Journal of Asian Martial Arts

[SPJ]

What is your favorite read in MA journal, books, or mags?

IKF is good info, even though there are a lot of self promotions. Technique workshop with photo with only a few words. I usually look thru the pictures very quickly. I do read the articles but not all of them.

Kung Fu Tai Chi the sponsor of this forum. It has very good authorative source of info. It demands a lot of respects in readerships.

JAMA. I like the format, review etc. I like the philosophy of the publisher. However, it is quarterly. I have to wait a long time for the next issue.

What is your favorite read?

:)

[David Jamieson]

kungfu/qigong magazine is the only one dedicated pretty much entirely and exclusively to Kungfu and Traditional Chinese Martial arts.

IKF is becoming just another mma rag and trying to bridge betweenstuff, almost like they are trying to find some new market but won't let go of bits of the old. I barely skim it anymore at the rag stand. Used to like it.

JAMA is a place where guys who are going for their university degrees and who do aikido can write their thesis on a nice subject that they enjoy. lol The format is really nice, it is a quarterly because you can't get thesis type articles every couple of weeks or even every month. It does tend to dwell on JMA a tad much in my opinion, but it's good quality overall.

Others I read, have read or glance through on occasion-

Black Belt- strictly a marketing tool for Chuck Norris, Bob Wall and Wally Jay :p

The Ring- straight up tips, rants and stats on boxing, but a good rag.

Empty Vessel- Hippy nonsense mostly, but occaisionally a gem of info.

Tai Chi - similar to Empty Vessel, but focusing more on Tai Chi.

MMA - Maniacs with spittle and flaring nostrils on the cover, seemingly level headed in their interviews, stats from the latest ufc and fan boys love letters to their heroes. I have no idea why the fan base insists on making this otherwise worthy sport come across as such a sausage fest for pent up gay urgings. lol

In short, I like Kungfu taichi mag not only because of this coolio forum they gots, but also because of the focus on Traditional Chinese Martial arts, which of course kick ass.

And the fact that some of you tools here on the forum get your articles and pics planted in there now and then so i can get to see your crappy stances and outlandish non-working techniques. :D :D :D

[Ray Pina]

I don't subscribe to any and used to pick up this magazine and IKF magazine regularly but have slowed the past 2 to 3 years because, honestly, I realise that there's just not a lot of good content. It's always appears to be a bunch of guys promoting themselves but you look at the photos and think, "Well, this must be their best stuff if they're submitting it for publication" ..... and it doesn't look too good. It's always the student stands there while the sifu makes 5 moves type of stuff. Or guys saying they are Shaolin monks but posing ontop of their ancestors graves at Shaolin .... I mean, to me, that says phoney right there. That aint a real monk.

The lasy MA mag I picked up was the last Journal with the painting of the pretty Chinese girl on the cover with the sword .... that was just too nice to pass up.

I'd like to see some articles on the underground Southern Mantis in NYC, the gangster styles .... how they train. Has it changed with time or do they still train traditionally, etc. Stuff like that. I want to see masters in the book that look like masters, tough men. Not some hill billy in the mountains talking about stopping cars by pointing at them and awes it all to magnets. Rediculous.

[Reggie1]

I read IKF, KFM, and JAMA regularly. I need to subscribe to KFM, so I stop paying so much at the newsstand.

I like JAMA, it presents its information in a much different light. But KFM is still my favorite ;) :D :D

[GeneChing]

I read just about every magazine out there. My job demands it. I don't read all the articles, in fact, I only read a few. However, I do have to keep my finger on the pulse of what is being published. I respect all the magazines today, mostly because I know how hard it is to keep a magazine on the newsstands nowadays. I find there direction choices very interesting, sometimes too translucent, but I imagine the same for our own magazine. Thanks for your support of us and if you do plan to subscribe, we now offer a 50% off deal on subscribtion rates. (http://www.martialartsmart.net/19341.html) :cool:

[FngSaiYuk]

Thanks for your support of us and if you do plan to subscribe, we now offer a 50% off deal on subscribtion rates. (http://www.martialartsmart.net/19341.html) :cool:

How long is this offer going to last?

[GeneChing]

I don't know how long it will last. There's some discussion of raising our newsstand price soon. Gigi and I are trying to keep the price as is, but the market is changing (paper costs recently skyrocketed) so we might not have a choice. I hope it will last a while but with the current rate of inflation...

You know, we've kept our US newsstand at $3.99 since March 98 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=79). It was actually $4.95 when we started (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=171) ...

[FngSaiYuk]

I don't know how long it will last. There's some discussion of raising our newsstand price soon. Gigi and I are trying to keep the price as is, but the market is changing (paper costs recently skyrocketed) so we might not have a choice. I hope it will last a while but with the current rate of inflation...

You know, we've kept our US newsstand at $3.99 since March 98 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=79). It was actually $4.95 when we started (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=171) ...

I ask only 'cuz I budget in advance and so need to decide if this would be an 'emergency (IT'S ON SALE FOR ONLY 3DAYS!)' purchase, or if I have the room to work it in as one of my future discretionary expenses.

Think you'll get a heads up a couple of days in advance of the sale ending and let us know?

[Brad]

I mostly read KFM since it's the only one entirely dedicated to CMA. JAMA I pick up from the library on occasion, but I usually don't find the content much more interesting than the cheaper mags... just wordier :D Once in awhile I find a cool different article (like the one on Southern Mantis cults they had awhile back). Sometimes I kind of like reading the stuff in KFM written by whackos if I'm in the right mood ;)

[GeneChing]

I'm fascinated by the marketing behind JAMA. It touts itself as an academic journal but it really isn't. For one thing, academic journals are not sold on the newsstand. Academic journals are also not listed in Writer's Market. Can you think of a single academic journal that is available on the newsstand?

Now the big question - can you think of another magazine on the newsstand that touts to be an academic journal? Maybe something like Scientific American or Psychology Today, but those are more like pop digests for academic research.

This leads to the biggest question of all - why is it that martial arts can sustain a newsstand magazine that touts itself as an academic journal? You don't see something like Journal of Asian Cooking or Journal of Asian Movies. It's a rather unique occurence to the martial arts.

[ngokfei]

ray

did you check out the Southern Mantis HK Cult from JAMA a few years back.

While they don't have alot of Chinese MA articles, when they do they really blow the rest of the Kung Fu magazines to the side.

How about the rebirth of the Martial Hero. What did Chan Pui and John Leong purchase the rites to it. Overall good but they seem to stroke the same people in every issue.

I'll just keep to reading the HK Mags I have from the late 60's 70's and early 80's.

[GeneChing]

I'm trying verify this story. We've been discussing the IKF (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47753) situation.


Reading the tea leaf of the closing of Inside Kung-Fu Magazine (http://www.examiner.com/tai-chi-in-national/reading-the-tea-leaf-of-the-closing-of-inside-kung-fu-magazine)
Violet Li
* February 27th, 2011 5:59 pm ET

Most people suspect that the depressed economy is the culprit of IKF’s demise. It was reported that the other reputable Journal of Asian Martial Arts was forced to go online due to its distributor’s bankruptcy.

[Jimbo]

One of the better MA mags not yet mentioned is Classical Fighting Arts. Although the general emphasis leans towards Japanese/Okinawan arts, they have a good smattering of CMA articles that are very good. It is quarterly, and I don't always buy it, though. They recently had a good article on China's Central National Arts Academy (Zhongyang Guoshu Guan).

[ngokfei]

Gene wipe your mouth your drooling:D

[GeneChing]

My grandfather fought alongside the Gurhkas in WWII. He told me they would sneak out every night to cut up Nazis in their foxholes. The Germans would station two men in a foxhole. A Gurhka would kill one, slicing his throat from ear to ear, and then cut off one of the ears to take back as a trophy. Every night, they would come back with a few ears. They would leave the other soldier alive, for the psychological damage.

As a fellow print publisher of martial arts magazines, it's a lot like that. IKF and JAMA are my fellow soldiers, manning our foxhole. At some point in the night, I look over to see that they are cut dead, sliced ear to missing ear. As if I'm not psychologically damaged enough already.

Perhaps I shouldn't compare martial arts publishers to Nazis, but you get the idea. Today's newsstand is like a ninja Gurhka.

For the record, I have been unable to validate that JAMA's distributor has gone bankrupt so far. Still checking.

[SPJ]

I am a subscriber.

if you sign on their website.

there is a subscription side bar with volume and issue number.

if you click on it

you may read the article page by page.

you click the arrow to move forward page by page.

e-reading is becoming more and more of the "norm".

---

everything digital is easy to archive or file away. no more papers to take up your study or garage space.

:)

[ngokfei]

well said gene...

[Syn7]

e-reading is appealing to major print companies that have the capital to market their online products... think if you asked a publisher 100 years ago "imagine everyone had a device that were all connected to each other and you could send your books to them and they read it on their device, ZERO overhead in that respect"... they would never believe... it sounds too good to be true... if you can sell something online that is viewed and used online, youre butter... it really does eliminate alot of details... but honestly, i dont like reading books on a tablet or my laptop... hate it... i read websites but even then it makes me sick after awhile... theres something about it that isnt healthy... i can feel it... i can read a real book all day and never feel sick... that lit background just kills me after awhile... i love the idea of being able to keep 2,000,000 books in my bag all at once but still, i would rather have my normal book, newspaper or magazine... as it stands i just have both... why not... anyways, switching to only online isnt the worst thing in the world if you can sell it...

[mickey]

Sny7,

I completely agree with your last post.

Instead of a "print publishing death watch" there should be steps taken toward finding new way of creating paper that does not kill trees. There was a move toward newspapaers made from recycled plastic at one time. The public did not go for it. The search should continue.

The stuff I save to disk are always printed out before I read them.

The book will always have a place that electronic media can not supplant.

mickey

[David Jamieson]

Anyone ever consider that psychological damage is done to a psyche that has been constructed with doctrinal and dogmatic fears established in childhood?

just throwing it out there. :)

[SPJ]

my father, uncles and many relatives--

they all served in Chinese military, police etc

there were never ending stories about wars and fighting crimes

--

the tales did not burn or etch in my mind

but they turned me to look for deep answers about why and so much how

--

general sun li ren, he fought Japanese in burma, some of my relatives also served in Chinese expeditionary force under him there.

general sun took no prisoners, if the japanese soldiers went to china before

--

Japanese high commanders in China were pardonned in exchange for their assitance in fighting chinese communists

--

civil wars between the nationalist and communist, sometimes real rivalry, a lot of time they were not due to same blood, some people

--

a lot things for me to think about.

:D

[YMAA_com]

JAMA is still printing issues. As many as needed for their usual monthly business.

But now they also have published a digital edition.

20th-Anniversary Edition (http://www.journalofasianmartialarts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=100012)

[SPJ]

1. in terms of size of a printed book or journal

I personally prefer pocket size. I may bring it anywhere and read it when I have time.

desk size or table size meaning you need a desk or a table to put the book down and read it.

2. the quality of the paper also counts

I have some books from 1980's. they are still good.

but paper does age or undergoes oxidation

I have some books from 1990s, turned yellow already. they are printed on thinner papers.

:)

[mooyingmantis]

I have read many trade journals in my professional career (theology & medicine). In my opinion JAMA is the most boring of them all.

I just read the latest issue of IKF today while standing in my local Borders. It wasn't even worth the few dollars it costs.

KFM is the only martial arts magazine I occasionally buy. Good format, decent articles, inexpensive.

[taai gihk yahn]

what mooyingmantis said;

a lot of the articles written in JAMA (I always double-take on this, as it's the same acronym as Journal of Amer Med Assn) are of a pseudo-intellectual sort that wouldn't pass muster in the majority of academic peer reviewed socio/political/historical journals that follow similar formats; there are occasionally articles of a clearly higher academic caliber, but many just read like IKF articles printed on thicker paper; but then again, most academic journals are geared towards their particular niche, not the general public; and you don't find most academic journals on the magazine shelf at Borders; to me, this is the reason JAMA doesn't cut it: it tries to ride the fence, and subsequently fails as a true academic publication, but is too egg-headed and $$$ for the typical IKF / BB magazine reader...

[Jimbo]

1. in terms of size of a printed book or journal

I personally prefer pocket size. I may bring it anywhere and read it when I have time.

desk size or table size meaning you need a desk or a table to put the book down and read it.

2. the quality of the paper also counts

I have some books from 1980's. they are still good.

but paper does age or undergoes oxidation

I have some books from 1990s, turned yellow already. they are printed on thinner papers.

:)

The worst paper in books are pages made of newsprint paper, like most mid-sized paperback novels. Of course, the best being glossy; that will last and not likely turn yellow over time. Then the only concern is the glue in the binding.

I personally prefer an actual book to just reading online. Like Syn 7, I also don't feel too great if I read too much online. I can relax and get comfortable with a book, whereas it's not really possible with a computer. Plus, I'm not getting 'irradiated' reading a paper book. :) Each method has its pros and cons.

[RAF]

There are no peer-blind reviewed academic journals for the martial arts.

The New Journal of Chinese Martial Arts is bi-annual and often presents English translations of Chinese sources.

Its bi-annual:

Here is the free launch issue on-line:

http://www.martialstudies.com.hk/

The article on the Bajiquan and the Liu He Qiang by Ma Mingda is excellent

http://www.martialstudies.com.hk/

[SPJ]

There are no peer-blind reviewed academic journals for the martial arts.

The New Journal of Chinese Martial Arts is bi-annual and often presents English translations of Chinese sources.

Its bi-annual:

Here is the free launch issue on-line:

http://www.martialstudies.com.hk/

The article on the Bajiquan and the Liu He Qiang by Ma Mingda is excellent

http://www.martialstudies.com.hk/

second that

I like Ma's article about bringing back the competition of long weapon or chang bing qi.

such as shuo.

:cool:

[SPJ]

The worst paper in books are pages made of newsprint paper, like most mid-sized paperback novels. Of course, the best being glossy; that will last and not likely turn yellow over time. Then the only concern is the glue in the binding.

I personally prefer an actual book to just reading online. Like Syn 7, I also don't feel too great if I read too much online. I can relax and get comfortable with a book, whereas it's not really possible with a computer. Plus, I'm not getting 'irradiated' reading a paper book. :) Each method has its pros and cons.

yes the binding or back of a book would fail over time.

in old china, people actually used cotton threads to stitch the pages together.

we had to let books soak under the sun to kill molds etc by solar radiation

:)

[KC Elbows]

Perhaps I shouldn't compare martial arts publishers to Nazis, but you get the idea. Today's newsstand is like a ninja Gurhka.



Internet shenanigans! How're we gonna call you a nazi on page two when you called yourself a nazi in the first post?

[Vajramusti]

My grandfather fought alongside the Gurhkas in WWII. He told me they would sneak out every night to cut up Nazis in their foxholes. The Germans would station two men in a foxhole. A Gurhka would kill one, slicing his throat from ear to ear, and then cut off one of the ears to take back as a trophy. Every night, they would come back with a few ears. They would leave the other soldier alive, for the psychological damage.

As a fellow print publisher of martial arts magazines, it's a lot like that. IKF and JAMA are my fellow soldiers, manning our foxhole. At some point in the night, I look over to see that they are cut dead, sliced ear to missing ear. As if I'm not psychologically damaged enough already.

Perhaps I shouldn't compare martial arts publishers to Nazis, but you get the idea. Today's newsstand is like a ninja Gurhka.

For the record, I have been unable to validate that JAMA's distributor has gone bankrupt so far. Still checking.
----------------------------------------------

FYI- a Gurkha story:http://www.neatorama.com/2011/01/29/40-train-robbers-vs-1-gurkha/

[SPJ]

psychological warfare or tactics

the sniper would shoot hand, leg, shoulder--

and leave the wounded soldier alive to attract comrades to rescue

then snipe the rescueing men.

shoot hand first, so that he can not use the gun again

shoot leg next, so that he can not walk away

shoot shoulder, so that he can not crawl--

----

:eek:

[SPJ]

printed or digital media

or both

as long as good articles from good writers are passing along to good readers

it is all good.

:)

[mig]

psychological warfare or tactics

the sniper would shoot hand, leg, shoulder--

and leave the wounded soldier alive to attract comrades to rescue

then snipe the rescueing men.

shoot hand first, so that he can not use the gun again

shoot leg next, so that he can not walk away

shoot shoulder, so that he can not crawl--

----

:eek:


I guess mafiosi or gangs are just amateurs and wude is no longer in the books. Cave man instinct is coming back and humans still the same predator animal as in old time an civilization is about greed, violence and destruction. How pathetic.

[SPJ]

yes it is "low".

it works the same way from individual soldier combat to large army battles.

the chinese communists would surround a nationalist smaller unit

and set up ambush points to wait and attack the reinforcing or rescuing units.

it is called wei dian da yuan.

surrounding a point and strike the rescue.

textbook PLA guerilla warfare tactics.

since you have only small units, you have to be mobile or get wiped out.

you have to concentrate all of your firepower and men

you take advantage of terrain for cover

you strike a large army that are in movement

an army that is moving is susceptible to attack.

it is also the main idea/theme of movement warfare or yun dong zhan.

;)

[hskwarrior]

I guess mafiosi or gangs are just amateurs and wude is no longer in the books. Cave man instinct is coming back and humans still the same predator animal as in old time an civilization is about greed, violence and destruction. How pathetic.

where do you live that life is pleasantville?

[GeneChing]

I have great respect for JAMA. They were the only martial arts magazine to ever reject an article I submitted. The only one EVER. I respect that.

I wrote a piece on xiaohongquan (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36983) and the Shaolin Wushuguan for them back in the mid 90s. Keep in mind, I'm a Ph.D. dropout, so I can write in APA format (in fact it took me years to kick that habit so I could write for popular magazines). As it was my first attempt to break into JAMA, I packed the article way to tightly. They gave me a cordial rejection letter and were spot on with their critique. I later diced up the article into about half a dozen pieces, which I published in other magazines.

I respect JAMA's mission to elevate martial arts. I think it is fascinating that the martial arts community could support the effort. Academic and scholarly journals are not distributed on the newsstands. JAMA is the only exception, which is one of the reasons why its standing as an academic journal is brought into question above. I think what is of more interest here is that the martial arts community could even produce such a publication. You don't see that in any other field. JAMA is very unique.

[SPJ]

yes. they group the articles into 2 categories

1. scholarly paper or thesis paper, that need research and references.

2. technical show and tell

the second category is easier to write, just take pictures and explain what it is called and how to do it.

---

I was going to write some throws for the 2nd category

but never seem to find the time to do it


:D