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jun_erh
01-20-2002, 09:03 AM
Here are some of my favorite books I've bought. I've had pretty good luck I think. Most were purchased at the MA supply store Silky Way in Boston, but some were bought at New England Mobile Bookfair, coincidently about a block away from Calvin Chin Martial Arts in Newton MA.

108 movements of the Shaolin Wooden Men Hall- published by Leung Ting this is sort of the applications part of many forms put into 108 movements. That is, it's different self defense moves and their counters, without being connected to a specific form. Apparently, it's from an old manuscript that wasn't really put together, just stuff jotted down for the use of whomever wrote it, like a real early version of the Tao of Jeet Kun Do. Learn fun stuff like "Continues kick at the genitals". in two parts both small and cheap.

Modified Wing Chun- By Leo t. Fong. I don't study Wing Chun, but I think a copy of this book should be issued to every one when they are old enough to read. It's not really wing chun, just the basics of stand up fighting with commentary like cautions not to overblock and how to throw a left hook and stuff. Like a boxing manual with some kicking stuff. also small and cheap

Dragon Form- by some ****ing guy I can't remember. I got this at a chinese book store. It was like 3 dollars. It has the form w/ explanations in chinese and English, plus applications. They should make all the books like this. It's not available through the regualr MA channels/ websites really though.

Drunken monkey form: by Leung Ting. Learn how to roll around and kick people in the nuts. Has anyone combined monkey boxing with BJJ? that would be cool. Of all the books, this one looks the coolest on my shelf.



Police Kung Fu- English Translation of Taiwanese police manual. Lots of Ju jitsu and Eagle Claw type moves. What I don't get is his use of Wing Chun blocks. LIke he has a knife at his back and turns around with one of those like the way a wing chun guy would block a kick, with one arm up and one down. It seems to be a wasted movement. Why do turn aroun, block, grab. why not turn around, grab??

Ferocious enchanted staff: fr. Leung Ting. great, small handbook on the Shaolin Staff with lots of commentary and applications. from and old manuscript. If you haven't noticed, most of the good books are small.

guide to Styles- Jane Hallander. This would be a cool video. It has basic origins and explanations of the more popular Kung Fu styles of today like Tai Chi, Northern Mantis, Chang Chuan, Wing Chun. SPlit into Northern and Southern Styles.

Wu Song Breaks Manacles: I bought this out of curiosity. it's rather amazing though. It's a form based on fighting with handcuffs on. It has lots of kicks and shoulder bumps and stuff like that. it's Wushu-ey but cool. I think there is a style of fighting with handcuffs that's more reality based but I can't recall. Some very cool double fist punches and stuff.

other stuff

Basic Jujitsu- from the company that put out those Bruce Lee Fighting Method books

Tai Chi Killing fanplay- a cool one is opening the fan in someone's face and kicking underneath it.

Secrets of Shaolin Temple boxing- Robert Smith
Chinese Boxing- Robert Smith

If it says Robert Smith I buy it.


That's it for now.

No_Know
01-20-2002, 09:46 AM
enchanted staff, may I have it?

Killing Fanplay, does it have green on the cover and it Mantis killing fanplay?

DelicateSound
01-20-2002, 09:57 AM
For beginners - "KungFu" by Eddie Ferrie. Tells you all you need to know about every style.

DelicateSound
01-20-2002, 09:57 AM
And "Armlocks" by Neil Adams.

Felipe Bido
01-20-2002, 10:21 AM
"Kung Fu: History Philosophy and Technique" if you like traditional stuff, history and cool training.

Tvebak
01-20-2002, 11:47 AM
The little capoeira book by mestre Nestor and the capoeira book by mestre arcodeon i can really recomend.
And anything i have found by yang wing ming has been good (in my view).
And that generel book of kungfu by Adam Hsu i cant remember the name of.
Anyone knows some good Xingyi books?

txwingchun
01-20-2002, 04:26 PM
Yeah any good xingyi or baguazhang(sp) book to recommend

neptunesfall
01-20-2002, 04:37 PM
i don't have many kung fu books, but here's the ones i do have:
chinese fast wrestling, liang sho yu....this one is alright, some decent shuai chiao throws and takedowns
chinese boxing something or other, robert smith....sucks so bad i don't even remember the title or where i put it
the martial artists way, glen doyle...this is one i like a lot....not techniques or anything, just thoughts on training etc. some sports psychology too.

JF Springer
01-20-2002, 05:13 PM
Here's a link to some things not watered down for general public consumption _ http://www.sixharmonies.org/pages/JCBooks.htm

The Fu Family, headquartered in Canada I think, also has memorialized some of their method on video, don't know about written material.

The Yin Fu Bagua line has produced an extensive and allegedly near complete accounting of their method. If memory serves me well I think Plum Blossom Press was carrying the stuff, I could be wrong. Either way, a solid search will turn up material not found in the back of MA rags.

neito
01-20-2002, 07:33 PM
anybody know of any easy to find chin na or joint locking books? use of locks for stand up fighting is prefered. unless you want bjj, joint locking instruction is hard to find in my area. My wc school does it at more advanced stages but i want it now. a little help?

jun_erh
01-21-2002, 07:35 PM
Neito- I would recommend the Lily Lau Eagle Claw video personally. It comes in two parts for some reason, but the 1st part has them doing 37 different jointlocks. There's a new book out now on Eagle's Claw that's widely available, the author escapes me, but it's been mentioned on this board. The second half of the video has the other 36 joint locks!!! The Chin Na book most people have is by Ywang Jang Ming (I think) something like that, it's called Shaolin Chin Na and is like 10 dollars. or you could just be like Neptunesfall and cry and whine at your opponents till they run away:D

No_Know= can you have my book on the ferocious ancient staff? No!! get your own, you bathroom fixture

CrushingFist
01-28-2002, 10:26 PM
hey, well, one easy to find book is Leung shum's recent book, although i had a tough time following the techniques, it seemed that they do like, 5 or 6 punches and then do a technique, and to put it in a book seemed like a waste, when all i was relaly intrested in was the actual locks. But the locks were from the eagle claw 108 form, so they were pretty good locks, it was just a pain sifting thru what was a lock and what was just some block. This book is in english and it's about 14 $ on amazon.com so if money is tight, it's probly a good buy.

The best book in my opinion you can find is Lau Fat Mang's "108 Eagle claw Chin'na skill" Yi Bai Ling Ba Ying Zhao Qin Na Shu
except the last copy i saw for sale was on ebay for 60$...but i advise you check chinese bookstores they might have it. Oh yah, it's only in chinese...

And as stated above, the tape by Lily Lau with 72 of the 108 joint lock is REALLY helpful. Each lock is showed slow and fast, they tell you which pressure points to grab and show from 3 or 4 angles as well. I think a video is the best way to see it because you actually see how to move. the two books are good i think it's more helpful to see the video first, and refer to the books for other tips or pointers or whatever.

No_Know
02-26-2002, 07:07 AM
In the bathroom is hnnnnnnnnnnnahhhhhhhhhhhhh, where I must have been when I got one (Enchanted staff of Ancient Monks book)for me~.

I No_Know

Cody
02-26-2002, 08:29 AM
I too, like books by Yang Jwing-Ming.

Tvebak, is it this the book by Adam Hsu?
The Sword Polisher's Record, The Way of Kung Fu
I have just acquired it. I like it.

My treasures are somewhat different:
The Unfettered Mind, Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword Master. by Takuan Soho (trans. by William Scott Wilson).

The Sword & The Mind. translated, with an introduction and notes, by Hiroaki Sato.

Cody

Sho
02-26-2002, 09:35 AM
I don't own many martial art books, but whenever I bump into one that interest me I wish to read it. At the moment I own mostly Japanese Bushido-oriented books, which mainly focus on the philosophy. The famous ones that I've read are Miyamoto Musashi's "Go Rin No Sho" (Book of Five Rings) and Sun Tzu's "Art of War".

Colin
02-26-2002, 11:42 AM
An excellent beginners book of kung fu is:

The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu. by Wong Kiew Kit
This is one of the few that I've actually read all the way through more than once!

As for Xing Yi Quan books, well..

"Xing Yi Quan Xue" by Sun Lu Tang is a must.
A real indepth discussion on Xing Yi.

"Xing Yi Nei Gong" by Dan Miller & Tim Cartmell
Facinating, factual information & some good training excerises.

As for Rober Smith books, they are well worth the money, as long as you take his personal opinions on some things with a pinch of salt!

I'm one of these sad individauls thatlove reading Kung Fu related books, but there is some crap out there too.

regards
Colin............

Dronak
02-28-2002, 10:23 AM
Hi, I'm new here. I just recently found out about this board and decided to check it out. I'm currently waiting for Amazon.com to get and ship that Wong Kiew Kit book on Shaolin kung fu. It got delayed otherwise I would have had it by now. I have a number of books on tai chi, at least a few of which are by Yang Jwing-Ming, but only a few on kung fu. I was interested in tai chi before I started learning kung fu so I have more books on tai chi. If anyone actually wants a list of books I have, I can do that some time when I'm home.

I'm currently looking for another book or two that has the forms we're learning in class. I have _Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu_ by Yang Jwing-Ming and Jeffery A. Bolt and it contains a couple of forms that we've done in class (Lien Bu Chuan / Linking Step Fist, Gung Li Chuan / Power Fist, and Yi Lu Mei Fu / First Ambush Fist). Is anyone here familiar with the books called _Basics of Long-Style Boxing_ and _Advanced Routines of Long-Style Boxing_ both by Cheng Huikun? The descriptions I've seen say they're for Chang Quan, but I don't have the Chinese name of the exact style I'm learning (we were just told that it's northern shaolin long fist kung fu). I can't find a list of the forms in those books anywhere on the web. The best I've gotten is the table of contents which is pretty general and didn't help much. I'm not sure I want to take a chance on getting them when they may not have what I'm looking for. If anyone could provide some more info the books, I'd appreciate it. A list of forms in them would be ideal, but anything more than what basic sales descriptions say should be useful. Thanks in advance.

Radhnoti
02-28-2002, 11:36 AM
I've said it before, I'll say it again...though it's not STRICTLY speaking a Chinese MA book, it does apply to all martial arts.

"Living the Martial Way" by Forrest Morgan

Excellent book and several of my fellow students have read it and think so as well. Can't recommend it highly enough.

wu_de36
02-28-2002, 12:46 PM
Because I'm so frightfully bored, I will try to recite from memory my martial arts bookshelf. Books with *** next to them mean I recommend them. Trial and error.

CMA
Yang Jwing Ming
- Tai Chi Chuan Martial Applications : Advanced Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan (Martial Arts-Internal Series)
- The Essence of Shaolin White Crane: Martial Power and Qigong ***
- Taiji Chin Na: The Seizing Art of Taijiquan
- Analysis of Shaolin Chin Na : Instructor's Manual for All Martial Styles ***
- Shaolin Chin Na: The Seizing Art of Kung-Fu

Liang Shou-Yu
- Chinese Fast Wrestling for Fighting : The Art of San Shou Kuai Jiao ***

Leung Ting
- Drunken Monkey Style Kung Fu

Tim Cartmell
- Principles, Analysis, and Application of Effortless Combat Throws ***

Zhao Da Yuan
- Practical Chin Na : A Detailed Analysis of the Art of Seizing and Locking ***

Eric Lee
- Three Sectional Staff

Cai Longyun
- Zuijiuquan: A Drunakrd's Boxing

Li Keqin and Li Xingdong
- Soft Weapons-- Nine-Section Whip and Rope Dart ***

William Cheung
- Advanced Wing Chun

Lee Koon-Hung
- The Whirling Staff of Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu

Chi-hsiu D. Weng
- Ch'ang Style Tai Chi Modified Short Form
- Fundamentals of Shuai Chiao

KMA
Shin Jae Chul
- Tang Soo Do 1: The Essence ***
- Tang Soo Do 2: The Basics
- Tang Soo Do 3: Dae Ryun

Hwang Kee
- Soo Bahk Do ***

Kang Uk Lee
- Tang Soo Do

Yi Duk-moo
- Mooyae Dobo Tong Ji

Michael D. Echanis (Joo Bang Lee/ HRD)
- Knife Fighting - Knife Throwing for Combat (Black Book!) ***
- Knife Self Defense for Combat

JMA
Nathan Johnson
- Barefoot Zen : The Shaolin Roots of Kung Fu and Karate ***(even though I disagree with a lot of the opinions)

Wally Jay
- Small Circle Ju-jitsu ***

Fumio Demura
- Bo: Karate Weapon of Self Defense
- Sai: Karate Weapon of Self Defense

Kano, Jigoro
- Kodokan Judo

Ryushu Sakagami
- Nunchaku and Sai ****

Jiro Shiroma
- Nunchaku: The Complete Training Guide

Vince Morris and Adrian Trimble
- Karate Kata and Applications (for $1!!!)

FMA
Remy Presas
- Modern Arnis

Antonio Somera
- The Secrets of Giron Arnis Escrima

Amonte Marinas
- Pananandata Rope Fighting ***
- Pananandata Knife Throwing

Jeff Imada
- Advanced Balisong Manual

Philosophy, etc.
Tao Te Ching
Tao of Jeet Kune Do (Bruce Lee) ***
Tao of Gung Fu (Bruce Lee)
Art of War
Book of Five Rings ***
Hagakure
One Encounter, One Chance (pfft)
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman ***

other
Matt Furey -- Combat Conditioning
Bill Wallace -- Dynamic Stretching and Kicking

These two don't really fit with the others, but the "Men's Health Guide to Peak Conditioning" and Lance Armstrong's "It's Not About the Bike" are two of my favorite books. One inspirational and one informative.

That's all for now. My head Hurts. :)

Rockwood
02-28-2002, 05:51 PM
IMA books

Power of Internal Martial Arts by BK Frantzis, also Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body by him.

Chinese Boxing by RW Smith, also Martial Musings by him.

Pa Kua Chang Journal by Dan Miller, all issues.

Eight Diagram Palm by Li Zi Ming

Effortless Combat Throws by Tim Cartmell

Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan by Fu Zhongwen

Principles of Effortless Power by Peter Ralston

Esoteric Warriors by Alex Kosma

-JEss O'Brien

xiong
03-01-2002, 08:25 AM
Hi, my name is Sean and I'm addicted to buying MA books.

First I'd just like to say ****! wu de36 has put together a pretty awesome list.

Second I think that authors to lookfor are Yang Jwing Ming, Liang Shou Yu, and Tim Cartmell. I have been particularly impressed with their works although there are many other good writers out there.

Chin Na and Grappling CMA style: Yang Jwing Ming has 3 titles on Shaolin Chin Na, 1 on Tai Ji Chin Na. Liang Shou Yu has the Shuai Jiao inspired fast wrestling for fighting (the book that got me hooked on his writings) and has a new one Xiao Yao Shuai (sp?) that I haven't looked at yet. Effortless Combat Throws by Tim Cartmell is also an awesome book.

Kung Fu training: I like Yang's approach and Liang's refinement even better. I just recently got Liang's Kung Fu elements and it's chock full of great training and Stretching exercises. Be forwarned, it is Wushu and you might find yourself convinced that Wushu is just as hardcore as any other CMA.

Xing Yi and Ba Gua: Yang and Liang collaborated on books for each style. I am currently reading the Xing Yi book, the periferal scan of the Ba Gua book looked even better.

Finally, Living the Martial Way is an awesome book. And I also highly recommend Combat conditioning by Matt Furey, even though I have been majorly slacking on the program.

wu_de36
03-01-2002, 12:53 PM
Originally posted by xiong

And I also highly recommend Combat conditioning by Matt Furey, even though I have been majorly slacking on the program.

Who isn't? :) I do like the hindu pushups over regular pushups. Less elbow strain for me. Haven't done the backbends in awhile though. They definetely help the neck muscles, and I wouldn't be as sore after playing uke when I did them.

Colin
03-02-2002, 05:58 PM
I just got my hands on a copy of:

"Hsing Yi Chuan" by Li Shuang.

I haven't got through it all yet, but so far I like his Xing Yi style, and the description of each move is very detailed.

Excellent for about $9-10.

regards
Colin...........

MonkSanTe
03-03-2002, 06:35 PM
I really enjoyed Chronicles of Tao. It's not a pure martial arts book, but CMA play a huge role in the book. A lot of Taoist philosophy. Regardless of any controversy over whether the book is fiction or non-fiction, it's amazing. From what I've heard, A Sword Polishers Record by Adam Hsu is really good too.

perrylo
03-04-2002, 10:17 AM
Originally posted by txwingchun
Yeah any good xingyi or baguazhang(sp) book to recommend

Grandmaster Liang has a great book on Emei Baguazhang, writen in conjunction with Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming. It is very complete, from history and philosophy to training, visualization, and application. There is also Bagua weapon methods including the deer hooks, sword, broadsword, and cane.

Also, if you are interested in Chinese take-down techniques, Grandmaster Liang has also published a book on Xiao Yao Shuai, the complete form and applications.

You can find both books at our website.

doug maverick
03-04-2002, 11:48 AM
B.K. frantzis has great books!doug hiesh xing yi book is the worse i've ever seen it hurts me we share the same name.but sun lu tangs book is good and tim cartmill and dan millers 16 nei gon book is great the video suck a waste of 40 bucks

TaoBoy
03-07-2002, 09:00 PM
I just picked up "Lost Tai-Chi Classics from the Late Ch'ing Dynasty" by Douglas Wile. It's pretty impressive - even includes the complete texts in Chinese. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in the philosophy of the Chinese martial arts.

Also, "The Root of Chinese Qigong" by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming is a winner!