Qi Jiguang's chapter on boxing in English

[ghostexorcist]

I used the search function to see if anyone has posted this yet, and I didn't find anything. So hopefully this will be a treat for everyone.

I just found out there is an English translation of the "Chapter on the Fist Canon and the Essentials of Nimbleness" (Quanjing Jieyao Pian, 拳经解要篇) from Ming General Qi Jiguang's famous military training manual. It is a 66 page MA dissertation by Clifford M. Gyves from 1993. I was going to lay down $35 for a pdf version of it from UMI dissertation express, but I downloaded it for free from this webpage:


http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA268051

The actual download link:


http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA268051

I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Hopefully it is accurate. My belated Christmas to you all (if you don't already have it). Enjoy!

[bawang]

dont bother reading its very boring and inaccurate ill translate his chapter in five minutes tomarow

[bawang]

i dont care who the fuk he is the translation is horrible. it reads like something pearl buck translated in 1920. russell peters is more in tune with chinese people than this guy.

[SPJ]

I am more like picture oriented.

a picture says a thousand words or something like that.

I like the pictures about the spear in the manual.

oh I am talking about the original text in chinese.

:cool:

[bawang]

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Lucas]

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

Bawang, go suck your own c0ck or something.

ghostexorcist, thanks for sharing. Donald Harper is a well respected East Asian scholar. The simple fact that he assisted on the text makes it worth the read, no matter what the subject material.

Can you point to a better translation?

[bawang]

卷十四·拳经捷要篇
chapter 14: boxing important points

（此艺不甚预于兵，能有馀力，则亦武门所当习。但众之
不能强者，亦听其所便耳。于是以此为诸篇之末第十四。）
(this method is difficult for troops to train, but gives an edge. thats why private schools all train this. if you have no interest then read the following just for curiosity. this is why this is at the end of the training sections.)

拳法似无预於大战之技，然活动手足，惯勤肢体，此为初
学入艺之门也。故存於后，以备一家。学拳要身法活便，手法
便利，脚法轻固，进退得宜，腿可飞腾，而其妙也，颠起倒插
；而其猛也，披劈横拳；而其快也，活捉朝天；而其柔也，知
当斜闪

boxing is not used on the battlefield, it is to train hand and feet movements and coordination. this is trained by initiates of various schools. thats why its legacy is long lasting and has many branches. the student of boxing must have fast changing body, accurate hands, and light feet. easily advance and retreat, the legs can fly high; the most ingenious: sudden rising reverse throw. the most fierce: chopping and hook fists. the fastest: leg takedown. the softest: dodging groin punch.

故择其拳之善者三十二势，势势相承，遇敌制胜，变
化无穷，微妙莫测。窈焉冥焉，人不得而窥者，谓之神。俗云
：拳打不知，是迅雷不及掩耳。所谓不招不架，只是一下；犯
了招架，就有十下。博记广学，多算而胜
thus i introduce 32 postures, every posture is connected/every posture i inherited. these defeat the enemy easily. they have countless variations and changes, and infinite wisdom stored inside. train them hard, your enemy will look from afar. a common saying about amazing boxing: "you got hit and you didnt even know." or "quick thunder got no time to cover your ears." it is said "no stance no technique, just one hit; try to use technique and you gotta hit 10 times." learn well from many sources, the smartest fighter wins.

古今拳家，宋太祖
有三十二势长拳，又有六步拳、猴拳、囵拳，名势各有所称，
而实大同小异。至今之温家七十二行拳、三十六合锁、二十四
弃探马、八闪番、十二短，此亦善之善者也
of the ancient boxers existing today, song dynasty emperor taizu(aka the song military) passed down 32 posture long fist, and six step boxing, monkey boxing, huaquan. every style has different names, but the difference is small. today's new schools include wen family 72 line boxing(chuojiao), 36 locks, 24 scout hands, 8 dodges(fanziquan), 12 short boxing. these are best of the best.

。吕红八下虽刚，
未及绵张短打，山东李半天之腿，鹰爪王之拿，千跌张之跌，
张伯敬之打。少林寺之棍，与青田棍法相兼；杨氏枪法与巴子
拳棍皆今之有名者
"red" lu's 8 hits is tough, but not as good as "cotton" zhang's short boxing. shandong has famous fighters like li "split the sky"'s kicking, "eagle claw king"'s grappling, "thousand sweep" zhang's sweeps, zhang bojin's boxing. shaolin temple's stick fighting and qintian stick are pretty good and about equal; yang family spear(six harmoney) and bazi boxing and sticks (bajiquan) have some famous fighters today.


took me 10 min and my chinese education ended at grade 4. now read that guys translation again and compare. qijiguang's original text was written in everyday shandong hillbilly talk btw.

guys like this can get away with horrible work and academic incompetence because their field is so obscure. his translation is so corny i could hear charlie chan when i was reading it.

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

Thanks!!














..................

[Lucas]

ok, now you have to do the whole thing bawang. but keep being funny its not as cool when you're all serious and stuff. you should added insults at the end.

[-N-]

Waaaa.... bawang numbah one chilese redneck!

[B.Tunks]

卷十四·拳经捷要篇
chapter 14: boxing important points

（此艺不甚预于兵，能有馀力，则亦武门所当习。但众之
不能强者，亦听其所便耳。于是以此为诸篇之末第十四。）
(this method is difficult for troops to train, but gives an edge. thats why private schools all train this. if you have no interest then read the following just for curiosity. this is why this is at the end of the training sections.)

拳法似无预於大战之技，然活动手足，惯勤肢体，此为初
学入艺之门也。故存於后，以备一家。学拳要身法活便，手法
便利，脚法轻固，进退得宜，腿可飞腾，而其妙也，颠起倒插
；而其猛也，披劈横拳；而其快也，活捉朝天；而其柔也，知
当斜闪

boxing is not used on the battlefield, it is to train hand and feet movements and coordination. this is trained by initiates of various schools. thats why its legacy is long lasting and has many branches. the student of boxing must have fast changing body, accurate hands, and light feet. easily advance and retreat, the legs can fly high; the most ingenious: sudden rising reverse throw. the most fierce: chopping and hook fists. the fastest: leg takedown. the softest: dodging groin punch.

故择其拳之善者三十二势，势势相承，遇敌制胜，变
化无穷，微妙莫测。窈焉冥焉，人不得而窥者，谓之神。俗云
：拳打不知，是迅雷不及掩耳。所谓不招不架，只是一下；犯
了招架，就有十下。博记广学，多算而胜
thus i introduce 32 postures, every posture is connected/every posture i inherited. these defeat the enemy easily. they have countless variations and changes, and infinite wisdom stored inside. train them hard, your enemy will look from afar. a common saying about amazing boxing: "you got hit and you didnt even know." or "quick thunder got no time to cover your ears." it is said "no stance no technique, just one hit; try to use technique and you gotta hit 10 times." learn well from many sources, the smartest fighter wins.

古今拳家，宋太祖
有三十二势长拳，又有六步拳、猴拳、囵拳，名势各有所称，
而实大同小异。至今之温家七十二行拳、三十六合锁、二十四
弃探马、八闪番、十二短，此亦善之善者也
of the ancient boxers existing today, song dynasty emperor taizu(aka the song military) passed down 32 posture long fist, and six step boxing, monkey boxing, huaquan. every style has different names, but the difference is small. today's new schools include wen family 72 line boxing(chuojiao), 36 locks, 24 scout hands, 8 dodges(fanziquan), 12 short boxing. these are best of the best.

。吕红八下虽刚，
未及绵张短打，山东李半天之腿，鹰爪王之拿，千跌张之跌，
张伯敬之打。少林寺之棍，与青田棍法相兼；杨氏枪法与巴子
拳棍皆今之有名者
"red" lu's 8 hits is tough, but not as good as "cotton" zhang's short boxing. shandong has famous fighters like li "split the sky"'s kicking, "eagle claw king"'s grappling, "thousand sweep" zhang's sweeps, zhang bojin's boxing. shaolin temple's stick fighting and qintian stick are pretty good and about equal; yang family spear(six harmoney) and bazi boxing and sticks (bajiquan) have some famous fighters today.


took me 10 min and my chinese education ended at grade 4. now read that guys translation again and compare. qijiguang's original text was written in everyday shandong hillbilly talk btw.

guys like this can get away with horrible work and academic incompetence because their field is so obscure. his translation is so corny i could hear charlie chan when i was reading it.

Top notch Bawang!

[Graculus]

Yes, Bawang was absolutely right.

Nice translation!
That's the advantage of knowing the language and the subject.

Graculus
http://ichijoji.blogspot.com

[SPJ]

yes there are advantages being bi lingual, tril lingual, or multi lingual

:)

[David Jamieson]

Being cunning lingual will get you far....

[SPJ]

in a global economic and internet era

multi lingual will be more and more common--

:D

[CFT]

Being cunning lingual will get you far....You mean being a cunning linguist ....

[ngokfei]

yep have to agree your translation is alot smoother and easier to read.

[Lucas]

bawang u can make lots of monies, become a pro translator for martial arts documents bro. teach the masses

[David Jamieson]

Bawang is the new kfm trongslator. :p

[bawang]

bawang u can make lots of monies, become a pro translator for martial arts documents bro. teach the masses
noe man i am very elite with honor i refuse i must honor my sensei

*stares intensely and rubs testicles

[Lucas]

give all the monies to your guru.

[bawang]

maybe i will use the money for justice and one day found the wombat combat mystical arts foundation. it is my dream.

[Lucas]

if you do make sure you get a statue of your mom built for it

[mig]

took me 10 min and my chinese education ended at grade 4. now read that guys translation again and compare. qijiguang's original text was written in everyday shandong hillbilly talk btw.

guys like this can get away with horrible work and academic incompetence because their field is so obscure. his translation is so corny i could hear charlie chan when i was reading it.[/QUOTE]

Hey, bawang, this is a wikileak, LOL bu I will concur about the translation and the academic production with the help of native informants. That's how many scholars from last century were able to have secure and well paid jobs.
Now as far your Chinese education I doubted you learned wenyenwen or baihua wen at 4th grade unless your family was in the imperial post or army!!

[SPJ]

at age of 4. I already was reciting 300 tang poems at will.

I read zhang hui novels from ming dynasty at age of 6

I read the journey to the west with wen yan wen with no periods or commas.

I read shui hu zhuang or legend of water margins with wen yan wen again no periods and no commas

--

no wonder, CMA stuck with me for the rest of my life.

my point is that depending on your upbringing

at grade 4, you may read a lot of chinese, if you are from an educated family.

--

poor or not

:)

[mig]

at age of 4. I already was reciting 300 tang poems at will.

I read zhang hui novels from ming dynasty at age of 6

I read the journey to the west with wen yan wen with no periods or commas.

I read shui hu zhuang or legend of water margins with wen yan wen again no periods and no commas

:)

I thought those were the novel genre or xiaoshuo in baihuawen as opposed to the classical written style as xiaojing, lunyu, zhongyong, the other schools texts and all others from the elite keeping the masses ignorant if you didn't know that kind of script language. Don't know how many kungfu practitioners were scholars from the wenlinyuan or elite schools. Sorry to highjacked this thread.

[omarthefish]

Maybe the Wuxia novels are but the Tang poems are a *****. I still can't muddle through that muckimuck.

I'd agree that Qi Jiguang is hardly 4th grade reading level but then again...the stated goal of most high schools in America is to ensure that all graduating seniors have at least a 6th grade level reading ability. :p

So even if the text Bawang translated is at a level most kids might not have to learn until junior high, that doesn't mean that the 4th graders who actually liked to read would have a hard time with it. When I was in the 4th I was bored to tears by what was officially considered "4th grade level" material. If Chinese was my native tongue, I am sure Qi Jiguang would be pretty easy stuff for me. As it is, I still struggle with it too much to pick up the book and just read the whole thing.

No problem with Wuxia stuff though. "Heroes of the Marsh" is a blast too....for the first half anyways. It gets pretty bogged down with boring political stuff later on.

[David Jamieson]

*bink*

No problem with Wuxia stuff though. "Heroes of the Marsh" is a blast too....for the first half anyways. It gets pretty bogged down with boring political stuff later on.

like star wars episode 2... :p

[SPJ]

yes, the tales and MA of characters are most interesting

long spear of Lin chong

spade of lu zhi sheng

---

the later part is about the gang was at peace with the government and fought for the government or zhao an 招安

----

:)

[SPJ]

I thought those were the novel genre or xiaoshuo in baihuawen as opposed to the classical written style as xiaojing, lunyu, zhongyong, the other schools texts and all others from the elite keeping the masses ignorant if you didn't know that kind of script language. Don't know how many kungfu practitioners were scholars from the wenlinyuan or elite schools. Sorry to highjacked this thread.

without a teacher pointing out

it is very difficult to read the old text

zhi fu ye zhe 之夫也者 are usually used as periods or commas

poems are in 4 characters, 6 characters or 7 characters

so it is not that difficult to recite or remember

:)

[SPJ]

tai ji zhe yin yang ye

tai ji ,

is composed of yin and yang .

:)

[Tainan Mantis]

Here are four articles written that include quotes from QI Jiguang as well as other martial manuals from that era or the Qing Dynasty.

The Barbarian Surrendering Maneuver (http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/2009/barbarian.htm)

Seizing the Opportunity (http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/Seizing%20the%20Opportunity.htm)

This one compares elbow strikes of Shaolin and Mantis
The Luan Elbow of Shaolin Luohan (http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/Luan%20Zhou.htm)

Tai Mountain Crushes the Top (http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/2009/taishan%20crushes%20the%20top.htm)

Some metion of the book Compilation of the Righteous Hall which was used by Qi Jiguang is in this article.
General Yu and the Escaping Pirates (http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/2010/general%20Yu.htm)

During Qi Jiguang's era he would have been well versed in the book "Wu Jing Qi Shu" The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. This article relates to the Tai Gung Hooks a Fish Maneuver in Qi Jiguang's spear method.
Which is mentioned in this article
Two Thousand Years of Mantis Warriors (http://www.plumflowermantisboxing.com/Articles/2010/Mantis%20Warriors.htm)

I have not compared my translations to other versions of Qi's text because they are hard to find or for the most part non-existant.

It has been my experience during my 16 years in Taiwan that many of the terms are hard to define even by well educated lay people including those majoring in language or history.

Chinese grammer and writing were somewhat revised during the Qing Dynasty by Emperor Kang Xi on the one hand and the dialectical differences of language even today, to say nothing of the Ming, can make translating such a work quite difficult.

recently Chinese martial historian Ma Mingda (as well as others) has explained the meaning of Qi Jiguang's works as well as others from the Ming and Qing Dynasty.
One of the biggest problems is that reprints of these works of which there were many almost always have portions added, subtracted or characters changed so that knowing the original authors intent, whether native speaker or not, becomes more and more difficult.

[bawang]

my computer says there are 38 viruses on your website

i respect proffesor ma he is unbiased and is a great mattial artast

[Tainan Mantis]

my computer says there are 38 viruses on your website


Thanks. I thought I had fixed that. It isn't a virus on the site, but some file on bluehost server that shows up as a virus.
I'll go back and try and fix it again.

Kevin

[GeneChing]

What MMA Has to Teach Us about Chinese Martial Arts (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1098) by Peter Lorge

[Cataphract]

There is an English translation (http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a268051.pdf) of Qi Jiguangs chapter on Quan Fa in his Treatise (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ji_Xiao_Xin_Shu#Unarmed_fighting) and here are the pictures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwonbeop#Ji_Xiao_Xin_Shu_.28.22Manual_of_New_Milit ary_Tactics.22.29).

My reading material for the weekend. ;)

...should have known I wasn't the first one to find this. :o

[bawang]

"The Golden Rooster: stand on one leg and **** the head
askew.
Simultaneously position your leg and center your fist.
Turn your back and assume the Reclined Ox stance, and drop
both the arm and the leg in tandem from their elevated
positions.
Make contact and cry out "ku" unto the heavens."

its supoosed to be "gold roster explodes up with knees and hooks, followed with a lying bull throw (judo reap) crushing the enemy under you, he cries out in pain"

only arizona hilly billy who took east asian studies to get yellow poosy can fuk it up this bad.

[Kellen Bassette]

followed with a lying bull throw (judo reap) crushing the enemy under you, he cries out in pain"


Do you know if this is referring to a specific reap, (Osoto Gari, Ko soto Gati, ect.)?

[bawang]

Do you know if this is referring to a specific reap, (Osoto Gari, Ko soto Gati, ect.)?

small outer hook and small outer reap.

[SevenStar]

small outer hook and small outer reap.

I've always likened golden rooster to the judo technique hiza guruma. This would be a combo, like hiza guruma to o soto gari.

[-N-]

small outer hook and small outer reap.

Large outer reap works here too.

Punch, knee, step down behind for takedown.

[SevenStar]

Being cunning lingual will get you far....

Women like the cunning linguist...

[bawang]

I've always likened golden rooster to the judo technique hiza guruma. This would be a combo, like hiza guruma to o soto gari.

david ross has old video of one of his sanda students demonstrating the exact combo

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eqloeHolg4

God of War (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69507-God-of-War) & Qi Jiguang (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59759-Qi-Jiguang-s-chapter-on-boxing-in-English).

[GeneChing]

https://www.sfjazz.org/link/580fc7b10c084888b692ab3f5c88b4b5.aspx

Laurie Anderson & Mike Patton
SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director
LAURIE ANDERSON: QUANJING JIEYAO PIAN W/ MIKE PATTON (https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/laurie-anderson-quanjing-jieyao-pian/)

JAN 23–26 | SFJAZZ RESIDENT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR LAURIE ANDERSON

JAN 25
Miner Auditorium
SAT JAN 25
Leaders Circle Presale
7:30 PM
$45 | $65 | $85 | $105

This night brings an exploration of vocal styles, as Anderson is joined by singer and composer Mike Patton.

Defined by the All Music Guide as “a complete and utter musical visionary and a mind-blowing and standard-warping genius,” Patton founded the experimental metal band Mr. Bungle and has fronted the Bay Area-based rock stalwarts Faith No More for three decades, while navigating the outer fringes of avant-garde and improvised music. He has collaborated extensively with maverick composer John Zorn and fronted a number of eclectic band projects including Mondo Cane, Fantômas, Tomahawk, and Dillinger Escape Plan.

ABOUT LAURIE ANDERSON
The pair will focus on the text from “Quanjing Jieyao Pian,” the final chapter of Jixiao Xinshu – the famous military manual written in the 16th century by Ming dynasty general and Chinese national hero Qi Jiguang. The chapter, which translates to “The Fist Canon and the Essentials of Nimbleness,” concerns the subject of unarmed combat exercises as physical training, and is the first known written document of martial arts instruction. The text, written in verse, is oddly poetic considering its pragmatic nature, and is fertile ground for creativity for these two modern music figures.

I need to start a Laurie Anderson thread. I was a huge fan of hers growing up and met her through Lou Reed (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=318). I've since met with her on a few occasions and even did an interview with her: Laurie Anderson on Tai Chi and THE HEART OF A DOG (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1266)

[GeneChing]

https://img.sfist.com/2020/01/s8_hero_laurie_mike_highres.jpg

22 JANUARY 2020 / ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT / JOE KUKURA
Legendary Musician and Performance Artist Laurie Anderson Arrives at SFJAZZ This Weekend (https://sfist.com/2020/01/22/laurie-anderson-residency-at-sfjazz-packs-o-super-lineup/?fbclid=IwAR3bipF_CmkBTWqiBLtgEUEypJ2w__KxZqsaTLZM P0nwYjds5VjQoQk_13A)
Sunday’s solo performance is sold out, but Laurie Anderson’s Thursday, Friday, and Saturday collaborations have seats available if you act fast.

We’ve had experimental composer Laurie Anderson pop into our fair city before, but never with the variety of notable guests and wildly unconventional concepts as with her latest SFJAZZ artistic director residency that begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday. Each show is totally nuts and different! KPIX explains that Ms. Anderson will be in town all weekend, and the multimedia performance art legend behind the eight-minute, surprise early-80s hit “O Superman” will expand her onstage repertoire with Ming dynasty texts, cello jazz, and more at SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfpi2H8tOE

Anderson’s Saturday night collaboration with Mike Patton is described as “Almost Sold Out” on the SFJAZZ website, so fans of the Faith No More and Mr. Bungle frontman will want to snap up those tickets quickly. Per that site, the pair will be performing a set of Ming dynasty texts “Jixiao Xinshu — the famous military manual written in the 16th century by Ming dynasty general and Chinese national hero Qi Jiguang,” set to music. Anderson will be on keyboards and violin, with Patton on the vocals, and presumably there will crazy **** happening in the background.

Thursday and Friday’s shows will both incorporate rock and jazz cellist Rubin Kodheli. Thursday’s jazz strings trio performance adds wildly accomplished studio bassist Christian McBride to the mix (that one’s also “Almost Sold Out”), Saturday is a duet with Anderson and Kodheli playing “what Anderson calls their combined ‘hyper-instrument’ — part acoustic, part electronic. Sunday night’s solo show is sold out.



Sidenote: SFJAZZ has quite the weekend next weekend too, with two shows with the great Mavis Staples. Staples, 80, was a 2016 Kennedy Center honoree.

SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Laurie Anderson series, Thurs. Jan 23 - Sun. Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m., Miner Auditorium, 201 Franklin Street, (415) 788-7353


Laurie Anderson + Qi Jiguang (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59759-Qi-Jiguang-s-chapter-on-boxing-in-English) and Mike Patton. Yes, this is how I'm celebrating Chinese New Year (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71622-2020-Year-of-the-Rat) tomorrow. :cool:

[GeneChing]

I'm creating an indie thread for Laurie Anderson: Quanjing Jieyao Pian (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71705-Laurie-Anderson-Quanjing-Jieyao-Pian) off of the Qi Jiguang's chapter on boxing in English (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59759-Qi-Jiguang-s-chapter-on-boxing-in-English) thread, as well as a stand alone thread for Meditation on Violence by Maya Deren (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71704-Meditation-on-Violence-by-Maya-Deren). Laurie concluded her Quanjing Jieyao Pian show last Saturday showing this video while adding her own soundtrack. It's a fascinating study which I've never seen before.

Here's some discussion of it:

This first article has the embedded video clip with the original music

Meditation on Violence (http://www.thethird-eye.co.uk/meditation-on-violence/)
A poetic film by Maya Deren featuring performance by Chao Li-Chi
21 May 2012

Meditation on Violence (1948) a film by Maya Deren. Black and white, 16mm, 15mins.

Playing out the movements of the Wu Tang ritual, American avant-garde filmmaker MAYA DEREN explores movement and performance in Meditation On Violence. Filmed in 1948, dancer CHAO LI-CHI delivers a performance blurring beauty into violence, the Yin into the Yang, light into darkness. Deren experiments with film time, reversing the film part way through producing a loop. Moving forwards and then backwards, the difference in the Wu Tang movements is almost imperceptible.

Text by Sophie Pinchetti.

http://www.thethird-eye.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The-Third-Eye-Magazine_Cinema_Maya-Deren_Meditation-on-Violence-01.jpg
Chao Li-Chi performing. A still from Meditation on Violence (1948) a film by Maya Deren. Black and white, 16mm, 15mins.

http://www.thethird-eye.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The-Third-Eye-Magazine_Cinema_Maya-Deren_Meditation-on-Violence-03.jpg
Confronting Light and Darkness. A still from Meditation on Violence (1948) a film by Maya Deren. Black and white, 16mm, 15mins.

http://www.thethird-eye.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The-Third-Eye-Magazine_Cinema_Maya-Deren_Meditation-on-Violence-02.jpg
A still from Meditation on Violence (1948) a film by Maya Deren. Black and white, 16mm, 15mins.

Here's another article:

Meditation On Violence (1948) (https://16mmlostandfound.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/meditation-on-violence-1948/)
8 MAR
Director Maya Deren
Producer Maya Deren
Contributors Cherel Ito, Chao Li Chi
Length 15 minutes
B&W/Color B&W
UO Library Catalog description: Based on traditional training movements of the Wu-tang and Shaolin schools of Chinese boxing. Solo performance with theatrical lighting but without scenery ; solo performance outdoors in costume.
Call # Ma73
Genre Short Films, Dance
Rare Yes
Online Yes
Copyright status Public Domain
Physical condition Good
Oregon-related No

Notes: Meditation On Violence is a short film directed by avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren. It was originally produced for a theatrical release in 1948. “Theatrical” is a term that should be used loosely, especially with Deren’s films, as the locales that she screened them in were usually art galleries or her own living room, which she converted into a makeshift theater for private viewings.

The film features Chao Li Chi, a Shanxi-born actor and dancer who worked extensively in American television and film. Meditation On Violence was one of his firs appearances on film. In it, he attempts to display the ideals of the Wu-Tang philosophy, which centers around the idea of constant motion according to “-which the perfect form is that of no form in an excellent performance attempts to display the ideals of the Wu Tang philosophy which is a philosophy of constant motion, which is achieved when you’re in a state of constant motion” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040578/). Chao Li Chi had an extensive history with Deren, and was a regular member of the dance troupe she was involved in during the 1940’s. I find it particularly interesting that Li Chi had such a successful career in Television and Film after working with Deren on such artsy, underground projects. He has subsequently appeared in Big Trouble In Little China, M*A*S*H, The Joy Luck Club, The Nutty Professor, The Prestige, Wedding Crashers and Pushing Daisies.

While at first glance this film may seem just like a documentation of a dance sequence, the editing style elevates it above the status of performance piece. The avant-garde style of Maya Deren is certainly not as pronounced in Meditation On Violence as a film like Meshes Of The Afternoon, but their are a fair number of sequences shot in slow motion, and “-the camera itself becomes the boxer’s sparring partner, dodging and attempting to return the athlete’s blows. The adjustments, pans, and zooms of the camera simulate a human response” (worldcat.com). It should also be noted that the film loops, returning to the first sequence. This technique breaks the passage of time, which was very typical of Deren’s films.

Another interesting thing is to note the soundtrack. Deren recorded Haitian drums for the piece, which reflected her fascination with Voodoo during the time period it was made.



And here's a vid that has an alternate soundtrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIDRMb6YxxM

[Djuan]

same Qi Ji Guang from this series Shaolin Seng Bing (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71601-Sh%E0ol%EDn-S%26%23275%3Bng-B%26%23299%3Bng-(2008))


which is a great show by the way. streams on amazon prime, has videos on youtube as well.

Amituofo

[GeneChing]

same Qi Ji Guang from this series Shaolin Seng Bing (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71601-Sh%E0ol%EDn-S%26%23275%3Bng-B%26%23299%3Bng-(2008))

which is a great show by the way. streams on amazon prime, has videos on youtube as well.

Amituofo

Also God of War (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59759-Qi-Jiguang-s-chapter-on-boxing-in-English&p=1302903#post1302903). I didn't notice that was on Amazon Prime. I'm way behind on my Amazon Prime Chinese TV shows. There are so many there now. We need to update that Chinese TV thread (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68972-Chinese-and-HK-Television-Series).

[Djuan]

Also God of War (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59759-Qi-Jiguang-s-chapter-on-boxing-in-English&p=1302903#post1302903). I didn't notice that was on Amazon Prime. I'm way behind on my Amazon Prime Chinese TV shows. There are so many there now. We need to update that Chinese TV thread (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68972-Chinese-and-HK-Television-Series).

God of War was a favorite of mine, I have to watch it again now and see if I notice parallels in the story. Its cool to have Sammo Hung in both.

The Prime channel for Shaolin Seng Bing is 'TOKU', if you don't have it already lol it has some good stuff, I have to go thru again and see if I find some good wugong .

10805