Wuji zhuang is the weakest stance in Chinese martial arts. Standing straight and still with their arms down at their sides, the practitioner of the wuji stance is in no position to deliver an attack, or to defend against one. They are sitting ducks, utterly unable to resist force from any of the four directions. So why is wuji zhuang so esteemed among high hands, and considered an important part of training in taijiquan, yiquan, and other arts?

The practice of wuji zhuang, or standing meditation, releases the hidden power of self-knowledge. [Read more →]

Popularity: 10% [?]

Let me tell you a dirty little secret about black belts. They have no particular meaning at all. [Read more →]

Popularity: 31% [?]

Separating martial fact from fiction is a perilous task.  If you are too credulous, you may be tricked into joining a fraudulent kung fu cult.  On the other hand, if you are too skeptical, you will cut yourself off from real high-level skills.  “Common sense” is an unreliable guide, because it is grounded in your own limited experience, and odds are you’ve never met a legitimate master.

For this and other reasons, I do not use my website to mock other martial arts and artists.  Sometimes, though, I hear a story so fantastical that I just cannot resist the urge to share it.  [Read more →]

Popularity: 5% [?]

By day, I am a mild-mannered software developer; when darkness falls, I step away from the computer for more vigorous pursuits.  During the past few days, I’ve been moonlighting as a private dick.  My latest case: to find those responsible for the destruction of the Shaolin Temple village, and bring them to justice. [Read more →]

Popularity: 5% [?]

Shield and spear

To the ancient Romans, the concept of a non-violent martial art would be nonsensical. Their literal definition of martial was “belonging to Mars”, the god of war. Modern usage of the term martial arts, however, is hardly related to military strategy and tactics.

Today, most popular martial arts are practiced without arms. Considering this shift in focus, from immediate and practical skills to more abstract and long-term benefits, it is reasonable to ask whether violent destructive potential is still necessary at all.

Is a non-violent martial art worthy of study? [Read more →]

Popularity: 11% [?]

Last week, I attempted to describe one of my favorite lower body warm-up exercises. Online and offline feedback since then indicate that my description wasn’t as clear as I intended.

The particular choreography of this kicking exercise isn’t so important. I recommended it for its general characteristics. To explore those qualities, let’s contrast the exercise with a more common kicking drill: [Read more →]

Popularity: 6% [?]

You will fight like you train, as the saying goes, and there is some truth in it. If you have never tried to apply your martial art against a fully resisting opponent, it is unlikely to work as well as you would hope. Therefore, a practical martial arts curriculum should include a variety of common attacks, drilled with realistic speed and power.

A reasonable conclusion, isn’t it? But a surprisingly popular school of thought goes much further, contending that:

You should always train as if fighting, as this is the only way to improve your fighting ability.

This is nonsense, and every martial artist should understand why. [Read more →]

Popularity: 7% [?]

Self defense isn’t about empowerment, personal gain, winning, revenge or teaching those who have hurt you a lesson. Those are the motivations of an attacker. [Read more →]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Perhaps there are two ways to approach martial arts training, after all.

I am not talking about soft and hard, or fast and slow, or offense and defense. Nor am I referring to external and internal martial arts—whatever you take those terms to mean.

Addition
The first method requires a partner. Together you drill common attack scenarios, one by one, until you’ve perfected a set of automatic, thoughtless and effective responses. [Read more →]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Mastery is efficiency.  A master of their art simultaneously exerts less effort, and achieves greater results than others.  Wouldn’t it would be wonderful if attaining mastery was as easy as defining it? 
It is that easy, and that difficult. [Read more →]

Popularity: 6% [?]