4) Some expert fighters, such as Cung Le, throw punishing high kicks. Sitting down renders you completely invulnerable to these kicks! They will sail right over your head, missing you completely.

3) According to commonly cited martial arts statistic, 90% of all fights end on the ground. So, if you start on the ground, you’ve given yourself a head start to victory.

2) Sophisticated martial arts techniques require timing and precision. Fighting is much too stressful to allow for the correct performance of these deadly moves. They are best executed in a completely calm, meditative environment.

1) As Steven Seagal teaches us, a seated position is ideally suited to the brutal art of Cock Punch.

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These are all qualities one would expect to find in a good Chinese martial arts school. Expecting the modern American cultural interpretation of these ideals, however, can lead to confusion and disappointment.

The traditional distinction between indoor and outdoor disciples tends to bother American martial artists. Following this tradition, a master selects a subset of his students for special attention and secret information. Indoor disciples are given the privilege and responsibility of inheriting the complete art. Meanwhile, outdoor disciples remain in an indefinite probationary state, in some cases learning exclusively from senior students.

Although this arrangement probably never held much appeal for outsiders, it was acceptable from a Confucian cultural perspective. Americans today do not share this perspective, and few would join a commercial kung fu school on the explicit promise of second-class treatment. The indoor disciple system offends their sense of equality and fairness.

Rumors of its death, however, are greatly exaggerated.

Life On The Outside

“If you sit down at a poker game and can’t figure out who the pigeon is in the first five minutes…it’s you.”

According to a popular martial arts meme, “there are no secrets” in martial arts. This is nonsense on multiple levels; primarily, because everything you haven’t learned is a secret to you—and you cannot expect to learn everything. Secondarily, because if there were secrets, nobody would tell you about them!

If you are a martial arts insider, you might choose not to disclose that fact, whereas, if you are an outsider, you may not even know it.

Is any secrecy justifiable? What do you think?

Or, to put it differently: for how much money would you sell all of your own secrets?

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Vitali Klitschko

Klitschko’s Nappy Secret

Source: Ananova
After winning the WBC heavyweight title, how did champion boxer Vitali Klitschko recover? He used an old family remedy: wet diapers.

“Baby wee is good because it’s pure, doesn’t contain toxins and doesn’t smell,” the 37-year old boxer said…

Israeli Police Innovate with Stink Technology

Source: BBC News - Middle East

Acutely aware of accusations that it is using disproportionate force in political hot-spots, Israel is deploying a new, non-lethal but highly effective and highly-offensive weapon. It’s called Skunk.

Imagine the worst, most foul thing you have ever smelled. An overpowering mix of rotting meat, old socks that haven’t been washed for weeks–topped off with the pungent waft of an open sewer.

Superintendent David Ben Harosh treats Skunk as something of a pet project. The way he hugged the litre bottle of dirty, green liquid close to his chest as we talked was odd–most people would surely keep it at arm’s length.

“It’s totally harmless, you can even drink it,” boasted Superintendent Harosh, as though encouraging me to swallow a mouthful…

“Mood Bag” Changes Color As You Punch It

Source: Stefan Gross

love hate punch installation by Stefan Gross

Yip Man, Grandmaster of Wing Chun

Source: Wu-Jing.org
Action hero Donnie Yen will star in the first of two movies about the real-life Wing Chun master Ip Man. As always, you should expect to see an exaggerated, theatrical version of the authentic martial art.

Yip Man: The Movie
Starring Donnie Yen
Coming soon, to a theatre far away from you

This Month’s New and Bestselling Martial Arts Books

• Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method: The Complete Edition
• Yi Jin Jing: Tendon-Muscle Strengthening Qigong Exercises
• The Warrior Diet: Switch on Your Biological Powerhouse For High Energy, Explosive Strength, and a Leaner, Harder Body
• Ultimate Flexibility: A Complete Guide to Stretching for Martial Arts
• Complete Krav Maga: The Ultimate Guide to Over 200 Self-Defense and Combative Techniques

Judo Lessons from Vladimir Putin, at a Reasonable Price

Source: Daily Mail

Vladimir Putin is a one-time judo champion of his home city St. Petersburg - called Leningrad at the time. He is also an avid skier, and his apparent fitness and devotion to physical activity helped increase his popularity in eight years as president of Russia.

Today he presented the instructional judo DVD that shows him throwing an opponent to the mat. Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin is the product of a collaboration between Putin–a black belt–and former World and Olympic judo champion Yasuhiro Yamashita.

“The level of developing of sports undoubtedly defines the level of development of the country itself,” Putin said at the presentation.
“Without sports, it’s impossible to speak of a healthy way of life, about the health of the nation as such.”…

Muay Thai for MILFs: An Exciting Vacation Getaway

Source: Seattle Times

As my 30th birthday approached, my fear of becoming a middle-aged woman plagued with mystery ailments, huffing and puffing up flights of stairs, finally started to outweigh my exercise phobia. So I decided to get in shape while learning Thailand’s notorious national sport, Muay Thai, known in English as kickboxing. This was no small commitment: I attended a Muay Thai camp near Bangkok for 10 days, training for five hours a day…

Samuel L. Jackson to Star in “Last Dragon” Remake

Source: Reuters

Jackson will play Sho’Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, a role played in the original by the late Julius Carry, whose spiel included asking ego-driven questions like “Am I the baddest mofo lowdown around this town?” Each time his gang of thugs answered, “Sho’Nuff!”

Columbia Pictures’ updated plot will be along the same lines of the original, centring on young martial arts student Leroy Green in his quest through the streets of New York to achieve the highest level of martial arts accomplishment, known as the Last Dragon. Those who achieve the high ranking possess the Glow, making them the greatest fighter alive…

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• The annual World of Martial Arts Exhibition, sponsored by the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, has been held for more than 20 years. Last weekend marked my fourth year of attendance.
• This year’s event was the best of those four. Whether intentionally or by coincidence, the organizers and participants responded positively to my past observations.

Pacific Northwest Budo Association

• Seating was well organized, in stark comparison to last year. Unfortunately, there were not enough good seats for everyone. I found myself among those standing to the side, or sitting on the floor. Thus, I had a difficult time taking pictures and video to share with you.
• Why not hand out a program, with each performer’s name, photo, school or style and contact information? I would have listed them all here, but I have already forgotten most of the details.

Karate demonstration

• Some performers clearly needed—and did not receive—advice on delivering a successful presentation. One group literally gave their demonstration on the opposite side of the auditorium, rushing through as if to avoid the attention of the spectators! A bit of stage fright and performance anxiety is understandable and forgivable. At the same time, these are dangerous traits for a martial artist: if you can’t perform for an ambivalent crowd, forget about defending against an angry one.
• That notwithstanding, I had to admire the sheer indifference displayed by the battojutsu player. His tameshigiri (”test cutting”) was quite impressive.

Ishi Yama Ryu Battojutsu

• The award for best overall presentation goes to Academia della Spada, a local group dedicated to exploring the art of European swordsmanship. They approached the crowd in full regalia, gave a brief description of their practice, presented and explained some of their training drills and freestyle games. Despite a relative lack of athleticism (in comparison to their Chinese kungfu peers), this presentation was the highlight of the evening.

Academia della Spada

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As I skimmed Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 report yesterday, I was reminded of McCain and Obama’s earlier performances. Technorati’s investigation reveals that bloggers are “savvy and sophisticated,” and their daily output is “integral to the media ecosystem.”

Technorati, in case you didn’t know, is a blog aggregation service, whose business is built upon the free content we bloggers create. Like our presidential candidates, it is not necessarily in Technorati’s best interest to provide a frank assessment of our future. So let me provide my own frank assessment.

The Bearish Perspective
Looking back over the past five years, the blogging explosion has roughly matched the runaway expansion of credit. And like our economy, the blogosphere is poised to undergo a serious “correction” over the next 12 months.

How do Technorati’s blogging statistics support this theory? 47% of bloggers earn less than $50,000 per year. The average blog is three years old, and has never seen a bear market. The mean blogging income is low (in fact, too low for Technorati to include in their report). The most popular stated reason for blogging is “personal expression”.

From the State of the Blogosphere 2008 report

In the grand scheme of things, most people would consider blogging a trivial pursuit. Looking forward, how many of us will continue to devote the necessary time and effort to maintain a blog? How many of us can afford to do so?

Technorati’s data, I believe, implies an imminent contraction of the blogosphere. My own anecdotal observations—less frequent updates on some of my favorite sites—seem to confirm it.

History shows that extreme economic conditions support political extremism. Hyperinflation in Germany contributed to the rise of Adolf Hitler, who used the Jewish people as a scapegoat for the nation’s difficulties. If such a figure were to rise to power today, he would undoubtedly search our blogs—our conveniently accessible and revealing online diaries—for “incriminating evidence”. This is a powerful argument for un-publishing and self-censorship as a means of self-preservation.

In summary, the state of the blogosphere is likely to get worse before it gets better. Some of the blogs you currently enjoy reading may be abandoned soon, and others may disappear from the Web entirely. Have you made a backup copy?

My Special Offer To You
With the SuperBot Offline Browser for Windows, you can easily save a backup copy of your favorite blog(s) to your personal computer. No administrative password, or special access is required to create an offline mirror of these valuable websites.

For a limited time, I am offering a 40% discount on SuperBot Professional Edition to Martial Development readers. This discount expires on October 20, 2008. To receive the discount, enter coupon code SPAR-LT9T on the online order form.

Hat tip to Striking Thoughts.

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On October 4, 2008, Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson accepted a last-minute unscheduled fight with a relative unknown. Kimbo entered the match with advantages in strength, weight, and reach. His opponent, Seth “Silverback” Petruzelli, held the advantage of greater experience.

In a shocking outcome that should inspire martial artists everywhere, experience won.

EliteXC: Seth Petruzelli vs. Kimbo Slice
(Fight starts at 5:30 and ends at 5:48)

What have we learned from this event?

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When food is scarce and plain, this efficiency is an obvious benefit. For most people living in developed countries today, however, food is abundant and tasty. To a person who has become addicted to eating—as the majority of Americans are, studies show—this hard-earned fruition of Taiji is actually a problem: it makes you fat. (Technically, eating the food makes you fat, but let us ignore that detail, as everyone does.)

Dedicating oneself to longer and more strenuous practice might seem like an intelligent solution. Unfortunately, this is likely to accelerate the efficiency gains, exacerbating the problem in the long run. If we choose to define physical fitness as effort and exertion, then Taiji is a lousy fitness routine.

Big Mac inflation (2012 projection)

A comfortable and plausible short-term solution: redefine success as failure, and vice-versa. Prioritize effort expended, rather than work accomplished. Sure, your new Taiji may be less functional, but at least you’ll look good doing it!

The more responsible, but less appealing solution is to start eating within your means: to consume calories in accordance with physical needs, rather than insatiable desires. In the meantime, returning to one’s target weight requires a disciplined starvation diet, in conjunction with regular exercise.

Can we view this scenario as a metaphor for the United States economy? Creditors gorged at the sub-prime mortgage trough, ingesting a fair bit of melamine in the process. Irresponsible lending by them caused the problem, and additional lending to them is proposed as the solution. As the basis for this loan, we are asked to ignore the actual market value of the collateral, and assign a “fair value” based on our troubled bankers’ desires.

Having located a proverbial “bigger fool” to make this loan, we can restore liquidity and trust to the marketplace, by sustaining our otherwise unsustainable real-estate prices. Meanwhile, inflation erodes the savings of those Americans who chose, responsibly, to live within their means, and keeps them out of the homes they could otherwise afford.

Now, I must admit a fundamental ignorance of macroeconomics and international finance…but doesn’t this sound like redefining failure as success?

Hat tips to Scott P. Phillips and Dave Chesser

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If only he had a black belt…

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Recipe for Forbidden Kingdom: Take one part Harry Potter, one part Lord of the Rings, and one part Karate Kid; mix and heat until lukewarm; label as “Asian fusion” cuisine. Serves five hundred million.

Young Jason struggles in a low horse stance, building kungfu as his teacher Lu Yan stands by. “Go deeper,” Lu demands, “You must taste bitter before sweet.”

Your reaction to this single training scene, will most likely mirror your opinion of The Forbidden Kingdom as a whole.

Is Lu Yan’s instruction a tasty morsel of ancient Eastern wisdom? Or is it a sugary counterfeit, the cinematic equivalent of General Tso’s chicken? Chi ku, or “taste bitter”, is a common phrase in schools of Chinese kung fu, but let me tell you: a promise of future sweetness is never made.

I approached The Forbidden Kingdom as a longtime fan of the kung fu movie genre, and of Jackie Chan and Jet Li in particular. These two men are brilliant physical performers, and I held high expectations for their first on-screen collaboration.

While I found The Forbidden Kingdom mildly entertaining overall, the action was disappointing. This isn’t Jet or Jackie’s best work; honestly, it isn’t even their best American work.

Does this criticism seem unfair? Jackie Chan is old enough to join the AARP, after all, and Jet Li is definitely past his prime as a wushu performer. My complaint is not that they have grown older and slower, but that the choreography and editing are tailored to hide these weaknesses, instead of showcasing strengths.

When you haven’t got speed, use timing. When you haven’t got strength, use position. Every decent martial artist knows this—so why don’t the performances in Forbidden Kingdom reflect it?

Why hire top talent like Jet and Jackie, and film them like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, relying on hidden wires and constant camera angle changes? I really don’t understand it. Where are all the long shots we have been waiting a decade to see?

By way of contrast, kungfu actors Kwan Tak-Hing and Lau Kar-Leung never failed to entertain, despite their relatively advanced age. Whatever they lacked in agility, they made up for with potency. Personally, I would love to see Jackie Chan’s creative interpretation of “old man’s kungfu”, rather than a failed attempt to recreate performances from twenty years ago.

At the end of a typical American movie, the hero vanquishes the forces of evil and gets the girl, whereas in the typical Chinese movie, the hero struggles and dies. With all due respect for our young Jason, I would have preferred a Chinese-style ending for The Forbidden Kingdom, allowing a greater focus on Li and Chan in the inevitable sequel. Forget about the white boy with the magic wand, and tell us more about the Monkey King.

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A repository of extraordinary skills such as telekinesis, pyrogenesis, telepathy, remote viewing and levitation, the esoteric Eastern school known as Mo-Pai has been described as a real-life order of Jedi Knights. Some have even speculated that its history inspired George Lucas’ script for Attack of the Clones.

Among the ancient neigong lineages still in existence today, the Mo-Pai is characterized by an unusual openness. The school and its headmaster, known by the alias “John Chang”, has been the subject of two recent books and a video documentary.

Jim McMillan, who identifies himself as a longtime disciple of John Chang, has graciously agreed to share a few of his experiences with Martial Development readers:

How did you first become acquainted with the esoteric practice of neigong?

My long-standing relationship with martial arts had become a dead-end journey. I recognized that the mentality of most practitioners, systems and schools is very self-centered: practitioners believe only “their” style is completely capable, and that any student can reach the level of past masters.

That is why I took my training in another direction around 1988, give or take a year. After taking a seminar from a Brazilian Jujitsu guy (can’t remember his name), I realized that I had wasted years of my time training in Taekwondo and Hapkido. I was easily defeated. It was a wake up call.

After taking some more classes, I tried combining BJJ with my previous styles, but this didn’t make me feel any better. I was getting too old, bored of the practice and physically tired. I realized it was also time to move over, for younger men to take over my martial arts school.

One evening, I was watching TV and saw a documentary called “Ring of Fire“. I heard a call deep within my soul. It was an inner compulsion that I had never felt before. I knew instantaneously that I had to find this man, who could perform these strange things.

After two years of researching, I finally decided to just go. A week and a half later, I found my teacher in a city of three million on the other side of the world.

It is often said that a traditional master will test an aspirant’s character and resolve, before deciding whether to accept them as a disciple. Did you face any such trials, or were you accepted immediately?

I wish the custom you speak of were true. However, thrill of being accepted by Pak (master) John Chang made up for any apparent absence of traditional testing.

Upon my arrival, it took me all of two weeks to locate John. I could only meet with him for a few minutes before I had to return to the airport, and catch my return flight home! Due to the rush, we had little time for formalities. I found that Pak John was modern in many respects, and very traditional in few others.

I didn’t know what to expect from a culture I was totally unaccustomed with. At our first meeting, Pak John was grabbed my arm unexpectedly and told me to flex it, to see if I had enough strength for the training. After that he said, “I’ll accept you.” And that was that.

In the beginning and according to Asian custom, I was prepared to sit in front of the master’s house, and patiently for him to answer my questions. But I didn’t have to, thank God!

What preconceived notions about qigong/neigong masters or methods, if any, has your personal experience since proven incorrect?

My neigong training has brought fulfillment in ways I never anticipated, and I now see life in a totally different way.

In the Mo Pai, there is a vital link between the present and the past. I refer to my teacher’s current relationship with his own (long dead) master, who visits at Pak John’s request during the Chinese New Year.

They speak on matters that I am not privy to, as I am not conversant in Indonesian, nor am I at the level where I can hear the spirit directly. However, the master’s spirit demonstrates visually that he does exist and is present at these meetings.

To be honest I was willing to do whatever it took (except for one thing) to become a student, and attain certain abilities that I had personally seen. While on my journey, I have found a new sense of profound awareness about my relationship with my creator, God. I did not expect such a thing would happen.

What sacrifices–time, effort, money, et cetera–are required of a student in the Mo Pai? How do these demands compare to your previous experience in various martial arts schools?

Actually, the sacrifices come naturally, as they would in pursuit of any other sincere interest we have. But yes, there are sacrifices, and I have made some that were life changing.

I am frequently asked about the sex issue (”conserving jing”). While my normal male hunger remains fully charged, my deep desire has become less focused on sex, and on future goals. I was glad to discover I could actually exert control over my natural instincts! I found that I didn’t have to be a slave to my instincts, which really made me feel better about myself.

Initially, I tried to stay single, and did so for over ten years. However, this took a toll on me, in the form of loneliness and depression. Later, I married.

Building up the dantian isn’t what most people think. You are not guaranteed great health.

My wife and son have tolerated the time spent on trips and in training. I try to practice when they are in bed, in the early morning or late evening; this way I have avoided too much trouble.

Money wasn’t a big issue for me initially, since I remained single for so long. Now that I am married, money is more of an issue. Prior to marriage I usually spent a little over three thousand dollars yearly to visit my teacher. However, the cost has sharply risen since I last visited.

How has this training affected your physical and emotional health? Has it made your life easier, or harder?

My health actually improved since I started in neigong. The deep breathing in our first level of training is actually very beneficial, as many of you already know. However, being that we all are very different, the effects/results will show differently in each of us.

I actually overcame a very severe back problem, and became so healthy that I went many years without missing a single day of work.

I also attribute my improved heath to maturity. You come to recognize a larger picture in life than what you had before. During the earlier period of my martial arts training, I always seemed to have some kind of ailment I had to heal or deal with, but I found in the later years that my meditation helped not only my physical condition, but my sparring as well. Still, this wasn’t enough to convince me to continue with martial arts.

My neigong training has brought fulfillment in ways I never anticipated, and I now see life in a totally different way. It caused me to understand my relationship with my Lord God as never before. It was like I was somehow infused with knowing him—without intentionally seeking this knowledge. This had a great impact upon my emotional state, and helped me through my prior depressive condition I had been struggling with.

Meditation is a very healthy thing to do, both physically and mentally. Your eyes are opened to aspects you wouldn’t ordinarily see.

Building up the dantian isn’t what most people think. You are not guaranteed great health. In fact, a few Western students became ill from training incorrectly. Although I don’t have concrete evidence, my observations suggest that if one has greed, power or any other negative desire in his heart, they will have health problems.

Many readers are interested in learning more about neikung, but don’t know where to start. Do you have any advice to offer?

Concerning admittance into the Mo Pai, I must always discuss every proposal with my teacher. Not everyone can be admitted. Nevertheless, anyone can contact me, and I will try to reply to everyone.

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