My martial arts origin story
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

My martial arts origin story

I started training in martial arts during my first year at University, 1984, 40 years ago this year. There have been long gaps when I was not training at all.

Please take my story with a pinch of salt and in the light hearted manner it is intended. In some areas I have solid evidence to corroborate and validate my timelines and in others I don’t - and my memory is getting fuzzy.

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Brush Knee Twist Step
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Brush Knee Twist Step

In our school we tend to call this one ‘brush knee push’.

I stumbled across Master Gu’s video below after falling down my usual YouTube rabbit hole.

We also tend to drill this quite a lot, but I can’t say I am anywhere up to a 1000 times a day!

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Baguazhang - 1980’s documentary
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Baguazhang - 1980’s documentary

This is a wonderful historical documentary of Baguazhang orginating in the 1980’s and recently edited and translated by Byron Jacobs of https://www.mushinmartialculture.com. I strongly recommend you visit his site. Byron is a Liang Style practioner, whereas the Wutan school is in the Yin Style lineage.

My notes are presented here as ‘revision notes’ as part of my goal to deepen my understanding of this art. I thought this was going to be a ‘quick and dirty’ article, but it turned out longer than expected!

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Baguazhang Lineage
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Baguazhang Lineage

Following my recent article on Yin style Baguazhang showcasing Situ Ray Hayward’s wonderful and clear demonstrations, I have tried to piece together the Baguazhang lineage of our school. This is primarily derived from Master They’s first book - The Path of the Complete Martial Artist.

During the period that Yan Lu Tan held the post of Chief Instructor to the Imperial Palace, there were also other famous instructors in residence, such as Kuo Yin Sen of the art of Hsing Yi [Xingyi] and Tong Hai Chuan (1796-1880) [Dong Haichuan] of the art of Pa Kua Chang [Baguazhang]. Tong was also the king’s bodyguard and the first to bring Pa Kua to the public eye.

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Yang Tai Chi - Application
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Yang Tai Chi - Application

From the YouTube Channel of Kevin Lee we see Dr Mark Cheng showing the application of techniques from Yang Style Long Form (large frame, old style). It seems that he learned Tai Chi from this father.

Dr Cheng explains that like most Chinese Martial arts, Tai Chi includes the ability to:

  • Kick

  • Punch / strike

  • Throw, and

  • Joint lock

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Baguazhang - Yin Style
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Baguazhang - Yin Style

I am still very much a beginner in traditional Chinese martial arts and I continue to find Bagua fascinating. It seems to be doing wonders for my hips and knees. It’s the newest ‘internal martial art’ and was founded by Dong Haichuan in the mid-nineteenth century. Yin Fu was said to be his best student. It’s not a style we learn in my school, but I love the simplicity of the material presented here by Ray Howard and his simple teaching style, so I feel it is worth sharing.

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Shōgun
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Shōgun

Shōgun is an American historical drama television series created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks. It is based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell, which was previously adapted into a 1980 miniseries. Its ensemble cast includes Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Takehiro Hira, Tommy Bastow, and Fumi Nikaido. Although it is an American series, the cast is mostly Japanese and the majority of the dialogue is in the Japanese language.

— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōgun_(2024_TV_series)

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Baguazhang - an introduction
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Baguazhang - an introduction

The practice of circle walking, or "turning the circle", as it is sometimes called, is baguazhang's characteristic method of stance and movement training. All forms of baguazhang utilize circle walking as an integral part of training. Practitioners walk around the edge of the circle in various low stances, facing the center, and periodically change direction as they execute forms.

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Tongbeiquan
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Tongbeiquan

Tongbeiquan is…

…..based on the movement of a white gibbon, the style emphasizes long, swinging arm techniques, momentum and animal mobility to develop connected power. Form not only equals function but should be created through function. Students train on targets and with sparring partners.

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Break your fast with Malaysian ‘pepper water’.
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Break your fast with Malaysian ‘pepper water’.

A Malaysian friend of mine taught me this recipe over 35 years ago whilst I was sharing a flat in Cardiff. It’s delicious at any time and you might enjoy it as a light way of breaking your fast. It’s also recommended if you are feeling a little under the weather.

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Five Animals Qigong
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Five Animals Qigong

The "Five Animal play" (五禽戲, Wuqinxi) are a set of qigong exercises developed during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). Some claim the author of this qigong sequence to be Hua Tuo, however Yang Jwing-Ming suggests it was the Taoist Master Jiun Chiam and Huatuo merely perfected its application and passed it onto gifted disciples including Wu Pu, Fan E, and Li Dangzhi.

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🐲 Year of the Dragon
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

🐲 Year of the Dragon

Happy Lunar New Year all!

The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is a time of celebration and renewal in Chinese culture. It marks the transition from one animal sign to another in the Chinese zodiac. On February 10, 2024, we will enter the Year of the Dragon.

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Blue Eye Samurai
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Blue Eye Samurai

During Japan's Edo period (17th century), half-white half-Japanese Onna-musha Mizu quests for vengeance against four white men, one of whom is her father, who illegally remained in Japan during the closing of its borders by the Tokugawa shogunate.

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Tai Chi Chuan - the origin story
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Tai Chi Chuan - the origin story

If you are interested in East Asian history and an alternative take on the origin story of Tai Chi Chuan, this is definitely for you.

Not for the faint hearted, this will be a time commitment!

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Xingyi Quan - book roundup
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Xingyi Quan - book roundup

I have been reading up on Xingyi recently and buying all the books I can find. Not practising it enough of course and desperate to get some more ‘FaceTime’ on the Five Element Fists with my teachers. We have a linking set which I am making progress on, but still want to go back to drilling the basics.

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Kung Fu Shirt
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Kung Fu Shirt

I am a big fan of Byron Jacobs over at Mushin Martial Culture. He has recently started to offer certain clothing items and I really like this shirt…

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The way of the warrior
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

The way of the warrior

In this podcast there was a reminder of the wonderful 1983 BBC series - The Way of the Warrior - which has been uploaded to YouTube.

I watched this series with my father, but can’t say I remember the individual programmes. He bought the book that accompanied the series and I am currently looking for a copy.

The quality of the video compared to modern standards is shocking! Nevertheless, there is so much there worth learning, you just have to push through.

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Piguaquan
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Piguaquan

Piguaquan (Chinese: 劈挂拳; lit. 'chop-hanging fist'), also known as Piguazhang (Chinese: 劈挂掌; lit. 'chop-hanging palm') due to its emphasis on palm techniques, is often practiced along with Bajiquan (Chinese: 八极拳; lit. 'eight extremes fist') and is a style of wushu (Chinese martial arts) that features explosive, long-range power.

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Wrath of the Dragon: The Real Fights of Bruce Lee
Steffan Stringer Steffan Stringer

Wrath of the Dragon: The Real Fights of Bruce Lee

Wasn't sure it was going to be my sort of thing, but enjoyed it a lot.

In his early fights Bruce often used 'vertical punches' and 'chain punches' to great success. Ben our Kung Fu sifu has done quite a bit of training with us on the latter.

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