July 25, 2022
There are countless kung fu forms across innumerable schools and lineages, but sometimes different schools share the same form. While reviewing the Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu Complete Collection, YMAA Staff Writer Gene Ching discovered some overlapping forms between his Northern Shaolin tradition and YMAA’s curriculum and discusses the shared roots and divergences.
April 18, 2022
This is Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming's official YMAA External Arts Curriculum, which outlines his recommended order of study for Kung Fu students.
February 11, 2021
Needle Through Brick is a documentary that poses these questions by taking an intimate look at some surviving traditional Kung Fu and Tai Chi masters of Malaysian Borneo, particularly Sarawak and Sibu. There’s a large Chinese population here, a diaspora of masters who fled the Japanese occupation and the communists. Needle Through Brick presents insightful interviews of Borneo’s unique elder masters as the precious disciplines that they have dedicated their lives to face extinction.
November 23, 2020
"The great learning of the Dao is to pursue comprehension of the bright De (i.e., the manifestation of the Dao) and to influence other people until the ultimate goodness can be reached. Once you know, then your mind is steady without doubts. When the mind is steady, then you are able to acquire calmness. When you are calm, then you find peace. When you are at peace, then you are able to ponder. When you are able to ponder, then you gain. All objects have their initiation and ending and all matters have a beginning and expiration. If one knows the beginning and the end, then one is closer to the Dao."
April 22, 2019
At YMAA, students learn qigong (energy cultivation) as part of their taiji or kung fu classes. In ancient times, Shaolin monks trained the cultivation of qi (energy), and realized muscular power could be enhanced to a tremendous level, making martial techniques more powerful and effective. This was the beginning of internal cultivation in Chinese martial arts, starting around 550 AD /CE. In internal styles, YMAA focuses mainly on traditional Yang-style taijiquan which originated from Yang, Ban-Hou (楊班候).
I lived and trained at the YMAA Retreat Center for the month of March 2010. Close to the end, Dr. Yang asked me to write something about my experience there. Now, sitting in a café in my beautiful hometown in Germany, I think about the time spent there.
A Chin Na expert must also know how to escape from an opponent's Chin Na control, and be able to counterattack and reverse the situation. To escape from an opponent's control, you must master several techniques in addition to those explained in the previous section.
Chin Na literally means "seize control." Chin Na covers a wide scale of defensive and offensive techniques, from very fundamental hand grappling to the very advanced Dim Mak. The fundamental techniques can be learned by any martial artist or even by someone without any martial arts experience.
Technically speaking, the foundation and basic principles of San Shou Shuai Jiao are based on traditional Chinese wrestling (Chuan Tong Shuai Jiao) and adapted for combat training. San Shou Shuai Jiao techniques and principles are very simple, effective and—most important—quick.
The Shaolin Temple is regarded as the birthplace of Zen and Kung Fu—the first place in history to combine the training of a warrior with the spiritual practices of a monk.
Shuai Jiao is a Chinese fighting style with over 4,000 years of history. It specializes in countering against punching and kicking, using defense as the offense. Shuai Jiao is commonly used for short range fighting and throwing down an opponent.
Grandmaster Li, Mao-Ching (李茂清) was born in Qingdao city (青島市), China, on July 5, 1927. He first began training martial arts in 1934 when he was eight years old, under the instruction and guidance of his father and his cousin Shang, Huan.
I have been training at the YMAA School in Boston, Mass. for Kung Fu for over seven years. I am 13 years old. I am currently in the third of ten ranks in the adult Shaolin class, meaning I have three stripes. I still remember the first class that I attended when I was only 6 years old.
Nestled in the hills above Salmon Creek west of Miranda, the YMAA Retreat Center is possibly better-known throughout the world than it is in Southern Humboldt. Dr. Yang hopes to change that by reaching out to the community, inviting residents to participate in training and sending his students to teach others in local schools.
The Chinese year 4708 begins on February 14, 2010, the year of the Tiger, with its association to bravery. This year, the date has special significance since it also happens to fall on Valentine's Day, making it a doubly auspicious day to celebrate in the West.
Notre école est née de la rencontre en octobre 1990 de quelques karatékas du fameux club de Karaté nommé le shobudo ou la montagne avec le Dr Yang Jwing Ming. Ses visites régulières et la venue pendant 6 mois de M. Ramel Rones ont permis d'ouvrir officiellement la YMAA France en Mars 1994.
The first Shaolin Buddhist Temple was built in 377 AD on Shaoshi Mountain (少室山) in Deng Feng (登封) county of Henan (河南) province, by order of Emperor Wei (魏). Bodhidharma (菩提達摩), or Da Mo, came to Shaolin from India to teach Buddhism around 527 AD.
Religion is full of paradox, and Eastern religions are no exception. One of the most compelling paradoxes is that Eastern religions (Buddhism and Daoism) are closely linked with the martial arts.
YMAA Polska powstała w 1986 roku po pierwszej wizycie dr Yang Jwing-Minga w Polsce. Była to pierwsza szkoła YMAA poza granicami USA.
O treino na Ymaa Portugal aborda três áreas distintas, formando classes com características peculiares e uma entidade distinta.
Bij YMAA België worden er drie stijlen gevechtskunsten beoefend: Shaolin zuidelijke Witte Kraanvogel (Baihequan of Bai He Chuan), Shaolin Lange Vuist (Changquan of Chang Chuan) en Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan). Het zijn alle drie traditionele stijlen die al honderden jaren bestaan.
Training does have to be adjusted and changed for modern day, but the principles and essence should remain the same. We are constantly striving to preserve the teachings of our masters, and we should be very cautious when to modify them.
The Jian (Cantonese: gim), a narrow-blade, double-edged sword, has been respected as the “King of Short Weapons” in China for millennia. Wielding the Jian requires the highest of skill, and the sword user must strive to the heights of spirit and morality.
There has been a clear and obvious downward shift in the average skill level of students, and even masters, of today compared to the masters and students of old.
In ancient times, many students would unconditionally sacrifice their lives to their training and beg masters to take them, often striving to prove themselves worthy for many weeks, months or years before they were accepted.