Innholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2016 i Kung Fu Tai Chi

It’s that time of year again, time for our most self-indulgent issue. Longtime readers of Kung Fu Tai Chi know that the Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com Championship has been covered in our September+October issue since its inception in 2009. Tiger Claw Elite Championships coverage goes back even further. That’s been covered in this issue since 2006, but to be fair, there were features in every issue during the tournament season back then. In those days, the Tiger Claw Elite Championships were nested within dozens of tournaments, which ran from spring through summer. If you don’t go back that far with us, you’ll read about it all on page 10. I cannot describe how much chaos the Tiger Claw Elite Championships bring to our office (but I will try, as always,…

Now in its 7th year, the WildAid Tiger Claw Championship continues to be the flagship showcase division for the Tiger Claw Elite Championships. It is the only place where Taekwondo competitors can compete with Chinese-style competitors; however, Taekwondo gave up trying last year. The WildAid Tiger Claw Championship is hosted by our charitable branch, the Tiger Claw Foundation. All proceeds from this event are donated to WildAid, an international organization working to end the illegal wildlife trade within our lifetimes. The WildAid Tiger Claw Championship was launched in 2010 for the last Year of the Tiger, and at the beginning all proceeds were specifically earmarked for tigeroriented projects. However, the mission of WildAid is so vast that now the donation supports WildAid’s overall efforts. Numerous celebrities have given their support…

The 7th New Jersey International Wushu-Kungfu Tournament was held on May 29, 2016 at Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event was organized by Zhao Changjun Wushu Academy. Master Zhao Changjun (赵长军) is one of the most decorated wushu champions ever. From the late ‘70s to the late ‘80s, Zhao captured ten individual all-around titles in national and international events. He has earned 54 gold medals and has demonstrated in five continents for over thirty countries. Zhao is undeniably one of the greatest wushu masters of all time. The tournament was not widely promoted because Zhao and his wife were in Shaanxi China for most of April due to personal reasons. Just by word of the mouth, over 200 competitors from more than twenty schools participated, including students…

the category of heavy tools, or traditional chuan tong zhong bing qi (傳統重兵 器) heavy weapons skills, consists of the solid iron Guan Gong Da Dao (關公大刀), as covered in the last article, and the shi suo (石锁) or stone locks. Master Song, a 30-year veteran of Shaolin Kung Fu, learned these methods from his teacher Li Xing (李興), who is a local folk hero. These traditional methods are quickly becoming a thing of the past at Shaolin and in surrounding schools, replaced by lighter, flimsier weapons better suited for performance arts. Not to discredit the lighter weapons, as they have value for exercise and performance, but one can readily see and feel the power of a master who has trained with the monstrous traditional tools. I had my first…

For the most up-to-date listings, visit our online interactive calendar at KungFuMagazine.com To get listed in our NEWS section, go to our official website at www.KungFuMagazine.com and click “Calendar” to register. Online listings are edited for content. Events are transferred to our print magazine if posted before deadline (up to 3 months in advance). If you cannot access the web, send your event information to: Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine, 40748 Encyclopedia Circle, Fremont, CA 94538 or FAX 510-656-8844 ATTN: Gene. This is a public service to the Martial Arts Community. The publishers expressly disclaim any and all liability relating to these events.…

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this period is autumn, belonging to the element of metal and the organ of lung. Lung controls your qi, hair and skin so respiratory, digestive and skin issues arise under the autumn moon. In the TCM five-element theory, metal opposes wood and the organ associated with wood is lung. TCM prescribes moistening the lung and nourishing the yin. The liver is associated with wood. Hot, spicy food belongs to metal. Therefore, avoid hot and spicy food because it can harm the liver in autumn. To nourish your liver, acidic food is better because it is associated with wood. Autumn is the season of restraint so stay very warm. Avoid winds to prevent catching a cold. When cold winds get into your body, they will cause…

ON May 21 and 22, 2016, Tiger Claw held the 2016 Tiger Claw Elite Championship and the 5th Annual KUNG FU TAI CHI DAY in downtown San Jose, California. This year, the Tiger Claw Elite Championships consisted of two events: the 8th Annual Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com Championship and the 4th Annual Tiger Claw Elite Taekwondo Championship. The Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com Championship expanded to two days this year, merging with KUNG FU TAI CHI DAY on Sunday. It all happened under the expansive canopy of San Jose McEnery Convention Center’s South Hall. There were nearly six hundred KungFu-Magazine.com competitors, five hundred and twenty Taekwondo competitors and thirteen hundred spectators. Tiger Claw Elite Timeline Tiger Claw Elite began as a Black Belt Only Open Competition in cooperation with Disney’s Martial…

The other half of Saturday’s Tiger Claw Elite Championships was the 4th Annual Tiger Claw Elite Taekwondo Championship, once again under the direction of Grandmaster Kwangil Bae. The championship attracted five hundred and twenty competitors this year, who vied for Tiger Claw custom-made medals in six rings of six different divisions: Open Poomsae, Traditional Poomsae, Synchronized Poomsae, Weapons Poomsae, Sparring (Poomsae is the Korean term for forms). In addition to these, there was an obstacle course competition for children, as well as the Individual Sports Poomsae. These two events are unique to the Tiger Claw Elite Taekwondo Champions. They cannot be found at any other local tournament. Individual Sports Poomsae was run using the same format used by the USA Taekwondo (USAT) at Nationals. The USAT is the national governing…

Female Rafting Guides Study Shaolin Kung Fu In the tradition of Kung Fu Stewardesses (mentioned here in the last issue), female rafting guides have begun training in Kung Fu. Both the White Swan Rafting Rescue Team from Yuxi Gorge in Henan Province, and the Goddess Lifesavers’ at Gulongxia Rafting in Guangdong Province posed in T-shirts, shorts and bikinis while training with Shaolin monks. The publicity photos went globally viral. Not to be outdone, Chen Style Tai Chi Master Wu Jianhua also did a waterside photo shoot with a group of attractive women at Shiyan Lake in Hunan Province. However, those women were in traditional silk uniforms and were not rafting guides so the promotion was not nearly as effective. http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42124-Ihate-training-with-women&p=1293236#post1293236 Thailand’s Tiger Temple busted for Tiger trade Thailand’s famous Tiger…

The Chinese martial arts suffer from a time-honored dichotomy — form versus function. Forms are the foundation of Chinese martial arts. We have some of the most sophisticated, most complex and arguably, the most beautiful forms of any martial art in the world. We also have the most forms of any other martial culture on the planet. But so many forms make for a cumbersome curriculum, one that constantly begs the question — does it work? Traditional martial arts, whether i t be Chinese, Japanese, Korean, even some styles like Filipino, Thai and others, have their foundation in form practice. However, nowadays few competitive fighters, particularly those in MMA, practice forms. This has [ed many contemporary practitioners to dismiss forms as obsolete, but that's a very narrow opinion. Competitive fighters…

This magnificent sword has all new fittings. The hilt and scabbard have been meticulously refurbished to showcase the real glory of this piece – the blade. The blade has spectacular metal grain for the period. It is most likely a Han Dynasty blade as few Qin Dynasty (221 BCE–206 BCE) pieces of this caliber survive. Metallurgy in the Qin was predominantly iron work; Steel, particularly the quality forged with the sophistication to produce temper lines like in this example, doesn’t really emerge until the Han Dynasty. However, the owner points out that the shape of the tip provides a clue. Qin Dynasty Jian have asymmetrical tips. One side favors cutting more than the other. The subtle attribute can be a telltale sign for forgeries claiming to be from that period.…

The expansion of the Tiger Claw Elite KungFuMagazine.com Championship to a two-day event was inevitable. Last year, the competitor cap of 400 was reached well before the pre-registration deadline. This year, the competitor cap was reached prior to deadline again, but at nearly 600 competitors. The days were divided by style. On Saturday, the external divisions were held. Sunday was dedicated to the internal divisions, alongside two of the showcase divisions: the longstanding WildAid Tiger Claw Championship and the Monkey King Championship, which was special just for this year. Grandmaster Tu Jin-Sheng (March+April 2003 cover master) also staged his unique event, the 4th Golden Dragon Cup. The third was held in 2013. This is an invitation-only event, part demonstration, part competition, focused on Special Skills Qigong including bending metal against…

The Monkey King Championships were special showcase divisions in honor of 2016, the Year of the Monkey. This was an open forms competition, empty-hand or weapon, open to any style, as long as the form was based on Monkey style. There were two divisions: Monkey King (age 18 and above) and Monkey Kid (17 and below). This showcase division was held just for this year. As next year is the Year of the Rooster, it is unlikely that another such showcase division will be held for that. While there are chicken styles, particularly within Xingyi, it is nowhere near as prevalent as Monkey Kung Fu. Monkey King Champion: Ding Wei (Champion Wushu Center) Competitor: Adan Baca Monkey Kid Champion: Ian Lim (Kung Fu Dragon USA) Competitors: Matthew Chan, Gavin Chang,…

掤, pronounced peng, is the first element of the Tai Chi Thirteen Postures. Its martial function is warding-off. But peng is more than an offensive energy; it should permeate the entire body and make a practitioner feel energetic, full, expanded but not heavy. Some people describe it as a feeling of buoyancy. It should be omnipresent in all postures. Without peng, there can be no self-defense. A person with abundant peng energy acquires an aura that others can feel. Formerly known as the Zhang San Feng Festival, founded by Grandmaster Jou Tsung-Hwa, Tai Chi Gala is organized by Jou’s only disciple Sifu Loretta Wollering. 2016 Tai Chi Gala was held in Albany, New York, on June 4–6. Close to 200 Tai Chi and Chinese internal martial art aficionados from dozens…

In the skillful hands of someone who has practiced hard enough, studied long enough, and is openminded enough in the ways of bing hei (martial arms 兵器), anything can become a weapon. Anything – even a bench. In Cantonese, dang (凳) means bench or stool. When coupled with particular modifiers, dang will assume very specific meanings. For example, baan dang (板凳) is a wooden bench; gou geuk dang (高腳凳) is a high chair or bar stool; and, cheung dang (長凳) literally means long bench. The form of bench typically associated with Chinese martial arts is the cheung kiu dang (長橋凳), better known as the long bridge bench, or waang tau dang (橫頭凳) – horizontal head bench. Its fundamental construction was very basic: a wooden plank at least 36 inches long…

Warcraft, based on the videogame franchise that was originally released in 1994, served as another indicator of the global cinematic shift from America towards China. The film first came to our attention via Daniel Wu, star of AMC’s Into the Badlands and our January+February 2016 cover master (by the way, Into the Badlands Season Two started production in mid-June). Wu voiced Gul’dan, a lead orc warlock, and is the only Warcraft star that Chinese filmgoers would recognize. Warcraft opened in China two days before the U.S. and quickly crushed box office records set there by last year’s Furious 7 and this year’s The Mermaid from Stephen Chow. Directed by Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie, Warcraft had a tepid box office performance in America but it didn’t matter. It had…

Kung Fu Tai Chi is distributed by the following fine locations ARIZONA ------------------ Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun of Arizona 1805 E. Elliot Rd. STE110 Tempe, AZ 85284 Mark Jones 480-820-2428 Shaolin Arts 4330 W. Union Hills Dr. B8 Glendale AZ 85308 Chris Workman 623-581-2000 www.shaolinarts.com CALIFORNIA -------------- Shaolin Temple Cultural Center 9143 La Rosa Dr. Temple City, CA 91780 Shi Yanxu 626-292-1355 http://shaolinus.com Shaolin Temple Cultural Center 3628 Nogales St., West Covina, CA 91792 Shi Yanxu 626-292-1355 http://shaolinus.com Tai Mantis Kung Fu 758 E Highland Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92404 Don Newton 909-881-2226 www.taimantis.com John Cho’s Kung Fu School 2435 N. Fresno St., Fresno, CA 93720 John Cho 209-225-9796 Lily Lau Eagle Claw 1651 El Camino Real Millbrae, CA 94030 Sifu Kalman Wong 510-201-3098 www.lilylaueagleclaw.com Gee Yung Fut Ga…