November 27, 2023
Translator and martial artist Christopher Bates talks with Gene Ching about Taiwan history, and the oppression and poverty experienced there post-World War Two. This is also where YMAA founder Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming was born and lived until college. They discuss various Taiwanese martial arts styles and their overlap, including Shaolin White Crane (Bai He), Xingyiquan, Baguazhang and others.
November 27, 2023
With the Abbot of Shaolin Temple visit to California in November 2023, Staff Writer Gene Ching ruminates over the distinctions between some Shaolin styles of Kung Fu practiced around the world and the curriculum propounded at the original Shaolin Temple of China today
November 20, 2023
It’s easy to talk about righteousness. Living it is difficult.
November 18, 2023
Augustus John Roe is an author, linguist and instructor of traditional Vietnamese martial arts of the Bửu Sơn Phật Môn Quyền lineage. Since the mid-2000s, he has lived and trained in Asia. During this time, Augustus has worked on numerous television shows, books, magazines and academic projects documenting local cultures and martial arts practices.
November 13, 2023
While both myths and legends possess an undeniable appeal, transforming mundane truths into powerful stories, these tales also serve a martial function.
Gene Ching has a fascinating chat with producer/director Patrick Daly about his award-winning martial arts documentary "Needle Through Brick" which explores the decline of the traditional arts in the East.
The entire Tiger Claw combination should only take a few seconds to execute completely. With practice, you can deliver all four moves in less than three seconds.
Training that leaves participants terrorized, anxious and bruised fails the foundational ideal that makes it meaningful.
When claiming self-defense, you are admitting that you are guilty of what would normally be a violent criminal action and that you did so intentionally and knowingly. However, you are also stating that your actions were justified under the given circumstances.
The term “ground fighting” is actually a generic one and for the sake of clarity, needs to be parsed out and examined.
If you see a change in your teen’s daily ability to function, ask about it and be supportive (without being judgmental). They may need your help, and it could be a sign that they need to talk to a mental health professional.
"Currently, teaching is the whip that keeps me going for my health and mental balance. For searching for the truth of the Dao, I will never retire till the end of my life."
“If you don’t know how you got somewhere, you don’t know where you are.”—James Burke
"Less Stress, More Energy". This is the driving theory behind Qigong (Energy-Cultivation). If we can coax the body into making more energy (Qi), we will have more resources to meet life's demands, and as a result feel less stress. Simultaneously, as we lower our stress levels, our bodies are able to make energy more efficiently.
We have spent the last century making light-years of improvement in our understanding of
biology, physics, engineering, chemistry, etc. Yet we seem to be less capable, in many ways, of
improving human health and well-being as a result of it.
Tai chi is one of the most practiced martial arts in the world today. Countless practitioners recite these time-honored movements for health, self-defense, and peace of mind all around the world. However, as tai chi continues to spread globally, how to spell it is absurdly frustrating.
Tevia Feng explains his path studying Daoism and qigong to creating White Tiger Qigong, his unique system that blends traditional qigong with modern anatomy, exercise science, and muscle / fascia research.
This is Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming's official YMAA External Arts Curriculum, which outlines his recommended order of study for Kung Fu students.
So, what should you be looking for? In the beginning, the more important question is, what are criminals looking for? To fully understand the process of situational awareness, we need to take a step back and evaluate ourselves, our movements, and how others perceive us. To do this, we need to understand what predators look for in their victims and why they choose the people they do.
YMAA Publication Center author Joe Varady talks with Shaolin staff practitioner Gene Ching about his new video series The Art and Science of Staff Fighting, his method of cross-training many martial arts, HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts), and the reality of using long weapons (or a broom!) in real life defense situations.
Stressing Karate’s possible use for supporting Japan’s armed forces was Itosu Sensei’s pragmatic strategy to secure sufficient funds for his educational campaign by tapping into Japan’s funds for its militarization―whereas the final and underlying goal of this educational campaign was not to create the raw material for the nation’s military forces, but something different, something nobler.
If you’ve read the first two books in my “Heads Up” situational awareness series, you may have already known that Emily is my youngest daughter. Her plan to escape the man in the truck wasn’t perfect, but it was efficient. The fact that she could fight off the effects of an adrenaline dump, devise a plan, and return home safely was good enough for me…This is a book about situational awareness, what it is, and how to teach it to your teens. That’s the goal here.
In this practice, a practitioner will use his mind, with some specific physical movements, to lead the Qì to the Láogōng (P-8, 勞宮) cavity and allow the Qì to be distributed to the entire hand. This practice has also been commonly used to improve the Qì circulation in the six Qì channels, circulating to the tip of the fingers.
Now that you have provided us with some fascinating background details dealing with family, studies, and work, I'd like to focus on your martial art studies. What exactly got you interested in these arts? Please provide some details about your very first teacher.
The name Dr. Yang Jwingming became known to many because of his early publications dealing with Taijiquan. Despite some editorial faults expected in early works by a native-Chinese speaker who was a novice to publishing, his pioneering volumes offered insights and experience into the art that captivated thousands.