The Future of KFM?

[mickey]

Greetings,

I got the latest issue of Kung fu Magazine. You know, the one with Jet Li on the cover. I really did not like the issuel. It was almost as if you guys hit a dry point.

The Wing Chun article really had me scratching me head. It was almost as if you guys had lunch or got massaged by Dave Cater of Inside Kungfu. One of the things I liked about KFM is that it realy did not stoop toward the fanning of factionlism that IKF did.

Is this what is down the road for us in future issues?

Concerned.


mickey

[GeneChing]

You're the first person to give me any negative feedback. Most of the comments have been overwhelmingly positive in regards to the emphasis on Chin Woo and Hou Yuan Jia history. I confess, the Wing Chun article was factionalist, and we had a lot of discussion about running that. In all honesty, the main reason we ran it was because it referenced Chin Woo. But that was a turning point, for sure. We're not accepting any more Wing Chun organizational articles in the future.

Thanks for your feedback, mickey. I hope you'll elaborate on your criticisms past the Wing Chun article.

[mickey]

Hi Gene,

I did not like the Chin Woo article that much. Isn't there a Chin Woo Association out there on the West Coast that has been in existence for decades?

I did not like the Jet Li interview because he really wasn't saying anything new.

The Tan Tui article has had me reaching for chrysanthemum tea to cool my liver. It kills me to see the word "basic" associated with this discipline. I will not say more because I have no intention to write an article.

The Lost Track article was okay. I have a counter to the postulate by Professor Shahar: maybe the difference in character representation exists because the style may not be of Chinese origin (Adam Hsu wrote in an early article that Lost Track was practiced in areas outside of China, as well). I came to this epiphany while researching Tan Tui. It may apply here. The jury is still out on Tan Tui.

mickey

[Banjos_dad]

at least for the lastfew years it seems like there is never a great gap between issues containing at least one wing chun / ving tsun / _ing _un article. They are compelled to broadcast their opinions on the natural superiority of wing chun to all other arts. God forbid we should forget about that... One good thing about wing chun: at least there are a few people out there who don't want to kick me in the head . See, now what reason would i possibly have to know that, that is proof positive that there is actually too much material on wing chun out there. It's like Paris & Nicole et al, I don't hire hookers so why do I even know their names ??

"Tan Tui was selected as the basic kung fu lesson for learning advanced level kung fu." by the Chin Woo founders. So at least that is sort of a compromise. They do use the word basic a lot. Incidentally I didn't see much mentioned in the way of applications other than passing mention of a two-man form...everything is basic if you don't study the applications imo because then you are just performing a series of motions. So maybe I will join you in a cup of tazo zen tea, my liver is getting a little warmer as well. I did enjoy seeing something on tan tui though, it is an important part of our practice at the school I go to and we perform it with rings on to help condition ourselves, it really has made an impact on my strength.

The interview with Jet Li was interesting. Sure, he had things he wanted to mention. I wish he had gone into more depth on the religious training (Buddhist indoctrination) he got. I wonder if the interview was conducted in English--some of it seems a little choppy on Jet's end. He seemed honest and forthright, I thought. It seems kind of sad at first that he will not be training any pupils, but on the other side of the coin, you really have to respect someone having the honesty to realize that they would not make a good teacher... there are already too many teachers out there who are doing a disservice to their students by teaching when they are not suited for the task whether it's a matter of enthusiasm, personality type, depth of commitment, or that their own knowledge is incomplete.

I wanted to say that I really enjoyed the Sep/Oct issue...Not to be too much of an @ss but if you're going to cap on a particular issue of KFM shouldn't it have been the March/APril ?? sorry Big G!

I think KFM remains worhtwhile and at the top of its genre, just my .02.
Appreciating the effort ... b_d

[GeneChing]

In regards to the Chin Woo org here in S.F., it's actually connected to my BSL lineage, ironically and they usually spell it Jing Wu. However, it doesn't seem to be formally recognized by the international Chin Woo association, at least not according to Jimmy Wong, who claims to be the only real U.S. rep. Now, I know there are many groups that use the name and I'd be very eager to hear a response from the Jing Wu here in S.F.

As for Jet, the interview was in English and his English is quite good. He's been speaking English for some 30+ years now. Being Buddhist myself, I was really trying to dig out more on his Buddhist training, but he was the most evasive on this point. There was also an agent beside him who helped coach him on some of the answers. Interviewing celebrites at his level is always tricky. You usually only get a shot at them when they are trying to promote something and they've been interviewed by the very best, after all, I'm no Jay Leno, so it's always a challenge to try and get something new.

Wing Chun, Wing Chun, yes, that ol' sore spot. You know, we get more submissions on Wing Chun than any other style. And most of them say the same things over and over and over. Note also we get more outside advertising from Wing Chun - although we rely so little on outside ads that this is not a significant factor, just a point of interest. I've actually told all our Wing Chun freelancers to stop writing about topics specific to Wing Chun and start writing in more general terms. That being said, I probably have 2-3 years worth of Wing Chun articles in the queue.

Tan Tui is a huge subject, no doubt. What was most interesting about that piece was that Jimmy Wong demo'ed the complete form. That's really what we were after. It's also stimulated a lot of discussion on Tan Tui, and of course, we're always open to more material on this.

One comment on the March April issue - I'm just getting my numbers in on that one now and it sold quite well. While it may not be your cup of Tazo, it performed on the newsstands and we always have to do that, or there will be no more Kung Fu Tai Chi.

Again, thanks for the feedback, guys. We really appreciate it and it does affect where we take the magazine in the future.

[The Xia]

Interviewing celebrites at his level is always tricky. You usually only get a shot at them when they are trying to promote something and they've been interviewed by the very best, after all, I'm no Jay Leno, so it's always a challenge to try and get something new.

Don't sell yourself so short Gene. You can talk martial arts with Jet wheras Jay and his kin cannot. In addition, alot of those talk show hosts discuss alot of inane stuff. Have you watched Jay interview Jet? He talked to him about chicken wings lol.

[GeneChing]

I missed that interview. I remember when Jay threatened Jet with deportation because he would only teach him Taiji on account of Jay being too old.

Let me ask you all this. What did you think of IKF's and BB's coverage of Fearless?

[The Xia]

I missed that interview. I remember when Jay threatened Jet with deportation because he would only teach him Taiji on account of Jay being too old.

It was something along the lines of Jet saying he ate chicken wings in his hotel room and Jay teasing him about chicken wings being a "secret food of ancient martial arts masters". Jay probably interviewed Jet more then once. I missed the one where they joke about Tai Chi since that doesn't ring a bell.

[Shaolinlueb]

thats what i was looking for gene. jet seemed to dodge a lot of the answers. thats why i didnt like the interview at all. as for the chin woo stuff, the only real thing i read was the lost track and tan tui article to compare it to other versions i have seen.

wing chun? i um didnt read it. i usually only read benny mings cause i see him doing a lot on it.

[GeneChing]

The Jet Leno interview I was talking about must have either been for THE ONE or ROMEO MUST DIE. I can't remember. It was a while ago. I assume this 'chicken wing' interview was recent. Was it for FEARLESS?

Did anyone read Craig Reid's cover story for the Oct '06 BB Jet Li's Fearless? They used a stock photo for the cover, looks like it was for CRADLE 2 GRAVE. How about Ric Meyer's feature in the Oct '06 IKF, Jet Li is "Fearless". I got to hand it to Ric. He totally called the Jet/Jackie thing at the end (and he must have written it a month beforehand).

[The Xia]

The Jet Leno interview I was talking about must have either been for THE ONE or ROMEO MUST DIE. I can't remember. It was a while ago. I assume this 'chicken wing' interview was recent. Was it for FEARLESS?

The interview with the wings was actually awhile back. I don't remember much of anything about it. It may have been for "Kiss of the Dragon" but I don't recall. The chicken wing talk just stuck in my mind though.

[Banjos_dad]

Jay threatened Jet with deportation because he would only teach him Taiji on account of Jay being too old

lmfao, "BURN!!!!"

You know, I got to feeling kind of bad about pointing out that the March/April issue is not my personal favorite, so I revisited it... there is still plenty of good content there. Not to mention an article about a qigong master right here in town, I haven't gotten to meet him but one of my friends from school cross trained with him, and actually showed me that Dragon Plays With Ball exercise a couple of years ago because I have a crick in my neck that I constantly have to pop loose (the classic side-to-side fighter's neck pop lol). He (the teacher) also offers a kung fu class but it conflicts with the classes at my school. Here in Alb it's like all the masters got together and decided that all kung fu classes regardless of style or location are to take place on Monday and Wednesday nights... I think it must have looked something like a meeting of the SMERSH organization from the vintage James Bond films.. around the big U-shaped black lacquer table the kung fu mafia

I've actually told all our Wing Chun freelancers to stop writing about topics specific to Wing Chun and start writing in more general terms.

Oh, Gene. You know what's going to happen now... if you have to reject a submission, then they won't have any choice but to DROP THE WING CHUN CARD!!!!

one thing about wing chun, I am kind of sad for them that they will probably never hear the satisfying "whoppp!!" of shoe leather on temple skin
but i'm not a hater. Hey, Bruce did wing chun, after all.

yahh felt bad about complaining about the March/April KFM. I did a little inventory sort of thing and guess what, it's just that I am quite resentful of the AOL CEO that he can afford private lessons with a master!! Resentful and envious... that job probably takes up a lot of time actually. I mentioned in some other thread a while back, I'd rather read about a martial artist who is also a successful businessman, than a businessman who dabbles in the MA, but what the he77, I am very close to 1/2 a jack@ss anyway if the truth be known / by my own admission.

To end on a positive note, I probably literally wouldn't trade my least favorite KFM for six months worth of the competition, anyway. LOl that is positive made out of negative I guess, an illustration of the yin/yang principle. lol gotta run, keep up the good work.
I had 'crafted' a superlative post (imo) a couple of days ago, but my toe was playing around with something down on the floor, unconsciously... yah, turned out to be the switch on the powerstrip that feeds my 'puter and peripherals, d'ohhh. so y'all get this hack job instead oh well.

[Vajramusti]

Wing Chun, Wing Chun, yes, that ol' sore spot. You know, we get more submissions on Wing Chun than any other style. And most of them say the same things over and over and over.
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Well-FWIW and IMHO and all that- one should't paint all of wing chun with the same brush-pretty diverse group-
and cant let the bad-like the last article- drive out the good- have to be able to distinguish marketing from the art.

joy chaudhuri

[Banjos_dad]

yes Wing Chun is an important part of the Wu Jia / martial family. no argument there.

something else to clarify, Jet would probably steer me into the Taiji group as well... I am nowhere near as errrr, "robust" as Jay is though.

I did also see that Jet Li interview with Jay Leno. I believe it was in the lead up to the release of Unleashed. Jet definitely indicated that he enjoyed chicken wings while here in country.

[GeneChing]

...there's wing chun in almost every single issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi. The only other 'style' that this happens with is Tai Chi. I turn down a lot of Tai Chi too. There's a glut of submissions on both topics. Unfortunately, water seeks its lowest level with most of it. There are still worthy articles and I'm not going to give up on it yet. The problem is that so many wing chun/tai chi authors submit something only to find that it won't see publication for a year or two because the length of our queue. That's why I'm advising these authors to write on more general concepts. Your typical Wing Chun article speaks to two audiences: 1. Wing Chun people and 2. non-Wing Chun people (of course, this can be said of any style too, I'm just following suite with this example). When speaking to non-WC peeps, most authors just say 'WC is cool', which we've heard a thousand times about every style. It's what I call "I, me, mine" articles, really just exercises in the ego. Any lineage article is like this, and WC submits the most lineage articles. What they should be saying is 'here's something you can use in your practice - oh, and btw, it's from wing chun.' If you write a general article, you speak to all the children. You speak to every martial artist. You reach more readers.

My take on this is a little odd, given my position, but I don't really consider anyone to be a significant contributor to the field of martial arts publishing until they've written about another style beyond theirs.

Banjos_dad: No worries on the criticisms of Mar/Apr. We all have issues we like and don't like. For example, my least favorite of all was the Tibet issue (May 2000). And ironically, I got to interview Mickey Hart for that. He's was one of my favorite musicians at the time.