Hey Gene!

[IronFist]

You work for Kung Fu Magazine, right? Can I write an article for an upcoming issue? We'll call it "Destrying the Myths of Strength Training," or something. Head over to the training forum if you want, you'll see that I know what I'm talking about :)

Email me or PM me if you're interested. Because KFO is so awesome, I'd prefer to write for this magazine.

Lemme know.

IronFist

[GeneChing]

... but check out our website for our writers guidelines first.
http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/about/guidelines.html

[IronFist]

At least 8 photos?

Whoa. Why so many?

Time to bust out my digital camera, huh...

So will you guys let me know if you use my article? Or will I have to look through every issue?

Oh yeah, how many pages in the magazine does 2000 words + 8 pictures end up being?

IronFist

[IronFist]

Oh yeah, do you get paid if your article makes it in?

IronFist

[Merryprankster]

Gene--a side note-- is there anyway to write an article about what general things scare ME as a BJJ guy? In other words, instead of hearing about how KF would deal with BJJ, why couldn't an article be written about what sorts of things BJJers might typically find difficult to deal with?

Heck, I know what kinds of stuff would make my life miserable in an opponent.

[Qi dup]

Hell yeah Ironfist and Mp, they sound like good articles. I think you should go for it!

[GeneChing]

Anyone can. Whether they will be acceptable for print, well, that's another matter. but you'll never know unless you write it and submit it. I certianly cannot guarantee anything will be published, especially without seeing a finished product.

Upon acceptance, our editor will notify you and your piece will sit in the queue for publication in the print mag or the e-zine, depending on editor's discretion and author compliance. The queue is pretty long. Then you will be sent a contract to confirm your verbal agreement just before we go to layout. We compensate authors for first publication rights. Length of layout depends a lot on the quality of graphics submitted.

If you all really want to talk publishing, you might check out the seminar I'm giving in TX at Taiji Legacy http://www.chinwoo.com/tcl2002/tcl2002FrameSet.html

[IronFist]

Do a lot of people write articles? In other words, is there a lot of competition?

:)

IronFist

[rubthebuddha]

if anyone needs an editor before they scare Gene away with bad grammar and spelling, give me a hoot. a journalism degree, and a few years as either an editor or pr guy has given me a fair amount of experience, and it may be best to have clean copy before you unleash your well-meant banter upon our poor administrator.

also, Gene? if you ever need anything covered up in seattle or vancouver, bc, don't forget your poor rubbable buddha. i live right between the two metros. OR, if you're ever in the area, i have a pint with your name on it.

[Serpent]

You have a pint with Gene's name on it!? Man, how much of a coincidence is that?!

I've got a glass with Jack Daniels name on it, but that's kinda common....

[GeneChing]

...and not a drop to drink. Actually, I haven't been drinking that much lately, so my drunken fist is way out of training.
But in answer to your question, iron fist, we see a few article submissions every week. Many we reject outright. But still, given the amount of articles that we do publish, competition is fair, I would say.
And rubthebuddha, we will only do 'requests' from authors that have been writing with us for some time and have established a reputation with us of efficiency, reliability and some semblance of good grammer. We do requests, but you have to earn it. BTW, I have been practicing my bad grammer as an artform, trying to break down sentence structure while still communicating. Grammer's easy, communicating's hard. Good grammer helps a lot, but I've been trying to transcend it. ;)

[rubthebuddha]

gene -- think of grammar like you do your forms:

first you must learn the basics -- the stucture, the technique, the time to use certain tools, and the times when NOT to use certain things. then, you practice them and learn their uses. eventually, it will all become a part of you and what you produce is expression :)

i believe it is why kids' communication skills are so poor -- less and less emphasis is placed on the form and function that, when they go to apply their skills as adults, they fail miserably. :(

kinda makes public schooling seem parallel to mcdojo's: little form, little function, just teachers giving the barest minimum to pass a student.

and i definitely understand the reliable writer thing. i've had enough bums start stories for me when i was an editor and never produce a thing. the offer was one in case of "crap, there's a magical thing in vancouver this weekend and the only person i know up there is a bald guy named buddha!" :)

[GeneChing]

Yes! I totally agree about the forms/writing metaphor. Forms are metaphors for so many things (actually since few of us are really killing anyone anymore, kungfu is metaphoric.)

And I'd add that the best way to become a skilled writer is the same method you'd use to become skilled in kungfu - study the masters. Study, emulate, then make it your own. That path is for your steps alone.

[rubthebuddha]

:)

better make that two pints.

[GeneChing]

Hmm, that sounds a lot like a justification. ;) I don't really agree. You do need determination, but that can be derived from compassion just as it can be derived from meaness and insanity. The light for the darkside if you will....

[IronFist]

Fear not. My grammar is flawless.

(knock on wood).

Now where am I going to get 8 pics for my article... :confused:

IronFist

[GeneChing]

Forgive me, I didn't mean to come off sounding so negative towards you at all. That's the problem with the web - the tone gets lost and it's hard to tell if the ;) is a wink of sarcasm, conspiration or flirtation.

Well, it's not flirtation.

In truth, I enjoy your posts greatly and don't mean to imply that they are at all one-dimensional. You are one of the lights on this forum, sort of a red flashing one, constantly bringing us back to the reality of the fight, and I totally respect that. However I do enjoy being the devil's advocate always, which prompted my comment. Please don't take offense. I may have been chiding, but my intention was not to offend.

I will always regard compassion higher than being and SOB.

But to truly understand compassion, well, buddhism aside, the root meaning of 'passion' is suffering - add the 'com' and it means 'to suffer with.' So to understand to be compassionate with the SOB, one must suffer with the SOB. My ;) was the wink of conspiracy - I know what you mean by mean streak. I would love to pretend that it was because of my SOB compassion, but in truth, I do a lot of unseen dirty work and that tends to make one mean.