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Thread: January / February 2009 Issue (Shaolin Special)

  1. #1
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    Thumbs up January / February 2009 Issue (Shaolin Special)

    Just got the magazine off the shelf at my corner store. I'll give it a read today and post some thoughts when I finish reading. That said I already have a question:

    Gene who is the fellow on the cover; he looks familliar, I think he is the monk I met at Shaolin, but when I met him I didn't speak enough Chinese to really get his name.

    I am curious to know who he is. NM, his name is Shi Dechao. Just read it in the iron palm article. That guy is awesome, he let me in out of the rain when I got locked in Shaolin Temple. Interesting to note that the article concentrates on his calligraphy, he gave me a sample of his work. I still have it (in a closet, waiting until I find a big enough frame to frame it and hang it again)...

    Two articles down and want to get some thoughts on paper. The interview with Shi Yongxin was interesting. I would be very interested to learn more about the Chan debate referenced. Is there anywhere that resources related to this debate would be available?

    What's New In Dengfeng 2008:

    Dicos!!!!!

    Although my arteries clang just thinking about their epic dajiepai I have to trumpet this fast food joint. They are, by far, the best fried chicken restaurant chain on earth, bar none. Calling Dicos a KFC clone hardly does them justice as the offerings at Dicos, though slightly more sinofied than those at KFC are the pinacle of Chinese fast food. Anyone visiting Dicos has to try the burgers served on a bun of compressed glutinous rice!

    "Cafes" like OUX seem to be popping up all over China. Every prefectural level city seems to have at least one. And NONE of them have figured out how to make pizza yet. A hint: PEAS don't go on PIZZA!!!

    Songyang Gongyuan WAS a tranquil park when I was in Dengfeng in the autumn of 2005; what a difference 3 years makes!

    Covered most of my thoughts on the Iron Palm article up above where I made mention of Shi Dechao. Gene if you are speaking to him at some point please say "thank you" to him on behalf of a damp waiguoren he let in out of the rain after getting locked inside the temple after close. His kindness remains one of my earliest and most positive memories of my first year in China.

    Where is the pending Shaolin Wenhua Zhongxin in Canada likely to be located? Toronto? Ottawa? Montreal? Vancouver? Iqualuit?

    The Qianlong sword is gorgeous.

    The Shaolin Broom Form is entertaining with relatively descriptive pictures and instructions. Memories of the opening sequence of "The Tai Chi Master" flicker through my head.

    Matthew Polly's article provided some rather gentle humour while managing to much more effectively plug his book than any third act guest of the daily show ever has.

    Traditional Shaolin Stance Training provides a compelling and convincing argument in favor of traditional stance work in a lucid and rational manner. I would, however, be interested to see some citations from authors within the field of "modern sport science" as the author references it regularly.

    The photo shoot in Shi Ba Shi Jibengong includes one of my traditional banes - the two man application sequence photos. For once the author has concentrated on a small set of techniques and provided a clear and complete set of photographs explaining the sequence of action. Thank you to Scott E. Jeffery, Shi Decheng and Vinay for this!!!!!

    The YMAA retreat center article was interesting. I'm of mixed feelings on this. I recognize and understand the importence of maintaining traiditional methods of transmission and also understand Dr. Yang's frustration with the time problems faced by modern teachers and students alike. That being said I question the appropriateness of this rather coplete isolation. Certainly his disciples, at the end of their time, will likely be superbly trained martial artists... but at the saccrifice of much else in their lives.

    The Shaolin Dog Master article was an interesting biographical piece, one of many that have been released by KFM since I first started reading. Like many of the biographical pieces though I find I have little to say afterwards other than that; interesting.

    All in all this entire magazine is one of the best that has been put together by KFM all year! The articles were consistently good as was the quality of the photography. That being said this whole magazine is one big tease!!!!

    I frequently find that I end up developing questions I previously didn't know I had to ask after reading an article but the number of questions I found myself asking after the articles above was greater than normal by a consierable degree. I feel like I keep hoping for a second volume to come out!

    Keep turning out magazines of this quality and I have a feeling that KFM will have a good year in 2009.

    And that's just about all I have to say on that...
    Last edited by SimonM; 11-28-2008 at 12:10 PM.
    Simon McNeil
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    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  2. #2
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    the big monk

    yeah i love that guys look i would love to put him in a film. from i read he is like 5'10 or something like. would love to meet that dude.

  3. #3
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    5'10 seems... possibly correct... I'm 6'1 and he wasn't taller than me but he also wasn't considerably shorter. 5'11 would be my guess. He's a great guy, from what little time I spent in his company.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for your kind review, SimonM

    That's not supposed to be on newsstands until Thursday. Just goes to show how inexact newsstand dates are unless you're name is J.K. Rowling.

    I've started a parallel review thread on our Shaolin forum, since this is a Shaolin Special. We'll be posting the cover story in about a month - we like to give it a month to 'breathe' on the newsstand - but in answer to your questions about Dechao's size, here's the opening paragraph of that story:
    Shi Dechao exemplifies the stereotype of a big Shaolin monk. At 5’ 11” and weighing in at over 220 pounds, Dechao may not be as gargantuan as many MMA fighters, but in person, he’s big, thick and solid, towering above the average Chinese citizen. With such an imposing physique, he doesn’t really need martial arts to defend himself. Add his bushy beard and his gentle demeanor, Dechao looks like he just walked out of the pages of Shaolin legend. He is the quintessential big monk.
    Our Shaolin Specials are a tradition here. Shaolin is like a Chinese box - open one and find another inside. I probably won't have the answers to all the questions you might have, Simon, but ask them and we'll see.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  5. #5
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    Well the majority of the questions were contained in the review post. I guess my big one would just be if you could pass my message the next time you have dealings with folks at the monastery.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  6. #6
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    If I speak to Dechao, I'll deliver your message

    I'm not sure Dechao is at the temple anymore. He used to be very close to Deyang, but there's been a few odd rumors circulating. I'm not going to add to those now. I swear, it's so hard to keep track of Shaolin politics.

    As for the Canadian Shaolin Wenhua Zhongxin, I'm not sure of the details. I want to say Toronto, but please don't quote me on that. I'm not even sure why I say that - must be some memory frag of mine and if it's all left to my memory, well, that's why I write stuff down (now if I can only remember where I've written it.) I've seen documents establishing the Shaolin Wenhua Zhongxin in Rome, a location that completely escapes Yanran's review my The Temple and the Auto Shop article. That too raises more questions than answers.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  7. #7
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    Understood. KFM isn't an academic journal and as such citations aren't precisely NECESSARY anyway. I'm just a *****ly stickler that way.

    It was a good article.
    Simon McNeil
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    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  8. #8
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    not until thursday?

    I bought mine at barnes & noble last friday(day after thanksgiving)
    Hung Sing Martial Arts Association
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  9. #9
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    Thanks for that Shaolindynasty

    "On Sale Date" is a very loose term in the publishing industry. We set a date with our distributors (you can see our 2009 schedule in our Advertising Information section) but that's very soft. The distributors deliver a bunch of magazines each week to the retailers and the retailers put them on the stands whenever they get around to it. It's only with major releases like the upcoming Tales of Beedle the Bard (which is ironically this Thursday as well) when the timing is exact. Once Hawaii got issues before we got our advanced copies, which just goes to show.

    As for us not being academic, indeed we aren't. I was trained in APA format in grad school. Took me years to break that habit. Some say my writing still reeks of APA.

    Like I said above, Dechao is 5' 11", 220 lbs. At least he was at the time of the interview, which was around September sometime. I figured that was a major point people notice about him, so it was one of my questions.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  10. #10
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    Writing fiction prose is a good way to train yourself out of that habit.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  11. #11
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    Writing freelance is faster.

    I have no talent for fiction or poetry. When you earn your living by the pen (or keyboard) you become very malleable with formatting. It was actually quite a relief to discard academic formatting. At a certain point, I realized I was spending more time getting my references in order than composing the article itself, and those wouldn't even be published.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  12. #12
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    I had profs who were in general not fond of over-citation. Perhaps it was my concentrations on sociological theory, english and philosophy, all of which are disciplines where application of reason, synthesis of ideas and original work are all heralded as virtues.

    So I managed to get away with generally about 1 bibliography entry per 250 words on soch and 1 per 500 words on the other two disciplines.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  13. #13

    If you haven't read the issue . . .


  14. #14
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    Awesome. Everyone should read the Jan/Feb issue, it was the best in a long time.

    PS: Gene - first draft of the novel is half-way done. If I ever get it published I'll make sure to let you know; Kung Fu Magazine being the first company to ever pay me for something I wrote makes me very fond of the org.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  15. #15
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    Thanks for the props, SimonM

    Wait to you see our next issue. We're going a new direction, in the tradition of the Shaolin Specials, that will hopefully impress you too.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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