on line mag

my friends and i are starting an online kung fu mag it will be up by next year(02) any article would be appreciated.
my e-mail is tigersden60@hotmail.com

...we have one here, you know. This forum is hosted by www.KungfuMagazine.com, which has a regularly updated eZine.

Frankly, I feel it's a little inappropriate to make this kind of post on our forum. It's not something we would post on someone else's forum (hmm, maybe we should...) But I suppose if I really objected, I'd just delete it since I adminster this all.

sorry!

But does it matter? You get paid if you submit an article to Kungfuqigong and they use it, it doesn't sound like you do at this guys mag. And you can't really make much if any from an ezine can you?


Gene I have a question for you. In alot of posts you say you've been making a living from the martial arts for awhile. What are some of the things you do now and in the past? I know you said you tech at lam kwoon and you do the magazine thing but how did you get started in all of this?(I am hoping I can get some tips cause I started teaching about a year ago and now I am on my own but don't make much money and was looking for some "extra" MA related ways to pick up cash)

I went to college to compete NCAA in fencing. SJSU had one of the nations' leading coaches, Michael D'saro, as well as the only fencing masters certification program in the country, so there I went. I taught fencing on the side a little to make ends meet then. I also figured I should get a degree since I was there. I was studying cognitive psychology specifically the differences between masters and novices (it was a hot topic back then for the development of expert computer systems.) My research won me a scholarship to a PhD program at UCSC, but I dropped out becuase I really wasn't a scientist. I got a job as a swordmaker for American Fencers Supply (AFS) working in the Armoury. In fact, you can still see some of my hilt diagrams on their website at www.amfence.com. During this time, I also did some antique sword dealing, mostly by appointment and at gun shows. Then my sifu Wing Lam offered me a position to write scripts for his video series. His wife had advertised the complete series of Hung Gar and Shaolin videos in IKF, but only 2 of the 80+ were done, so my work was set for the next 2 years. That job expanded into developing their mail order catalog (I had done similar work for AFS) and teaching, of course. After I went to Shaolin Temple (actually against Wing Lam's advice) I brought back lots of products for their store and built them as the first shaolin importers. Meanwhile, I was writing articles for martial arts mags and HK film mags. Then I was headhunted out of Wing Lam by Kungfu Qigong. I knew our ad man Andy for years - he was head of our division of the AAU when I represented the USA AAU in China in '91. And I knew Gigi becuase Wing Lam sold Tiger Claw merchandise and Martha since I was one of her writers.
So there it is in a nutshell. Don't follow me. It's a road of sorrow ;)

I bow to you, please except me as a disciple. Seriously though your story kinda makes up for that ugly mug of yours!:D

You've made me curious, why did Wing Lam not recommend going to Shaolin?(I'll bet hes happy you didn't listen though isn't he)

Sifu Wing Lam initially took an HK, anti-PRC wushu stance about Shaolin. Before I went, he often mocked any research I found on the modern Shaolin temple, disregarding it as fake. But I had to go, not only as a martial artist, but as a Buddhist, and maybe to prove something to myself as a Chinese. To live at Shaolin Temple for a month - how could I not go? One of Wing Lam's strongest character points is that he is very open about letting his students train elsewhere. He had several Sifus and allows his studnets the same courtesy. Actually, I had come from somewhere previously, so there wasn't much he could say about it really.
After I went, not only did I bring back all of the merchandise to help with his company, I brought back the basic jibengong curriculam and completely changed how shaolin was taught at his school, with his permission of course. Since then, he has hosted seminars by Shi Yanming and Shi Goulin, and led two tours to Shaolin. Just goes to show, you don't ever know...