in Sanchin practice, I've come to appreciate the Sanchin Kata from my study of the form's Chinese predecessor, Sam Chien.

He told me that there were three ways to practice it: with dynamic tension, like the Okinawans and Japanese; slow and relaxed, almost like a Yang Taijiquan set; and fast, with full power and intent.

I've always preferred the latter two methods.

At first, I wanted to learn that set out of curiosity. I've trained in both Chinese and Okinawan/Japanese forms and this form was the missing link between the two cultures.

A comparison between Chinese Sam Chien Kuen and Okinawan/Japanese Sanchin Kata

Over time, I did research on that form. Thanks to Youtube, it is possible to watch different versions of that set. In addition to the three ways listed above, I've seen versions using both hands simultaneously, (like Don taught); alternating hands; using front kicks during the forward step; moving forwards; moving backwards; and with weapons.

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Sanchin Kata practiced with sai (aka chai, gen, tjabang)

Since I'm doing more forms that avoid knee drops and duck-walks to rehab my knee, I've been working that form into more of my workouts. So I was pleasantly surprised when Don suggested we run through Sam Chien several times during our Saturday workout.

Don made added a few twists to that form, adding a more pronounced salute to the beginning and a fa-jing exercise.

Today, I worked the Sam Chien form as well as the Yin Ching Kuen from Yau Kung Mun Kung Fu, into my circuit. It was an interesting contrast, going from the short, uncomplicated Sam Chien to the much longer Yin Ching Kuen. On the other hand, both forms make use almost exclusively of hand techniques and place a great emphasis on the hourglass stance in their footwork.

But it turns out my knee isn't the only part in need of rehab. Almost two weeks ago, I wrote about how I did more than 100 pushups on either five or three fingers. It turns out, I overdid it.

Normally, I do my claw pushups on softer ground or on the padded floor of the Carport Kwoon. But that day, I did them on much harder ground than I'm used to.

For several days, my knuckles on both hands were very stiff. My left hand is back to normal, though the knuckle of the middle finger on my right hand is still stiff and sore. To be honest, it feels almost like I broke it.

So I've been doing my pushups just using a good ol' fashioned pushup bar. Though I haven't had x-rays, I'm treating it like I did break that knuckle and refraining from knuckle or claw pushups.

After closing the circuit part of my workout, I decided to experiment with doing Sam Chien with weapons. Today, I broke out with my chai (called sai in Okinawan) and my sam jei guan (three-sectioned staff).

Nothing fancy. With the chai, I did 10 reps each hand of some flipping and thrusting moves using the Sam Chien footwork. For the sam jei guan, I did some figure-eights, alternating sides, with the Sam Chien footwork.

After doing that, my fingers and forearms didn't miss not doing claw pushups.

*For more information on the health risks associated with dynamic tension training and how it may have harmed men like Miyagi and Yamaguchi, check out pages 36 - 37 of "Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques", 2nd edition, by Mark Bishop.

Taming the Tiger, Chapter VI

2010-06-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hiya, kiddies. Sorry, I'm a little behind with bloggin' about my workouts or other martial-related topics. To pass the time, I'm presenting another excerpt from my latest novel.

Taming the Tiger

Chapter VI

I thought I had it tough Wednesday morning.

I woke up early Friday, my entire body store and stiff from the previous workout. It took several minutes to straighten out my legs so I could stand to walk to the bathroom. This time, my back and neck were also sore, probably from the roll I took when Al showed me how to defend against a punch.

I made my way into the bathroom, I could see a huge, round black-and-blue bump on my left shoulder. Looking over my shoulder, I posed in the mirror to try to get a better look at it. I moved my arm, but I couldn't lift it any higher than my shoulder.

I started to panic. I wasn't sure if I should see a doctor or not. And if I did tell Mom I needed to see the doctor, she'd know I was still practicing kung fu with Al. I wished I'd had some of that dit da jow* that Al's mother used on my other bruises. Maybe I would ask Al at school if Simo** could let me have some.

My morning shower helped to alleviate some of the pain, but most of it remained. As I got out of the bathroom, I could see Mom coming down the hall.

"Morning, Charley," Mom said. "Are you alright?"

I kept walking forward into my room. I worried that she'd seen the bruise, or noticed that I was still walking a little stiff.

As I closed my bedroom door, Mom shouted, "Charley! Are you alright?! You're moving like you're hurt."

I hurried up and dried off as I heard her walking through the hall. I wanted to get on a t-shirt before she had a chance to see the bruise. I felt a pain shoot from my shoulder to my neck as I lifted my arm to pull on the shirt.

"Charley, I asked you a question!" Mom said as she flung open my door. "Don't walk away from me!

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, pointing to my shoulder. "What is that?!"

"Mom!" I said. "What the hell are you doing in here?! Can't you see I'm getting dressed!"

"Charley, there's a big bump on your shoulder!" she said. She was right. The shirt could hide the bruise, but not the swelling, which looked like a half-a-tennis ball under my shirt.

"Did you get into a fight again?!" she asked. "Do you need to get x-rays again?"

"Mom, I'm fine!" I said. "Now let me finish getting dressed!"

I grabbed the rest of the clothes from my dresser and pulled them on. This time, I was too angry to feel the pain in my shoulder or neck.

"Are you still doing kung fu?" she asked. "Answer me! If it's either one, you're going to be in a lot of trouble, young man!"

"Yeah, I'm doing kung fu!" I declared. "Not that it's any of your business! The only time you ever cared about what I'm doing is when I'm getting in trouble at school. I'm doing something I like and now you're all pissed!"

"I knew it!" she said. "I'm going to have a talk with Al's parents. I don't want you hanging out with him or going over his house anymore. I'll call the police and have his parents arrested if I find out they're letting you come over."

"Mom, this is what I like to do!" I said. "You have no right to tell me I can't. I'm going to learn kung fu no matter what you say!"

"If you go over there again, I'll ship you off to live with your father!" she said, glaring at me. I knew I had her.

"Go ahead!" I replied. "Dad lives in Oregon! I'll be there's lots of kung fu teachers in Portland. If you send me out there, I'll find someone else to teach me. In fact, Dad will probably pay for it if he knows it pisses you off!"

I knew I hit a nerve. Mom's face got red and she slammed the door on her way out. Her feet stomped on the floorboards in the hall.

"I'll see you at breakfast," I said, sarcastically.

I ran into Al outside of homeroom.

"Hey, Charley, how're ya feelin'?" said Al, smiling broadly, arms held out wide.

"Hey Al," I said. Before, I was worried about people seeing me with the guy who kicked my ass last week. But that day, I was more worried I wouldn't be able to hang out with him again.

"What's up?" Al asked, his expression changed. "Is everything alright? You didn't get hurt from that fall you took, did you?"

"No," I said. "But I did want to see if you could get me some of that dit da jow. I've got a big swelling on my shoulder that hurts pretty bad. I thought that might help."

"Sure," he said. "I'll pour you a bottle of that after school today. Just stop by my house. Maybe we can even get in a short training session."

"Yeah, sure," I said. "It could be the last one."

Al started to look worried.

"What are you talking about?"

"My Mom doesn't want me learning kung fu," I said. "She's worried I'm going to get into more fights and get into trouble, or that I'm going to get hurt or something."

Al looked down and shook his head.

"That sucks!" he said. "I was going to start you on some kicks and teach you the 'Taming the Tiger' form.

"You're the only guy I ever tried to teach who stuck with it more than one practice," he added.
"What about your Dad? How does he feel about it?"

"My parents are divorced," I replied. "My Dad lives in Oregon. I told her if she tried to stop me, I'd move in with him. I'm sure there's lots of kung fu teachers in Portland."

Al chuckled and added, "You're not kidding. One of my uncles runs a school out there. I hope you don't go, but I could put in a good word for you if you do. I'll tell him you were off to a good start for a gwai lo."

"What's a gwai lo?" I asked.

Al laughed, turned slightly red and added, "Honkey."

I laughed, too. Just a few days earlier, I was calling him "chink." I guess white people don't have a monopoly of bad names to call people of other races.

"Seriously, I'll keep teaching you as long as you're willing to learn," Al said. "You know, some of the greatest martial artists learned in secret. They wouldn't even tell their families about what they knew.

"Really?" I said. "I don't want you to get in trouble for teaching me. My Mom knows she couldn't stop me if it was something I wanted to do, but she might make trouble for you with your Mom."

"Don't worry," Al said. "You know, my Dad hates kung fu. He thinks it's something only punks do. Why he married my mother, I don't know. But he gives me shit for learning kung fu, too."

I really enjoyed that conversation. I could see we had so much in common, including a parent who didn't like kung fu. And neither of us was willing to let that stop us.

But I would have to wait to see what my mother would do to try and stop me.

After school, Al and I made our way to his house, entering through the garage, which doubled as his kwoon. Simo sat in the living room, watching TV.

"Hey Mom!" Al said.

Simo looked back. She smiled, as if glad to see me.

"Hi, Charley, are you here to train again? Don't you boys ever take a break?" she said.

"Don't worry, Simo, I'm taking it easy today," I replied. "I was just wondering if you could help me."

"Yeah, Charley has a bad bruise on his shoulder from yesterday," Al added. "He wants to know if he could have some dit da jow."

"Of course," she said. "Albert, get a small bottle so he can take some home. Charley, you take off your shirt and have a seat at the dining room table."

I did as she asked and took my seat. Al came back with that big jar, filled with the brown liquid, as well as some cotton balls and a small brown bottle with a medicine dropper.

Simo opened the jar. Once again, that cough drop smell filled the room. She dipped in a cotton ball, then applied some of the liquid to my shoulder. It hurt to the touch, but like my facial bruises last week, it started to go slightly numb.

"Before you go to bed tonight, I want you to put a few drops of jow on that bruise and rub it in. Do the same tomorrow morning, too, and three or four times a day through the weekend," she said. "Work on your horse stance and do some stretching exercises for your legs. Don't do any punching or pushups at least until Monday."

"Sure," I replied, looking over my shoulder. Though the bruise remained, I could see the swelling go down almost right before my eyes.

When the swelling almost disappeared, I could see the bruise get smaller in size and lighter in color. I would still have the bruise for the rest of the weekend, but it would continue to shrink each time I put on the jow.

Then, the doorbell rang. Simo said something to Al in Cantonese and he went to answer the door.

A small boy from the neighborhood stood in the doorway.

"There's someone here who's looking for you!"

I could hear someone come up behind the boy. When she said, "Thanks" I knew it was my mother. She probably asked around and found this boy who showed her where Al lived.

Mom came in. Her eyes opened wide seeing me sitting at the dining room table while Simo applied some jow to my shoulder.

"What the hell is going on here?!" she demanded. "Charley, I told you I didn't want you coming over here!"

"Excuse me, but you must be Charley's mother," Simo said, putting the cotton ball on the table. She got up, extending a hand in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Please, have a seat."

"NO!" Mom said. "I am not here to talk! I just want to get my son and take him home. I think he should also have a doctor take a look at that shoulder and make sure your sadist son didn't break anything!"

The smile left Simo's face. I could tell she was angry, but she kept it down. I could also vaguely hear a car pulling into the Cheung's driveway.

"Mrs. Batchelor, please," Simo said. "I am helping your son. He had an accident while practicing with my son and I'm just putting on some medicine that will help him. I'm also giving him some to take home."

"Accident?!" Mom said. "It was no accident. If he hadn't been taking kung fu lessons from your son, none of this would have happened."

The door connecting the kitchen to the garage opened. A tall, well-dressed man came in and I assumed it was Al's father. I was right.

"Hello, Hannah," he said, also with the same slight British accent as his wife. "Albert. Who's this? Is this the boy you got into a fight with last week?"

"Yeah, Dad. Now, I'm teaching him kung fu," Al said.

"First a guy beats you up, now you want to teach him kung fu!" Mr. Cheung said, rolling his eyes as he set down his briefcase next to the dining room table. "That's one of the stupidest things I have ever heard."

I couldn't believe that Mr. Cheung thought I beat up his son last week. "There must be something wrong with his head," I thought to myself.

"Are you Al's father?" Mom asked. "How could you let him beat up on my son? What are YOU doing teaching him kung fu? Are you training him to be some kind of gangster or something?"

Without showing any sign of annoyance, Mr. Cheung responded.

"Mrs. Batchelor, it was your son who attacked mine last week. And for your information, I hate kung fu. I think it is childish and immature and suitable only for gangsters and ruffians."

For the second time, Mom's eyes looked as though they would pop from her head. Her expression was a mix of shock and relief. I could tell that she felt she now had an ally.

"If you don't like kung fu, why do you teach it to your son?" Mom asked.

"I teach it to my son," Simo said. "I learned from my father, my uncles and my older brothers. You might say it's both our family business and our family tradition, going back hundreds of years.

"In fact, Hung Wong Fei, a famous hero in China at the turn of the century, was a grand uncle of mine," she added with some pride. I didn't know who Hung Wong Fei was at the time, but I would soon find out that he was so loved by the Chinese people, that he appeared in more than 600 movies.

"He was a bully and a thug," Mr. Cheung said. "Just like all those other low-lifes who waste their time learning to beat up other people."

Simo glared at her husband and the two exchanged some short, angry sentences in Cantonese.

Turning to my mother, Mr. Cheung said, "Mrs. Batchelor, I fully understand your concern. I am a Christian and I believe in turning the other cheek. I don't believe any good can come from this kung fu. The only reason Albert knows anything is because his mother teaches him. I never had a lesson in my life and I don't approve of his mother teaching him.

"I would rather he use the time he spends training on something that will help him get into a good college and get a good job when he graduates," he said. "I teach English Literature at Yale, and I can assure you, I would not have accomplished it if I wasted my time with all this fighting.

"Besides, my parents would have beaten me with a stick if I ever so much as did some shadow boxing, let alone laid a hand on another human being," he added.

"Beat you with a stick. So much for their Christian pacifism," quipped Simo, which led to another short, heated exchange between the two of them. When things quieted down, Mom added her two-cents.

"Personally, I don't care if he wants to do sports," Mom said. "If he wants to go out for football or basketball, that's fine with me. Those things will help him get into college and keep him in shape. But like you, Mr. Cheung, I don't want him fighting. He already does too much of that. He almost got expelled for it last year and I want it to stop!"

"Mrs. Batchelor, I can assure you, I disapprove of violence, too," Simo said. "My husband and I are both Christians. While I am not a complete pacifist like my husband claims to be, unless Albert were defending himself, there is no justification for him to fight with anyone. As much as he loves kung fu, I can safely say that the only fight he's been in outside of a martial arts class or tournament was with your son."

Mom said nothing.

"Mrs. Batchelor," Simo added. "I fully believe that learning kung fu will keep boys out of trouble. It gives them a chance to let off some steam, if you will. They also develop a sense of self-confidence that comes from physical training. Certainly, they can get it from anything, including football and basketball.

"But I believe, that a child needs to find something he enjoys for exercise if he is going to stick with it," Simo said. "If your son enjoys kung fu, you should let him do it.

"And I can assure you, Mrs. Batchelor, that the first time your son uses his training for anything other than exercise or self-defense, it will be the last time I would let my son teach him."

Satisfied with Simo's remarks, Mom agreed to let Al and I continue to hang out and train together. In the car on the way home, Mom reiterated what Mrs. Cheung said.

"I don't like kung fu," Mom said. "But I'm going to let you give it a chance. Hopefully, you'll outgrow it.

"But I'm going to put your ass into a sling if you ever get into any fights this year and you will not get to train with Al or see him ever again! Do you understand?"

"Fine," I replied.

*Dit da jow is a Chinese linament used to treat bruises, swelling, scrapes and fractures. It's use is very popular among martial artists in China.

**Simo is the proper title for a female martial arts instructor.

"Taming the Tiger" - Chapter I, part 2

2010-06-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hiya, kiddies, and welcome back. Today, I present the second half of Chapter One of "Taming the Tiger." Enjoy.

-Sean-

I don’t know how long I was out. Al would never tell me. All he would ever tell me was that I tried to get up, but then acted weird and fell on my back. Whatever I did, it grossed him out and he never wanted to talk about it. For a tough guy, he could get awfully squeamish when he saw someone getting hurt.

When I came to, I could see his face looking down at mine. He asked me if I was alright. I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t seem to get air into my lungs. I stood up, struggling to get to my feet. I was surprised to see I was at the bottom of the stairs. Al offered me a hand, but I pulled away. I would at least get up on my own.

“Hey, are you alright?” Al asked. “Can you speak to me.”

As soon as I was on my feet, everything went black again. When I came to, I was on my knees, holding onto the handrail. I could feel my breath coming back.

“C’mon,” he said, leading me away from the handrail. “Let’s get out of here and get home before we get in trouble again.”

We made our way up Newhall Avenue to Augur Street. My head was in fog. I didn’t know what to think. I was surprised by Al’s concern for someone who wanted to kick his ass only a few minutes ago. That was something totally new to me. Usually, the guy I was fighting would finish me off, sometimes with the help of his friends if any were around. I know that’s what I would have done.

My lungs hurt. I must have had the wind knocked out of me. My face hurt, too. It seemed hard to breathe through my nose.

“Are you doing alright?” Al asked.

“Yeah,” I said. It hurt to speak, but I sure wasn’t going to admit it. Just that one word made the side of my head hurt along with my face and lungs.

We turned left at Augur Street. I didn’t know where we were going, but I just staggered along wherever Al was taking me. I got drunk for the first time that previous summer. I remember my friends having to escort me then, too, because I could hardly stand on my feet.

This was like that, except I didn’t have the fun part of getting drunk.

We entered Al’s house through the garage. There were boxes of all kinds of household items waiting to be unpacked. In a corner stood something I’d never seen before. It looked like a part of a telephone pole, about as tall as me. It had three wooden arms sticking out, two at the top and one from the middle. Near the bottom was a tree branch, that stuck out and curved toward the ground.

Several large swords and knives were also grouped together in a pile near the dummy, as well as a large glass jar, half-filled with some brown liquid.

A door connected the garage to the dining room. We went inside and Al said something in what I would later learn was Cantonese. A woman’s voice responded from the kitchen, also in Cantonese. When she came out, I saw a very attractive Asian woman. She had a body like someone who lifted weights, with the biggest shoulders and biceps I‘d ever seen on a woman at that time. Her hair was in a ponytail and she also had some of the thickest glasses I’d ever seen, too.

“My God! What happened to you?!” she said, this time in English, with a trace of a British accent. “Lop Pun, did someone beat him up?”

“We had a little fight,” Al said.

She glared at him, grabbed his arm and pulled him toward her, yelling in Cantonese. Al’s face grimaced in pain and he tried to pull away from this woman. Her fingers dug right into the muscle in his arm. I could even see a couple of tears running out of his eyes.

“Ow! Mom! He tried to sucker punch me on the way out of school!” Al shouted. He said something else in Cantonese, then added in English, “Mom! That hurts! I was just protecting myself!”

She said something else in Cantonese, then released Al’s arm. I could see the bright red imprint of her hand on his bicep as he walked into the kitchen. He came back out with a small, half-filled glass jar of that same brown liquid I saw in the garage.

“Are you alright?” she asked me. Her voice was much calmer, much gentler than when she spoke to her son. She touched my face, around my eyes and nose. I started to pull away, but she said to relax.

Meanwhile, Al was rubbing that brown liquid on his arm. He grimaced in pain as he did it, but the imprint of his mother’s hand disappeared as he rubbed.

“Get me some cotton balls and some tissues!” she barked at Al. He did as she asked, but cut me a nasty look out of the corner of his eye as he went to fulfill her request.

He came back with a box of tissues and a half-full bag of cotton balls. His mother then took a tissue and wiped my face. I could see some blood on the tissue. She then called Al to her, in Cantonese. As he stood next to her, she handed him the dirty tissue.

Taking a cotton ball from the bag, she dipped it into the brown liquid.

“Close your eyes and relax,” she said. “This might sting a little, but it will help with the swelling and keep your scrapes from getting infected.”

She was right. It did sting on the parts of my face that were scraped by Al’s sneaker tread. As she rubbed it on the bridge of my nose, I could detect an odor kind of like a cough drop. It opened up my sinuses and I could finally breathe much more easily.

It had a warming sensation to it, too. I could feel my face go slightly numb as the pain disappeared.

“What is that stuff?” I asked.

“Dit da jow,” Al said. “It’s my mom’s recipe. It’s good for all kinds of things. Bruises. Scrapes. Broken bones.

“See, it even took care of the bruise my mom gave me,” he said, holding up his arm. He was right. The red mark was completely gone from his bicep.

She asked Al another question, also in Cantonese. Al said, “Yeah.”

“Why did you push my son into the waste basket?” she asked.

“Well, someone else pushed him in first,” I said. “I don’t know who. I only pushed him in again as a joke.”

“Some joke,” she said, looking straight at me. “So you both got hurt and you both got suspended. Was it worth it?”

Al didn’t look too badly hurt. At least not by me.

Still, if a teacher or my own mother asked me that question, I probably would have had some wise guy answer. But I couldn’t do that with her. I only meekly answered, “no.”

“I don’t understand what it is with boys!” she grumbled. “Al knows he’s not supposed to get into fights. You’re what? 14? You’re ninth graders. You’re supposed to act like high school students.”

“Mom, he started it!” Al protested.

“I don’t care who started it!” she snapped back at him. “You’re almost men now! You’re supposed to act like it!

“You guys are lucky!” she said. “When I was a girl, if I got into a fight, my teacher would hit me with a switch. Then my parents would also hit me. Then my sifu would hit me, and he hit worse than the rest of them!”

“Seefoo?” I asked.

“It’s her uncle,” Al said. “It’s the guy that taught her kung fu.”

I stood up and thanked her for treating my face.

“I wish I had an uncle who could teach me kung fu,” I said. “Then I wouldn’t be needing all this stuff on my face.”

“That might be a good idea for you to learn,” she said. “It might teach you some manners and keep you out of trouble. Though it doesn’t always work for Albert.”

They escorted me to the door. Al’s mother offered to have him walk me home, but I turned her down. It was bad enough to be walking home looking like I just got beat up, but I didn’t want to be helped along by the guy that did it.

The pain was mostly gone by the time my mom got home. My nose was a little swollen, but the bruises were nearly gone. I had two red circles under my eyes instead of the bruises I thought I would have.

“You got into another fight, didn’t you?!” Mom shouted.

“No, Mom,” I said as I filled a plastic bag with ice. “I told you, I fell down a flight of stairs.”

I sat down, wrapped the ice bag in a paper towel and held it onto the bridge of my nose.

“Bull!” Mom said. “You only get hurt like that from a fight! We’re going to get you some x-rays. I only hope the other kid’s parents aren’t taking him to the hospital, too.”

“I wish,” I thought to myself. The only mark on Al was the one his mother put on him.

“Well, it looks like you’ve broken your nose a few times,” said Dr. Franklin, looking over the x-rays at his office. “But not this time. I can’t see any new damage.

Turning to me, he added, “You got lucky this time. I see you’ve got a few other scrapes on your arms and back, from ‘falling down the stairs.’ ” There was a note of sarcasm to the last few words. He didn’t buy that story, either.

“You know, if you keep going like this, sooner or later you’ll break something worse than your nose, or your hand, like you did last year. You might end up with a skull fracture or a broken back. You don’t know how hard it is for me to tell a young guy like you that he’ll be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Never get to learn to drive or play sports or go swimming. Is it worth it?”

That was the second time I heard that phrase that day. I was in no mood to hear it again.

“Sometimes, you just gotta fight,” I said.

“Well, I hope you still think it’s worth it when you get hauled into Yale-New Haven Hospital on a stretcher and you can’t move your feet. Maybe then, you’ll see what you’re giving up.”

Where's the kerrotty in "The Karate Kid"?

2010-06-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

In the interest of disclosure, I haven't seen the remake of "The Karate Kid." I'll probably catch it at the Fun-Lan Drive-In next week depending on the weather.

But it's interesting to see the articles and commentary out on the 'net about the martial arts depicted in that movie. Already, people are up in arms over the fact that it's not the Okinawan-Japanese martial art of Karate but Chinese Kung Fu. They could have just as easily called it "The Kung Fu Kid" but they were obviously trying to capitalize on the name recognition from the classic 1984 movie of the same name.

Mr. Miyagi explains the Chinese origins of Karate to his future student, Daniel LaRusso.

At one time, I would have been one of those complaining. I used to get tired of trying to explain to people that I wasn't doing Karate (pronounced ker-rot-ty) while practicing a set from Yang Taiji, Wing Chun, Lion's Roar, Hung Gar or some siniwalis from Filipino Escrima, Kali or Arnis.

To just keep it simple, I'd just agree with them and say, "Yep. It's kerrotty."

Truth is, the word, Karate, has come a long way from its origins. At one time, it was one of several names for the martial art practiced by the Okinawan people. Other names include kenpo, tode and te.

In its original spelling, Karate used the Chinese characters for "China" and "Hand". The word denoted an art from the Chinese mainland with its origins in the T'ang Dynasty, as practiced by the residents of Okinawa. At the time, Okinawa was a Chinese protectorate. (See above picture).

Eventually, the Satsuma samurai conquered Okinawa, eventually annexing it for Japan. Karate was driven underground until the early 20th Century. As the art caught on in the Japanese mainland, Okinawan master Funakoshi Gichin changed the spelling of Karate to use the characters for "Empty" and "Hand."

It was during this time that the Japanese occupied Korea. They did a great job in suppressing and destroying Korea's culture, including its indigenous fighting arts of Taekyon and Kwanbop.

In addition, many Koreans were forcibly taken by the Japanese and conscripted into their armed forces or used as slave labor in factories. While in Japan, many of them learned Japanese martial arts. Upon their return to Korea, many of these masters blended arts like Shotokan Karate, Kendo and Daito-Ryu Aikijitsu with what remained of the indigenous Korean arts, creating blends like Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do and Hapkido.

Those arts came to be considered Korean Karate by both their respective founders, (like Gen. Choi Hong Hi or Hwang Kee) and by American servicemen stationed in South Korea.

Starting in the 1950's, when those servicemen came back to the U.S. following tours of duty, Asian martial arts became part of the American pop culture scene. It was everywhere from comic books to TV shows to movies. With only a few plateaus, the popularity of martial arts just grew and grew.

As a result, the word Karate (mispronounced as "kerrotty" by Americans, as opposed to kah-rah-tay in Japan) became catch-all word for any Asian martial art no matter its country of origin. More than that, many American and European martial artists created their own versions of Karate, inspired by the Asian versions of hand-to-hand combat.

So like it or not, Karate is now the generic word for "martial arts" in 21st Century American English.

We might as well get used to it.

"Taming the Tiger" - Chapter I, part I

2010-06-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Note to my loyal readers: From time to time, I will publish excerpts of my novel, "Taming the Tiger". Today, I post the first half of chapter one.

My grandfather used to tell me about how when he was a kid, when two guys got into a fight, they would settle it with their fists. No sticks. No knives. And certainly, no guns like so often happens these days.

And when the fight was over, the two boys would be friends. Some of his longest, closest friendships were with men that he fought with when they were boys.

When I was a kid in 1979, things weren’t as bad as they are now, with the guns. But they weren’t as good as my grandfather recalled his own childhood. When I was a kid, getting into a fight with someone was not the end of a situation. It was often the beginning of a lot of trouble. We didn’t use guns, but there were plenty of guys who thought nothing of using sticks, knives, or just getting some friends and ganging up on you.

Only one time, did I ever become friends with someone after I had a fight with him. That was from my fight with Albert Cheung in the 9th grade. Today, more than 30 years later, he still remains one of my good friends.

Al transferred to Hamden Jr. High in the middle of September 1979. He was a skinny kid, like me, and one of the few guys in the class who was shorter than me. In that inner-city school, the blacks and whites were more or less equal in numbers. Out of almost 500 students, there were only a couple of Asians. That alone would make Al stand out.

On one of Al’s first days at school, someone, pushed him into the wastepaper basket in the corner of homeroom, right next to the door. It was probably Derrick Adams who did it, but I’m not sure.

I helped him out and asked him if he was alright.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Al. “Thanks.”

“Good!” I said, shoving him back into the wastebasket. I was a cocky little shit in those days, so I let out a laugh as he fell in so deep he was actually stuck.

Al shifted his weight, falling sideways with the wastepaper basket still stuck around his butt. He wiggled free and sprang to his feet. I don’t know how he did it, but somehow, he got behind me.

I felt something hit the backs of my knees, making them buckle. I started to fall, but caught myself. The next thing I knew, Al gripped the back of my neck with those iron-hard fingers of his!

“Now you’re going in head first!” he said.

I struggled to get free, but it took all my strength to keep my face out of the trash can.

Our teacher, Mr. Scalzo, came in. He tried to pull him off my neck but couldn’t do it.

“Will someone get in here!” he yelled down the hall. “Charley’s fighting again! I need help!”

Another teacher and Mr. Edwards, our assistant principal, barely got through the door with everyone standing around and cheering, mostly for Al to get my head in the can.

I was busy trying to keep out of the trash can, break free so I could kick Al’s butt. It took the teachers and Edwards at least a minute to get through the door and pull us apart.

Eventually, Edwards got me in a full nelson, while the other teacher got Al in a headlock, and marched us down to Edwards’ office. Along the way, I could hear the other kids laughing that I got beat up, "by a chink.”

Once in the assistant principal's office, Edwards and the other teacher sat us down next to each other. Edwards took his seat behind his desk.

“I think you should get some of the other kids in here as witnesses and ask them what they saw,” Al said. “They’ll tell you he's the one who started it.”

I rolled my eyes. I could tell he’d never been taken to the main office for fighting.

“It doesn’t work that way,” I told him. “They don’t care who started…”

Edwards cut me off.

“Charley, I don’t want to hear another thing out of you!” he snapped. “The school year is only two weeks old and you’re back in here for fighting!

“And you, what’s your name?” he asked Al.

“Albert Cheung.”

I snickered. “Aaaallbert.”

“That’s enough out of you!” Edwards said, pointing at me.

“Well Mr. Cheung, I’ve never seen you in here before,” Edwards continued. “Am I going to
expect to see you in here often, like our friend Mr. Batchelor over here?”

“No,” Al replied.

“Good,” he said. “Since this is your first time, I’m letting you off easy with one day indoor suspension. Charley, you’re getting off lucky since you’re in here with him. You’re also getting indoor suspension even though you should be getting three days out-of-school suspension.

“You both report there tomorrow,” he said. “And this better be the last time I see either of you in here. Especially you, Mr. Batchelor. You came very close to expulsion last year. If this is what we can expect this year, I don’t see you making it through June.”

Personally, I thought indoor suspension was worse than out-of-school. For indoor suspension, we had to sit in a room with other guys who also got indoor. We had to be quiet and do the work that was sent down by our teachers. If we finished the work, we still had to sit and be quiet.

Of course, I still had some of the other punks in there pointing fingers and snickering. I could hear a couple of them talk about how I got my “ass kicked by a little chink.” before the teacher shut them up.

Anywhere or anytime else, I would have gotten up and thrown down with them. But Edwards’ warning about being expelled stuck with me. I could feel my face and ears turning red with rage over what they said. It also made me want to go after Al all the more. As far as I was concerned, he was the reason I was in here and he was the reason I was going to catch shit from the other kids over the fight in homeroom.

On our way out of school that day, I followed him out the front door, to the stairs leading to the bus stop.

“Hey chink! I’m fuckin’ talking to you!” I shouted. “We still have some unfinished business!”
Al started walking a little faster. I picked up speed, too.

“What’s a matter, you pussy?!” I said. “You only want to fight when Edwards is there to break it up?!”

Never slowing down, Al looked over his shoulder and said “Hey, I don’t want to have to hurt you! Just back off!”

I was never one to back off. No matter what the odds, no matter who I was fighting, I just couldn’t back off. Even if I knew I would get killed, I still kept fighting. It was a source of pride for me in those days. I didn’t win all the time. I probably got my butt kicked about half of the time. But at no time did I ever back down.

I caught up with him at the top of the stairs going down to the driveway. Grabbing him by the shoulder, I spun him around and punched him in the face.

Al turned his head, rolling with the punch. He then glared at me. He was angry and I was glad he was angry. I thought I could draw him into making a mistake. But the first mistake was mine.

“C’mon!” I said. “Take your best shot!”

Al’s left foot shot up from the ground. It was one of those times when something bad is going to happen, and everything seems to go in slow-motion, but you still can’t do anything about it. I could see the foot coming at me, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I couldn’t move or block fast enough to protect myself.

The instep of his foot nailed me right on the right side of my head and neck. I felt my neck stiffen as I fell to my left. I barely kept my balance, but I stayed on my feet as I staggered sideways down the stairs.

Halfway down, I stopped my fall. Looking up, I could still see Al glaring at me from the top of the steps. I shook it off, charged up the stairs, yelling and swearing at him.

“C’mon!” I shouted. “Try some more of that karate shit on me!”

The next thing I remember, I could feel the treads of a size 8 Puma running shoe scraping my face. I could see the sky and clouds. I felt my back hit the ground and the air hiss out of my mouth.

Then, everything went black!

A Little Cramming on a Friday Afternoon

2010-06-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

I promised all of you that I would keep up with my workouts even if I fell a little behind in my blogging. Like last week, I've been forced to try to cram as much into a short time as possible, and take my workouts whenever and wherever I could squeeze it in.

Even though I finished my novel, "Taming the Tiger" on Tuesday, I still had other obligations this week, including the search for work and/or paying freelance gigs. In addition, Vitaly's summer vacation began yesterday at noon.

With a paying job to complete, I also had to plan on keeping Vitaly busy this afternoon. Naturally, since he was off from school, he wanted to spend some time with his old man. I promised him that if he let me finish the story I worked on this morning, we could go to Al Lopez Park and ride bikes this afternoon.

As a man of my word, I loaded up the bikes into the van and we undertook a three-mile loop around the park. Vitaly has gotten much, much faster with his bike. I have 15 gears on my old mountain bike, but I still had a hard time keeping up with him.

For Vitaly, it's not a trip to Al Lopez without stopping at their playground. For me, looking at that mass-produced playground equipment is a sad sight after recalling the large, wood castle that once stood on that site, built by the Tampa Bay Woodworkers.*

To take my mind off my sorrow, I worked in a short session while Vitaly climbed on his impersonal, mass-produced jungle gyms. I did a mini-circuit consisting of forms, shadowboxing and 108 claw pushups.

It was harder doing the claw pushups than I expected. At home, I do them on the padded floor of the carport kwoon. I mix it up with sets varying from all five fingers, down to four, three, two and just the thumbs.

But the ground at Al Lopez was much harder than I'm used to. I managed to do all 108 pushups, but the sets consisted only of five and three-finger claw pushups. No two-finger or just thumbs.

In between sets of the pushups, I did runs of the Siu Lum Tao, Chum Kiu and Biu Jee from Wing Chun, the Sam Chien set (the Chinese originator of the Okinawan/Japanese Sanchin kata) and two runs each of the Gao Bo Toi and Sup Baht Mor Kiu from Yau Kung Mun. Also, I did some short combinations of jeet teks (intercepting kicks) with straight blasts, aka chain punches.

It may not sound like much, but in that 90-degree Florida sun, following a three-mile bike ride and doing it in less than 30 minutes, it's a killer.

ITEM: Just giving my faithful readers and friends a heads-up - I will be posting excerpts to "Taming the Tiger" here on this blog. Stay tuned.

*Though I didn't have a hand in building the castle, I was a member of the Tampa Bay Woodworkers in the late 1990's. Thanks to their help and instruction, I was able to make the arms for my wooden dummy.

Busy "Taming the Tiger." Be Back Next Week

2010-06-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Trails to you, till we meet again next week.

It's been more than three years since I adopted my son, Vitaly, and brought him home from Ukraine, but I still feel very much like a new father. I still get excited watching him get excited over some new move he learned in gymnastics, doing art, making music or even just relaxing with TV or a DVD.

I've all but kissed R-rated movies good-bye. Strangely, I don't miss them as much as I thought I would. A lot of those kids' movies and TV shows are pretty good.

Being a father made me want to do something for kids. All kids. Not just my son. I played with all kinds of ideas for children's and young adult books. I reread some of my favorites from my youth, mostly adventure stories like "Treasure Island" or "The Call of the Wild." I also read and reread books by various children's and young adult authors, like Judy Blume.

I watched a lot of kid and youth-oriented movies from the 70's and 80's, like "Goonies", "The Karate Kid," "The Breakfast Club" and "Some Kind of Wonderful." (The first two I enjoyed sharing with my son. The others will have to wait.)

I thought back to my own childhood and teenage years and how things have changed from the 70's and 80's to the present day. I recalled how perhaps the two things that best carried me through my own turbulent teenage years were my interests in the literary, the visual and the martial arts.

To be honest, I hated what they assigned me to read in school and with few exceptions, I wasn't crazy about what they had me do in art class, either. Though I was pretty fit, I wasn't crazy about P.E. I'd preferred lifting weights, practicing martial arts and boxing, to basketball or soccer.

Then it hit me! Why not write a young adult novel about the martial and the visual arts? Those were two subjects with which I was most familiar. I also thought it would be a good idea to illustrate my novel myself. Part of the problem with writing about martial arts, especially for an audience of laypersons, is spending page after page describing action that might only last a few seconds.

By illustrating the novel as well as writing it, I save myself a lot of undo exposition and save the reader a lot of boredom.

Since last fall, I've been putting myself back in the mind and body of a 15-year-old boy during the 1979-1980 school year. I've been thinking how I wished I had a chance to learn some real kung fu, instead of training by myself in my basement because I was between instructors.

And that's when I came up with the idea for "Taming the Tiger." It's the story of a 15-year-old misfit and small-time hood who comes to develop self confidence and an appreciation for art and beauty through the study of kung fu. Charley Batchelor, the protagonist in "Taming the Tiger," goes from being a wannabe tough guy to someone who is truly tough and truly gentle.

I've really enjoyed writing this and I'm thrilled to say that I can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. I've written more than 14 chapters, roughly 140 pages of text, and have about two chapters left to complete.

I'm on a roll and I don't want to stop. I honestly think that, text-wise, I can complete this novel within a week. The artwork will take a little longer, but once the text is complete, I can start marketing it to various agents and publishers.

I'm going to be taking some time off from Facebook and from "Tales from the Carport Kwoon" for the next week. I'll still be working out, but I'm not going to have time to write about it here, especially with paying jobs and my search for regular employment in addition to completing my novel.

So take care of yourselves. Be sure to exercise. Try to eat right, though I'm learning how hard that is with this diet Roxanne and I are on. Take some time to socialize and say "hi" to some old friends once in a while. Tell them I said "hi" too, and I hope they're doing well.

Take some time to get alone, too, with your thoughts.

If you're of a mind to, take some time in prayer. Don't expect it to change your circumstances. It might do that or it might not. But if done right, with the right heart and mindset, it can change your attitude and your viewpoint.

Have fun. I'll get back to you all next week when I've completed the text of my novel and we can have a blast going over what we've been up to in that time.

Have a good one.

Sean

Intensity vs. Duration

2010-06-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to get a good workout in less time?

That's a subject for debate among athletes of all kinds. If time keeps you from training the way you want, is it possible to squeeze a lot of benefits into a shorter, but more intense, workout?

Some, like Bruce Lee's sihing (older Kung Fu brother) William Cheung, believe that intensity is more important than quantity when it comes to training. This past week, I've been putting that to the test. My financial situation has been pretty rough. It's put pressure on me to either find a real job or at least come up with more paying freelance work.

That's cut a lot into my workout time.

On the other hand, I am trying to be mindful of something I read over at my friend Don's Yau Kung Mun blog - that you should try to do at least a little something each day.

I am determined to get in a workout session at least six days a week. Even if I only have 20 or 30 minutes, I will get something done in that time. I may not get to do a lot of forms or some heavy bag work, but I can get a lot of conditioning done in that short of time.

Dan Ivan (above) is an American karate pioneer who served as a military intelligence agent in post-war Japan. He had several opportunities to use his training in real life-or-death situations. One key piece of advice he had for students was to stretch.

"If you have time for nothing else, do your stretches."

Today's workout was a little longer than usual - a full hour! I put it to use with a good full-body stretch. It's not particularly glamorous or exciting, but given my knee and neck problems, it is probably the most important part of my workout. I really feel a difference for the better when I stretch faithfully. Conversely, I feel a helluva lot worse when I'm not stretching regularly.

Following that, I did a short circuit, alternating between runs of the Siu Lam Tao set, pushups and sets with the abwheel. After watching a video of some Gurkhas practicing with the khukuri knives, I was in the mood to play with something sharp. Since I couldn't find my own khukuri, I used my steel kris, doing redondos and figure-eights between sets of abwheels and pushups.

In addition to my circuit, I recalled a training method I used as a 15-year-old middle class white punk from the suburbs. In those days, I didn't have a heavy bag or a makiwara, not that I would have known the proper way to use the latter. Instead, I conditioned my hands using mass quantities of knuckle pushups.

The phoenix-eye fist. One of the nastiest techniques of the Chinese martial arts. But like anything else in Kung Fu, you must approach it gradually and condition yourself to be able to effectively use it.

Assume a pushup position on a soft exercise mat. With your hand in the phoenix-eye position, balance on your bottom knuckles.

GENTLY roll onto your extended forefinger and do your pushups. Two or three will be very good for a beginner. I personally do eight to 10 in a set.

At least twice a week, I made a point of doing 100 knuckle pushups. It didn't matter how many sets it took. By the end, I was doing sets of only four or five pushups. But, I completed them.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of claw pushups and phoenix-eye pushups. My goal is to do a set of 100 of them twice a week. I mixed it up with sets of up to 30 pushups using all five fingers, to sets of only three or four reps of the forefinger-and-thumb pushups. I averaged about six to eight pushups of the phoenix-eye pushups. But no matter what, I did the full 100 pushups.

It was barely an hour. By my recent standards, an unusually long workout. It's not much, but I feel like I'm getting a lot done.

Wooden Dummy Lesson of the Week

2010-06-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

In response to my Facebook friend and fellow martial arts blogger, John "Dojo Rat" Titus, I've been including some combinations to practice on the wooden dummy. This week's lesson is a defense against being sucker-punched. This combination includes a lot of overkill and I don't recommend it except for extreme life-threatening situations.

In the above photo, I am being my usual mild-mannered self.

From the corner of my eye, I see some bad guy trying to sucker-punch me. I respond with a mon sao from the Biu Jee set in Wing Chun. It's one of those "Oh shit!" moves that you used to clear something out of the way.

Once I make contact with his arm, I grab (lop sao) and nail him with a side kick to the ribs.

While he's still hurting, I maintain my hold on his arm and punch him in the armpit. You can use either the Wing Chun verticle fist or (if you're in a bad mood) use the phoenix-eye fist.

While he's doubled over in pain, hold his arm with both of your arms. Place your right hand right at his elbow. His natural reaction will be to bend at the waist and straighten his lead leg. He might as well have a sign on him saying "Please dislocate my knee."

If you want to be a real dickhead, check his injured arm with your left pak sao (palm block) and elbow him in the back of his head while he's doubled over.

Yes, I Have Been Training!

2010-05-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

From Sup Baht Mor Kiu (18 Devils Bridge) from Yau Kung Mun. I've been doing this one a lot lately.

Just to reassure all of you, I have been doing more than reminiscing this month over changes in my workouts and comparing my life in Connecticut, California and Florida.

As I said at the start of the month, there would be some changes to my workouts. The first, and most noticeable was that I'm temporarily eliminating certain forms from my repertoire. Namely, and form with knee drops or duck-walking, which includes most of what I've learned from Yau Kung Mun.

I also decided to return to some strong basics in an effort to strengthen my knee. I'm doing my full-body stretch two to three times a week, instead of my usual one to two times. I'm already seeing a big difference in my leg flexibility. My knee is also taking much less time to fully recover from workouts. I'm sure the glucosamine condroitin and vitamin C are helping that, too.

I'm doing more qigong practice, including a seated hand qigong I learned from Lucjan Shila. I don't know why I'm doing it. Probably since I'm spending less time on forms, I had the time to do this.

I've been very pleasantly surprised. Since doing hand qigong regularly, my hand strength is increasing, my arthritis pain is decreasing, and my hand speed is better than it has been in years. When practicing on the wooden dummy, it almost seems like the rest of my body can't keep up with my hands.

I'm also working on my stances. I've started to return to an old form of stance training which was recommended by one of my old sifus. While Kung Fu is famous for its horse stance, my sifu didn't let it stop there, requiring time spent in the cat stance and bow-and-arrow stances as well.

In concept, it's a simple routine, but it will take a lot out of you in a short time.

Start with a two-minute horse stance. Then two minutes in a cat stance, on both sides. Then, two minutes in the bow-and-arrow stance, on each side.

Close with another two minutes in the horse stance. If you're feeling ambitious, you can include two minutes on each leg in the crane stance as well.

Altogether, you're looking at eight to 12 minutes. Not much, but if you're taking your stances as low as you can in the horse, cat and bow-and-arrow stances, you'll really see some results.

Filling a bag with beebees, throwing it in the air and catching it is a great way to build total body strength and a powerful grip. (See photos above).

Another exercise I've been getting into heavily is catching the bean bag. Of course, this bean bag is filled with 15 pounds of copper beebees. NOTE: DO NOT USE LEAD SHOT FOR THESE BAGS. LEAD IS TOXIC AND WILL BUILD UP IN YOUR BODY OVER TIME.

While 15 pounds may not seem like much, when you've been throwing and catching it in the air for sets of 108 reps, you will feel it.

Of course, I always include my wooden dummy. In addition to doing the classical Wing Chun dummy sets, I find that next to a live partner, there is no better training method around for brushing up on individual techniques or for creating your own combinations.

Face the dummy (or your partner if you have one). Reach out with your lead hand.

As soon as you make contact with the arm, shoot in with a tan sao da (palm up or "wedge" block and punch)

Follow up with a pak sao da (palm block, punch combo)

Close with a right lap sao/backfist. Note: Though you do this combination from a stationary position while on the dummy, in actual use against a partner, you need to keep advancing.

"Fists of Florida" or "Hardcore on the Hillsborough"

2010-05-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

"I'll just sit right back and watch the river flow!"

- Bob Dylan -

I had a lot of changes in my life in 1991. I got married, took a job at The Tampa Tribune that I would hold for the next five-and-a-half years, became a dog-owner for the first time in five years, and, became a homeowner for the first time.

Roxanne and I settled into our home in Seminole Heights immediately after our honeymoon. It was a small, one-bedroom house in what was still a rough, yet up-and-coming neighborhood in Central Tampa, with a huge, level lot.

The previous year, I'd burned out of martial arts, primarily after getting my butt handed to me by two guys I'd brought up for white belt in a karate tournament. I'd become discouraged with Tang Soo Do and was looking for something new.

I threw myself into Yang Taijiquan, Judo, Jujitsu and Aikido. And, having this large yard and covered back porch and carport, I had lots of room to practice.

I bought myself a small mat for practicing rollouts and breakfalls, a set of weights, and later set up a couple of makiwaras and a heavy bag. I had everything I would need to train.

I attracted a lot of attention to myself when rolling out on mat or doing uchi-komis with a judo belt wrapped around a palm tree. I didn't really care, though. Years of outdoor training got me used to sarcastic wise-guys singing "Kung Fu Fighting" or nosey busybodies trying to start a conversation with me while I was in the middle of my workout.

If you don't have a partner, this is a great way to practice your judo. I used to do this by throwing an old judo belt around the palm tree in my yard. It actually made the tree stronger from pulling on it and later, using the tree to condition my forearms.

The following year, I graduated college, only to find myself stuck in the same part-time job with little chance for advancement. I spent four years of chronic underemployment. But if there was one good thing about that, it was that I learned a shitload about different martial arts during that time.

Working out became my means of preserving my mental health. In addition to the above mentioned arts, I'd hooked up with Lucjan Shila, who taught me Lion's Roar Kung Fu; John Angelos, who taught me the empty-hand sets of Wing Chun, Chen Taijiquan silk reeling and push-hands; Scott Collins, who in addition to being my church pastor, was also a former professional boxer and kickboxer; lastly, a man who became like a brother to me, Anthony Chan, who eventually taught me Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Tribal Arts, Escrima, Kali and Arnis.

Outdoor training in Florida gives me lots of chances to commune with nature. Even living in the middle of Tampa, I still see manatees, dolphins and alligators (above) while practicing along the Hillsborough River.

Much of my training with them took place outdoors as well. John took over a section of Ballast Point Park, at the southern-most end of Bayshore Boulevard. Scott would have us practice in his backyard. And Tony and I would use the pool area at his apartment complex.

But most of the time, I trained in my backyard or along the Hillsborough River. There are many nice areas along that river, including the Lowry Park Boat Ramp, Rivercrest Park or Plant Park at the University of Tampa Campus.

To me, that is the way to practice martial arts. Outdoors, where I have all the space I need. I can breathe clean, fresh air, not stale, indoor air. I'm not much for sunbathing, but seeing sunshine does a lot to life my spirits, especially as it reflects off the water.

Despite being in the middle of one of Florida's largest cities, I get to enjoy nature as I train. Between sets of forms or exercises, I've watched mullet jump, I've seen alligators drifting lazily along the river. I've even seen dolphins and manatees seeking warmer waters in the winter.

One other thing I've come to appreciate about living and training in Florida are the state's liberal weapons laws. As I've complained about in other posts, in other states where I'd lived, I'd be committing a felony if I took an unsharpened sword, staff or other practice weapon to a public place to practice.

It's funny how state legislatures and cops can't say shit if someone carries a baseball bat or hockey sticks with them. Those are sporting goods!

Well, I've been threatened with both bats and hockey sticks plenty of times in my youth. And as far as I'm concerned, my kwan dao, my sam jie guan, my gim or baht cham dao are my sporting goods.

Some guys play hockey. Some play baseball. My old boss lived for his Saturday morning tennis game. Another co-worker went running everyday after work.

In the words of Bruce Springsteen, "Some guys come home from work and they wash up, and go racing in the street."

For me, I practice martial arts. It's my sport. It's my art. It's my exercise.

It's what I do.

P.S. I just want to give a shout out to James A. Keating, Master at Arms and publisher of MAAJAK. It's a great online magazine with lots of neat stuff to inform, educate, entertain and challenge. I feel like I made the big time when Keating linked to "Tales from the Carport Kwoon." If you get a chance, check out MAAJAK. It may shock, offend or amuse, but it will never leave you bored.

"Placerville Pugilism" or "Fists and Feet in the Foothills"

2010-05-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Financial circumstances forced me to leave Florida in 1986 and return to my father’s home in California. After several months of failing to find any satisfying work in Oakland, I took my father’s advice and took a volunteer position for the U.S. Forest Service.

As a volunteer, I got a weekly allowance for groceries and free travel and dining anytime I had to leave the El Dorado Forest for work. It also got me a free place to stay in a bunkhouse at the Institute of Forest Genetics in Placerville.

The Institute of Forest Genetics, an experiment station for the U.S. Forest Service in Placerville, CA. The bunkhouse in the upper left corner was my home for several months in 1986. It's actually one of the nicer places I've ever lived.

Since I didn’t have much money in those days, my main source of entertainment consisted of watching broadcast TV or practicing martial arts and exercising.

In addition, with a lack of a real gym or even a set of barbells, I was forced to make due with what few fitness or martial art supplies I owned at the time, including:

1. Two gis

2. Two makiwaras

3. A steel gim (Tai Chi sword)

4. A sam jie guan (Three sectioned staff)

5. A six-foot metal pipe, which I used for staff work.

In addition, I had lots and lots of outdoor room to practice on some nice maintained lawns, in the Northern California sun with fresh air in the Sierra foothills.

I also had to admit that for much of the previous few years that I’d become a gym rat, relying on weights and modern machinery like Universal and Nautilus for strength training. As much as I missed that type of training, I had to admit that such training is fairly new in the history of physical culture. I took inspiration in the pages of Black Belt about how martial artists in China, Korea and Okinawa made due with what they had while training outdoors in all kinds of weather.
I alternated between working different parts of my body, like with weight training, but used my own body weight instead of barbells and dumbbells.

It was my first foray into circuit training, working forms, weapons, repetitions of the basics, punching my makiwaras and doing lots of chinups and pushups. I did my pushups on wood stumps from the firewood piles and chinups hanging from the ladder on a cherry picker truck.

My then-roommate, Keith, was fresh out of the U.S. Marines. He offered me lots of suggestions for body weight exercises, including fingertip pushups and one-armed pushups. Though he had little martial arts training, he did join in to the exercise. We inspired and motivated each other during these times and became good friends in the process.

I got some great training in that year, as well as a great tan, coupled with sun-bleached blonde hair and beard.

And I got some great inspiration and ideas that helped me over the years with my training.

TOMORROW’S POST: “Fists of Florida” or “Going Hardcore on the Hillsborough River”.

"Outdoor Training in the Nutmeg State" or "Connecticut Yankee Karate"

2010-05-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

The woods surrounding Lake Whitney in Hamden, CT. It was one of my favorite places to get away from other people. It was also where I liked to practice Karate and weapons, out of sight of the public but in the fresh air and sunshine.

My love for outdoor training began in 1982, when I started learning Tang Soo Do.

As I've said before, a new year is often used as a time to make a new beginning in a new direction. The previous two years, '80 and '81, sucked for reasons too numerous to get into here.

I was off to a good start in 1981, having hooked up with a couple of good kung fu teachers.* But by March, I had to take time off due to a badly sprained shoulder, the result of learning roll-outs on a concrete floor.

When I recovered, their school had closed and I had no way to reach them.

Combined with some other difficulties I faced that year, I lost any real interest in maintaining my health. I didn't exercise. I flunked out of school. I didn't practice any of the martial arts I'd learned from various instructors over the years. I pretty much became a couch potato.

By the end of 1981, I found out about the Southern Connecticut State College Karate Club from a guy I'd met at a party. At $25 a semester, it seemed like the answer to my prayers. Even working minimum wage, I could easily afford that.

So in January 1982, I B.S.'ed my way into the club, pretending to be a college student even though I was beginning my second sophomore year of high school.

I threw myself into a major fitness regimen, which included joining the Yoga Club at my high school, lifting weights, running and, of course, learning Tang Soo Do at the SCSC Karate Club.

I'd had a strong knowledge of the basics of karate from other teachers. To me, the important thing was learning the forms in Tang Soo Do. But since I felt confined trying to practice sets in my basement, I took it outside.

In those cold, New England winters, I would often do up to five runs each of an individual form in the Putnam Avenue Schoolyard behind my house, wearing my gi pants, sneakers and a sweatshirt.

Occasionally, someone would see me practicing, but they left me alone. I had a reputation as a non-conformist, so seeing my practicing karate outdoors really didn't surprise anyone.

At school, when my friends took smoke breaks, I often ran through my forms in the courtyard. There were actually a few good martial artists and boxers at the small private high school I attended for my second sophomore year. Some of them would join in and show what they could do.

By the end of the spring semester, I'd earned a high green belt and learned the first nine forms, the three Gichus, the five Pyang Ahns and Bassai Dai. I'd also earned straight A's on a report card for the first and only time in my life.

Also in 1982, I'd cross-trained in different arts as I made the acquaintance of other local martial artists, particularly Steve Williams. Steve, who became my boxing coach, also held a shodan in Jujitsu, which he also taught me, along with bits and pieces of other styles of Kung Fu and Karate.

Muhammad Ali, chopping wood at his Pennsylvania training camp. Chopping wood is one of the best exercises for fighters. My boxing coach, Steve Williams, and my father, both spent a lot of time around lumberjacks. Both spoke from personal experience when they warned me "Never get into a fight with a man who swings an axe for a living."

Most of our training was very impromptu. Our sessions often happened when he happened to be visiting his brother-in-law, Alex, who lived down the street from me. Steve and I would spar, practicing boxing drills or two-man Jujitsu sets in our street clothes on Alex's front lawn.

In addition to his knowledge of martial arts, Steve saw himself as a Native American shaman. Seriously. He was quite knowledgeable about Native American art, culture and mysticism. From his home in Northford, he taught classes in survival techniques and did his best to educate people on the Indian ways.

He had a love of the outdoors, which showed itself in his preference for training outdoors. He also chopped wood, both as a business and an exercise. Both Steve and my father, who spent a lot of time in the Pacific Northwest, taught me the same lesson - "Never get into a fight with a man who swings an axe for a living." It strengthens the exact same muscles you use to throw a punch.

By the end of 1982, I hooked up with my old Kung Fu instructors. Through 1983 until I left Connecticut in October 1984, I met and trained with other martial artists, picking up whatever I could from them, whether forms, training methods or skill with weapons.

All of this happened while earning my black belt in Tang Soo Do.

But when I couldn't be with my instructors or training partners, I let the woods or lakes become my dojo. I did my breakfalls and bag work in my basement, but forms, weapons and shadowboxing took place mostly out-of-doors.

I could train in public parks, in wooded areas new my house along Lake Whitney. Because the latter was not public property, I could practice with weapons without fear of arrest since no one would see me.

But more than the privacy, I came to enjoy my time outside, breathing in what passed for fresh air in Southern Connecticut and soaking up sunshine in a too-short New England summer.

TOMORROW'S POST: "Placerville Pugilism" or "Fists and Feet in the Foothills"

*Nearly 30 years later, I gotta admit, their way of teaching breakfalls and rollouts not only sucked, but it was downright dangerous. I would never, ever advocate practicing breakfalls or rollouts on anything but a well matted floor, at least not in the early stages. Even then, practicing anything on concrete is stupid and dangerous and I have only three words on that subject - DON'T DO IT!

Saturday in the Yard. I think it was the 15th of May.

2010-05-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

Don came by today for the first time in a couple of months. The life of a secret agent* is a busy one that takes him away from town for weeks at a time. When he gets back, he has a lot of catch-up to do with his wife and kids. As much as we enjoy our workouts, I gotta respect that he puts his family obligations first.

Today's Saturday session was pretty typical. We pick each other's brains about various forms and applications from Chinese gung fu, discuss the latest in personal fitness and try to get as much done in between breaks to watch the Tsarevich do his latest bike trick.

But the latest entry in today's Dojo Rat blog got me thinking about my long history of outdoor training. As journalist and martial artist Joe Hyams once said in his classic, "Zen in the Martial Arts," - "Anyplace can be a dojo."

Easily, one of the greatest books ever written on the martial arts.

Don and I have trained together for nearly 10 years. It started when I read an ad he put in a weekly newspaper, looking for training partners interested in Yau Kung Mun and Hung Gar Kung Fu. I'd had some training in Hung Gar and was interested in learning more about that art.

For the most part, our training sessions did take place outdoors, sometimes in Don's backyard; sometimes in the cul-de-sac where our friend, Tony Chan, holds his workouts; but usually, here in the Carport Kwoon.

I should mention that the carport is the only shelter for my practice area. When doing some heavy weapons work or a lot of forms, I use the side or front yard. The backyard is for the dogs to shit in.

One of the first times Don came over to practice, he was reluctant to use the front yard. He's always been a very private individual and I try to respect that. But in addition to the greater open space in the front, I also prefer to practice on grass.

You gotta admit - a sight like this will slow traffic on your street.

Wood is my second choice for a training area. A padded floor, like the floor of my carport, is somewhat better than bare concrete, but not by much. Over the years, I've learned that exercising on concrete is a recipe for rheumatoid arthritis, among other health issues. Truth is, I'm not even sure I believe it is safe to stand or walk on concrete for extended periods, let alone exercise on it.

Don relented when I convinced him that my street is generally pretty private. It's not a major through-street, so I don't have to worry about cars constantly going back and forth. After 12 years here, the neighbors have gotten used to me.

They also know that some strange behavior on the front yard is a small price to pay for a great neighbor like me. I don't mean to brag, but I don't drink, I don't throw loud parties, I don't blast my stereo or have a loud muffler on my car.

And since I started swinging my kwan dao or sam jie guan in the front yard, it has slowed down traffic as people try to take a look at what I'm doing.

Occasionally, someone does stop and try to talk to me about what I'm doing. I remember one morning in particular, one of Tampa's Finest came by in a plain brown wrapper** while I was working the kwan dao.

He slowed down, pulled up and said "hi."

"That thing looks pretty heavy!" he said, leaning across his seat.

"Yep," I said. "That sucker weighs about 15 pounds. It'll give you a helluva workout. Wanna give it a try?"

The officer said "thanks" but that he was looking for someone in the neighborhood who failed to appear in court.

"Well, have a good one and I hope you catch him," I said.

It's times like that that make me glad to live in Florida. In other places where I've lived, I'd be committing a felony for training outside with a weapon.

TOMORROW'S POST: "Outdoor Training in the Nutmeg State" or "Connecticut Yankee Karate".

*Look, I don't know for sure what he does for a living. All I know is that he travels abroad, often for weeks at a time. Calling Don a secret agent is just a lot easier than just admitting I don't know what the hell he's doing.

**Policeman in an unmarked car

Let's try this again! A new month, a new beginning.

2010-05-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Breaking out with my kwan dao for the first time in nearly a year.

I had some high hopes at the beginning of March.

My health was good. My back recovered from a major sprain. I'd been doing the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen and the Dai Pa almost every weekday for a month, sometimes as much as five times each.

But shortly after my last post, I got hit with that flu that was going around, along with a major sinus infection. It kept me from training for more than three weeks.

In early April, I joined a gym. Actually, it is the weight room at the Cordelia B. Hunt Recreation Center, at Al Lopez Park. It's not much better than my home gym, but it gives me a place to train indoors.

April had its own monkey wrenches. I'd been stepping up my job search and getting some new writing assignments. Nothing major, but every bit helps these days. Also, Vitaly had his spring break. Roxanne wanted to do some traveling, so we went to the Phosphate Museum in Mulberry, Ft. DeSoto Park for fishing and swimming, and Solomon's Castle in Hardee County. The latter is a real Florida treasure I can't recommend enough for someone looking for something out of the ordinary.

After spring break, I decided it was time to ease myself back into some regular workouts. I've been dealing with some knee pain for much of the past year, so I used the time off to re-examine my workouts.

As much as I hate to say it, I'm putting a number of forms on hiatus because of the demands they put on that joint. Anything with any duck walking or knee-drops is out of my repertoire for the time being. Sadly, that includes many Yau Kung Mun sets and the Dai Pa.

It does, however, allow me, actually it forces me, to improve on the following forms, techniques and training methods:

1. All the Wing Chun forms, including Siu Lam Tao, Chum Kiu, Biu Jee, Mook Yan Johng Kuen.

2. From Yau Kung Mun, that leaves me with the Yin Ching Kuen, the Gau Bo Toi and the Sup Baht Mor Kiu.

3. The Gung Gee Fuk Fu of Hung Gar.

4. As far as Chinese weapon sets, that leaves me with the Luk Dim Bun Guan (Wing Chun giant pole); the Baht Cham Dao (Wing Chun butterfly swords, both Yip family and mainland versions); and the Kwan Dao from Yau Kung Mun.

The kwan dao. That sucker weighs about 15 to 20 pounds. It'll give you one helluva workout!

Today's workout emphasized the last weapon. Since I overslept this morning, I decided to eat bitter and workout at noon. That's no mean feat in the 90-degree Florida sun.

Following a run of my full-body stretch, I completed my first run of the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen in more than two months. Thankfully, the light workouts of the past few weeks have paid off. Though I was winded, I still managed to do the set with proper attention to stances and body mechanics.

During a short break where I watched a video of the kwan dao, I went outside to do five runs of the first third of that set, which I call the "Attacking and Retreating Section."

In some ways, it's easier than it looks to wield a nearly 20-pound kwan dao. It forces you to let gravity and momentum do most of the work. Once that weapon gets going, it is very hard to stop. Even though the blade is unsharpened, the sheer weight of that thing could do a lot of damage. I found out the hard way last year when I sliced through a shoe and sock while practicing with it. I kept my toes, but I needed a tetanus shot after treating a three-inch gash on my calf.

But it's also hard because you still need good stances and good basics to control the flight and fall of your kwan dao. Otherwise, it could pull you off your feet or fly out of your hands. I'm sure the latter would cost points in a tournament if you happen to kill one of the judges.

Part of a new combination I developed for the wooden dummy.
1. Pak sao da (Palm block, hit)
2. Pak sao, elbow
3. Seven Stars Throw. The last move is from Preying Mantis Kung Fu, but I like it so much I'm incorporating it into my Wing Chun forms and repertoire.

The heat got to me. After the fourth set, I returned to the carport to close with some dummy training. For today's practice, I did the classic Yip family form on that dummy, but I added a few things to it. I don't claim to have a better way to do that form. I simply wanted to work on some combinations for my own use either in competition or self-defense.

It wasn't about correcting any shortcomings in that form, but about correcting some of my own shortcomings, especially my own lack of good combinations at close range.

With the dummy form completed, I knocked off and returned inside, to blog on this workout and plan for tomorrow's.

A New Month, A New Beginning

2010-03-02T04:42:00.000-08:00

The start of a new month, or a new week, or a new year, also seem to give us the impetus to start some new projects, or to undertake some new resolutions.

I was thinking about that yesterday as I marveled that it is already March 2010. But the new month was not the only thing that got me thinking in terms of setting new goals for myself.

Saturday, I received that one piece of mail that I look forward to late each winter - the invitation and the sign-up sheet for the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship, to be held at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando.

Chi sao, as demonstrated by Sam Kwok and Ip Ching. Kwok Sifu taught Hunter von Unschuld, my sifu.

I've answered that call three times in the past, the last time in 2006, the year just before my son came to stay with us. I was training hard to compete in that tournament in 2008, with the full intention of competing for the Southern Style Grand Championship. I even bought a brand-new, combat steel kwan dao and learned to use it for the event.

An example of a kwan dao, easily the heaviest weapon with which I've ever trained.

But sadly, on the day I was going to pay my entry fee, I got laid off from my job at the college. The job loss completely knocked me for a loop. I also wasn't sure I wanted to continue to spend money on the event.

Well, I'm still not working steady, but I looked over that entry form. I filled in the blanks for "Over-35 hand forms," "Over-35 weapons" and "Chi Sao." I was tempted to fill out the blanks for the various Southern Style Kung Fu events. Though I'm rusty, I still remember how to do the cutlass and the staff sets. I could do a Lion's Roar set for the Southern Style Long Hand event and a Yau Kung Mun/Bak Mei set for the Short Hand form.

However, the entry fees would be just too much. It would also take added time that I should be using to do or find paying work.

And, I am 45-years-old. I can still do some good forms, but it would be one Hell of an uphill fight to try to impress the judges when being matched against high school and college kids.

If I do that tournament, I'll focus on quality rather than quantity performances. Just three events - an empty-hand form, a weapons set and chi sao. By focusing on them, I stand a better chance of doing well.

Of course, the trickiest thing will be getting in practice for chi sao. I've lost touch with my Wing Chun brothers, though I do have a lead on one of them. Instead, I just got on Facebook and let my buddies know I'm looking for chi sao partners. I was pleasantly surprised to have the following training partners and instructors answer that call.

Anthony Chan: My instructor in Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Tribal Arts. He has some training in chi sao from me and our mutual instructor, Hunter von Unschuld. Good trapping skills, too, from the Filipino arts and JKD.

Practicing Filipino Tribal Arts with my instructor, Anthony Chan

Don Weiss: My instructor in Yau Kung Mun and Hung Gar. I've helped him cross-train in Wing Chun. Apparently, the Wing Chun dummy set was appropriated for YKM and Bak Mei, a related art. I'll most likely be using YKM sets in the forms and weapon competition. Don's developed some good chi sao, though some of his signature moves (like biting) would be illegal in competition.

Bret Bumgarner: He's been teaching me Baguazhang, and has some training in Taijiquan. He's got good push-hands (t'ui shou) and those principles will carry over into chi sao. In fact, he's partial to what Hunter would calls "sickle hands" motions in his push hands, which is how Chinese Mainlanders do their chi sao.

Baguazhang instructor Bret Bumgarner. Though he doesn't have chi sao training, the principles are similar to his push hands training.

David Somers: A Goju-Ryu Karate master with some training in Wing Chun (at least partly from me). Dave's got a strong root and some great internal training from his Goju.

So now, the only thing left is the entry fees. Unlike other bloggers, I'm not going to shake down my readers, waving a virtual coffee can for you to send your Paypal payments. Though I'm not too proud to accept charity, I won't ask for it.

But since I'm saving for this tournament and a trip to New York for my wife, I am going to be selling heavily on eBay and Amazon again, under the name "The Florida Fanboy." If you dig classic vinyl LP's, comic books from the 1970's and 80's, Playboy back issues or just some other light reading, keep checking back here. I'll be listing items I have up for sale or auction.

It's your chance to catch some good deals!

My Quads Still Hate Bret's Guts!

2010-02-12T05:52:00.000-08:00

There was no way in Hell I was going to work out Tuesday. Not after the killer Baguazhang practice I had with Bret Bumgarner on Monday night.

I thought I might do a little bit on the wooden dummy. The stance work for that isn't quite as strenuous as something you might do in Bagua, Hung Gar or Southern Shaolin. But, as much as my legs hurt, I decided to let discretion be the better part of valor and not risk ruining my knees.

By Wednesday, my legs felt like they could accommodate a good, hard workout. Since it had five days since I last did any Hung Gar, I set my mind on doing alternate sets of the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen (Taming the Tiger Fist) and the Dai Pa (Great Fork) sets.

A demonstration of the Dai Pa (Great Fork)

Though both sets come from Hung Gar, I find that they develop different attributes. The Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen develops a lot of strength and patience. It has some moves done slowly, which I practice with both dynamic tension or slow and relaxed, but with a lot of focus and intent, like a Tai Chi set.

Because the set takes a long time to complete, and in low stances, it forces the student to develop patience and focus.

The Dai Pai, (also known as the Tiger Fork) is a weapons set. It is easily one of the heaviest weapons I've ever studied, along with the Kwan Dao and the Luk Dim Bun Kwan (Nine-foot pole). It is considered the signature weapon of Hung Gar. The famous fighter and teacher, Hung Wong Fei, specialized in that weapon.

The Dai Pa is a much shorter set than the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen. Like the empty-hand set, it also has a lot of low stances. But, it cultivates the ability to flow smoothly from one move to the next. Stopping after each move would wear out the student.

It also develops a full-body strength, since it takes the whole body to control such a weapon once it is in motion.

I also believe that weapons training improves empty-hand techniques, especially grappling techniques. The same body mechanics used to control a weapon are often the same ones you need to control your opponent's limbs in a fight.

Following four runs of each set, I ran through a complete set of the Mook Yan Johng Kuen (Wooden Dummy set) as well as some individual techniques on the dummy.

Practicing throws and takedowns on the wooden dummy (Mook Yan Johng). Yeah, I know I need to lose some weight.

Though I felt pretty good at the end of that workout, I paid for it yesterday. My legs and glutes were even more sore on Thursday than they were on Tuesday, so much so that I had a hard time getting up and down from a seated position.

As my Jeet Kune Do instructor, Anthony Chan always says, it sucks getting old. Of course, he's six years younger than I am, so he has no idea at all about how right he is. He's also not getting any sympathy from me.

As for today's workout, I'll have to wait-and-see. With a 100-percent chance of rain, anything I do will have to be done in my carport.

That means, no Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen, no Bagua and no Dai Pa due to a complete lack of space.

Someone up there must be looking out for me.

Today's post: "Bagua's a Bitch!" or "My Quads Hate Bret's Guts!"

2010-02-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

Baguazhang emphasizes lots of circular movements. It is very sneaky and deceptive, especially to anyone who thinks the art's signature circle walking is easy.

Since the start of the year, I've been focusing a lot on Hung Gar Kung Fu. It's a very demanding art that I knew would get me back in shape, requiring deep, wide stances and powerful upper-body movements.

Besides, I'm writing a young adult novel on a teenage boy who learns Hung Gar from a classmate at school. By brushing up on my own Hung Gar training, it gets me into the mindset I need to accurately describe that art on paper.

I supplemented that training with some silk-reeling exercises as I learned them from Ken Gullette. I found that the silk-reeling really helps to open up my hips making it easier to do the low stances required in Hung Gar sets.

Bret Bumgarner, a Tampa sifu of Gao-family Baguazhang Kung Fu, practicing with a Chinese cutlass called a dan dao. This photo demonstrates the flexibility demanded and developed by the practice of Baguazhang.

Also knowing that Nick Scrima is organizing an all -internal Chinese martial arts tournament in July, I thought it would be a good idea to hook up with Bret Bumgarner again. Bret, as a some of you might have read this past summer, is a local Bagua instructor. His Bagua impressed me as having both sound biomechanics and practical, aggressive, self-defense applications. It also has a strong Xingyiquan flavor, which I enjoy since I'm quite fond of that art.

So I went into Monday's practice at Al Lopez Park confident that the heavy stance work of Hung Gar would carry me through what I knew to be Bret's punishing Bagua training.

I was so wrong.

The workout included lengthy warmups. I was familiar with all those other exercises, but Bret introduced me to some additional exercises to loosen the hips and legs. I should have known it was bad news when he said "This is the fun part."

To be fair, once my back stopped going into spasms, I have to admit that those exercises did a lot to stretch out my lower body. I fully expect to add them to my workouts.

Sun Lu Tang, a noted author and teacher of the Chinese internal martial arts of Tai Chi Chuan, Xingyiquan and Baguazhang, demonstrates the San Ti or "Trinity" stance.

Afterward, we did a lot of movements from the San Ti (aka The Trinity Stance), which is usually associated with Xingyiquan. Those drills are some of my favorite parts of Bret's Bagua, though it does take a lot out of the legs and glutes.

A very good example of the circular footwork of Baguazhang.

From there, we went into some applications and closed with almost 20 minutes of "Walking the Circle," Bagua's signature exercise. That's where everything all comes together in that art. It is from the circle-walking footwork that Bagua people are most famous for their sneakiness and deceptiveness.

It's deceptive not only to an opponent, but also to prospective and beginning students who think that walking in circles for 20 minutes, while still maintaining Bagua principles, is going to be easy.

As my quads can attest to today, it's not.

Keeping my resolutions, one day and one week at a time

2010-02-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

I resolved on Sunday that I would not fail to work out each weekday this week.

It's Thursday and so far, I've kept that resolution.

Yesterday, I got my workout off to a late start. The Tsarevich had an early dismissal from school that day, so instead of training on my lunch break, I had to pick him up, assist with his homework, etc. I didn't want to workout when he was home because he had gymnastics that night. I knew from experience that if he followed me outside, that he would get himself exhausted and not do well in gymnastics.

Instead, I planned my workout for while he was in class. That only left me an hour to squeeze in as much as I could.

After dropping him off at Wayne C. Papy Dance and Gymnastics Center, I went to find a quiet place at Lowry Park. I didn't have my tiger fork, but I did bring along 10 iron rings. The rings are used for conditioning and building arm strength.

Hung Gar Kung Fu master, Chiu Chi Ling, demonstrating the use of the iron rings in the movie, "Kung Fu Hustle." The rings are used both as a form of weight training and as weapons.

But during that workout, I came to the conclusion that they develop another attribute - flow. By concentrating on my center, and moving from my waist, I didn't get anywhere nearly as tired as I expected. Even today, I hardly feel sore despite four runs of the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen (Taming the Tiger form) from Hung Gar.

I also remembered that I had a small Chinese cutlass (dao) in my trunk. I closed with four runs of the Yau Kung Mun Dan Dao (single sword) set. Surprisingly, my knee didn't bother me from the knee drops that are part of that form. In fact, the only problem was that the serrations in the back of the blade caught on my sweatshirt several times.

I was also amazed that I completed the whole session in little more than a half-hour, giving me plenty of time to pick up the little Tsarevich.

Gordon Liu demonstrating the use of the iron rings as a training aid.

Today, I noticed that my hard workouts are already having one effect on me. I'm in that phase where I'm hungry all the time, especially for carbs. It's a sure sign that my metabolism is speeding up and I'm burning calories.

Which brings me to today's workout. I suited up and joined the Tsarevich in his karate class. I followed along as best as I could, though I have to admit I'm not a fan of the way Bob Hughes Sensei does his side kick. It just uses too much knee for me.

Still, the class is a workout since, as I said in a previous post, I'm using muscles and nerves to do techniques that I haven't practiced in years. In addition, since my son is in that class, I'm not about to wuss out.

I might wuss out in front of classmates, sparring partners or instructors, but never in front of my son.

I also brought along some of might fighting gear to help the kids with sparring. My days of hard fighting are behind me. I'm not 19 anymore. But it was fun to introduce these kids to sparring. I remember how fun that was for young kids and teenagers. My old Tang Soo Do instructor, Phil Suffredini, would withhold sparring practice as a punishment if the class, or someone in it, screwed up.

That punishment worked since everyone loved to spar so much.

Of course, I also had to go a round with a 17-year-old apprentice black belt. That made me nervous. In more than 30 years in the martial arts, I've learned that the second most dangerous sparring partner is a teenage, male brown belt. They've got a lot to prove.

The first most dangerous is an adolescent female brown belt. They've really got something to prove and I've had some of my worst injuries sparring women.

Given a choice between a male 6'4", 5th degree black belt with prison sculpted muscles and a rap sheet that includes aggravated battery, or a college-age female brown belt, I'll spar with the former any day of the week.

But, I held my own despite the fact it's been almost five years since I did any hard sparring.

I guess this old boy still has a few tricks in him.

Update, Friday Feb. 5

I meant to add that I heard back from Nick Scrima, the promoter of The International Chinese Martial Arts Championship circuit. He told me that there would be no grand championship divisions in the Orlando tournament. As a result, if I do enter that tournament, I'll simply do three events: chi sao (sticky hands); senior (over 35 years-old) traditional hand sets; senior traditional weapons.

For Scrima's internal tournament planned for July, I will do push hands, and some Xingyiquan and/or Yang Taijiquan sets.

Forkin' around and playing catch-up

2010-02-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm a few days behind in chronicling my workouts. I'm still being pretty faithful to mine and Don's joint resolution to focus on the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen form of Hung Gar Kung Fu.

Because of work and housekeeping responsibilities, I didn't get to do Friday's workout until well into the afternoon, after the Tsarevich* (my son, Vitaly) came home from school. I turned that workout into a chance for a little father-son bonding.

The little Tsarevich, Vitaly, practicing Yoshukai Karate-Do.

He put on his gi pants and we went outside to practice some of his karate. We started with the 27 Movements kata of Yoshukai Karate-do, which he is learning from his sensei, Robert Hughes.

Even though I trained in Yoshukai for a couple of semesters in college, I still had to go to Youtube and find that form to remember it. Once I was secure that I could recall the sequence, Vitaly and I went outside for some practice.

From a Yoshukai Karate-Do workshop Vitaly attended in late January. In the wheelchair is Mike Foster Sensei, one of the few true karate grandmasters in America. Immediately behind Vitaly is his sensei, Foster's top student, Robert Hughes.

The man with the mustache right behind Foster Sensei was my old Yoshukai sensei from college, Dave Hunt. At the time I studied with him, I was a 2nd-degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. I was used to seeing men crumple when I landed my sidekick to the body, but kicking Hunt Sensei was like kicking a brick wall.

To keep things fun, I brought out a foam-covered stick that I used to use when Tony Chan and I would practice Escrima-style sparring. Using the stick, I would strike at the Tsarevich's his head and body and he would block those strikes using the techniques of the 27 Movements. After completing the blocking sequence, I held up a focus mitt for the reverse punches.

A version of the 27 Movements.

Afterward, I started to work with him on his sidekicks, but that only served to confuse him. As a result of my years in Korean Tang Soo Do, I prefer a side-thrusting kick, while Japanese arts, like Yoshukai, will use a side-snapping kick.

So as not to confuse him, I decided that I would not teach him any techniques or training methods from other art until he was competent with Yoshukai.

I closed that workout with one run each of the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen, the Dai Pa (aka tiger fork or trident) and the Mook Yan Johng Kuen.

On Monday, Vitaly was back in his karate class. I left him there while I went outside to run through the Gung Gee and the Dai Pa sets, three times each. When I returned inside, I found that Hughes Sensei had started his class on sparring.

Vitaly immediately took to it. Since Hughes Sensei was recovering from surgery last week, he had one of his black belts and a high-ranking brown belt act as sparring partners. For the most part, they only used defensive techniques, like dodging and blocking, forcing the kids to have to get inside and hit.

At one point, Hughes Sensei announced he would pay $10 to any kid who could knock down one of the black belts. That was just the thing Vitaly needed to spur him on. He loves any chance to make money.

Though he didn't knock over his black belt sparring partners, he fought like a demon from Hell!

Which brings me to today's daily workout/lunch break. I'm trying to stick to a schedule to set aside time for seeking work, doing writing jobs and working out. I started training at about 12:30 today, with a single run of the Gung Gee, followed by eight runs of the Dai Pa.

The more I do the Dai Pa, the more I realize that it is less about physical conditioning (though it will get you in shape) and more about developing flow in your movements and testing your stances.

Doing that form with as much power as I can muster requires me to pay attention to my stances. They have to be deep, wide and steady or the Dai Pa will send you flying. As a result, my stances are deeper and steadier than they have been in years.

I closed with a run of the Mook Yan Johng Kuen, (wooden dummy form) both the Yip Family and the Mainland versions, as well as some huen sao (circling hands) drills.

Chi Sao (sticky hands) training, as taught by Guro Dan Inosanto, the foremost instructor of Bruce Lee's art of Jeet Kune Do.

Which brings me to some exciting news. I've been checking the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship website for the latest info on the Orlando tournament in May. While they haven't listed all the divisions, they did say that they will include a chi sao (sticky hands) event. I took 2nd place in that event five years ago. I'm hoping this time to take the gold!

And maybe, just maybe, I'm hoping that they finally include a Wing Chun Grand Championship for that tournament.

Hey! One can dream!

*Russian for "prince," or more specifically, "little Tsar.

Still Taming the Tiger

2010-01-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

Despite some minor setbacks, I managed to get in a couple of good workouts since last week.

I missed practice on Monday and Wednesday due to running errands and having to look after my son when he had early dismissal yesterday.

Tuesday was still a pretty good one, even though I only did one run each of the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen (Taming the Tiger set) and the Dai Pa (tiger fork). However, I stressed a lot of stretching, which is crucial for keeping all my joints, especially my knees, in good working order.

Today, I returned to Lowry Park as the temperatures returned to the 70's. Bringing along my tiger fork, my new white oak staff and a quart of water, I chose an open area near some picnic tables to start on my forms.

I did four runs each of the Gung Gee Fuk Fu and the Dai Pa, totaling eight runs of forms altogether. Both sets are very demanding and require a lot of strength. But, by focusing on them, I build attributes that will carry over into tournament training for this year. (More on that later). Those attributes include strength, flexibility, a good root and good stance work.

Stance work is crucial in pretty much any martial art, but especially in Hung Gar and especially with the Dai Pa. As one of the heaviest weapons, if you don't have good root, you will fly all over the place. You will also not be able to use your entire body strength, and most likely end up using too much arm and shoulder strength to control the weapon.

I closed by using my new oak staff to practice a blocking and thrusting combination from the Luk Hup Guan (Six Coordinate Staff set) from Yau Kung Mun Kung Fu. My goal was to do 108 reps and I succeeded, even if I had to break it into four sets.

Being that it is the start of the new year, with the Year of the Tiger to begin next month, I am eagerly awaiting to see what the tournament scene brings. Of course, I'm especially interested in whether the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship in Orlando, scheduled for May, includes a Southern Style Grand Championship, or (dare I dream?) a Wing Chun Grand Championship.

There's also the Chin Woo Legends of Kung Fu, to be held in Dallas in June. If I can raise the funds to travel there, I have a couple of friends from church who've offered to let me crash on their couch. Texas has long has a reputation for blood and guts in their martial arts competitions, but I've always wanted to go for the Wing Chun Grand Championship at Chin Woo.*

The International Chinese Martial Arts Championship also has a tournament in San Francisco in July. I know that if I were to go to that, I could crash with my parents in Vallejo. I'm sure they'd welcome the chance to see their grandson while I compete. Of course, San Francisco is pretty much the martial arts capital of the continental United States. If I did go, the competition would be the fiercest I have ever seen.

And, Nick Scrima, the promoter of the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship, is organizing an all-internal martial arts and push hands championship in St. Petersburg. I've got a few Xingyiquan sets in my repertoire, but I would need to learn, or create, a shortened Yang Taiji hand or sword set. I also hope I can persuade Bret Bumgarner to help with some Bagua and to line up some push-hands partners.

Equally important, as I get news on the rules and registration of these events, will be finances. Hopefully, this will be the year that I either get a real job, or I make enough at freelancing to support some tournament action.

Stay tuned, folks!

Friday's Workout - A Cultural Exchange

2010-01-22T17:05:00.000-08:00

For most Americans not of Asian decent, there are three ways that they get their first experiences into Asian culture.

1. Dining in Asian restaurants.

2. Having been stationed in the Far East while in the military.

3. Training in a martial art.

I fell into the third group. I started out with Kung fu and Korean Karate before I drifted into Zen, Buddhism, Taoism, Yoga and into certain aspects of Asian pop culture, particularly films, comics and animations.

Martial arts can be a glimpse not only into different cultures, but different times. It's fun to think about how kung fu practitioners once used their skills to fend of pirates, bandits or to protect the Chinese people from the oppressions of the Manchus during the Ch'ing Dynasty.

During today's workout, I met someone who is very knowledgeable about the historical and cultural aspects of martial arts, particularly Chinese kung fu.

I contacted Brad Berry last week when a friend and training partner, David Somers, sent me a link to an ad in Craig's List seeking other Hung Gar practitioners. I contacted Brad and told him about myself and the two guys who taught me what little Hung Gar I know - Anthony Chan and Don Weiss.

I was a little disappointed that Brad didn't know the Tit Sin Kuen (Iron Thread Fist Set). That's sort of the Holy Grail of Hung Gar Kung Fu. In fact, Brad only knew two sets - the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen and the 10 Killing Hands. The latter, he'd forgotten due to lack of practice and he is relearning through a DVD.

But Brad reminded me that in kung fu, quality is more important than quantity. His training in Hung Gar is very applications-oriented, and includes a lot of qigong. He also took very good notes of his training and demonstrated some strong basics.

Lastly, he has a wealth of knowledge about Asian cultures and languages. In addition to learning Thai and Laotian from his teenage friends, he's learning Cantonese from his wife, who grew up in the Chinese community in New York. He talked my ear off about the nuances of all three of those languages, as well as some aspects of Chinese-American life.

Okay, so I still won't learn the Tit Sin Kuen. I did find a good training partner who is also very educated about Chinese language and culture.

Catching up and taking a little trip down the karate memory lane

2010-01-21T19:18:00.000-08:00

Since I took a little time off from this blog, my son, Vitaly, started his own martial arts journey.

It started innocently enough. I'd read about a kiddie karate class at a local recreation center. It was close and the time was convenient. I really wasn't too worried about the quality of instruction.

You see, when it comes down to it, the basics of most of the existing styles of karate, kung fu or tae kwon do are pretty much the same. A front kick is a front kick, a reverse punch is a reverse punch and a horse stance is a horse stance. If he got those down, I'd worry later about how far I want to take him in terms of the applications and uses of those techniques.

When it comes down to it, the basics of Kung Fu (top), Karate (middle) and Tae Kwon Do (bottom) are nearly the same. The above photos show representatives of all those arts performing an identical technique, the reverse punch. The differences between those arts generally don't make themselves apparent until the more advanced stages.

Well, we lucked out. It turns out the instructor is Robert Hughes Sensei, 6th dan in Yoshukai. When Anthony Chan, my instructor in Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Tribal Arts founded Renegade Shaolin, Bob was our official representative for Japanese Karate.* Since I'd been acquainted with Bob for years, having met him through Anthony Chan and Jim Dorsen, a local MMA champion, I had no doubt that Vitaly would learn quality karate from that man.

During Vitaly's second class, Hughes Sensei invited me to take part. I didn't really want to and I certainly wasn't dressed for it having come in wearing jeans. But, in more than 30 years of martial arts training, I've learned that putting their friends and fellow instructors on the spot is a hobby of most senseis, sifus and sabum nims**.

I also knew it would be considered bad manners to be a bad sport and not to accept his invitation.

Today, I came prepared. I dug out the one karate gi I still own that still fits. Sort of. It's a blue, Hayashi 14-ounce heavyweight gi, size 6, that I purchased more than 10 years ago. It's definitely a top-of-the-line model.

I should mention that at one time, a size 6 gi was the largest you could get. It's designed to fit someone over six-feet-tall or more than 200 pounds or both. I'm not six-feet, but I'm definitely more than 200 pounds.

The pants fit well, but the jacket was a little tight across the shoulders. I couldn't even tie the ties on the right side, another incentive to lose weight. Still, even if I lose the gut, the shoulders will still be there.

Once again, at Bob's invitation, I joined the class. It had been years since I did anything that resembled classical karate. Though I still knew how to execute the techniques, it took a lot more out of me to perform them. The muscles and the nerves don't forget, but it sometimes takes the a while to reacquaint themselves again to old techniques.

Since I was standing next to my son, I wasn't going to quit no matter how winded I got. I followed along and did everything the rest of the white belts did.

Later, when he put the yellow belts through their paces, he asked if I would like to do the yellow belt katas. With a sumimasen, I begged off.

Afterward, Bob matched us up with his visiting brown and black belt students to brush up on our Japanese. It's nice to know I hadn't forgotten that, either.

I won't be giving up on the kung fu and Filipino Tribal Arts that have been the core of my workouts for more than 20 years. But doing karate brought back a lot of memories and I certainly look forward to taking part in Vitaly's classes again from time to time.

*In the late 1990's and early 2000's, Renegade Shaolin was an informal brotherhood of some local martial artists founded by Anthony "Chief Abbot" Chan. Other members included myself, my Wing Chun Sifu, Hunter von Unschuld, Dorsen and a local Muay Thai instructor.

**Korean title for a martial arts teacher.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! And a Happy Gung Gee Fuk Fu to You!

2010-01-19T16:35:00.000-08:00

Hung Gar Kung Fu master Lam Sai Wing, a direct disciple of the great Chinese hero, Wong Fei Hung, demonstrating the Hung Gar salute.

After a rough 2009, which included knee pain, chronic stomach issues, a couple of upper respiratory infections and a sprained back, I'm counting on 2010 to be the year I come back!

The year hasn't been a total loss. I did get published in three martial arts magazines: FIGHT! Mixed Martial Arts Life; TKD Times; and the original, BLACK BELT. During my down time, I did spend a lot of time writing. I estimate I'm halfway through writing a teen/young adult novel entitled, "Taming the Tiger." The title is a very rough translation of one of the four pillars of Hung Gar Kung Fu, the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen.

Though I'm a little late for New Year's Day, or a little early for the Chinese New Year Celebration of the Year of the Tiger, I do want to wish everyone Happy New Year, or in Cantonese, Gung Hay Fat Choy!

It's probably because of my work on that novel that my friend and sifu, Don, decided that this should be the year we focus on Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen. It is the first of Hung Gar's four pillars. Arguably, it is the core set of that art along with the Tit Sin Kuen (Iron Thread Fist). Some sources I've read indicated that the other pillars, the Fu Hok Sheung Kuen (Tiger and Crane Two Powers Fist) and the 10 Powers Set were created and added to the art by Hung Wong Fei.*

Don resolved that no matter what other sets, techniques or weapons we practice in 2010, we will always start with Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen.

A version of the Gung Gee Fuk Fu Kuen

I've taken that and decided to focus on Hung Gar's signature empty hand set, and Hung Gar's signature weapon, the Dai Pa, aka Tiger Fork aka Trident.

Both sets demand a lot of strength, good stances and good concentration. In addition, the Dai Pa will develop a good deal of flow in your movements. It is easily one of the three heaviest weapons I've ever learned, along with the Luk Dim Bun Guan (Nine-foot pole) and the Kwan Dao. If you don't have good flow with the Dai Pa, you will make yourself very, very tired very, very quickly having to muscle your way with such a heavy weapon.

The Dai Pa, or Tiger Fork of Hung Gar. In ancient times, hunters would use these for killing tigers.

For the Gung Gee, I do several runs of that form, which is easily the second-longest I've ever learned. I have to mix it up. There are some moves in the form which must be performed with dynamic tension. However, I'll usually do one run in a slow, relaxed manner. It helps to catch my errors and develop my focus.

But no matter whether I do it slow or fast, with dynamic tension or relaxed and focused, I am paying extra attention to the stances. Without the stances, nothing else in Hung Gar works.

Today, I did five runs of that set, along with a full-body stretch. Tomorrow, I'll probably do one or two, mixed in with three to five runs of the Dai Pa.

By next week, I'll be adding some more exercises to the mix, including bean bag catches, sets with the iron rings, sets with a weight vest, as well as body weight exercises.

Stay tuned. And have a great Year of the Tiger!

*Hung Wong Fei is a renowned hero to the Chinese people for his role in helping to bring down the Ch'ing Dynasty at the start of the 20th Century. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, move movies have been made about Hung Wong Fei or including the character of Hung Wong Fei than any other literary or historical figure. As of this writing, more than 600 movies include Hung Wong Fei. Both Jacky Chan and Jet Li have played Hung.

What's Old is New Again! Ancient Strength Training Methods are Making a Comeback!

2009-12-09T06:24:00.000-08:00

The latest and one of the greatest additions to my martial arts library.

In recent years, we’ve seen a move away from all the modern muscle-building methods and machines back to old-time strongman-type training. Iron boots, kettle bells, Indian clubs and anchor chains are taking their place in health clubs alongside Nautilus and Universal Machines.

What's old is new again! Old-fashioned strength training exercises like Indian clubs (above) and kettlebells (below) are making a comeback, even turning up in modern health clubs and gyms.

We’re also seeing a return to exercises that require little or no equipment, like the old-fashioned pushups, squats, planks (or as I used to call them, “gutbusters”) and lunges.

Modern athletes and fitness buffs are learning something from the old “physical culture” training methods made popular in the early 20th Century - namely, the value of “functional strength".

Modern methods of training do produce strength, but folks are learning that’s it not a coordinated strength. When using a Pec-Deck at the local health club, you build a nice set of pectoral muscles. Then you move onto another machine that builds the shoulders. Then onto some contraption that develops the triceps.

Much modern fitness equipment is great at isolating muscles, like this pec-deck. (See above). But isolating muscles doesn't build a coordinated strength that is needed for sports or martial arts.

But the trouble is that you’re not learning to use your muscles together, to coordinate everything in a unit. Which is why bodybuilders, though strong, are not able to generate the power needed to perform specific athletic feats, like jumping, throwing, climbing, wrestling or boxing.

I was turned onto bodybuilding and weight training in seventh grade, inspired by the movie, “Pumping Iron” and by my health teacher, former Mr. Universe, Mike Katz. I’d also cross-trained in various martial arts throughout my teen years, which I found helped me to coordinate the strength I developed from weights.

Mike Katz, former Mr. Connecticut, Mr. America and Mr. Universe. As my junior high school health teacher, he was also my inspiration to hit the weights.

Though weights were my preferred way of training, I also loved to hit the heavy bag, the makiwara and use various weapons, like swords, sais, staves and that mainstay of every teen thug's karate arsenal, the nunchaku. Through those tools and the practice of kata/hyungs/kuens, jujitsu wazas (two-man drills) and karate-style free-sparring, I helped to round out my training.

As I got older, I came to enjoy straight weight-lifting less and less. I wasn't exceeding in martial arts the way I wanted. When I was banged up and had my ass handed to me by two junior classmates during a tournament, I realized that something had to change if I was to continue as a martial artist.

Following some time off, I returned to the basics. Four years of chronic underemployment after college gave me a lot of free time to re-examine what I'd learned about martial arts and physical fitness. I soon learned to place more emphasis on training methods that related directly to martial arts training, including: sheer repetition of basic techniques; developing my own sparring combinations; hitting the bag and the makiwara; practicing judo and jujitsu throws by tying an obi (karate belt) around a tree.

I used do this type of training with my obi (belt) tied around a tree. I have to try it with inner-tubes when I get the chance.

During this time, I also discovered old fashioned Iron Palm training, using makiwaras, sandbags, heavy bags, buckets filled with dried beans and rice as well as specified internal practices and the use of Chinese medicines.

Thanks to such training, I developed a confidence in my abilities that I'd never had. Though my techniques looked better as a teenager, they work better now, and with less wear-and-tear on my body.

Which brings me to the purpose (yes, I do have one) of this article. I received a book yesterday that will certainly take a treasured place in my very extensive martial arts and fitness library.

"The Art of Hojo Undo: Power Training for Traditional Karate", by Michael Clarke, sets out to revive the ancient methods of physical training practiced in Okinawa which were inspired by time-honored Chinese kung fu training methods. (See photo of book cover at top of article).

The book is a treasure trove of classical training methods and tools used to develop full-body strength. You won't win Mr. Universe with these methods. The equipment and the results they provide are not pretty. But, speaking from experience using some of these methods, I can tell you they work.

You will find that you climb, run, jump and especially, fight better than you did before. It will be a functional type of strength, not necessarily the strength you will use while laying on your back to do a bench press. Instead, you will be able to do things like moving furniture, carrying a sick injured person or pet to safety, pushing a disabled car down the street.

It's the type of power you need to throw a baseball or to dominate the soccer or football field, to scale a sheer rock wall.

Perhaps most inspiring from this book is the author's point that the Okinawans, though resource and financially poor, learned to make do with what they had. Their training methods were simple, such as tying a pot of water or heavy rocks to a stick to make a forearm exerciser. Or drilling holes rocks and sticking a wood dowel in there for a makeshift dumbbell.

Examples of hojo undo tools and training methods.

The book also includes versions of wooden training dummies. Having built my own 13 years ago, I can say it is easily the best investment of my time, effort and money that I have made to my own home martial arts training.

With my wooden dummy, practicing jeet teks (intercepting kicks)

One can't help but read this book and be inspired. I'm already coming up with ways to replicate some of the equipment in that book, particularly the stone padlocks (ishisashi) or the kongoken for my own use.

Kung fu expert with stone padlocks (above)
Okinawan karateka with kongoken (below)
I am so going to make these for the carport kwoon.

As time permits, I will work to make some of these items and post my results here.

Funtime's Over! Enough Rest! Back to Work!

2009-11-03T10:20:00.000-08:00

I spent last weekend visiting with my sister and her husband, who came in from El Lay to visit their Florida home. It was also and excuse for her to go trick or treating with Vitaly.

In addition, I spent the time giving my knee a chance to recover. That old karate injury from 1984 has been acting up on me. In addition to everything else I over-consumed this past weekend, I've been eating Ibuprofen like they were M & M's.

Come Monday, we started getting some of that nice, cool Florida fall, with noontime temperatures in the upper 70's.* It made for a couple of good workouts.

Monday's session began with a good full-body stretch followed by some circuit work with forms. Because of my knee, I was reluctant to do any forms that involved the knee drop. I didn't avoid them. I just saved them to the end.

Otherwise, my circuit consisted of five runs of the Yau Kung Mun set, Gao Bo Toi (Nine Step Push) and three runs of Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Fierce Tiger Crashes from Forest). Between each set, I did a few reps with the ab wheel and a pyramid with the claw pushups, going from all five fingers, down to four, three, two and finally with just the thumbs. I am proud of the fact that I did at least five reps of each pushup in a fully-extended position with the exception of the the sets on the thumbs.

From there, I broke out my sam jie guan (three-sectioned staff) and worked on the fourth trip from the YKM sam jie guan set. It was a lot harder than it looked. Going forward, you hold one end of the staff and do figure eights with the other two sections. At the end of the figure eight, you swing the staff under your armpit, like the hidden sword draw from the sabre set.

The trouble is, if you don't really twist your upper body hard and fast when drawing out the staff, the end section will hit you in the head. Another problem with the three-sectional is that you can't practice it in slow motion. If you go too slow, you hit yourself. If you go too fast, you hit yourself, too.

I closed that workout with some bag catches and a run of the Mook Yan Johng Kuen (Wing Chun Wooden Dummy set).

Today, feeling stronger in my knee, I decided to work some stance training. Contrary to popular belief, stance training is less about building strength than with developing good body mechanics and alignment. Doing Bagua with Bret last month really showed me how much I've been neglecting that kind of practice.

Since I was in a Wing Chun kinda mood, I worked my Wing Chun empty hand sets and basics. Afterward, I went to the front yard and went throught he first four trips of the sam jie guan. As I said before, it is a simple, uncomplicated set. Taking out the repeaters, there are probably less than a dozen moves in the whole form.

But it is still physically demanding. It takes a lot of strength and concentration. What's more, there are a number of spinning moves, as well as the roll-outs, which can really leave a practitioner dazed and confused if he's not careful.

I closed again with some bag catches and a run of the wooden dummy set.

*Okay, I can't resist throwing that in. One of the fun things about living in Florida is that you get to torment all your Yankee friends and relatives by reminding them that they are freezing their asses off.

One Shoe, Two Shoe, Old Shoe, New Shoe

2009-10-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

The Changing of the Shoes - A Solemn Event in my Personal Training
(Note the nicks from a kwan dao on the left shoe, above)

This week’s workouts were a first for me - my first workouts in new wrestling shoes in more than five years.

The other pair has lasted me a good long time. I use wrestling shoes because they are sturdy, lightweight and flexible. When practicing kung fu or taiji, I think it is important to be able to feel the ground beneath your feet.

What’s more, I have better luck with wrestling shoes staying on my feet. The slippers that are considered part of most traditional kung fu uniforms are certainly comfortable. But, in my experience, finding a pair that fits is tricky. Too often, I’ve had them come flying off whenever I throw a kick or when practicing on a wet surface, like grass.

Other athletic shoes are just too heavy. Certainly those cross-training shoes are the worst for practice.

I hate getting rid of old shoes. The old ones are comfortable. They bend in all the right places. The rubber treads are worn off in all the right places, making it is for me to pivot, while the rubber itself still gives me enough traction that I don’t fall and kill myself.

I put off changing my shoes for about a year. The others started to fall apart when I came too close to my own foot while practicing with my kwan dao. I cut through some of the material in one of the shoes.

Once something like that happens, it’s only a matter of time before more holes and tears appear.

Changing my shoes forces me to take an inventory of my training equipment. I start to look at what needs to be cleaned, what needs repairs or maintenance. Especially now, given my economic situation, I don’t have any extra money for replacing broken gear.

I lucked out with my shoes. I bought two pairs during a buy one/get one sale at a sporting goods store. The new pair I put on isn’t exactly new. They’re five years old, but they’ve been sitting in a shoe box in my closet.

Practicing with my sam jei guan (three-sectioned staff). Note the new colors, black and red.

In addition to the shoes, I took a look at my old three-sectioned staff. It’s the same one I bought 25 years ago. It’s still holding up, but it did need to be painted.

Rather than simply break out with the spray paint and masking tape and have at it, I decided to try something different. I’ve been practicing the Yau Kung Mun version of the three sectional instead of just free-styling it, or trying and failing to recall the form I previously learned.

One of the risks of the three-sectioned staff is that at least one section will always be out of your direct control. I noticed that sometimes when I thought I was holding an end section, I was holding the middle, and vice versa.

So I decided to try different colors. The middle section is red with black trim, while the end sections are both black with red trim. Like my competition uniform.

Besides looking cool, I find it gives me a quick, visual clue as to what section is in my hand at a given moment. This comes in handy, especially during the opening move when the pieces of the staff go from being held together to spread apart.

Which brings me to my recent workouts. I’ve been working the three sectioned staff and the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Fierce Tiger Crashes from Forest) in my recent workouts.

Today, I managed to get a lot done in just a little more than an hour. Starting with a full-body stretch, I did an eight-rough circuit with the Mung Fu Chuit Lum form, the ab wheel and three to eight reps of claw pushups.

I did the pushups in a pyramid fashion, starting with all five fingers in the first set, and removing a finger with each set until I was down to just doing them on my thumb. For the last few sets, I only did about three reps, but I’m proud to say that I can finally do them with a fully-extended pushup position, not from my knees.

After the set on my thumbs, I started adding fingers with each set. I closed with a set of 15 pushups with all the fingers on each hand.

With the circuit completed, I warmed up with five rollouts on each side and five runs of the first half of the three sectioned staff. It’s a simple form. When you remove the repeating moves, there’s probably only about a dozen moves in that whole set.

But it will take a lot out of you. Especially with the rollouts.

Wednesday's Workout - Tougher than Expected

2009-10-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

I was still recovering from Monday and Tuesday's workouts. My back, my legs and forearms were killing me.

What's more, Vitaly had a half-day at school. I'd already promised him that I would take him and his new bike to Lowry Park. We pedaled the two mile distance between our house and the park. Under normal circumstances, two miles isn't a long or hard ride.

But I was supervising my son, which takes a surprising lot out of me. I warned him several times that he had to follow all of my instructions, that he was not to cross any street until I got there with him. He did follow my instructions, but I had to keep him on a short (figurative) leash to reign in his daredevil side.

In addition to the mental stress, the fall temperatures we've been having gave way to some 90-something degree weather.

We stopped at two of the park's playgrounds. While he rode around on his bike or climbed on monkey bars, I did about five runs each of the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Fierce Tiger Crashes from Forest) set. Like most of the other Yau Kung Mun sets, it's short and fast. I've also been placing some emphasis on the fu jow (tiger claw) strikes in that set, visualizing the arm grabs and throat chokes.

I closed with a quick stretching routine which emphasized hips, core and legs. On the plus side, my right knee feels better than it has in weeks. I'm a lot less stiff and sore there today as I have been for much of the summer.

Tonight, I'll probably take some time off of the MFCL set to work exclusively on some Baguazhang with Bret.

On that note, I want to inform my Tampa-area readers that Bret is teaching Gao Family Bagua to the general public. For more information, email me at hand2handckbc@hotmail.com.

Tuesday's Workout - Pushing Through

2009-10-07T04:42:00.000-07:00

The view from the docks at Rivercrest Park, another peaceful place along the Hillsborough River. At the right time, I get to watch manatees drift along while resting between sets.

I went to Rivercrest Park, another City of Tampa Park along the Hillsborough River. It's a bit more out-of-the-way than Lowry Park, but I wanted to include some back exercises in my circuit.

Unfortunately, they dismantled the chin-up bars along that park's Parcourse. I had to content myself with doing the best I could with the monkey bars. I still got in a decent circuit of the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Fierce Tiger Charges from Forest) set, pullups and leg raises, even though the monkey bars were designed for children.

I completed the circuit in right at 10 minutes. For the rest of the hour, I worked on various basics including: two versions of Jik Bo, a training exercise from both Yau Kung Mun (Soft Power) and Bak Mei (White Eyebrow) styles of Kung Fu.

An example of Jik Bo. Not pretty. Not a lot of moves. But a very practical exercise that's good for developing a powerful jab/low cross combination.

I also worked on some of the new Baguazhang basics I learned from Bret last week before wrapping up with some basics and some sections of the Sam Jie Guan (Three-sectioned staff). Even though I didn't do the entire sent, which includes two roll-outs, I still managed to put myself through a little training hell and really wear out my forearms.

Good Monday Workout! It's Great to get Outside Again!

2009-10-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

I took my Monday workout to Lowry Park. There's a fairly secluded spot with some nice thick grass and soft ground next to a creek that feeds into the Hillsborough River that is probably my favorite place in the park.

Located only a mile from my house, in the middle of Tampa, it is still possible to see some typical Florida wildlife, including turtles, alligators (see above) and even manatees.

Not many people are likely to come walking through. It helps me to avoid hecklers, or worse, those half-wits who think their idle curiosity gives them the right to interrupt my workout. Anyone who trains outdoors in a public place knows who I'm talking about.

"Hey, is that some kind of kerrotty?"

"Do you give kerrotty lessons?"

The only sounds were the loud "bloops" coming from a troop of siamang apes at Lowry Park Zoo across the street. I took it as cheers of encouragement even if they weren't able to see me practice.

One of my most vocal fans

The soft grass and smooth ground makes it the perfect place to practice the Yau Kung Mun Sam Jie Guan (Three Sectioned Staff) set. I'll write more about that later.

An example of the Sam Jie Guan or Three-sectioned staff

After staking out my spot, I did a full-body stretch. Surprisingly, I haven't lost much, but my glutes, my adductors and my hamstrings are killing me today. I followed that up with a simple circuit that will be the core of my workouts for this month.

This circuit consisted of five runs each of the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Tiger Charges from the Forest) set and the Sam Jie Guan. The soft ground makes it easier to do those set since the MFCL has several of the Yau Kung Mun knee drops.

But the reall killer was the roll-outs done while striking with the Sam Jie Guan. I've put on about 30 pounds since I last did any serious training in Judo, JuJitsu or Aikido. You'll really feel that weight when you hit the ground, no matter how soft it is.

Between each run of the Sam Jie Guan and the MFCL, I did a set of six to 10 claw pushups and 15 crunches. To keep things interesting, I did my last three sets of pushups with my feet elevated on a park bench.

Like the stretching, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I haven't lost much from lack of practice. In fact, my strength has increased and the pushups were much easier than the last time I did them.

I guess I did get something from that body building at Gold's Gym.

I'm Back! And I Have Some Stories to Tell!

2009-10-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!

I'm back. Yeah, it's been a while. I've got a lot of catching up to do, so let's get this started.

After a summer of health issues, between my stomach, a cold and a stubborn case of strep throat, I knew I had to get back into shape. Taking my mother's advice and her generosity, I let her pay for a trial membership for me at the local Gold's Gym.

I needed to restore myself to some semblance of decent condition. I also hate being at the mercy of the weather. I love working out outdoors. In fact, I generally prefer it. But as Jimmy Buffett once said, "You can't reason with hurricane season."

Sometimes, the weather just won't cooperate. Thunder, lightning and rain drive me into the small section of my carport where I keep my wooden dummy. It really limits my workouts. There's very few forms or weapons I can practice in that small space.

So after shopping around and getting jerked around by the local health clubs, I settled on Golds.
I'll give them a lot of credit. They certainly were convenient and well-equipped. I enjoyed doing maki komis using the weight stacks on a Universal-type machine. Even more, I enjoyed watching some other gym rats attempt the same exercise and get slammed against the machine because they have a poor root.

But beyond indulging my sadistic sense of humor, after three weeks, I got bored with it. Pure bodybuilding in and of itself has gotten boring. Don't get me wrong. I like weight lifting and I think it should be a part of any athlete's workout. But just going up and down with a barbell or weight stack without some direct martial applications doesn't do it for me anymore.

I opted not to join full-time. I'll probably go with the YMCA since they have some good activities for the wife and kid.

I did have a good introductory Baguazhang practice with Bret Bumgarner. He's starting to teach his art openly and I'm helping him with some of the administrative work and marketing.

The workout was tough. Bagua is a lot more than walking around in a circle. Bret's style, which is Gao family style, is very combat-oriented. It also has a strong Xinyi flavor to it through its use of the San-Ti (Trinity) posture.

By the next morning, my legs were killing me, but my back was looser than it has been in weeks.

After recovering on Friday, I had a good session with Don. He helped me get back up to speed on the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Tiger Charges from the Forest) set. We also did some chi sao, t'ui shou and t'ui kirk practice. Don's approach to sensitivity exercises is very unconventional to say the least. He likes to mix it up with moves not normally associated with such practices. In a previous chi sao session, he bit me in the arm.

I think such a move would get you disqualified from competition. But then, during his career in the Navy, I think Don was a lot less worried about being called out by a referree than he was with avoiding a stint in a POW camp.

Those sessions with Don and Bret did snap me out of my funk. With hurricane season drawing to a close and dryer weather on the way, I can look forward to some nice sessions along the river.

One other thing - Check out the November 2009 issue of Black Belt: The World's Leading Magazine of Self Defense for my article on "Five Urban Legends that Refuse to Die" in the martial arts. It includes my all-time favorite, the notion that a black belt holder must register his hands as deadly weapons.

Available at your local newstand, Bounders, Buns & Noodles, Crooks-a-Zillion or other megalithic chain bookstore.

P.S. In the past, I have used this blog to comment on a number of things only tangentially related to martial arts, fitness or self defense. In the future, I'll be putting such things on my other blog, Sean C. Ledig - Writer / Editor / Photojournalist.

While there will be some crossover between the two blogs, I'll be using this one to discuss martial arts, fitness and related topics. The other blog will be a chance to keep my friends, family and fans informed of my latest projects, as well as my musings on politics, pop culture and philosophy.

When you get a chance, check it out.

Disney buys Marvel: Is this good for Marvel

2009-09-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Bart Simpson's favorite hangout. In real life, you're more likely to find middle-aged men than 10-year-old boys at comic book stores.

Watching Bart Simpson makes me nostalgic. In so many ways, I was Bart when I was 10 years-old.

One way in particular is that we are both comic book collectors and fans. From my childhood through my mid-teens, a great deal of my allowance, and money from other sources, like birthday and Christmas gifts, went to comics.

As soon as I had it, I’d be off to the Acme Mall Bookstore, Sleeping Giant Books or The Paperback Trader, getting the latest issues of X-Men, The Fantastic Four or Captain America. Or, in the case of the Paperback Trader, back issues as well.

I identify so much whenever Bart is found hanging out at The Android’s Dungeon, home of John Anderson, aka Comic Book Guy. (If you’re a Simpsons fan and didn’t know his real name, shame on you!)

Trouble is, in real life, you won’t see 10-year-olds hanging out at comic book stores. When I was 11 years-old, my $1 allowance would be enough for three comics. Today, my son’s $2 allowance would buy him about half a Marvel or DC comic.

Comics have been priced out of most kids’ budgets. Plus, they are competing with so many other forms of entertainment - video games, DVD’s, hundreds of cable channels - that we couldn’t even imagine back in the 70’s.

Kids today still love their superheroes. My son’s superheroes are many of the same ones I had when I was his age. He likes them just as much as I did. But he doesn’t get his heroes from comics anymore. He gets them from movies, TV, DVD and videogames.

Two days ago, I wrote in this space about the cons of Disney's purchase of Marvel Comics. Today, I wish to talk about how Disney can help Marvel, especially in these interactive, multi-media times.

Marvel Comics has a long history of failures when it comes to bringing their heroes to TV or the movies. A 1960’s TV show, “Marvel Superheroes”, which featured the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, was so horribly animated that its only value is for the cheese factor.

Several animated TV shows for “Spider-Man” and “The Fantastic Four” had mixed success.

In the 1970’s, Marvel tried bringing several of it’s characters to live action on the small screen. Spider-Man, Dr. Strange and Captain America all bombed. The live action version of The Hulk, with bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, enjoyed some success and lasted for almost four years.

Marvel's live-action version of The Hulk (above) was a moderate success on TV that lasted for almost four seasons (1977-1981). The same could not be said for Captain America (below) which bombed after two made-for-TV movies.

However, attempts to introduce Daredevil and Thor in TV movies with The Hulk were horrible, horrible embarrassments in the late 1980’s. Movies based on The Punisher and Captain America in the early 1990’s went straight to video.

Matt Salinger (son of author J.D.) in a Captain America movie that went straight to video in 1990.

It wasn’t until a relatively minor character, Blade the Vampire Slayer, was brought to life by Wesley Snipes in 1998 did Marvel enjoy any major success on the big screen. The “X-Men” in 2000, as well as its sequels in 2003 and 2006, were also extremely successful.

Wesley Snipes version of a minor Marvel Comics character, Blade, The Vampire Slayer (above) in 1998, singled handedly turned around Marvel's poor track record at the box office. That success was repeated with the X-Men (below) two years later.

Several movies with Spider-Man followed, as well as Iron Man in 2008. Both of those characters were quite successful.

Sadly, the success could not be replicated with “The Incredible Hulk”, “Daredevil” or “Elektra.” The first Fantastic Four movie was pretty good, despite some liberties taken with the characters and their back stories. The second sucked, despite the introduction of the Silver Surfer.

“Ghost Rider” had some great special effects, but personally, Nicolas Cage was not my first choice for the lead role.

The fact is, comics are a dying art form. The only people who still read them are middle-aged to seniors, with the occasional college kid or serviceman. Just go to a comic store on the day the new comics arrive. Those 30 and 40-somethings with the suits and ties stopping in after work are not buying for their kids. Those books they buy will be bagged and boarded and stashed away where the kids can’t read them as soon as the buyer gets home.

If we are going to keep those characters and their stories alive, film, TV and animation are the ways to go. And Disney dominates in all three mediums. Disney gave us the first full-length animated movie with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” in 1938. Disney owns the ABC television network, several theme parks, several cable channels and a shitload of downtown Orlando, FL.

Disney is synonymous with feature animations and for good reason - their movies are some of the best animated films ever made. And their live-action movies are very good, too.

As a corporation, Disney employs thousands of writers, actors, stuntmen, animators, special effects technicians, cameramen, editors, musicians and computer experts. In fact, they pretty much have everyone they need on their staff in any facet of the entertainment industry.

With Disney’s vast financial resources, coupled with their vast human resources, they could turn around Marvel Comics’ mixed success with bringing their characters to the large or small screen. Whether with live actors or animation, they have what it takes to make great movies, DVD’s and TV shows.

As long as they stay faithful and respectful to the spirit of the characters, as long as they realize that Wolverine is not Mickey Mouse and that the Punisher is not Goofy, I see no reason why this partnership can’t be successful.

But for now, the only thing we can do is wait and see how Disney and Marvel handle this great entertainment opportunity.

Disney buys Marvel: Is this a sign of the Apocalypse?

2009-09-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Followers of “Tales from the Carport Kwoon” know that I tend to venture off into a wide range of subjects, no matter how tangentially they are connected to martial arts or fitness. In previous posts, I’ve proclaimed my preference for The Green Hornet over Batman and mourned the passing of “Kung Fu” star, David Carradine and “Enter the Dragon” villain, Shek Kin.

Most recently, I appealed to my fellow gun owners, no matter how you feel about the health care debate or about President Barack Obama, to leave your guns at home when you go to public meetings. You’re only playing into the hands of those who would like to obliterate the right to keep and bear arms.

Today, I’ll be commenting on Disney’s buyout of Marvel Comics Group for $4 billion. What do comic books have to do with martial arts? Well, martial artists are notorious comic book fans and comic fans are major lovers of martial arts in film and TV. I personally know three black belts who’ve owned or managed comic book stores.

I also know comic books have inspired many young men to enter the gym and build up their muscles in an effort to look like their favorite characters. Former professional wrestler and one-half of the champion tag team, The Killer Bees, B. Brian Blair, once admitted to me that his love of Superman was what started him on his own physical fitness kick.

Pro-wrestler Brian Blair, left, said his desire to be like Superman inspired him to hit the gym.

If you’re looking for an easy answer about whether Disney’s purchase of Marvel is a good thing, stop now. There are few easy answers in life and you’re not going to find it here.

I’ve been a longtime fan of both Marvel and Disney. I grew up with Disney in my house, primarily because of my father. I had paperbacks and comics featuring Disney characters as a small child. When I adopted my son, the first place my father took him was to Walt Disney World.

The first Marvel Comic I ever owned.

When I was seven, I was hooked on Marvel Comics, especially with the purchase of Marvel Spotlight issue five, the first appearance of the Ghost Rider. Today, I have a collection of between 3,000 and 4,000 comics. At least two-thirds of that collection consists of Marvels.

First, lets look at some of the cons of Tuesday’s purchase by Disney. The Disney company is synonymous with “family entertainment.” Of course, family entertainment is pretty much a euphemism for “toning down and dumbing down entertainment for the palatability of small children.”

Perhaps the worst example is Disney’s version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” a very dark tale by Victor Hugo, and turning into the usual song and dance production.

Not the only, but perhaps the most egregious example of how Disney has taken dark, gothic literature and toned it down for children.

But it doesn’t end with “Hunchback.” Disney has taken many classic tales from the public domain and adapted them for screenplays, especially fairy tales like “Snow White”, “Cinderella”, “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Little Mermaid.” Anyone familiar with the original stories, as recounted by The Brothers Grimm and Lewis Carroll, knows that they were also much darker, much more gruesome, than Disney would have you believe.

Meanwhile, Marvel has a well-deserved reputation for pushing the envelope. Even when under the restrictive Comics Code Authority, they loved to see what they could get away with. They even exerted pressure on the CCA to ease up on some of their standards. For example, the Code originally prohibited depictions of occult figures, especially “living dead” creatures like vampires and zombies.

Only under pressure from Marvel Comics did the Comics Code Authority ease up on their rules to allow horror comics, like these featuring Dracula and Frankenstein's moster, to hit the newstands.

In 1972, Marvel got the code to ease up on that restriction, and released a number of horror comics, including “Tomb of Dracula” and “The Monster of Frankenstein.”

In one famous incident, Marvel released “The Amazing Spider-Man” number 96 without the Code’s seal. At the time, the Code forbade any mention of drug abuse, even if it was anti-drug. But Marvel’s editor-in-chief and co-creator of most of its superheroes, Stan Lee, was asked to do an anti-drug story by the White House. When he asked the Code for permission to do a story about Peter Parker’s friend, Harry Osborne struggling with drug addiction, the Code said “no.”

Quick! What's missing from this cover?

Lee was shocked that they would say no even though this request came from the President himself. So Lee shocked the industry by releasing that issue without the seal.

But Marvel has pushed the envelope in other ways, ways that seem incredibly minor today but were shocking when they happened. The company gave us heroes like The Punisher, Wolverine and Blade the Vampire Slayer, who didn’t share other heroes self-imposed restrictions on killing bad guys. In X-Men 116, Wolverine fatally dispatched a sentry who was guarding an enemy’s hide-out. The reader doesn’t see the killing, but the horrified look on Nightcrawler and Storm’s faces leaves no doubt as to what happened.

In the 1980’s, while still operating under the Code, Marvel pushed the limits in another, then-shocking way in the pages of the Fantastic Four, showing husband and wife characters, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman sharing a bed. Horror of horrors! A married couple in the same bed! You'd think they were answering the question about whether Mr. Fantastic could stretch all parts of his body!

Though it should be noted that the same taboo wasn’t broken on prime time network TV until the 1970’s when Mike and Carol Brady were shown sharing a bed on “The Brady Bunch.”

Still, The Fantastic Four pushed a lot of boundaries. Long before the Simpsons, they were the first dysfunctional family in comics. The FF dealt with everything from marital infidelity, divorce, domestic violence and even child abuse just among its members.

Perhaps the other way Marvel pushed the envelope was with the vocabulary used by its characters. When Marvel was started, the general rule in comics was to avoid three-syllable words. Four syllable words were pretty much verboten.

But Lee considered himself a writer, first and foremost. He wanted characters and stories which appealed to adults. His critics once derided him by saying that a kid would need a dictionary to get through a Marvel Comic.

Lee responded that there are worse things to do to a kid than make him look up a word in the dictionary.

Of course today, Lee and Marvel are still going strong. Can rival companies, like Gold Key, Atlas or Charlton say the same?

So where do things go now? Will we see The Punisher forced to load his M16 with tranquilizer darts? Will Wolverine be forced to sheathe his claws? Stay tuned, folks.

And come back here tomorrow for the pros of Disney’s purchase of Marvel.

Same Kwoon time. Same Kwoon channel.

For Once, I Agree with Jim and Sara Brady

2009-08-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

News stories like this will only serve to turn Americans against guns and gun owners

In court, when two judges arrive at the same conclusion but through different methods, it is called a concurring opinion.

That's what I've come to today with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. I've never agreed with them before, but I do agree that if you're going to a presidential event, you need to leave your guns at home.

Those who know me, know that I am a staunch supporter of the right to keep and bear arms. I've written and spoken extensively about that view. In this blog, I've written about how I enjoy living in Florida because I can take my kwan dao, my gim or the my three-sectioned staff to the neighborhood park and enjoy a quiet training session along the Hillsborough River. In other places where I've lived, such as California, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, I'd be committing a felony if I did that.

Believe me, I am no friend of the Bradys. I learned first-hand how poorly gun control works to prevent gun violence when I was 18 and found myself staring down the business end of a .38 revolver. I've seen how well gun control doesn't work in New York City, Boston and Oakland, CA., three cities with abominable crime rates despite their strict gun laws.

But this week, as President Obama and members of congress take part in town meetings to discuss healthcare reform, some boneheads decided that now is the time and place to make a statement about the 2nd Amendment by showing up armed.

That's just what responsible gun owners don't need is more dumb (expletive deleted) perpetuating the stereotype that gun owners are a bunch of inbred, right-wing reactionaries bent upon violence if they don't get their way at the ballot box. Yes, we do have a legal, Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. But by carrying them at these town hall meetings, we are not making a statement, but instead playing into the hands of those who would ban everything from pocketknives to semi-automatic rifles.

God forbid if some psycho actually does take a shot at Obama. If you look at the history of gun control, you'll see that high profile assassinations are often the catalysts for more controls on weapons.

The killings of Jack and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. did a lot to turn the tide against gun ownership. Many new laws restricting carrying of weapons were passed in response to those shootings. *

In California, the Black Panther Party sought to make the same statement about the right to keep and bear arms as today's right-wingers are attempting to do today by carrying rifles into the state capital in Sacremento. The response by the California legislators and several local governments was to place more restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms in that state.

Images like this, showing Black Panthers brandishing rifles, went a long way to scaring people into supporting gun control during the 1960's.

In 1980, the killing of John Lennon also spurred the call for more gun control.** Three months later, the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan kept the anti-gun momentum going. What's more, that shooting turned White House press secretary Jim Brady, and his wife, Sara, into two of the most vocal and most successful opponents of the right to keep and bear arms following his near-fatal injuries at the hands of John Hinckley, Jr.

So speaking on behalf of responsible gun owners everywhere, leave your weapons at home if you're going to one of those town hall meetings. All it is going to take is one accident, or one nutjob to turn the tide against us once more.

* I don't believe for a second that all the gun control in the world would have saved the Kennedys or King. I don't claim to know the truth about how and why they died, but I have no doubt that their killings were orchestrated by factions within our government. Because of this, their assassins would have had access to weapons no matter what the law said.

**I'm no fan of John Lennon, but I have my suspicions about his killing, too. It just seems strange to me that such prominent foes of the Vietnam War all met the same untimely end.

No Workout, Just Some Ruminations

2009-08-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Some examples of classical conditioning found in both Okinawan Karate and Chinese Kung Fu.

I haven't worked out since Wednesday of last week. The respiratory issues are still kicking my ass. Tomorrow I'll be going back to my doctor for a refill of the antibiotics.

Thursday, Don paid me a visit. Due to illnesses and family obligations, we haven't had any chance to train together while he was home. Though we didn't get to practice, we did have a great exchange of information as we watched a DVD of some of his kung fu brothers going through Yau Kung Mun sets.

It was one of those times of information overload. There was just too much good stuff to recount it all here. Mainly, our conversation centered around the differences in the forms between different branches of Yau Kung Mun. In fact, we saw versions of two of the most advanced fighting forms of that art, the Sup Baht Mor Kiu (18 Devils Bridge) and the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Fierce Tiger Charges from the Forest) that were almost unrecognizable from what he and I practiced.

It can get confusing sometimes to see all the differences between the various sets, even in schools of the same style. I've studied Yang Taijiquan with three teachers who all have trained with Cheng Man Ching, but none of their forms bear any resemblance to each other.

Cheng Man Ching (1901-1975)

But one thing I've come to appreciate about Don is that nothing is set in stone for him. While he has his way of performing the sets and the basics, he is willing to allow for some latitude in how others practice the techniques. While we strive to remain faithful to the spirit of those who've gone before us, we realize that people and times change.

You're not likely to see a 200-pound Shaolin monk with a 50-inch chest. Or a (ahem!) 34-inch waist. So we have to make some allowances for the size and shape differences to make the art work for us.

And if you can't make it work, then it's time to try something else.

On another topic, my birthday is in November and there is this book on "The Art of Hojo Undo: Power Training for Traditional Karate" that I would like to add to my library. According to Amazon.com, it is scheduled to be released in September.

The product description says that the book not only teaches how to use this equipment, like stone dumbbells or padlocks, but how to make it as well.

If that's the case, I can't wait for this book. I look forward to getting out my tools and making some more gear for my carport kwoon.

Sweating It Out

2009-08-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

"Sweating is how you give your insides a bath."
Jean-Claude Van Damme *

I'm not much of a fan of the Damme guy, but I'll give him credit where it's due. Sweating is how you give your insides a bath. It's a way of purging your insides of toxins, bacteria and viruses.

My old boxing coach, Steve Williams, was a firm believer in the value of sweating. So much so, that true to his Native American upbringing, he built a sweatlodge on his his property, using it religiously (pun intended) to remove pollution from his body.

A Native American sweatlodge, similar to the one my boxing coach built. To the Native Americans, sweating helped to purify your body and mind.

I've put that idea to use during Monday's and today's workouts. I'm still fighting a little bit of that strep, so I kept it light. Today's session lasted 45 minutes, but half of that was a much needed stretch.

But once my muscles were good and relaxed, I walked out into the humid noontime Florida sun. The thunderclaps in the distance let me know that a deluge is coming down and threatening to keep me indoors for the next few days. I set out to get done what I could.

I've been wanting to get back to using my kwan dao, but since I know I'm nowhere near healthy enough to swing around a 15-pound polearm, I decided to do some staff sets in my circuit. Today's circuit included four runs each of the Siu Sup Jee Kuen (Small Cross Pattern Set) and Luk Hup Guan (Six Coordinate Staff) from Yau Kung Mun. Between each run, I did a set of five reps with the abwheel and five claw pushups.

A slightly different version of Sup Jee Kuen, but you gotta admit, it looks cool in this video.

I managed to get through it without fainting. Still, as winded as I was, I managed to squeeze in one run of the Mook Yan Johng Kuen (Wing Chun's Wooden Dummy Form).

*Yeah, I know that picture's not that Damme guy! I'd rather look at some model glistening than see him sweat like a pig even if that's what this article is about!

Training While Sick

2009-08-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

It's one of the biggest questions ever faced by any athlete.

How much can, or should, you exercise while you're sick? It's well-known that people who do exercise regularly tend not to get as sick as often as those who don't.

But what about when you're already sick? What can or should you do when you have that full-blown cold or strep throat?

I've been dealing with that question a lot lately. I've had several health issues keep me from training as hard as I would have liked to this summer. My old knee pain acted up on me a few weeks ago, then it was some stomach issues, then a cold that morphed into strep throat.

I find that doing a workout when you're just starting to feel sick can help prevent the onset of disease. Gichin Funakoshi claimed that by running through some kata, he could sweat out a cold before it took hold of him.

In my experience, sometimes a light workout late in the progression of an illness can be what's needed to fight off the last of the bug. But the secret, whether trying to head off an illness or purging yourself of what's left, is moderation. Pushing yourself too hard can cause a relapse.

So yesterday, I did my first workout in a couple of weeks. I kept it light, working on some chain punches or straight blasts, a couple runs each of the Siu Lam Tao and the Mook Yan Johng Kuen, with a little bit of the ab roller between runs.

Altogether, I spent a grand total of 20 minutes. Not a whole lot of time. Probably equal to the amount of time children get for recess these days. But it did make me feel better to get off my ass and do something.

And my lungs and sinuses do feel a little bit clearer today for yesterday's workout.

I'll probably keep it short again today. Maybe 20 to 25 minutes, tops. Maybe I can blow out the last of this creepy crud.

Fighting a Bug

2009-08-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Yeah, you gotta dig those old educational films

Yes, it's been quite a summer.

First I have some undiagnosed stomach issue that may or may not be my gallbladder. I've been jumping through all kinds of hoops trying to find out what exactly the problem is and how to treat it.

Meanwhile, for the past three weeks, I've been eating a very low-fat diet. I've lost eight pounds, but it's hard to see how much of that is also atrophy from the missed workouts. Still, this diet is very boring. It's much harder than when I gave up red meat for Lent earlier this year.

I like chicken well enough. I've been eating it almost every day. But in addition to red meat, I've also abstained from cheese, butter and most sweets. I also cut back on the amount of spicy food I normally eat.

That's hard because I do love spicy food. I also believe that my generous use of spices and herbs improves my health, especially my digestion and my metabolism. Most importantly, it has helped me to beat my salt addiction. There are so many ways, and much better ways, to flavor food without added salt, and thanks to my use of herbs and spices, I rarely use salt.

Then late last week, Vitaly and I got hit hard. He has strep throat and I'm fighting a cold. I've had strep before, so I can recognize the symptoms and I don't believe that I have it. Still, this cold is in my chest and I am doing my best to avoid having to use antibiotics.

Kimchi - that nuclear-hot Korean sour kraut that is good for what ails you.

For the past four days, I've lived on chicken broth, rice, ramen noodles, grapefruit juice and kimchi. I credit the latter with keeping my sinuses clear and helping me load up on antioxidants. I don't know a native Korean who doesn't believe that their national side dish isn't a miracle cure. Based on my experiences with the stuff, I have to agree.

Still, it once again puts a hole in my workouts. I'll be taking it easy and eating even more simply than usual.

Tae Kwon Do and Autism Article Appears in TKD Times

2009-07-28T15:02:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

Just letting you know that my profile of Hunter Oliver, a seven-year-old Tampa Bay boy with autism is in the September 2009 issue of TKD Times.

I'm pretty proud of it. They gave the article good play and ran it in the entire length.

I got my advance copy today, so it should be available soon at your local newstand or bookstore.

Playing a little bit of catch-up

2009-07-24T08:26:00.001-07:00

Hi folks!

Yeah, it's been a while. Between some health issues, paying jobs, trying to find paying jobs, home repairs and upcoming family obligations, I haven't had much time for training and less time for keeping up with the latest from the Carport Kwoon.

First of all, a week of regular rain kept me inside for much of the second week of this month. I know, I know, Tampa needs the rain. I'm well-aware of our drought situation.

But human beings need sunshine, too. And we need time outdoors to get fresh air. Without those two things, we suffer, both mentally and physically. I know that being stuck indoors did not have a good effect on my normally sunny disposition.

Early last week I was hit with some major stomach issues. I've spoken with four people who've all had their gallbladders removed and they seem to think that mine needs to go, too. I've been doing the usual jumping through hoops and taking tests. If it's gotta go, then it's gotta go. Just make it soon so I can get back to my life.

I did do some training this week. Mostly some light workouts in-between home repairs and cleaning. Wednesday, I finally got together with Bret Bumgarner, a mostly online friend who is no slouch when it comes to internal training in martial arts.

He offered some great suggestions for what little Baguazhang I know. Hell, he put me into information overload. I was really sorry I did not have my notebook, video camera and tape recorder handy. It's hard to know where to begin.

We also had a great push hands session. While my root is still pretty strong, my waist and hip coordination were my downfall. Thankfully, Bret lives near Carrollwood. Push hands is something that can only be developed with lots of practice with other competent practitioners. If you don't practice, you will very quickly lose any benefits.

Bret is no sadist. But his Baguazhang and his push hands have a very strong martial flavor. None of that new-agey, lovey-dovey, peace, love and understanding that permeates so much of Chinese martial arts, especially Taijiquan.

No, Bret loves his overkill. He would be a very dangerous guy in a streetfight. Contrary to what so many other internal stylists teach or practice, Bret's art is very aggressive. As he likes to phrase it, "Bagua guys don't give a shit!"

But it's not sloppy, either. He doesn't sacrifice solid body mechanics for aggression. He pointed out my overuse of my shoulder muscles showing how and why my shoulders get so tired in chi sao and push hands. He's forced me to re-examine how I do the bong sao (elbow-up) block in Wing Chun, both with partners and on the dummy.

Lastly, check out your newstand or bookstore. I have articles appearing in the Sept. 2009 issue of TKD TIMES and the Nov. 2009 issue of BLACK BELT.

In TKD TIMES, I profile a seven-year-old boy with autism and how he's benefitted from Tae Kwon Do training with local instructor, Chris Man-Son-Hing. In the interest of disclosure, Man-Son-Hing Sabum Nim (master instructor) was also one of my classmates in Tang Soo Do and Hap Ki Do under the late Kim Jae Joon Kwan Jang Nim (grandmaster).

For BLACK BELT, I take a look at the martial arts urban legends that refuse to die. Among them: A black belt must register his hands as deadly weapons; A black belt is legally prohibited from using his martial art in self defense unless his opponent is also a black belt; A black belt can rip a person's heart from his chest and show it to him before he dies.

Forgive me for including a spoiler here, but all those legends are just a crock of shit with no truth to them whatsoever. But they're still out there and I take great pleasure in debunking them.

Takin' the Knee to Rehab

2009-07-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

"They try to make me to go to rehab, and I say uh, no, no, no!"
- From "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse -

Knee joints are a bitch.

It's easily the most complex, most misunderstood joint in the body. I had my right knee kicked in during a sparring practice in 1984. It was a pretty typical accident, especially in Korean martial arts. My partner and I tried to kick each other at the same time, our legs collided and I happened to take it on the inside of the knee.

Three years later, my left knee gave out. I'd just been favoring that leg so much that the wear- and-tear just got to it.

In 1992, my then-sifu, Lucjan Shila, and my kung fu brother, Andy Macaluso, taught me some new ways of stretching. Combined with some other changes in my workout, I've been able to manage my knee pain pretty well. Thanks to their advice and training, I often go for months, or even years, without any problems whatsoever.

But once in a while, I'll do something that sets it off again. I'll be limping around or even resorting to my cane while trying to rehabilitate my knee through the use of stretching and strengthening exercises, various medicines, both modern pharmaceuticals and herbal remedies, along with some common sense and rest.

I've hit one of those times again. My right knee has been giving me some pain since I twisted my foot getting out of my car. It wasn't a bad twist and that's how it usually happens. Just some moment of not paying attention causes a little twist or some impact that causes the old pain to act up. Of course, I don't think the wet weather we've had lately has helped matters, either.

So my summertime efforts at returning to some strong basics are taking on a whole new meaning. I've found that when dealing with injuries, very often, the best thing to do is the most basic exercises and techniques.

Today, I started with a short but good 15-minute standing stake exercise, aka "Embrace the World" posture. There is nothing like that exercise to gently get your joints back into shape and to force you to pay attention to your alignment and body structure. It's an incredibly basic exercise with benefits that carry over to the rest of your practice.

I followed that with a full-body stretch while I plan out my workouts for the next couple of weeks. I think I'll be focusing mostly on various qigong and stretching exercises in the morning, followed by the usual strongman stuff in the afternoon.

We'll see how it goes.

Seeking Help from Fellow Martial Artists

2009-06-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

I'm sure most of you know that I do some writing for the martial arts press. Well, I'm turning to all of you for help with an article I'm writing.

The article is about dangers of MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) for martial arts practitioners. I've got everything I need for the article except for one crucial part - personal testimonies and experiences of those who've contracted MRSA through the practice of martial arts.

If you, or anyone you know, has ever contracted MRSA through martial arts, boxing or grappling, and if you're willing to share your story in a magazine article, please contact me at sean.ledig@gmail.com

Thanks.

Surviving the Traditional Dojo: A Book Review

2009-06-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

Terms like “traditionalist,” “classical,” “modern,” and “eclectic” get thrown around a lot in the martial arts. Sometimes, the martial arts world can seem like a war zone between two camps. One group seems frozen in time and place in Feudal Japan or Ch’ing Dynasty China. The other believes that anything created before Bruce Lee’s treatise “Liberate Yourself from Classical Karate” is completely useless for modern times.

For me, practicing and teaching martial arts is a balancing act. We shouldn’t live in the past. On the other hand, we shouldn’t forget the lessons that history has to share with us.

Some modern stylists often treat me like I’m some kind of frozen chosen traditionalist because I will incorporate classical training methods, forms and weapons into my practice. Though I don't often use the traditional terms to describe techniques, I am very familiar with the terminology in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Filipino martial arts.

Meanwhile, some hardcore traditionalists (mistakenly) assume I have no respect for the old masters who’ve gone before me. After all, I use modern terminology, keep up on the latest health and fitness news, and I support cross-training for martial artists. Unless I’m competing in a tournament or visiting someone else’s dojo or kwoon, my uniform consists of sweats, wrestling shoes, a t-shirt and a bandana to keep the sweat out of my eyes.

The reality for myself and other martial artists usually falls somewhere between those extremes. Matt “Ikigai” Apsokardu’s new e-book, “Surviving the Traditional Dojo,” illustrates this point. One thing I’ve always respected about his blog, “Ikigai” shows that there’s more similarity than difference between the various camps. Though he considers himself a traditionalist, he places a higher value on practicality than on blindly following tradition, a characteristic I’ve come to respect in him.

The book is very well-suited for beginners, as well as parents of beginners, in understanding martial arts, though advanced martial artists could benefit from regular refreshment of their basics. It introduces the proper Japanese terminology for the uniform, the instructor, your senior and junior classmates. But while the book is written from the perspective of a Japanese-Okinawan Karate sensei, it has a lot to offer practitioners of any art, whether Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Thai, etc.

Apsokardu is no fan of the current state of martial arts, particularly the commercialism which permeates the scene. He offers some great examples of a dojo vs. a faux-jo. Personally, I like the terms, “McDojo” or “Belt-of-the-Month-Club”, but faux-jo works.

He creates a great mental image for the reader as he compares the simple “Clean, modest uniforms” of the dojo to the “Fancy Uniforms with stripes, patches, logos, etc.” of faux-jos, which sadly, seems to be the norm these days.

There’s also a great deal of information on the traditional etiquette for practitioners of Japanese martial arts. Any new student, or that student’s parental units, would benefit from knowing what is expected of them in a traditional dojo.

From an athletic standpoint, there’s some practical, albeit basic information on stretching and warming up. Most of it should be common sense, but so many senseis, and other athletic coaches, tend to ignore this, much to their students’ and players’ detriment.

I hesitate to call this book a consumer guide, especially since the author eschews the commercial atmosphere of the current martial arts scene. But that is one of this book’s greatest strengths. The sections on “Warning Signs of Trouble,” “What to do if You feel At Risk,” and “Sensei Behavior You Don’t Have to Tolerate,” should be must-reads for any new student or the parents. In my 30-plus years in the martial arts, I’ve seen plenty of examples of all three.

The information on history also blows away the stereotype of traditional martial artists being completely adverse to anything new. His chapters on belt ranks, and his biographical information on judo founder Kano Jigoro and Funakoshi Gichin, who introduced karate to Japan, illustrates that the martial arts have been in a near-constant state of change.

The book closes with submissions from various martial arts instructors and writers, (including myself) on what they think is necessary to survive a traditional dojo. The suggestions are all pretty much just common sense.

But sometimes, that’s what we need most to be reminded of.

I'm in a Grapplin' Kinda Mood

2009-06-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

Entries for an osoto gari-type takedown on the wooden dummy

Ever since my attempt to learn the sam jei guan (three-sectioned staff) set from Yau Kung Mun, I've been in a grappling state of mind.

That set has two rollouts in it. True, I hadn't practiced them in years, but I figured "What the hell." I did them enough in my teens and twenties that it shouldn't be any problem.

Being laid up with a bum shoulder for several days got me thinking I needed to get back to the basics.

Since the start of this week, I've been doing the maki komis (entries for throws) using my old obi (judo belt) tied around my heavy bag. I'm getting a hell of a core workout from it. I've also been using my mat for something other than stretching.

Today, I warmed up with two sets of 25 maki komis, doing the ippon seio nage (shoulder throw) and the koshi garuma. I settled down with a full-body stretch before getting back into some more entries on the o-goshi (hip throw).

I ran through some Ly Jik Bo before moving onto the wooden dummy. I started out with some trapping drills, working up to some combinations. But for some reason, everything just naturally seemed to end in a takedown. I'd do a chi sao roll, then pak, lap, tan or kan sao a dummy arm while hitting with the other hand, then use the hitting hand to block or grab while I hit with the other.

This went on, always keeping a check on the dummy arm while hitting with my free hand. After three or four hits, I'd move in with a takedown involving a sweep, stomp or kick to the dummy leg.

I've never been one to make it as a pure grappler. But I can make grappling work if I soften up the other guy by hitting him. That seemed to be my strategy with the dummy today.

It gave me a lot to think about, like whether I could use this in chi sao competition. But I didn't take too much time for rest. I took the old bag-of-beebees and worked my grip by throwing it up, hitting it with a claw and catching it. I hadn't done it much lately, but I still eked out the traditional 108.

I closed with a variation of a sweep drill, combining methods from judo and shuai jiao. Stepping around the mat, I would sweep with one foot while pretending to pull someone down with my hands. But instead of doing it empty-handed, as judokas will do it, I doubled up my obi, took each end and snapped it as I did a sweep, to simulate violently pulling someone to one of his off-balance points.

It was a helluvan isometric workout. I had to do my 108 reps in two sets.

My shoulders and lats hate me now.

Getting Lazy has its Benefits

2009-06-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

After a period where I'd done some hardcore work on my abs, I got a little lazy. I'd been neglecting my crunches, my sit-ups, my gutbusters (aka "the plank") my leg raises and other exercises.

I knew that I had to get back to working them. I recalled an exercise from my judo days, where I tied an obi (judo belt) around a tree. Holding onto the ends, I would practice my entries over and over. Usually I'd do 100 reps on each side.

This homemade video shows how to practice judo throws solo by tying your obi around a tree. The demonstration starts at about 1:50, so you may want to skip the earlier stuff.

It's a great cardio workout and you will really feel it in your hips, glutes and core.

Trouble was, I'm still not finished cleaning up the Carport Kwoon. I still had a pile of scrap wood around the grapefruit tree I previously used for that purpose.

No problem. Since I laid out some mats around my heavy bag, I decided to simply tie the obi around the bag and do my entries that way. Why waste valuable time and energy that could go into my workout cleaning up around the grapefruit tree?

Turns out, I got more of a workout than I planned. Since the bag swings and hangs from a chain, I can actually pull the bag partly onto my back. It's actually more like loading some guy up before slamming him onto the mat than if I just pulled on a tree.

Eighty reps on each side was all these old muscles could stand. Following a short break, I started work on a new drill, Ly Jik Bo, that Don taught me from Yau Kung Mun Kung Fu. It's a short, aggressive combination that uses a bui sao (shooting hand) to the face, a low cross and an armbreak. Going back and forth on the mats, I only managed about eight trips of four.

As tired and sore as I was from those two exercises, I was still having too much fun to stop. I closed with some drills on the wooden dummy. The first two drills, which I did 20 times each on each side, used a pak sao da (palm block hit) combination ending with a leg takedown.

The final combination, drawing from Preying Mantis Kung Fu, involved a huen sao (circling hand) move ending with a takedown based on the famous Seven Star stance.

I may not know much Preying Mantis, but I know what I like and I know what works.

A demonstration of a Preying Mantis form on the wooden dummy. If you look closely, you'll see some applications of the Seven Star Stance as a takedown.

The Place Where Battles are Won and Lost

2009-06-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

In the words of Joe Lewis, a man considered by many to be the greatest fighter in the history of sport karate, battles are won and lost in the gym. What you do, and don't do in preparing for your battles, whether in the ring, in the street, or with oneself, depends on how you train.

Joe Lewis vs. Fred Wren

So it makes sense that you should treat the place where you train with some respect. It means keeping it clean and keeping your gear in working order.

I've been pretty lax on that. I keep meaning to make the necessary repairs and maintenance, but sometimes I've let other things, including training, get in the way.

Today, I pretty much went back and forth between training and cleaning and fixing things in the Carport Kwoon. I started by taking one of my old judo obis, tying it around my heavy bag, and doing entries for my ippon seio nage (shoulder throw). It may not sound like much, but it will give you a hard workout for your core and your legs. After a good 50 reps on each side, I started with my usual Monday ritual of a full-body stretch.

A great way to practice grappling moves without a partner. It also really works the core and the legs.

I think working the entries did me some good. I noticed my hips and glutes were much more warmed up and I was able to do some better stretches in that area. Following the stretches, I felt so good, I decided to do some entries for the o-goshi, the hip throw.

While resting, I looked around at my training area. There were rubber mats scattered all over the place. The hand tools that I rescued from my late father-in-law's old shed had fallen off the table saw and needed to be picked up. And I still hadn't finished the sweeping I started last week.

I set about laying out the rubber mats around the wooden dummy. I even trimmed one of the mats and attached it to a complete one, making for a snug fit between the dummy's supports.

That done, I did some huen saos (circling hands) and pak sao da (palm block and hit) drills. The new, snug fit for the mats held, giving me a much safer place to do the dummy work. I won't have to worry about sliding on the mats. That means I won't have to choose between using the mats and minimizing impact on my joints, or not using the mats and having to worry about slipping.

I wanted to do more, both with training, cleaning and repairs, but my wife's car was in the shop. Being a one-car family meant I had to pick her up at work.

Getting Back to Basics

2009-06-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

"You can't take a shower just pouring water on your body. You also have to use some kind of soap. The soap you use in this case are mantras, which go between the mind and the body....(But) at a certain point, the mantra becomes a hang-up. It becomes another form of dirt. Like Soap. If you don't rinse it off, soap becomes a hang-up, a problem, extra dirt on your body."

Rinpoche Chogyam Trungpa, from "The Lion's Roar"

It's been said that martial arts can be considered a form of moving zen.

If that's the case, I suspect that forms are a moving mantra. Like a mantra, it can be used to purify yourself, mentally, spiritually and physically.

And as Chogyam Trungpa said of mantras, a kata/kuen/hyung can be something done just out of habit, without any thought going into it. When that happens, your form becomes just another piece of clutter, something dirty for which you need purification.

I've been dealing with that a lot since last week's attempt to relearn the sam jei guan (three-sectioned staff). The form includes two rollouts, something that I first learned more than 30 years ago. I was fortunate that my early Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu teachers included breakfalls and rollouts in their training.

An example of a rollout, done by an aikidoka

But over the years, as with other very basic techniques, it fell by the wayside. I became more interested in learning more and new techniques and forms. As a very sore shoulder taught me last week, without strong basics, you haven't got shit.

During my recovery, I decided that I would make a strong focus on the basics become my focus for summer training. I do things like this from time to time. It's good to change your workout, or some focus in your other health practices, to keep yourself fresh. Just in the past two years, I did a lot more with circuit training, calisthenics and, during Lent, I abstained from red meat.

So between now and when Vitaly returns to school, I'll be doing some heavy conditioning combined with sheer repetitions of basic techniques and short combinations. The combinations I practice will consist of both combos that I create as well as short sections from the forms I know.

But I will not do any forms.

Today was my first such workout, after spending Monday and Tuesday's training time to clean my kwoon. I warmed up with a full-body stretch and launched right into some strong Wing Chun basics.

I started out with verticle punches, both standing and with a pivot. I repeated those punches on my heavy bag before going into some straight blasts.

Taking a few minutes to do some sweeping, I spent a good half-hour on my favorite training aid, the wooden dummy. I started my practice on that with some huen sao (circling hands) practice, with various pivots. I also worked on some techniques from chi sao (sticky hands) practice doing, sparking in with the pak sao da (palm block and punch).

Huen sao (circling hands) practice on the dummy

Drawing and improvising from the wooden dummy set, I did 10 runs each of the first two sections. To keep myself fresh, I added some pak sao da's, lap sao da's and elbow strikes after each tan sao(palm up block)/palm strike combination.

So I basically just did a technique I've done thousands of times and added some overkill to it. I don't believe in seeking out trouble. I go to great lengths to avoid violence. The fact that I don't drink anymore has more to do with avoiding violence than with any health concerns.

But when trouble does find me, I want to be ready to end it quickly and efficiently as possible.

Since I wanted to include some weapons work with my training schedule, I did a couple dozen runs of some blocking, thrusting and circling moves, taken from the Luk Hup Guan staff set of Yau Kung Mun.

I closed with a couple of sets of pushups and crunches.

The Treasure of Don Weiss

2009-06-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

The secret kung fu treasure of Don Weiss

I love comic books.

It shouldn't come as any surprise. The fact is, kids don't read them anymore. They get their superheroes, like Superman, Batman, the X-Men, Spider-Man from the movies or TV. It's only old guys like me that still dig them.

Don't believe me? Just go to any comic book store on a Wednesday when the new comics come in. Starting about 5 p.m., you'll see a lot of customers with suits and ties and they're not buying for their kids.

The other reason it shouldn't come as a surprise is that I'm a martial artist. Martial artists love comics. I personally know four black belts who manage or have managed comic book stores. One of my sifus, John Angelos, said he used to love reading "The Phantom" every month, in part because they had a page with "judo and karate tricks" in the back.

One of my favorite comics of the late 80's and early 90's was produced by Jademan Comics out of Hong Kong, called "The Force of Buddha's Palm."

It told the story of Nine Continents, a renowned master of Buddha's Palm Kung Fu who is taken prisoner while searching for the killers of his sworn brother. While he is a prisoner, a subplot deals with other Kung Fu masters searching for the Treasure of Nine Continents, namely the secret manual of Buddha's Palm Kung Fu.

For me, I have The Treasure of Don Weiss. It's actually a few videotapes of Don training by himself or with his classmates in Yau Kung Mun and Hung Gar Kung Fu. I've copied it onto several DVD's.

One of the greatest training aids for the martial artist

It comes in handy as his job regularly takes him on the road. It's much better than an old notebook or secret manual. I just copy the tape to DVD and pop it into my laptop when I need to check something I'm practicing.

From one of those tapes, Don and I were able to piece together a Kwan Dao set I intended to use in a tournament. That same tape has several other sets I intend to learn, including the one I practiced today - Sam Jei Guan or three-sectioned staff.

I haven't used my tri-staff in many years. I'd forgotten the form I used to practice with it. But I still remembered the basics, so I thought it would be easy to put together the tri-staff form from that tape.

Technically, that form is very simple. I don't know the official name for it, but I call it "Six-and-a-half trips," because that's how many trips back and forth you take.

After warming up with the Siu Lam Tao and some straight blasts from Wing Chun, I set about to practice that set. How hard could it be?

Heh heh heh.

The three-sectioned staff is deceptively strenuous. There's almost always at least one section out of your control. Lastly, (and this is what killed me) is that there are two rollouts in the form.

I know I should keep up on practicing rollouts and breakfalls. I credit that training with saving me from serious injury or worse, in fights, in tournaments, in practice sessions, or even the occasional slip and fall in everyday life.

Still, I managed to practice the first three trips of that form without crippling myself. Even doing rollouts on the lawn didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

Secure that I was going to life, I went onto some dummy training - both individual techniques and the wooden dummy form. I closed with some strength training using bowling balls. Mostly doing curls and wrist rolls with them. It may not sound like much curling a 12-pound ball, but when you factor in all the stabilizing you need to do to keep it from rolling out of your palm, it's a workout.

Forkin' Around on a Monday Afternoon

2009-06-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be the start of a new program of physical fitness, organization and self-improvement, but it got off to a late start.

I fully intended to get up at 5 a.m., the same time my wife gets up for her job, do my workout before my son wakes up, get him ready for a thrilling summer at the Boys & Girls Club before getting to work.

But I was just too damn wore out over the weekend. Actually, between family and social obligations the past three weekends, with work commitments during the week, I needed the extra two-and-a-half hours of sleep I got this morning. It would have been more, but Frannie does not believe in having a lazy master.

Frannie, a German shepherd/Florida red wolf hybrid

By noon, I had completed pretty much everything I intended except for the workout. I used it as an opportunity to challenge myself once again in a noontime Florida sun.

Like I do most Mondays, I started out with a full-body stretch. That's my Monday ritual. I try to do it at least twice a week. I find that if I don't, I tend to suffer from greater neck, knee and back pain. By keeping things flexible, I find I usually avoid it altogether.

Following the stretch came the hard part. I had a limited amount of time to workout and still be able to have lunch and do all the things I needed to do this afternoon, including posting this workout.

With little more than a half-hour remaining to train, I set a kitchen timer for 15 minutes. In that time, I did eight runs of the Tung Jee Kuen, the first set of Yau Kung Mun Kung Fu. Like most Yau Kung Mun sets, Tung Jee Kune is short, fast and agressive. There's also several times when you drop to one knee and block a strike. Those knee drops take a lot out of you if you aren't properly warmed up.

Feeling the burn, I then challenged myself more with five runs of the Hung Gar Dai Pah (Great Fork) set. Some Hung Gar schools won't teach that set until the very end of the student's training. It's easy to see why. Though it only has about 25 to 30 moves, it is one of the heaviest, most physically challenging weapons there is. In my experience, it is right up there with the Kwan Dao for the most strenous weapon set.

I managed to push myself through those five runs, again in less than 15 minutes. I needed the extra break time between runs, which is why I gave myself 15 minutes. I closed with a run of the wooden dummy set.

POSTSCRIPT: Remembering Shek Kin

With all the hoopla over David Carradine's passing last week, it was easy to miss the news of the passing of a true giant of the martial arts and cinema.

Shek Kin, 96, was best known as the renegade shaolin priest, Master Han, in the Bruce Lee classic, "Enter the Dragon." However, he has a history of martial arts teaching, training and performing that goes back almost 75 years. He was a sifu of both Eagle Claw and Choy Li Fut styles of Kung Fu. One of his most famous students was Choy Li Fut master, Lee Kune Hung.

It should be noted that Shek Kin would have to have been in his 60's when he shot that classic fight scene with Bruce Lee in the hall of mirrors. Considering how well he could still perform his martial skills at that age, it's no wonder that Lee respected Shek Kin, calling him uncle.

Shek Kin continued working in cinema well past 90, making him one of the oldest, if not the oldest, working actors of his time.

I think that speaks volumes about the health and longevity aspects of the martial arts.

David Carradine - The Man Who Inspired Thousands of Sifus

2009-06-04T09:42:00.001-07:00

David Carradine
Dec. 8, 1936 - June 4, 2009

Two days ago, I wrote that I was bummed.

Today, I'm fairly pissed.

First, I got the news that Koko Taylor, Queen of the Blues, died in Chicago yesterday at the age of 80. She was probably best known for pitching a "Wang Dang Doodle" all night long.

Then I go to my Facebook page and I hear that David Carradine, star of TV's "Kung Fu" hanged himself in a hotel in Bangkok.

To those who are too young to remember the early 1970's, "Kung Fu", Bruce Lee's classic, "Enter the Dragon" and blaxploitation movies with the likes of Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly, were the catalysts for a major martial arts fad. Every kid wanted to be just like those guys. It no longer was considered "dirty fighting" to kick someone in a fight.

That martial arts fad flamed out pretty quick, but by the early 1980's, Chuck Norris, the Karate Kid and the whole ninja fad brought the martial arts back to the forefront of American pop culture. It was at this time that WPIX, Channel 11 out of New York, brought back "Kung Fu" in syndication.

As a young martial arts student, I was pretty much hooked. I watched it every Thursday on WPIX. When I spent the summers with my father and step-mother in California, I was overjoyed to see it on TV every night on Channel 44, much to Dad and Linda's amusement and chagrin.

True, the martial arts was pretty lame. Carradine had no training prior to the role. He was just a soft shoe dancer who could fake it pretty well. That, and when he squinted his eyes, some bonehead TV executive could be convinced that he was Asian.

If there was one fault with "Kung Fu" it was that Carradine's character, Kwai Chang Caine, was one of a long line of Asian characters played by Caucasians. For some reason, even heroic Asian characters, like Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, were always played by heavily made-up white guys.

It's also become widely known that Bruce Lee was originally up for the part, but didn't get it because Hollywood execs didn't believe that anyone would want to see an Asian lead actor. Bruce sure proved them wrong with "Enter the Dragon."

Still, despite the hokeyness, the show worked. It successfully combined two radically different genres, the western and martial arts. It challenged us philosophically while it entertained us. A great deal of the credit for that goes to Carradine for bringing humanity, heroism and (when warranted) humor to a character that could have been just another Asian stereotype portrayed by a white actor.

And it helped inspire millions of kids, including a certain middle-class-white-punk-from-the-suburbs in Hamden, Ct., to take up the practice of Kung Fu.

David Carradine as Woody Guthrie in "Bound for Glory." This role got Carradine nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1977.

A Postscript.

Carradine was more than just a two-hit wonder with his portrayals of Kwai Chang Caine in "Kung Fu" and as the master assassin, Bill, in the "Kill Bill" movies. He also starred in the original "Death Race 2000." Though it's pretty camp as film-making goes, the plot is surprisingly prescient. It shows a corrupt, dictatorial American government using a murderous cross-country road race to distract the populace, much like the Romans used gladiatorial combat, or "American Idol."

He also did an inspiring portrayal of America's greatest folk musician, Woody Guthrie, in the film "Bound for Glory." Check it out, not only for the musical history or as a biography, but as a dead-on depiction of the American labor movement in the early 20th century. Sometimes, we need to be reminded of what others have fought and risked their lives for so we can enjoy the lives we live today.

Lastly, he hosted Saturday Night Live in December 1980 in one of the rare, funny episodes of that otherwise awful season. That episode featured a number of obligatory jabs at his role in "Kung Fu". However, the best skit was his portrayal of Woody Guthrie being visited by a young Bob Dylan in the hospital, played dead-on by a young Joe Piscopo.

The Green Hornet vs. Batman

2009-06-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Green Hornet
1966-1967 and 2008-2009

I'm pretty bummed today.

I just found out that the American Life network, available on Verizon FIOS, is no longer running "The Green Hornet" at 9:30 p.m. on Friday. They've got some movie I never heard of scheduled for this week.

I've become an addict of that show since we switched our cable provider. I never got to see it as a kid, though I wanted to. Even before I knew Bruce Lee played Kato, I thought the Green Hornet was cooler than Batman.

In my 20's, the Green Hornet and Kato made a brief reappearance in comic books. He was created by George Trendle for a 1930's radio show. Trendle, who also created The Lone Ranger and Tonto, was asked to create a more modern version of that character. The Green Hornet, in reality newspaper publisher and editor Brit Reid, was the grand nephew of Texas Ranger John Reid, who faked his own death after an outlaw ambush to become The Lone Ranger.

The Green Hornet's grand-uncle, The Lone Ranger

Reid, inspired by his uncle, created the persona of the Green Hornet to fight crime by pretending to be a master criminal. The fact that he was wanted by people on both sides of the law made for some pretty heavy drama.

Like most people my age, my introduction to the Green Hornet came watching the crossover episode of "Batman" when Batman and Robin crossed paths with the Green Hornet and Kato. While "Batman" enjoyed almost as much popularity in syndication as it did when it was first broadcast, "The Green Hornet" never made onto any of the local channels where I lived.

Some background on the crossover episode, with commentary by Van Williams.

I was really pissed over that because Kato was played by a hero to martial arts fans everywhere, Bruce Lee. He was such a hero of mine, that when I had the chance to learn the same arts that he studied, namely Wing Chun Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do and Kali, that I jumped at it! I know I wasn't the only one. I knew lots of guys with posters of Bruce Lee on their walls. I don't know anyone who had Adam West or Burt Ward hanging in their bedrooms or home gyms.

One of many Bruce Lee posters I had on my bedroom walls while growing up

True, "The Green Hornet" was not that popular when it first aired for one season in 1966 and 1967. But, I am wondering why with the popularity of Bruce Lee that the show has not been syndicated or even made available as a DVD set.

But after watching it almost every Friday night for more than a year, I've decided it was a much better show than "Batman" for the following reasons.

First, "The Green Hornet" played it straight. He and Kato were real superheroes, going after realistic bad guys like mobsters, bootleggers, drug dealers, nuclear terrorists, etc.

The actors who played those villains played it straight, too. They weren't washed-up has-beens who got their agents to get them an appearance on "Batman" so they could revive their careers. They weren't a bunch of screaming pansies with boneheaded henchmen and airheaded molls.

The Batman of the TV show was a joke compared to the dark, often brutal character created by Bob Kane in 1938. But, thanks to the Comics Code Authority and the threat of a legislative crackdown on comic books, the character in the comics was a pussy for much of the 1960's. Thankfully, other writers and artists pushed the limits of what they could do with Batman in the 1970's, setting the stage for "The Dark Knight Returns," in 1986, or that once brilliant comic character would have continued to suck.

Second, Van Williams and Bruce Lee were much more believable as superheroes because they could fight better. Both men were athletes. Lee, as everyone knows, was renowned for his innovations to the Asian martial arts. He was so respected that the three American karate champions of the 1960's, Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis and Mike Stone, all studied with him.

So let's take a look at Van Williams. He was raised on a ranch in his native Texas. He competed in rodeos and motocross races. At the time he was discovered by Liz Taylor, he was teaching SCUBA diving in Hawaii and she was one of his students.

Two of the most unathletic superheroes, ever.

Van Williams - This guy was an athlete. I could believe that he could hold his own in a fight.

When they mixed it up with the bad guys, they looked like they were really fighting. Though he didn't have Lee's training, Williams could throw a convincing punch. It probably helped that "Judo Gene" LeBell, choreographed the fight scenes. LeBell, who was called "The Toughest Man Alive" by Chuck Norris, is a high-ranking multiple black belt holder and was a coach for the U.S. Olympic Judo Team.

One of Lee's top students, Dan Inosanto, doubled for the actor, Mako, in one episode.

Meanwhile, Adam West and Burt Ward never came across as particularly intimidating.

Lastly, the Green Hornet was a pretty hardcore motherfucker. On his show, people were often killed, sometimes by the Hornet and Kato. In one episode, the bad guys were about to ram the Hornet's car, the Black Beauty, with their own van. The Hornet and Kato responded by firing an explosive rocket into the van. The van burst into flames and I never saw anyone get out of it.

If that happened on Batman, the armored car would be totaled, but the villains would be covered with soot, looking like Wile E. Coyote after one of his roadrunner traps blew up on him.

I don't know why it wasn't as successful as Batman. I can only surmise that being mired in the Vietnam War, seeing unrest in American cities like Newark, Watts and New Haven, and on college campuses, that the American public wanted something more lighthearted.

But I think the time has come for the Green Hornet be at large again. At least on DVD.

Back to Posting

2009-06-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

I really have been training this past week. I haven't been blogging very well, due to work and family committments, but I have been training. Mostly, some short workouts on the dummy and some Wing Chun sets that won't take a lot of room to practices.

Today, after recovering from some hellacious swimming and a sunburn I caught at Ft. DeSoto, I decided to throw myself back into what I did last week. After a full-body stretch, I did a hard forms circuit, alternating between the Siu Sup Jee Kuen (Little Cross Pattern Form), the broadsword and the staff. I did it in eight sets of three.

To throw a monkey wrench into my workout, I limited myself to only an hour to do the eight sets of three forms. I knew it would tax my stamina to do that much training with so little rest. But it had two unintended benefits as well.

First, it forced me to relax as I ran through the form. By relaxing, I have improved flow, and learn to let the kinetic energy and the momentum of my movements do most of the work.

Secondly, to have good flow, I have to pay good attention to my stances. Without good stances, the momentum of your sword or staff can pull you off balance.

Back to Basics or Whoa, ho, ho it's Magic!

2009-05-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

"When I got my black belt, I realized that the best techniques were the ones they taught white belts. They were truly magical."

- Sifu John Angelos (1952-2002) speaking about his experiences learning jujitsu. -

After last week's battle with the weather limited me to only two workouts, I knew I had to change something in my schedule. It's not very convenient doing my workouts earlier in the day because I like to stay focused on my writing. Also, when the weather is decent, I can let my son go outside to play while I get my workout done.

But when I'm battling the weather, it's just too much of a hassle to stay in my carport and supervise and/or entertain my son. As a result, I had to be the responsible parent and forego my workout in order to keep my son safe from lightning and keep my wife happy.

I decided today that I should do my workout during early afternoon. That way, I can get it done without having to worry about keeping my son inside during afternoon thunderstorms. Today's workout brought me out into the hot, humid, noon-time Florida sun in order to avoid afternoon storms.

Today's workout focused on basics. I did a circuit of three Yau Kung Mun forms: the Tung Jee Kuen, YKM's first empty-hand set; Luk Hup Guan, YKM's first staff set; and the dan dao, the single sabre.

All three forms are short, each one has less than 20 moves, not counting repeaters. It takes less than a minute to do each one. But, as is typical of Yau Kung Mun, the forms are very aggressive and direct, with several drops to one knee, jumping kicks and fast, phoenix-eye fist blows, directed to the solar plexus, the armpits or the nipples.

In that respect, the first YKM set is very similar to advanced sets, like Gau Bo Toi (Nine Step Push) or Sup Baht Mor Kiu (18 Devils Bridge).

But short doesn't necessarily mean easy. Especially when I resolved to do eight runs of the circuit, going from empty-hand to staff to sabre. It plays a lot with your mind and your body, going from form to form, each with radically different body mechanics and demands on your strength, stamina and focus.

I'm not much of a traditionalist, but I did eight runs of that circuit. Asian martial arts in general, and Chinese arts in particular, tend to do things in patterns of threes and eights. Those are lucky numbers in Chinese numerology. I suspect it is due to Buddhism's influence on Asian culture. There is a Buddhist trinity of Buddha (the Enlightened One), the Dharma (His Teachings) and the Sangha (Community of Enlightened Souls). Eight is the number of Buddha's Eightfold Path of how people should live their lives.

Though I am a Christian, I have profound respect for Buddha's teachings. Though I don't revere him as a deity or a messiah, I do consider him one of the greatest philosphers. I believe he was as Divinely-inspired in his teachings as were Moses, Solomon and Isaiah.

But I digress. As I said several days ago, weapons work will take a lot out of you. But the switch from weapons to empty-hands really taxes you, both mentally and physically. As I concluded, I had little time left but to do a set of crunches and a set of pushups. To my amazement, I managed to do 50 pusnups between the bowling balls.

It takes balls to do pushups like this.

Rain, Please Go the *%$#& Away!

2009-05-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

Next to illness, rain is one of the biggest deterrents to training in my carport kwoon.

I should mention that my carport is barely big enough for my wooden dummy and some other gear. There's very little room to move around. I do most of my work, particularly forms, bagwork and shadow boxing, outside.

As a result, when it's raining, I'm confined under the carport.

That normally wasn't much of a problem when it was just me and the missus. But now that I have a son who looks for any excuse to go outdoors, it's trouble. I can't invite him to stay under the carport with me because there is not enough room for the two of us. He won't stay inside while I'm having all kinds of fun outside. And the wife will kill me if she finds out I let him play outside in the rain.

It's not the rain she's so afraid of - it's the thunder and lightning.

Yes, I'm well aware that the Tampa Bay Area is the lightning strike capital of the world. But I'm also aware that getting hit by lightning is a longshot no matter where you are. That's why they always compare the odds of a longshot happening, (like winning the Lotto) to getting hit by lightning.

My next house will definitely have a garage. But until then, I gotta figure something out so I can train, keep an eye on the kid, and keep the wife off my case.

Living By The Sword Will Kill You

2009-05-18T14:27:00.001-07:00

I meant to get in a workout Friday, but Thursday's session with the swords killed me.

I get a laugh out of all those people who seem to think that using swords, or any kind of weapon, is easy. To them, I say that there's a lot more to it than "pointy end goes in here."

Each broadsword may weight only about a pound or so, but swinging that one-pound weight around for half-an-hour or more, with your arms at varying extensions, incorporating all the footwork and body twisting is like a full workout with Nautilus. Even more so.

Most modern weight training isolates parts of the body. It's designed more for sculpting individual members, not the body as a whole. Using weapons takes the whole body. Controlling a sword or staff uses the legs, the waist, the torso and, yes, the arms. And every one of those parts was hurting like hell Friday morning.

So I returned to my workouts with a little more common sense today. I'm still determined to focus on the broadswords this month, but I'll take it a little slower.

I was also hamstrung by the stormy weather here in the Bay Area. Growing up, I wasn't about to let a little rain or snow stop me. But I'm not only a little older and slightly wiser, I also live in the lightning strike capital of the world. Practicing in the rain is risky enough. Practicing while holding a hunk of metal in your hands is downright reckless.

When the weather let up this afternoon, I took up my wooden broadsword, went into the yard and ran through alternating runs of the single dao and the Sup Baht Mor Kiu fist set, (18 Devils Bridge). The latter set is typical of most Yau Kung Mun and Bak Mei forms - short, but very fast and aggressive. When considering the aggressive, nasty nature of Bak Mei forms, it's easy to see why the character of Bak Mei (also known as Pai Mei) is frequently depicted as a villain in Chinese culture and cinema.

I returned to my carport, alternating between individual drills on the dummy, claw pushups and the ab wheel. Following about 15 minutes of that circuit, I closed with a round of the Wooden Dummy form, some classic sit-ups on an incline board, and two sets each of standard pushups and dips on the Power Tower.

Today's Workout Part II

2009-05-14T16:44:00.001-07:00

After picking up my son and nephew from school, helping my son with his homework and getting him ready for his dance class, I managed to squeeze in a good half-hour strength training workout.

For most of the past few years, I did a lot of circuit training. Basically, I would intersperse strength training, like pushups, chinups, etc., with forms, shadow boxing or bag work.

I've been wanting to split the workouts into two separate sessions for a while. The earlier workout focused on martial arts. The later workout will focus on strength.

While my son, Vitaly, and my nephew, Gavin, played outside, I alternated between leg raises on my power tower and dead lifts. The dead lifts I was taught in high school focus almost entirely on the lower back and glutes.

I start by standing on something sturdy, like some cinderblocks. I take a light barbell, hold it in front of me with my arms down. Then I slowly bend at the waist until I can't go any farther. It not only strengthens the back, it stretches the hamstrings.

Following a few sets of those exercises, I did a couple of small sets of chinups and arm curls.

I closed with two sets each of sideways crunches and a set with the wrist roller. It would have been two sets, but the sword workout took a lot out of me and I hadn't recovered even four hours later.

You Got Me!

2009-05-14T10:22:00.001-07:00

Three days ago, I wrote about the importance of setting aside time for your workout. Treat it like a chore that must get done. After all, good exercise is important for good health.

It's easy to say that you're not going to let life get in the way of workouts. It's quite another thing to put into practice, especially when faced with simultaneous computer and car repairs, as well as babysitting my son and nephew, and getting my son ready for his violin recital at school.

So I'm determined to get in a good workout today. At least, I've got two mini workouts on my agenda.

In addition to my resolve to set aside time for working out, I have another resolution for the month of May. I'm going to focus on my broadsword training. It's not my favorite weapon. I'm partial to the Wing Chun butterfly swords sets, both the Yip Man and mainland Chinese versions, the Yau Kung Mun butterfly swords or the Taiji straight sword.

Earlier this week, I studied my treasured Yau Kung Mun/Hung Gar sets DVD to get back up to speed on the single broadsword. Today, prior to my workout, I studied the double broadsword set and transcribed the first third. I've found writing them down is a good exercise to help remember the sequence of forms.

Since I had some business in that area, I decided to treat myself and head down to Lowry Park to practice. The grass was freshly mowed right around my favorite spot under the trees. The water from yesterday's thundershowers seem to have cleared the air. My allergies feel better than they have in weeks.

It feels very peaceful to practice outdoors, especially near the Hillsborough River at Lowry Park. It's one of those things that makes me glad to live in Florida. Not only because of the warm weather and the beautiful scenery, but because of this state's lenient weapons laws. In my former homes in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and California, I'd get arrested for taking my swords outside.

I started with six runs of the single set. It felt pretty good. I still remembered the sequence and it flowed well. The well-maintained fields at Lowry Park make for a nice training area, unlike my yard which looks like a sandbox as a result of the ongoing drought.

Following a short rest, I broke out my double swords and the written instructions for the first third. It's pretty simple. There's only six moves going one way, you repeat them going the other way, then I added a false close.

Weapons work is not easy. Whether you're speaking about any of the Asian or European versions of fencing or stick work, it takes a lot out of you. A sword may only weigh a few ounces, but it'll take a lot out of you, especially after doing the same set five to 10 times.

One of the strongest girls I ever knew was a baton twirler at my high school. That was her sole form of exercise. As she pointed out, the baton may only weigh a few ounces, but after twirling it for several miles on a parade route, it feels like it weighs a ton.

I could sure relate to that today. Following five runs of the single sword and 10 runs of the double-sword subset, I was winded. Inspired by Don's recent posting on his own Yau Kung Mun blog, I decided to do five runs of the Say Mun Bagua Kuen set.

After all that sword work, I could only do four runs of SMBK before I had to quit.

But I felt pretty good when I checked my watch. I got all of that done in less than 40 minutes. I rewarded myself with a half-pint of fried rice, returned to my computer and sat down to plan my afternoon strength training workout.

Stay tuned.

Living by the Sword(s)

2009-05-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Several paying assignments kept me busy for most of the day. But I've resolved recently that I won't let work get in the way of my workouts.

I used to take the attitude that you should find something to do that you enjoy when it comes to exercise. I still believe that.

But my former editor and writing mentor, Susan Ladika, told me that she makes it a point to set aside time for her yoga, just like she does any other chore. She depends on yoga to keep her healthy, especially for minimizing some back problems. If she didn't treat it like a chore to get done, she says she'd be too tempted to postpone it in order to work on more paying assignments.

I've also concluded that barring a miracle, I am not going to be able to get to Dallas this year to compete in the Legends of Kung Fu Tournament. It's somewhat liberating because, as much as I love it, it means I don't have to focus the bulk of my workout on Wing Chun forms and techniques.

So today I decided to brush up on my Yau Kung Mun. Following the full-body stretch, I launched into runs of the single and double sabres. It took longer than I planned because I was very rusty on those forms. I had to keep stopping what I was doing, go to my laptop, and play the DVD I made of the Yau Kung Mun sets.

Still I managed to do eight runs of the single sabre and three runs each of the opening moves of the double sabre. Afterward, I followed with five runs of the Gao Bo Toi (Nine Step Push) set, with sets of claw pushups and the abwheel between each run of the form.

I closed with a set of crunches and 30 pushups between a couple of bowling balls.