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MightyB
08-10-2008, 10:06 AM
Every now and again I run across a good martial arts book that I think can help a person regardless of their style. Most recently, I read "The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for Self-Defense, Health, and Enlightenment " by Wong Kiew Kit.

What I enjoyed about this book is that it seriously addresses "Flowerly punches and embroidery kicks" and offers his reasons for why that happens and his solutions for trying to fix that issue within a kung fu context. What's very interesting is that there's definitely a pattern of this happening throughout the total history of kung fu and he cites several examples from China's distant past. What's good to know is that it's cyclical for good kung fu to degenerate into a folk dance but it does and can get corrected and turned back into a fighting art with hard work and common sense.

I'm not a big technique from books person- I have a sifu and a judo coach for that- but I am a fan of martial history and philosophy from books. So beware- this isn't a good book for learning new techniques (it's not a good technique book at all for a non shaolin martial artist)- but it does have solid strategies for helping a person fix their kung fu regardless of what style they practice.

-The B

Oso
08-10-2008, 10:17 AM
cool, i'll definitely check it out