movie review: choke.

I recently watched "Choke," a documentary film about Rickson Gracie's preparation for, and competition in the second Japanese Vale Tudo tournament in 1995. The film profiles his career and training in California, then follows him to the competition. As well, the filmmakers follow two other competitors, one American, one Japanese as they prepare. The second half of the film documents the actual tournament, compressing the matches and showing some interesting backstage goings-on. Choke is primarily a profile of an important fighter at the height of his career but it only skims the surface of the ancillary and highly relevant subject material- the emerging dominance of Gracie Jujitsu and the then unnamed MMA.

review: aaron bank's world of oriental self-defense.

Two weeks ago I attended Aaron Banks's 44th Annual World of Oriental Self-Defense. Mr. Banks has been producing exhibitions and later tournaments that showcase a variety Asian martial arts since 1963. This particular show has played in Madison Square Garden, been featured on ABC's Wide World of Sports and was the subject of a Sports Illustrated article. Famous martial artists have gotten started through demonstrations or tournaments held by Mr. Banks and few would doubt his influence in growing the popularity of martial arts. Unfortunately, those golden years have long since passed and while it is great to see a continuing tradition, this most recent performance makes a youngblood like myself wonder if it's not a shadow of its former self.

review: ying jow pai demonstration.

This Chinese New Year’s I skipped out on the Chinatown parades and instead headed to The Fighthouse on West 27th Street. Resident school Ying Jow Pai (Eagle Claw Fist) was holding it’s annual New Year’s Celebration and Kung-Fu Demonstration. Featuring primarily forms, the school demonstrated the range or their techniques as well as showing some Yang style Tai Chi, Brazilian Jiujitsu from fellow Fighthouse residents and demonstrations from the Brooklyn Chapter of the Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut school.

review: ninja assassin.

I finally went to see Ninja Assassin this past weekend. Don’t expect expert film making and don’t expect any attempt at factual accuracy. As well, contrary to what I was told the Wachowski brothers did not “make” this film, they were listed with 3 other “producers,” a vague Hollywood term that can mean all sorts of things. So don’t expect crazy Martix-like camera tricks and effects either. What you can expect is a ton of blood and a hell of a good time. My suggestion, see this on a Saturday night at a neighborhood theater where there’s likely to be a large youthful crowd so you can yell and laugh and “oh shit” as the ninja stars fly and the body parts drop.

review: spring and autumn of chinese martial arts.

From the publisher: The first! A complete historical reference for Chinese Martial Arts. This book is written by one of the world's leading experts on Wushu. Professor Kang Gewu of the Wushu Research Institute in Beijing has personally traveled throughout China gathering archeological data and oral histories on this valuable cultural treasure that is Martial Arts. This book is a vital text for anyone interested in the origins of such diverse styles as T'ai Ch'i, Shaolin, ancient wrestling and Qi Gong. It offers a time-line that covers thousands of years of significant developments in the long history of Martial Arts. Styles and masters are included by the dozen. The product of years of research and study. Not to be missed!

All that may be true but, there are also some glaring deficiencies.....

Second is the use of selective translation. While the book is completely in English the author only selectively translates Chinese terminology, identifying some styles/forms/terms for the reader while leaving others in mysterious Chinese for us to guess at their meaning.
Third and by far most troubling for me is the exclusive use of the term wushu. I realize that literally wushu means simply martial arts however it is laden with connotations as it doubles as the official term for the mainland Chinese government sponsored codified sport version of Chinese Martial Arts. In writing a concise history of "diverse styles" it would behoove the author to choose a more neutral term. As well this bias becomes clear as history in the post-war period and specifically after the establishment of wushu becomes more and more detailed, receiving unbalanced space.

final thoughts
While it is obvious that I was disappointed by this book it is valuable in a few ways. Most specifically it will be of interest to completists and those looking for a reference source from which to further investigate Chinese Martial Arts history. This objective would of course be greatly served if the author and publisher included a foreword and notation throughout regarding sources, methodology and credentials of the research team. As this was supposedly the product of years of research, some attempt to validate it would be useful.

On a more asthetic note, some photographs would greatly improve the book's accesibility. The text is interspersed with modern line drawings, all seemigly from the same uncredited hand, but as this is a historical volume it would be suitable to have some historical imagery. Vintage photographs, drawings, writings, paintings, modern photographs of historical locations, statues... something to "bring the past alive."

In the end, The Spring and Autumn of Chinese Martial Arts promises a lot more then it delivers. The final product is an uninspired timeline that reads more like the draft outline to a history of modern sport wushu then a definitive history. Still, this volume could be highly useful to an aspiring martial arts historian. If there are any those out there reading, here's my advise: get in touch with the author, make a offer to write the second edition and give this the professional touch it deserves!

a yoga retreat

I just went on a weekend yoga retreat that was quite interesting. There are a number of online resources out there on yoga retreats- reviews, how to pick the right one, what to expect, etc. so this entry will instead be a little something about my personal experience.