As a martial artist we spend a great proportion of our lives putting our bodies as well as our minds into uncomfortable situations and positions. Take my favourite exercise for example, the low horse stance (those who know me will not be surprised!). It's the perfect example of physical discomfort and stress. It … Continue reading Kung Fu Beats Coronavirus
Tag: martial arts
We understand that it may be a concern for students to come out to class at present, with all of the bad news surrounding Coronavirus. All of our classes are still taking place but please follow NHS advice and stay away from class if yourself or those around you are showing symptoms. Information can be … Continue reading Coronavirus Update: Online Classes, Training Plans, Video Tutorials, and a STAYWELL Discount Code
套路 - tàolù Taolu is the pinyin romanisation of 套路. In this context 'tào' is a classifying word for anything regarding sets or collections of things, 'lù' is a journey, road, path. In English we speak of martial arts forms, sets, routines. The Japanese term 'kata' is often used also. Plato was of course the … Continue reading Tào Lù and the Platonic World of Forms
Welcome to another edition of the weekly White Crane Online blog. Over the past few weeks we have been exploring topics in and around the theme of Taoism. Last week I introduced the core concept of Qi (if you missed it, you might want to read it here first) and I explained a little bit … Continue reading Martial Qigong
China 2019 - Day 27, Tuesday, 13th August Today has been my last day at the tai chi school and as ever you have mixed emotions about these things. Sad that the training has come to an end, I will miss Masters Ping and Kim and many of the students...and of course there will be … Continue reading Day 27 – Modern Day Self Defence
China 2019 - Day 26, Monday, 12th August Thoughts on Learning Forms, Principles, Eastern/Western Instructors, and Health and Martial Tai Chi So the Chen 74 form and the broadsword form moves have all been shown to me now - notice that I am hesitant to say that I have learnt them, as yet! That's a … Continue reading Day 26 – Tai Chi, Forms and Principles
China 2019 - Day 12, Monday, 29th July Back into the weekday routine and it seems to go something like this: wake up, revise Mandarin, training, lunch, Mandarin lesson, have a coffee, training, dinner, bike ride (taking photos), training, writing/reading, sleep... If there's a Groundhog Day scenario that I could quite happily go along with, … Continue reading Day 12 – Martial Discipline
I have been meaning to write down some thoughts about my travels in China back in December and January but as the year has got off to a light-speed start, and we suddenly find ourselves entering the tail end of February, it feels as though a travelogue is a little late already from a trip … Continue reading Thoughts on Training and Travel in China
Last week I had the pleasure of teaching two self defence seminars at 1st Central in Haywards Heath, a large insurance company. As a part of their wellness programme, staff asked to learn self defence. It's a very difficult thing to teach in 60 minute sessions but we worked on several important aspects such as: … Continue reading Corporate Self Defence Workshops