Sept/Oct 2009 Issue

[Lucas]

i was merely pointing out the flaw in assuming temple shots can kill you.

interestingly enough on friday i was talking with a tkd practitioner (olympic style). Talking about sparring and fighting and ko's and such, they were extremely adamant that a temple shot is a death shot. now, ive heard that before, never seen a temple death blow before in my life. ive been hit in the temple, more than once, i havnt died yet. Ive seen people hit in the temple MANY times, havnt wittnessed a death yet.

how accurate is that claim?

like a temple shot with an ICE PICK, sure, but a punch or kick is more likely to just KO you or give you a concussion, in my experience.

[Lucas]

You sure about that, bro? Perhaps we should clarify our definition of 'perfectly alright'.

gene comin down on us with the burnination

[uki]

gene comin down on us with the burnination

hardly... if i may be so bold to take a swipe at gene now... he refused to demonstrate if he could spin the iron ring on my iron bar - dale, taai, and lama all demonstrated, gene declined... to this day i muse that he did not want to embrace the opportunity of perhaps looking like a dumba$$, but to be fair... gene did hold one of my juggle balls.

[GeneChing]

It's a fair cop, but society is to blame. I did not play ring around the rod with uki. I was hiding a rather unsettling limp from damage done the night before (and I know exactly the culprit - it came in a mason jar). Just looking at the others wiggling uki's rod, I knew that nothing good with my attempt at it.

And I did admire the weight and girth of his balls.

As to where to get a heavy kwan dao - uki, I imagine it wouldn't be too hard for someone with your skills to make your own. You could buy the blade off us. It's easy to dissemble it from the shaft. Replace that with a solid iron bar. We replace the wood shafts when we get them with a metal pipe because the heavy blades just snap wood. Then you could make an end spike by cutting the shape out of sheet metal. It's just a simple X-pattern that could easily be slot fitted together and spot welded. You could even cut your own blade if you were so inclined. You just need a metal saw. It would be a lot of work, but not unmanageable, and seeing some of the other stuff you've done, certainly within your skill range.

I used to see the heavy ones in the shops around Shaolin Temple before the village was demolished. There weren't many of them and they were usually hard to spot. They tended to be handmade of iron, and consequently they were usually rusted brown, so they didn't stick out even when displayed in the front of the shop, unless you were really looking. Those old Shaolin village shops were pretty overwhelming in the crazy selection of stuff - 99% of it was crap, but 1% of it, I've never seen anywhere else in the world.

[Lucas]

wow TMI !!

Just finished reading the Grandmaster Dino Salvatera article on lunch. Very good!

I like his whip, totally cool. The aspect of using the links as a vice to crush bones is awesome. especially when talked about from the point of view of using the personal hand made 3 section he has in that article.

its always a treat to read from people who were around during the early days of CMA integration into America. the view point of these guys is what a lot of modern MAists need to look at when talking about traditional cma views and reality on the street and in life.

i especially like the aspect of the variety and availability in todays world of MA. there being so many different arts, readily available today, in GM Dino's article he talked about he only had a couple choices. You train with what is available, or you dont train.

the internet and modern market have made the world of martial arts so much more available, its no wonder people mix it up a lot more today.

anyway i believe that you wrote that article Gene. nice one!

[wiz cool c]

thanks for the info Chris. Thats what I was trying to ask, darn internet.

Do you do drills with the kuan dao? why is it you say this wont be passed on to the next generation? lack of interest by the younger generation?

I have never done any of the drills myself,nore have I seen any of the full time students. I have only seen Zhou Lao shi do them kinda like a show. I have seen one of the full time students practice the ornamented pole, but is is not a part of the usual training.

[GeneChing]

Chris - find out more. I think that would make a great feature article - just focusing on the heavy kwan do drills. email me.

[wiz cool c]

I will try Gene,but it my be a little difficult, because I no longer go to this school. One of the pro S/j guys and I went off and started a class. The reason is that school was for full time students who are in the 20's and at 38 it was too intense. So My coach now who has two pro MMA bouts by the way,{which gives me an idea}may not be familiar with it.

[GeneChing]

If you only write about your own school, it's just ad copy. Believe me - I've been there and done that. Hell I still do that sometimes. There's nothing wrong with promoting your school, but if an article reads like a school promo pamphlet (and you can't imagine how many submissions I get along these lines) I'm not going to publish it. But back to the point, Chris, your article didn't go anywhere near being overly self promotional, which is one of the many things I liked about it. I imagine if you've shown Zhuo the article, that he's pleased to have been covered in an American magazine. I hope that's ample enticement to you to keep your foot in the door and get more on the heavy kwan dao.

[Skip J.]

If you only write about your own school, it's just ad copy. Believe me - I've been there and done that. Hell I still do that sometimes. There's nothing wrong with promoting your school, but if an article reads like a school promo pamphlet (and you can't imagine how many submissions I get along these lines) I'm not going to publish it. But back to the point, Chris, your article didn't go anywhere near being overly self promotional, which is one of the many things I liked about it. I imagine if you've shown Zhuo the article, that he's pleased to have been covered in an American magazine. I hope that's ample enticement to you to keep your foot in the door and get more on the heavy kwan dao.

Ah Gene....

I do believe you are talking to all of us up'n coming writers here....

Thanks!

[GeneChing]

And perhaps I shouldn't be dogging wiz cool c so hard on this. He turned in a fantastic piece really. I'm just fascinated by heavy kwan dao. It's inherently traditional and I'm a traditionalist at heart. When I trained in kwan dao, I worked a heavy one. It wasn't that heavy, maybe 8 lb, but the form was traditional enough that we could do it with a 40 lb metal bar. I've been toying with the subject ever since, but have not found an accessible master that even owns such a heavy piece. Actually, that's not complete true. I just saw a pic of what looked to be a considerably heavy one in a particular master's school. I wonder if he uses it.

[GeneChing]

Chain Reaction (unabridged!)

The 2009 September/October issue will be on the newsstands for three more weeks. Our next issue (Nov Dec 2009) is being sent to our subscribers as I post this. That issue will include a free DVD insert for subscribers but you're too late if you're not subscribed. The DVD insert will be available at select bookstores too for a dollar extra. Look for the polybagged issues.

[Skip J.]

Ah well, Gene... another case of the e-zine version having more details.... better watch out, you want to keep on selling subscriptions now...

I could start another thread on your e-zine articles....

All that said, that was a very good article! That last coupla para's really did fleshout what he was saying.. What I find most useful was his advice to stay well grounded in your basic expertise when mixing in other CMA's. Thanks!