thoughts on breaking.

Breaking has been a mainstay of martial arts exhibitions in the US for decades.  In fact, the average layman when thinking of martial arts probably conjures images of a yelling "karate chop" through some material.  Perhaps this is due to to ubiquitous satire in popular culture.  Many legitimate masters decry breaking as mere parlor tricks or at the least unoteworthy or unimportant displays.  Still, they are a key component of many traditional systems.  Why?  Is there any inherent value in breaking some bricks, or is it just for show?   

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.

where do you use your arts?

Nowadays, at least in New York there is a relatively low need for self-defense in public spaces. Street crime is the lowest it’s been in generations and if you are victimized, chances are good that the perpetrator will have a gun, negating the sensible use of fighting arts. Ruled out as a practical application in everyday life you are left with a few choices of application: competition, artistic expression, athleticism and personal development. But when do you make use of actual fighting capabilities? What considerations govern the path of their pursuit?

new breaking record.

Reuters recently reported on a Malaysian Kung-Fu practitioner setting a new record for coconuts broken with his index finger. The report and video are here. Mr. Ho's breaking 4 coconuts in 30 seconds has set a new record which he hopes will be entered into the Guiness Book.

thoughts on ba duan jin.

Ba Duan Jin, variously translated as Eight Silk Weaving, Eight Piece Brocade and Eight Silk Brocade among other names is one of the most well known Chinese exercises for internal development. Due to this popularity there exist many variations of the exercises and disparate teachings on their benefits. Most practitioners utilizing these exercises perform them by rote without care or consideration for what or how they are doing them, or what the exercises are doing in return. As such, this article is an exploration of some of my questions on the “how.”