I should be packing for a weekend visiting family. But before leaving I wanted to share something from my recent reading. Growing up in Western NY I had many opportunities to visit Toronto. Its Chinatown was the first of North America’s historic Chinese communities that I was able to get a real sense […]
via Research Notes: Weird Lions and Chinese Jiu-Jitsu in 1934 — Kung Fu Tea
It goes by many names. Organization, bureaucracy…”hard work”… It’s the sort of social effort that defines modern industrialized life. Weber famously termed it the “iron cage” of rationality. We so frequently speak of, or imagine, the martial arts as an intrusion of pre-modern tradition onto the global stage that one might be forgiven for […]
via 1920: Jingwu Brings Kung Fu to Guangzhou’s Public Schools — Kung Fu Tea
Denis Gainty. 2013. Martial Arts and the Body Politic in Meiji Japan. London and New York: Routledge. 208 pages. $55 USD. Reviewed by Benjamin N. Judkins. The passing of Denis Gainty in 2017 robbed the martial arts studies community of a promising voice. The earlier death of G. Cameron Hurst, Gainty’s dissertation advisor, […]
via Martial Arts and the Body Politic: A Review in Memory of Denis Gainty — Kung Fu Tea
by Phillip Starr
“When you are young”, I tell my students, “Practice to develop speed. As you age, your speed will slowly decrease; that’s just the nature of being human. But remember that you can always improve your timing.”
There’s a considerable difference between speed and timing and many martial artists don’t fully grasp it. Speed is just that…speed of technique. There are numerous ways of developing speed in your techniques and I’ve elaborated on them in previous articles; using the candle, paper, and other routines are intended primarily to enhance this very valuable asset. However, it’s well to bear in mind that we reach our physical peak sometime in our late 20’s or even our very early 30’s. After that, strength and speed begin to slowly decrease. Sure, there are exercises you can do to retard this process but the fact is that eventually, you begin to slow down in terms of technique.
Timing, however, can be polished and improved throughout your life. I define “timing” as the moment when, during a given movement, you execute your technique. In the case of a punch, for instance, do you fire it AFTER your leading foot hits the ground? Do you punch so that your fist impacts the target AT THE SAME TIME that your foot hits the ground, or possibly even BEFORE it touches the ground? There’s no single correct answer; it depends on distance and “rhythm.”
In the case of a BROKEN RHYTHM, you strike after the opponent has executed his initial attack but BEFORE he can generate a second one. It is, in a sense, striking into the “spaces between his techniques.”
In the case of the MUTUAL RHYTHM, you evade or deflect the enemy’s attack and strike him at the same time. The techniques occur at the same time but hopefully, yours hits its mark and his doesn’t…
The PRECEDING RHYTHM requires that you learn to “sense” when your opponent is about to attack and you beat him to the punch, as it were. This doesn’t necessarily require tremendous speed at all; it requires razor-sharp reflexes and the ability to “connect” to your opponent.
All three of these rhythms are discussed in detail in my book, “MARTIAL MANEUVERS”, and training routines are laid out for each of them. Each one should be practiced very assiduously until you reach a high level of skill. Simply practicing each of them a few times to “get the feel of it” isn’t nearly enough.
If someone’s “timing” is sharp, it often gives the illusion of tremendous speed. Take the founder of modern aikido, Morihei Uyeshiba, for example or even his student, Master Gozo Shioda. They sometimes appear to be faster than their training partners but the truth is that their timing is perfect. Face it, there’s no way an 80-yr. old man can be physically faster than a 25-yr. old. However, the senior’s timing can be much finer than his junior’s.
Such perfection is not something to be wished for, nor can it be achieved in a short time. It requires great effort over a period of time. Hurrying will only result in lost, wasted time.
There are now hundreds if not thousands of great martial arts blogs out there covering numerous martial arts styles. But which ones are worth checking out and which ones are not?
Well, the guys at Feedspot have saved you sometime by putting together their definitive list of their Top 20 Martial Arts Blogs, Websites & Newsletters To Follow in 2018.
Their list includes one of our favourite blog’s Taichi Notebook but surprisingly has omitted Kung Fu Tea. You can check out their full list of martial arts blogs here on Feedspot.
Introduction Welcome to “Chinese Martial Arts in the News!” Lots has been happening in the Chinese martial arts community, so its time to see what people have been saying. For new readers, this is a semi-regular feature here at Kung Fu Tea in which we review media stories that mention or affect the traditional fighting arts. In […]
Here is the latest Student Review for Rising Dragon Martial Arts School in Yunnan. The Review was written by Daniel Wright who stayed at the school for 1 month during the summer of 2018.
What an incredible life changing experience. For anyone thinking about doing this or something similar, just do it. It really pushes you and changes your perspective on life. The school itself was fantastically located, inside a Buddhist Temple and well into the mountains of China, about as picturesque as you could ask for. With a small town down the mountain you still have access to a bit of ‘normal’ life if you need anything. Food is great and healthy, however not too much meat so can be lacking in protein, so you may require supplements if you are staying there for a while.
Training was very tough, be prepared to work hard. If you honestly aren’t there to work your butt off pick a different school because everyone there is putting in the effort, and you will be required to train as hard as you can to the best of your ability. It really doesn’t matter where you start, whether you are very unfit and have no experience or the complete opposite. All that matters is that you are doing your best. My fitness and flexibility went through the roof in the short time I was there, and I was able to learn multiple forms of Shaolin Kung Fu, but injuries can be common place due to the nature of training and pushing your body so be careful and look after yourself/be smart.
Unfortunately there was no Calligraphy or Mandarin lessons as advertised, as the monks are responsible for that and it depends on them. There was also only 1 trainer while I was there, so for multiple different training styles it could be difficult. But the 1 trainer (Meng), was the most amazing trainer and mentor. So kind, so lethal, and honestly cared about your progress and was great at adapting to everyone’s experience level. Another huge upside was the Accommodation. Max 2 to a room, all with en-suites with western bathrooms (no squat toilets). So that was very nice to come back to after a huge day of training.Overall an amazing experience that I would recommend to everyone.
Dave from StudyMartialArts.Org was insanely helpful, and honestly I don’t think he gets enough credit or commission for his work. Helped me narrow down my choice out of so many schools, answered all my questions regarding the school, travelling there, visas, etc. He was absolutely invaluable and I don’t think I would have been able to choose a school little own figure out all the logistics of going. So thank you so much Dave!
Feeling the Heat Here is a fun fact to consider. The modern mechanical air conditioner was invented by Willis Carrier (a Cornell graduate I might add), not in Arizona or Florida, but in western New York state. It may come as something of a surprise to learn that Buffalo, best known for images […]
The Chinese currency is the Yuan Renminbi, it is referred to as Yuan, CNY or RMB (Renminbi). It is the only currency that can be used to purchase local items. In general, the Chinese do not use checks. Most payments, including payrolls, are done through bank transfer. Therefore, you will need to open a bank account before you get paid. Fortunately, this will likely be one of the easiest things you do in China.
Choosing a BankIn the main cities, the three major banks are ICBC, China Construction Bank and Bank of China. Generally, the first two are more numerous in terms of branches. Check with your employer in China which bank they prefer you to bank with (if they have any preference at all). This is because it is cheaper and faster for companies to pay their employees if they use the same bank. Often, people have accounts with multiple banks just in case.
Apart from these three, there are smaller, more specialized banks also. Both China Minsheng Bank and China Merchants Bank get good reviews. There are some foreign-owned banks in the larger cities also, such as HSBC (British), Standard Chartered (British), Citi (American), Hang Seng Bank (Hong Kong) and DBS (Singaporean).
Although International banks are more geared toward expats, they may require large initial deposits and are not so numerous in terms of branches. Agricultural Bank of China is one of the larger banks in China, but is more suited toward those working in more rural areas, due to the number of branches.
Opening a Bank Account is very straightforward in China. You will need your passport, a contact telephone number and a contact address. Branches in more central areas are more likely to have an English-speaking representative. You will also need to bring anywhere between RMB15 to 25. This will cover the cost of your bank card and your initial opening balance.
You will have numerous forms to sign, and you will get your card right there and then. You will be asked to choose a 6-digit PIN code. Note that your bank card will not have your name on it, just your card number.
After you finish account opening process, which takes about 15 minutes, your card is ready for use.
Note that when you have your bank account, and if you want Internet Banking, you will have to request this. When you open Internet banking, you will also activate your telephone banking, so you should have a mobile phone set up beforehand. You will have even more documents to sign, and you will need your passport. When they activate your Internet Banking, they will give you your account’s security devices, which vary depending on the Bank. It may be in the form of a USB drive or a code-generating device. You will need these devices whenever you make a transaction using online banking. They will also give you instructions for your first Internet banking login. This will likely be in Chinese, however, so consult a Chinese friend if you need any help.
China UnionPayChina UnionPay is the main (and only) debit card in China. It is similar to the Maestro, MasterCard and Visa systems we get at home. In China, you can conduct the vast majority of your banking (including deposits, withdrawals, bill payments and transfers) by using your card in an ATM of the same bank. Although China UnionPay is the only accepted payment system in China (apart from high-end hotels and restaurants), it is of less use in other countries.
Note that it is not guaranteed that merchants outside of China accept China UnionPay as a form of payment. For this reason, you may want to look into the possibility of transferring your funds out of China to your account at home before you go home for the holidays. Bank of China does issue a Maestro debit card, but this is only available upon request at the larger branches and after opening a US Dollar account.
Many of you may be planning to save extra money while you are in China and bring back home with you. In this case, you will probably want to wire the money to your account in your home country. This will certainly be easier if someone at your bank speaks English. The wire process is really pretty simple and your bank will walk you through it, but first you will need to convert your YUAN into your home currency. The bank will do this if you can prove that you already paid taxes on your money, therefore you will want to save your pay stubs! Without your pay stubs the limit for a foreigner is $500USD/day, so don’t wait until the last day! The average fee for international transfers is $25. You can also do an international transfer using Internet Banking. You will need your security device to do this.
There is another method for transferring money abroad, and that’s through PayPal. They will charge a 3% fee. Make sure you have two separate PayPal.com (not PayPal.cn) accounts, one linked to your Chinese account and the other to your account at home. Make a PayPal withdrawal from your Chinese account, and then transfer this sum over to your second PayPal account. Then, transfer the sum from your second Paypal account to your bank account at home. Note that you will need to have Internet Banking enabled on your Chinese bank account to do this, and you must activate your account to handle online payments. Instructions for this for each bank, in Chinese (use Google translate), can be found on here.
Wechat Pay & AlipayThese two apps are revolutionizing the way transactions and money transfers are made. First launched as a chatting platform, Wechat has now lots more to offer. First limited to Chinese citizens only, Wechat pay is now foreigner-friendly and setting up an account has become much easier. What you’ll need is a debit card linked to Chinese bank account and a phone number. Wechat has become one of the most popular mobile payment solutions and it will make your life so much easier and more convenient. Same goes with Alipay. Trust our word for it.
A few clicks now suffice to send/receive money from/to anybody with a Wechat/Alipay account; comes in handy to split restaurant bills, pay services, pay online, give money, etc. Paying your bills and topping off your phone were never simpler because you can do it from your Wechat wallet as well. No more trips to your phone carriers. Both apps also allow you to order a taxi, book flight/train tickets for your next holiday, and even pay for your bottle of water at the convenience store.
This blog entry is curtsey of www.teachingnomad.com
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