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Thread: Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies? (May/June 2004)

  1. #1
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    Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies? (May/June 2004)

    Alrighty, time for me to do my review of the newest issue of KF/TC magazine. Today was a great day, I got the magazine in the mail AND MY tax return. So I was happy.

    SanShou Linking Combinations
    Very nice article, albeit too short I thought. Lots of photos, but it seemed the text was too short. Perhaps he should have added another page or 2 to it. Something to remember to look back on if I ever do a SanShou match. I would like to see more by this guy though.

    The Secret History of Wushu from Behind the Red Curtain, sorry, like the last issue, this article really couldn't keep me interested, though it was cool to see the photos of Jet Li as a little boy.

    Wushu Cave Women...yeah, cool to see like uh Kung Fu on stage, but sorry there Gene. Next page.

    Of Tai Chi and Tai Chi Chuan, nice looking article discussing Yin/Yang and philosophy, but it seemed like a PJ wearing Taiji hippy in the park. Would like to see perhaps a little application of what he is doing.

    Chen Taijiquan The Ultimate Grappling Art?, nice to see some Chin Na from the art, though I think they could of done without the stage being set up with Lou Reed. I mean, seriously, I almost laughed. You got this guy with a guitar, a woman on the Chello, and an Asian dude doing some Taiji. I think the article should have been titled Chin Na though and not grappling (though that is an argument cause like, yeah, not gonna get into that).

    Reclaiming Nunchaku, gotta give him credit for his interesting outfit. But why is it he has to "scream" when he does the stuff? Nice photos, minus the screaming, and nice to see some teaching on Nunchaku that isn't Karate.

    Pak Mei Kung Fu, I enjoyed the application photos of the article, and reading the history behind it. Good to see some rare styles of Kung Fu being represented, with so little on the art, it is nice to see how they do there thing.

    The Eight Characteristic Powers of Xingyi, pretty much the same on the Taiji article I gave above. Wish it showed some application, maybe he should have done a 2 part article, showing some of the form and application in the first issue, and the rest in the next issue. Not alot of talking, but loaded with photos and captions of it. Leaves the mind have to wonder how it is applied.

    Taiji Quan as Self Defense, haven't had the chance to look over it yet.

    Tai Chi Brings Peace, see above. Though it is nice to see more females writing into the magazine.

    Taiji Push Hands and Combative Principles, no comment as of yet.

    Is that Morihei Ueshiba's long lost brother on page 89 in the painting?

    Meet Master Lau Ka Sun, looks like a nice interview, though he could of gone without the "yelling" since usually in Wing Tsun/Chun one does not KIAI when they attack. I enjoyed seeing how it describes the ranks in the WT organization and the levels and stuff.

    And a hands out to the lovely ladies on page 113. If I weren't such a Pig, I might be interested in one of those shirts. Bad pun, I know, I know, I can be a real Boar sometimes.
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  2. #2
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    What do you got against yelling?

    After all, it's a magazine, maybe they're just opening their mouth. Expresssion is always a trade off. Sometimes it seems overdone - but you should see the archives of stuff with no expression. The masters look dead. OK, maybe you shouldn't see that stuff.

    As for Lou Reed, did you see Ren on Letterman with Lou the other week? Our May June 2003 Lou Reed cover story was pretty controversial, but it got us into a lot of cool places and actually wound up to be a pretty good seller, not so much on the newsstands, but with back issues. It actually opened a lot of doors for us. We're always looking for the crossover, because frankly, if left to just the CMA community, we can't really survive. Thus the Cave Women piece - that's crossover too. Like it or not, that's one direction we can't afford to indulge. After all, it's the art of martial arts, so to speak.

    This is sort of a Tai Chi special, specifically a Tai Chi push hands special. Unfortunately, push hands doesn't represent well in photos, since it's such a touchy feely thing. So most of the articles in our Tai Chi cluster are theoretical.

    Thanks for your comments again! I look forward to hearing more once you've read some more. BTW, no comment on me getting kicked in the head by Van Do (p 81)?
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  3. #3
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    My thing against yelling is that it works with Karate or Tae Kwon Do, but I have been told by many people who do Wing Chun NOT to yell when attacking, or if you do, use it as a distraction, and not a Kiai. I see lots of photos in the magazine of people who are not yelling, and they look perfectly fine.

    And I didn't know that was you getting kicked in the head.

    But yeah, I understand the crossing over thing, trying to get other stuff. I just tend to skip it over. Now, that play someone was doing a few weeks ago on here with the history of Bak Mei or whatever, THAT I would love to see in theatre.
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    How do you know it's not a distraction from a photo?

    I understand your point about yelling, but if we take Bruce Lee's lead, that martial arts are the "art of expressing the human body" then yelling can't be disreagrded. And Bruce was the king of the yell.

    I find the cross over stuff more interesting, in a way, just because it's more cutting edge. I would love to have done something with that Bak Mei show... in fact, Doug is talking about putting something together for us for the e-zine perhaps. Now we do limit that cross over stuff to small articles (Cave Women was just two pages). Keep in mind that the cross over works both ways - not just for martial artists to open their minds about possiblities, but also for fans of the show to open their minds about martial arts. The whole Lou Reed thing has been a bonanza for that. I mean, really, traditional Chen Taiji on Letterman? Thank you Ren and Lou!

    I'm a bit dejected personally about your opinion on the Wushu article since that's a personal tour de force, research-wise (but of course, you have your opinion and I'm happy that you expressed it). So many people say that the commies killed traditional martial arts. So many people don't know what they are talking about. In a weird way, traditional martial arts killed themselves by aksing for recognition and adopting western tournament practices. Think about it - wushu was designed to adapt a Chinese art to the western concept of tournaments. That doesn't really exist in ancient China. In ancient western cities you find tournament arenas like the colesium. Not so in ancient China. This will come more to a head with Beijing 2008, so I just trying to get the story straight, for those who might want to know.
    Gene Ching
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  5. #5
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    I'll take another look at that Wushu article. I never believed though that Chinese arts were wiped out by the Commies though.
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  6. #6
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    fair enough

    BTW, Gigi just brought in a few boxes of girl scout cookies. Let's see, we got peanut butter, animal cookies and thin mints.

    Looking forward to hearing some others chime in on this thread (and thanks for your new tradition issue reviews here philbert, they're really cool.)
    Gene Ching
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    Unhappy

    It's still not out at Walmart. I'll try again tonight, though.

    Hey, I got my state tax return in! I can get a 2Year subscription! yay!
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  8. #8
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    thin mints
    Throw those in the freezer....
    practice wu de


    Actually I bored everyone to death. Even Buddhist and Taoist monks fell asleep.....SPJ

    Forums are no fun if I can't mess with your head. Or your colon...
    uh-oh, I hope no one quotes me on that....Gene Ching

    I'm not Normal.... RD on his crying my b!tch left me thread

  9. #9
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    NP, why is that?

    Yeah, I didn't realize I was doing the reviews every time a new issue came out until the other night when I was typing this one up and suddenly like 4 people IM me and are like "What are you up to?" and I told them I'd call them later cause I was typing a review.

    And I only like shortbread myself.
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  10. #10
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    Thin mints are the best frozen.. maybe with a little vanilla ice cream.
    practice wu de


    Actually I bored everyone to death. Even Buddhist and Taoist monks fell asleep.....SPJ

    Forums are no fun if I can't mess with your head. Or your colon...
    uh-oh, I hope no one quotes me on that....Gene Ching

    I'm not Normal.... RD on his crying my b!tch left me thread

  11. #11
    I liked the new issue, but I'm a Taiji practitioner. Ren Guanyi looks tough in his street clothes

  12. #12
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    I hate the taste of mints.
    I have a signature.

  13. #13
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    They hate you too.....


    sd



    Anywho..

    We have a fairly combative taiji school... I thought some of those articles were week and repetetive, however I feel that way, 'cause I don't know if I can write a better article, especially at this time..

    taiji is underdone.. imho...

    Unfortunatly, in some words, I have a really cool teacher, who keeps our options open.... Doesn't fill our heads with that hippy crap, but keeps it out there, in a mystical way.
    practice wu de


    Actually I bored everyone to death. Even Buddhist and Taoist monks fell asleep.....SPJ

    Forums are no fun if I can't mess with your head. Or your colon...
    uh-oh, I hope no one quotes me on that....Gene Ching

    I'm not Normal.... RD on his crying my b!tch left me thread

  14. #14
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    however I feel that way, 'cause I don't know if I can write a better article,
    There is no 'try', only 'do'

    Our freezer is on the other side of our building. If we left the thin mints in there, the phone salespeople and shippers would get them in minutes. Too bad, I like 'em frozen too. Mints and wushu, Philbert, they're good for you. At least, they'll increase your chances of meeting an ORA girl...

    Ren really wanted to do the street clothes thing. We'll see how that affects our newsstand. BTW, that cover shot was taken by Bette Midler's husband. Seriously.

    I got a lot of good comments on the Wushu article at the Berkeley Tournament over the weekend. Of course, there's a lot of wushu there, so they love it. Can't please everyone, so I don't try too.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  15. #15
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    Very cool Gene...
    practice wu de


    Actually I bored everyone to death. Even Buddhist and Taoist monks fell asleep.....SPJ

    Forums are no fun if I can't mess with your head. Or your colon...
    uh-oh, I hope no one quotes me on that....Gene Ching

    I'm not Normal.... RD on his crying my b!tch left me thread

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