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Another Heaven
February 12, 2024
Every instance of conflict is a proclamation, a resolute warning to the opponent that they have clearly crossed a line. 5 Min. Read.
Rebellion Tales-Choi Hong-Hi
January 15, 2024
Choi Hong-Hi: Leading Korea from the Ashes of War. Reading Time 7 minutes
Outwitting the Ebony Stupa
January 8, 2024
Many things are the same: if the orientation is wrong, it's just wrong. The incorrect thing, even if it is done effectively, is still incorrect. Reading Time 10 minutes
A Moment of Chaos and Escape
December 25, 2023
It is known that keys open locks, but who has considered a key carried to a foreign land in a time of crisis and exodus, what meaning can it claim in a new place? Even more so, what is the significance of a key left behind with no lock to open?
Masters Make the Legends or is it Legends that Make the Masters? Unraveling fact from Fiction
September 4, 2023
Whether these tales appear orally from student-to-student, on the big or small screen, or in the form of the written word, they remain a key element of martial culture.
2022 The Year of the Tiger - January 31, 2022
This year, 2022, marks the Year of the Tiger in the Lunar calendar. Revered for its power and ferocity, tiger figures prominently as a symbol in the martial arts and qigong. In celebration of the new year, YMAA Publication Center staff writer Gene Ching explores some of the connections of tigers to the martial arts.
Three Ancient Chinese Teachings: Fo, Ru, Dao - May 10, 2021
Buddhism is an ancient religion based on the Buddha's teachings - the title given to the Indian spiritual seeker Siddhartha Gautama after he attained enlightenment more than 2,600 years ago. The Buddha's best-known teachings are the four noble truths and the eightfold path, which describe the nature of human suffering and a way to liberate oneself from the existential pains of life and reach nirvana.
2020: Enter the Rat! The First of the Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs - January 20, 2020
The Chinese year 4718 begins on January 25, 2020. According to the Chinese zodiac it will be the Year of the Rat (鼠年 - “rat year”; pinyin: shǔnián). The Chinese calendar is lunisolar (not purely lunar). Months begin with the new moon (when it is darkest). New Year's Day usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The year 1 on the Chinese calendar corresponds to the first reign year of the legendary Yellow Emperor (黃帝; pinyin: Huángdì), who is said to have invented the calendar during the 61st year of his reign.
Xingyi, Bagua, Taiji and Liuhebafa - August 26, 2019
The approach to teaching and studying martial arts in China was based upon a monastic tradition that is characterized as door, hall, and chamber teaching. In times past the monastery, both Daoist and Buddhist, served as schools for medicine, the classics, and martial arts.
Brief History of Liuhebafa: Water Boxing - July 15, 2019
The origins of Liuhebafa, also called Water Boxing, can be traced to the Daoist sage Chen Tuan (A.D. c.871-989) also called Tunan and Fuyaozi. Chen is a mystical figure whose advice and perspective was sought by Chinese emperors during the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (A.D. 907-960) and at the beginning of the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279).
Water Style for Beginners (Liu He Ba Fa) Part 2 - July 1, 2019
Water style incorporates the qualities and strengths of the three internal styles of Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua, yet it is in a class by itself, a unique form of internal martial arts. Its movements are sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes fast, and sometimes slow. These movements resemble floating clouds and flowing water that is sometimes calm, sometimes surging.
Water Style for Beginners (Liu He Ba Fa) Part 1 - June 24, 2019
Chinese martial arts are the essence of Chinese civilization. Several thousands of years in the making, it has developed into two major styles-namely internal and external. Both styles are again divided to include countless different styles. Among the internal styles, the best known and most popular are Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua.
Think of Beginning—Advance Gradually Lao Tzu, Translation and Commentary - January 6, 2019
The Nature has always developed gradually. For those who are cultivating the Dao, the final goal is "doing without doing" (wuwei, 無為). However, to reach this level, you must begin with the easy and small. Only after you are able to take care of easy and small matters should you then gradually advance into more difficult and bigger matters.
The Hero and the Warrior - December 31, 2018
My favorite quote from the movie Skyfall occurs when secret agent James Bond meets his new quartermaster, Q, the designer of his spy tech and furrowed brow to many of his boyish antics: "I'll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pajamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field," quips Q. "Oh, so why do you need me?" Bond replies. "Every now and then a trigger has to be pulled," Q states. Bond smiles. "Or not pulled. It's hard to know which in your pajamas."
Anatomy of a Warrior Spirit - December 23, 2018
Martial artists are, by definition, warriors. True warriors have warrior spirit. In martial arts, as in life, there are some people who are successful, and some people who are not. The most successful people are imbued with a warrior spirit, known in the Chinese tradition as Yi. Warrior spirit has nothing to do with fighting or aggression, even though skilled fighters often have a well-developed warrior spirit. On the contrary, warrior spirit is about having the wherewithal to resolve conflict or avoid it altogether, and most of all to muster the internal fortitude requisite to the process of mastering yourself.
Celebrating Chinese New Year, the Year of the Monkey - February 8, 2016
For thousands of years, celebrating the New Year in China is always the biggest event of the whole year. During the lunar New Year celebration, every family makes the best food, wears their best clothes, and shoes, and keeps up their best spirit and mood. Family and friends get together to enjoy eating, laughing, chatting, and friendship. Another very important element of the celebration: fire crackers.
Marshal Yue, Fei's Ten Important Theses—Part 6, Final - March 9, 2015
Grab the right, enter the left. Grab the left, enter the right. When stepping forward, the heels touch the ground first. The tip of the foot uses the toes to grab the ground. The stepping must be steady and the body must be solemn. The strike must be firm, solid, and have Li from the bones. While going (i.e., attacking), the hands are relaxed and when they reach the opponent they become fists. When fists are used, curl (the fingers) in tightly.
Marshal Yue, Fei's Ten Important Theses—Part 5 - February 23, 2015
It is the stepping, which gives your strategy life and creates the hundreds of variations. It is also the stepping, which allows you to react naturally to an attack and avoid or escape from dangerous situations.
Marshal Yue, Fei's Ten Important Theses—Part 4 - February 9, 2015
Xin combines with Yi, Yi combines with Qi, and Qi combines with Li are the three internal combinations. Hands combine with feet, elbows combine with knees, and shoulders combine with hips are the three external combinations.
Marshal Yue, Fei's Ten Important Theses—Part 3 - January 12, 2015
This discussion starts with striking and postures.  When talking about about postures, we first discuss Qi.  Man has five viscera, which therefore form the shape. From the five viscera, the Qi is born. Therefore, the five viscera are really the original bearers of human nature (i.e., life) and the source of growing Qi.
Marshal Yue, Fei's Ten Important Theses—Part 2 - December 28, 2014
It is seldom heard that he who discusses striking, also discussed Qi. About the Qi, it is mastered as one but can be divided into two. What are these two? They are inhaling and exhaling. The inhalation and exhalation are the Yin and Yang. The striking cannot (be done) without moving and calmness.
Marshal Yue, Fei's Ten Important Theses—Part 1 - December 22, 2014
Marshal Yue, Fei's Ten Important Theses on Xingyiquan can be considered the essence or the root of the art. We can clearly see that all of the available documents and books written in the last 60 years derive almost all of their theories and principles from these theses.
The Art in Martial Arts - July 28, 2014
For many practitioners, the phrase “martial arts” doesn’t do a particularly good job of encompassing the complexity of the systems we study. There is also a certain oxymoronic tension between things martial and things arty and serious trainees often prefer to emphasize the physical efficacy of these systems.
Chinese New Year "The Year of the Wooden Horse" Interview with Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming - January 27, 2014
Most non-Chinese people (Westerners) call the Spring Festival 'Chinese New Year.' The 2014 Chinese Spring Festival falls on January 31 continuing through February 6. According to the Chinese zodiac it is the Year of the Wooded Horse. In Chinese Five Element theory, Horse is in the Fire group, which is the strongest fire animal in twelve zodiacs.
Popular Chinese Internal Martial Arts - July 8, 2013
Because all Chinese martial styles utilize some Qigong training, it is difficult to distinguish the external styles from the internal. Traditionally, almost all of the Chinese martial styles were taught in secret, and it was not until the last 100 years that these secrets were gradually exposed to the general public. There are many styles that are still taught secretly.