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.

experiences with chi.

The other day I did a little over an hour of yoga practice, afterward I lied in meditation for 15 minutes and experienced something quite interesting. Starting at my groin and working down, then from my waist back up, I consciously tried moving and focusing my energy through different body parts in sequential order. I have previously done similar exercises for relaxation but this time was able to really feel my energy, to concentrate it in specific areas. A couple times while directing my energy I “looked” briefly at a different areas of my body to see if the energy was in fact everywhere and that I was simply paying attention to it only in the area of focus. I found it was not in other places but that the energy was indeed concentrating only where I was consciously directing it. This could be something else and I will confer with an instructor but it seems that I am developing the ability to direct and concentrate my chi.

a reading list.

So many books, so little time… I complained in an earlier post about the lack of quality books non-Taiji, non-training guide books on Chinese Martial Arts. That being said I’ve burned plenty of hours scouring for interesting material. Here are a few I would love to get around to reading sometime soon…

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?