Gigi Oh

[jun_erh]

I was wondering about Gigi Oh's connection to martial arts. I read her article about the trip to taiwan and she seemed very knowledgable about the various styles. I knew she was publisher of the magazine but Gene Ching and Martha Burr aremore visible in the magazine.

[GeneChing]

Gigi is not really a martial artist, but a great lover of Chinese arts and culture, as well as a childhood fan of wuxia novels. She practices some qigong and is impossible to keep up with. Seriously. She's always challenging my training by running me into the ground with her capability to work - one of the most remarkable hard workers I've ever encountered. She is the backbone of the magazine, as well as many other aspects of our company. And I think if you ask most masters who have interacted with her, you'll get only positive comments. If anything, her fault is that she's way too charitable to the martial arts. If you really want to know more about her, there is a short bio on her in our 10 Year anniversary special

As for my visibility, well, except the Shaolin specials where I pose with all my monk friends and those times when I have to be the fall guy for some visiting master in a photo shoot, I would hope that I'm more behind the camera than in front of it. OK, I'll admit that's more than my share, but imagine being a fall guy for a living.

And Martha, well, she's more photogenic. Unfortunately, she no longer works with us, having moved on to other projects

[norther practitioner]

It was nice meeting her at Taiji Legacy. For not being a martial artist per say she really did know what was going on. Pretty easy to figure out who she was too, with the 10th aniv. shirt on and all.

[GeneChing]

...sometimes I think if she practiced, she figure out how to kick my ass for real. Fortunately, she's not going to do that, so it gives me some job security. Some one around here has to be the fall guy for the visiting masters to show their techniques...

[grlyncher99]

I'm looking for a place to post and I finally find one. A million years ago Gene and I went to a martial art demonstration in San Jose. Basically, they had some master come and kick *** on some poor students from the Kook Sul Wan school. Gene you need to switch affiliations. You've grown into your calling. I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

[GeneChing]

... but I remember it as being SF. It was a KSW demo of various arm locks and throws - brutal on the students.

Actually, we were just joking about that. We are working on another Small Circle Jujitsu video and we were disussing who should be the Uke (the Japanese term for 'fall guy'). With CMA masters, I'm often the fall guy now since I'm the only one in the office who can take it. It's an odd aspect of my job description, one that I may put to prose someday in a future infomercial. Fortunately, they allow me to stay within my style, so I never have to be and Uke for SCJ and never, never have to be the victim of KSW.

[grlyncher99]

I have vivid memories of the one kid with cigarette in his mouth just getting walloped on the side of his head. And then they ask him to do it one more time. The results are the same. Isn't this the definition of insanity, completing the same actions but expecting different results? Naturally, they convince him to do it a third time. KSW is for you. Plus what form do you train under to learn this valuable technique?

[GeneChing]

you learn not to smoke

[jun_erh]

they hit a guy smoking a cigarette?

[grlyncher99]

They should, but that's not how it came to pass. The student would put a cigarette in his mouth. The master, to demonstrate his prowess or something, would kick it from the student's mouth. But the master's prowess wasn't quite that prow and ended up kicking the kid in the face at least twice possibly three times. Aren't masters grand?

[GeneChing]

A full on reverse spin kick right across the jaw. It made that "chock" sound when the mandible collides with the maxilla and the whole skull resonnates like a drum. We were pretty far form stage but could hear it quite clearly. It's amazing that the student wasn't knocked out. Everyone winced.

But the second time, that was too much. Didn't that master apologize after the demo? How many demos do you see where someone has to apologize?

[grlyncher99]

Here we are a million years later and it still makes me wince. And that wasn't the only demonstration where Master got to hit punching bag student. They were holding boards and gettin hit, too.

[GeneChing]

They were doing a board break where the student was holding the board with one hand, then letting the lower portion dangle free. The master split that, then the student held one of the broken halves and let it dangle - shorter target, more difficult break - then WHAM! Right across the students hand and you could see the pain in his face. But then they had him do it again. And again. Three shots to the hand and they never broke that board. People were booing.

Now that, my friends, is good honest martial arts reality show. That's entertainment! Something you remember for the rest of your life.