A Couple Questions for Gene Ching

[Yung Apprentice]

Don't know if this has been asked already, If so I apologise. Do you take suggestions for future KUNG FU MAGAZINE articles? If so where can I drop one?

The contests that are held here, what are usually the chances of someone who picked the correct answers, winning?


In last month's magazine, there was an ad for a free video, just send in the coupon, proof of purchase, and $10 for shipping and handling. Is there a catch?

Thank you.

[GeneChing]

We do heed suggestions, but moreso, we take freelance submissions. All MA magazines are mostly freelance. Every mag has a limited staff, all focused on the job of production. So when we do write something ourselves, it is of our own chosing. In short, I write where my research takes me. And I started writing because nobody was publishing what I wanted to read. Do your own research, then if it's good, submit it for publication. I'll heed your suggestions certainly, but I might not be able to follow through as well as you could.

The contests chances change each week - first you have to get them all right. A few weeks back, only one person got it right. Last week 60+ got it right. I've been making the quizes easier and the prizes better to entice more players, but after teaching on the university level, I will admit that I enjoy the occasional trick question.

As for the videos, there's no catch. It's been a tradition for Kungfu Qigong to offer a free video with each issue. $10 S&H covers the production cost of the video, and that's it, the rest is free. We figure it's good promotion. Once you see the product, it'll entice you to get more.

[Yung Apprentice]

The reason I asked about taking suggestions, is that I had a problem researching something myself. I've encountered many problems when researching, due to limited resources. And thought maybe you all at Kung Fu Magazine would probably do a lot better. But thank you for replying.


What about interviews? Are they freelance, or done by members of your staff?

[wushu chik]

Yung....what's your research probs? Maybe I can help. I am pretty "informed" and pretty good and finding info. If you need some help with something...you can always PM me or e-mail me.

wushu_chik@yahoo.com

Btw...some interviews are done by staff...some are done by freelance writers that send in the stories in to them. I know this, because I am cool.

[HopGar]

I would like to make a suggestion and a request.

1) Please do some articles on tibetan martial arts - Bak Hok, Lama Pai, Hop Gar - and some of the lesser known southern styles like Mok Gar, Jow Gar, etc. Also keep up the Shaolin forms. They are really interesting

2) I am quite tired of the repetitive Hung Gar, Wing Chun, Ba Gua, Tai Chi, Choy Lay Fut, etc. articles all the time. It might be nice to read them a few times, but the repetition over and over is really starting to get under my skin. You guys need some new martial.

(plus the interviews every month with Yip Man's students is REALLY getting old. I understand they possess a wealth of knowlendge, but ppl will get bored really quickly.)

[Yung Apprentice]

Yes, Wushu, you are cool.:D

[GeneChing]

We really have only two staff writers here at Kungfu Qigong, myself and our editor Martha. We have a Feng Shui consultant who does our horoscopes too, but by strictest definition he's not considered a staff writer. Everyone else is freelance. In fact, Martha is technically freelance too.

Both Martha and I do a lot of interviews - I interview the masters who visit our office, Martha interviews the masters she meets on her travels and on the tournament circuit. Both of us have indivdual directions to our research, but a lot depends upon what comes our way. A lot comes our way, as you might imagine. The warrior journey is one we follow, not one we lead - if I knew where I was going with all of this, I would probably choose a different path - one that is more surprising.

Personally, I do what I can to accomodate our readership, but always remember, I study martial arts too and have my own personal quest. My research is the fruit of my own journey. So far, it hasn't taken me to Tibet, so I don't feel prepared to writer about that. If I get there, you know I'll come back with something, but it's a big martial world and Tibet is pretty far away from me now. However, I have do have this backlog of Shaolin research I'm still working through, and lately I've been studying Omei. Also, I find the dynamics of the martial arts in general pretty fascinating - the media, cultural & style cross-over - that sort of stuff. My position here gives me a unique view, the perspective of our parent company Tiger Claw, and that is a constant source of interest. Additionally, I've been experimenting with some more personal 'warrior journey' tales with my e-zine Shaolin trips column. These are my research directions. I may have a lead on a Mok Gar piece, but it would be much further down the road - no promises. If it comes my way, I will pursue it. I can't really speak for Martha's direction here. She trains too and has her own priorities.

Kungfu Qigong has been running a lot of Wing Chun lately, but the reason is simple - those guys are producing more. There are several authors in the the field that are very prolific, and I daresay that they are feeding off each others research and opening up some great stuff. So we run it now while it's fresh.

As for doing research on obscure styles (and I love this question because I get it a lot) there is an intrinsic problem - it's obscure. It's much harder to do research there and most people have no idea what your talking about. Nevertheless, we try to do as much obscure stuff as we can, in fact it is somewhat our specialty. Who else would do an issue devoted to Omei or the 100 weapons and 100 styles pieces? We do what we can, with a little help from our friends.

So while we totally respect your requests and in no way want to discourage you from making more, remember that we are all on our own individual warrrior's journey. To me, that never means telling someone else to do something. Do it yourself. If you don't feel adequately prepared, then get adequately prepared. We all start with limited resources, but we learn and expand and when we can, we share. Do your own research. Let me steal a line from Scoop Nisker "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own."

[HopGar]

A'ight then. I understand.