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Thread: Kung Fu Tai Chi is ceasing publication

  1. #16
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    continued from previous post

    Of particular interest to me has been the differences and similarities in how universities, on the one hand, and martial arts schools, on the other, have handled the migration to an online format. To be entirely honest, I am not sure how successful this experiment has been on he academic side. Chronic absenteeism and levels of rock-bottom morale suggesting actual depression have left many high-school and college instructors struggling to connect with their students. I have seen some great on-line teaching happen in traditional martial arts venues, but this is also a crowd that generally self-selects. Still, it is always fascinating to see these two world coming together as happened recently when the Taijiquan classes sponsored by Miami University’s Confucius Institute were forced to turn to on-line grading for their students’ Duanwei advancement.

    “WA martial arts business owner willing to go to jail to stay open.” While most news stories featured discussions of the move to on-line teaching, the previous headline reminds us that a not insignfigant number of schools have refused to take this rout. In the last month there have been several stories of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools that have refused to close their doors in defiance of state and local regulations. One of these is the Battleground Martial Arts Academy in Battleground Washington.
    “Rodeman says he disinfects the space on a daily basis, and does everything to maintain a clean environment. But he also noted that his business doesn’t really fit into the phased reopening plan, which left him with few options.
    “A law enforcement officer came to my door, handed me a paper that says I can’t even reopen until phase four. I said, ‘Even at phase four, I’m still not legally able to practice jujitsu in here.’”
    “So I decided to say, I can’t agree to that, I can’t follow,” he said. “I could be looking at a $5,000 fine and one year in jail. … I’m willing to make a stand because I believe what I’m doing is right.”
    Prolonged closures is a threat to all sorts of martial arts schools and gyms. Still, BJJ schools seem to face additional challenges as their style has grounded its legitimacy not in solo-drills with grappling dummies, or Zoom conditioning classes, but rather in constant practice with a non-cooperative opponent. Not all instructors are enthusiastic about the possibilities of remote instruction as a way to stay connected with their students. Additionally, given the popularity of the style many schools are located in large locations which command relatively high rents. Similar stories of defiance are playing out in other states as well, such as the case of Rice Brothers BJJ in California.

    “(My group) thinks the virus is on the downscale and there are studies that came out that show most of us have had coronavirus anyway,” Rice said. “We need to operate and we need to pay rent. It’s either we go broke and file bankruptcy or we operate business.”… Rice isn’t going to conduct online classes and remains adamant about allowing his grapplers to train at his gym. Rice says he is making his students follow proper sanitation guidelines by having them wear only freshly-cleaned gis and his staff is washing down the mats before and after each training session.”

    Of course the vast majority of BJJ schools have opted to place the safety of their students and local community first by following state and local regulations. Still, the economic costs of being a good citizen are high as the following article reminds us. There is some relief on the horizon for gyms and martial arts studios in states like Georgia and Florida which are currently encouraging reopening. Yet once again, the intimate nature of BJJ training seems to ensure that returning to the mats will not necessarily be a return to normal training.

    Gracie Barra Martial Arts School in Kissimmee is implementing several safety measures, including having each person practice in their own square, 6 feet apart from others.
    “We are allowing people who live in the same household to train together, such as siblings, spouses, roommates,” Owner of Gracie Barra, Igor Andrade, said.
    The school is also requiring temperature checks and sanitizing at the door. Members must also come dressed and ready to avoid crowded use of locker rooms.


    While COVID-19 is having a profound impact on small businesses around the globe, its effects are also playing themselves out in the realm of public diplomacy. One Chinese, English language, tabloid ran a story titled “Chinese Martial Arts Help Cubans Deal with COVID-19 Lockdown.” The traditional arts seem to be almost custom made for this sort of event. And given the profound ways in which the COVID-19 outbreak has damaged China’s global image, it is not surprising to see stepped up public diplomacy efforts. At least some of that has come in form of increased support for martial arts communities overseas, as this article reminds us. Facing profound economic dislocation, the Chinese embassy in Rwanda has donated a large amount of food to help support the country’s Kung Fu community in the hopes that they can continue their training.
    The National Review (which has a very specific editorial direction) addressed these sorts of efforts in an article titled “Traditional Chinese Medicine as Soft-Power Play.” While it directly addresses TCM’s interplay with COVID crisis, one suspects that similar arguments could be made about certain martial arts programs.
    “As scientists and biotechnology companies around the world are racing to develop therapeutic drugs and a vaccine for COVID-19, China has been busy promoting traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) abroad as an effective treatment for the disease. The Chinese government reported that 87 percent of COVID-19 patients in China received TCM as part of their treatment and that 92 percent of them had shown improvement as a result. This claim hasn’t been independently or scientifically verified. So why is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) advocating TCM with such vigor? Ultimately, this push is part of a soft-power play.”
    THREADS
    Kung Fu Tai Chi is ceasing publication
    Covid
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #17
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    Kung Fu Tai Chi 1992-2020

    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  3. #18
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    Final Newsstand Cover Story

    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  4. #19
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    My latest blog post

    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  5. #20
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    Today marks the KFTC Bardo

    In honor of the Kung Fu Tai Chi Bardo, read My Life in Print.



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  6. #21
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    oh...

    is the go fund me active? I'd like to help.

    this place was a 2nd home for much of a decade.

    much love for all you have done, Gene.

    I know you didn't do it all alone, but you are the face of the magazine here.
    "George never did wake up. And, even all that talking didn't make death any easier...at least not for us. Maybe, in the end, all you can really hope for is that your last thought is a nice one...even if it's just about the taste of a nice cold beer."

    "If you find the right balance between desperation and fear you can make people believe anything"

    "Is enlightenment even possible? Or, did I drive by it like a missed exit?"

    It's simpler than you think.

    I could be completely wrong"

  7. #22
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    Thanks for your promise of support Oso

    The gofundme has not begun. The market has to stabilize enough first. Enough schools need to reopen safely so that Tiger Claw's business picks up allowing the bandwidth to pursue this.

    If you want to support now, shop at MartialArtSmart - it's under the TC Media Intl umbrella, which is who published KFTC.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  8. #23
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    ok, I'll make a purchase. There is a kung fu school close by that I could donate the merch too.

    I'll try to reach out to them to see what they might need.
    "George never did wake up. And, even all that talking didn't make death any easier...at least not for us. Maybe, in the end, all you can really hope for is that your last thought is a nice one...even if it's just about the taste of a nice cold beer."

    "If you find the right balance between desperation and fear you can make people believe anything"

    "Is enlightenment even possible? Or, did I drive by it like a missed exit?"

    It's simpler than you think.

    I could be completely wrong"

  9. #24
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    One door close, another one opens.

    Print magazines are going the way of the dodo, so it was probably inevitable. Hopefully, you can develop new online revenue sources that will keep the content flowing.

    Anyways, thanks for letting me write for the magazine many moons ago. It helped me get into one of the best j-schools schools in the country!

  10. #25
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    Thanks guys

    We're doing what we can at this time. The economy is so askew right now, especially with the martial arts world. We appreciate your continued support of KungFuMagazine.com.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  11. #26
    Man I'm really sorry to hear that.
    I had a subscription for a while but the last 6 years or so I've just been buying it off the rack in my local grocery store. They stopped carrying it maybe five years ago and I talked to the magazine guy and got them to get it back in stock. Since then I never renewed my subscription since I figured buying it there helped keep it on the rack.
    Honestly though I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did with how print media is going now.
    I hope this forum stays up. There is some good information in some of the old threads. Although a lot in those old threads is now known to be incorrect just because of how much more information has been made available in the last few years.
    On that note though it might be good to necro some of the old classic threads to add in current information.

  12. #27
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    Thanks for your kind post, Tea Serpent

    Supporting us on the newsstands was just as important as supporting us through subscriptions. And you're right - I'm proud of the fact that we lasted as long as we did. If not for the support of Tiger Claw, we really should've gone down a decade ago.

    As for the forum, I'm striving to keep it going. It's a deep resource, one that we've all been contributing to for over 2 decades now and it would be a shame if it also falls to covid. Please feel free to necro any old threads you find with new relevant information. I always do so when fresh relevant news crosses my feed.

    The forum is under the TC Media umbrella, like KungFuMagazine.com and MartialArtSmart.com. At this point, TC Media's fate is unclear. It may be bought out by Tiger Claw. Obviously, the income stream for TC Media comes from MartialArtSmart, so to support that is to support KungFuMagazine.com and subsequently, this forum.

    When our print magazine collapsed, I was flooded with people asking about what they could do or how they might help to keep it alive. It was a little too little and a lot too late. Now, if you want to support TC Media, KungFuMagazine.com and this forum, the only way is to get your gear from MartialArtSmart.com.

    Thank you all for your continued support.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  13. #28
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    Basically, now it has only gotten worse, because of the war the process of recession has started and it is very risky to have a business these days. There are a lot of factors to consider in order to lose profits because times are unstable now. For a more effective business adaptation to the current problems, I advise you to continue reading this, which gives advice on how to cope with such problems.
    Last edited by heavens000; 10-26-2022 at 06:32 AM.

  14. #29
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    That was over 2 years ago now, heavens000

    Seems like stuff that happened at the beginning of the pandemic was in the jurassic age...

    KungFuMagazine.com is doing fine. You'll know when it isn't because this forum will shut down.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  15. #30
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    With the Internet is flourishing, paper media in the publishing market has been declining, and electronic media has been rising. No, I do not think paper media will completely disappear on this planet. There will be an equilibrium.



    Regards,

    KC
    Hong Kong

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