From the classics; 'Xingyiquan" by Liang and Yang-"The body forms the six postures;Rooster (chicken) legs, andDragon body,Bear shoulders,And Eagle claws,Embrace like a Tiger,...And sound like the Thunder Read Full Story

A while back I was watching someone do a Karate kata, Sanchin I believe. Every change in posture was accompanied by loud hissing of breath, dynamic tension and intense straining of arms, legs and torso. You could see the veins pop out in his forehead.And this is healthy? I think not. Again, we see the Taoist philosophy of not harming the body during exercise as being a superior path. No pain no gain is pretty much bullshit for longevity, which is why practitioners of the internal or "soft" ma... Read Full Story

A very, very nice performance by Abi Moriya, in honor of his late teacher:"In memory to my teacher, the late master Hong Yi-Xiang : martial artist, doctor & painter, founder of the Tang shou Tao school, Taiwan. www.abimoriya.com" And here is Moriya at a seminar in Israel, demonstrating some nice techniques, including some chin na locking: Read Full Story

Anybody else seen the movie "The Men Who Stare At Goats"?While I have read the book, Pat Parker from Mokuren Dojo saw the movie last week, so he wanted to team up and do a little guest posting here on Dojo Rat.Here's my last post on the book, reposted on Zimbo (I don't understand why, but the previous Blogger post only comes up in some kind of html).--So here's Pat Parker from Mokuren Dojo: Psy-ki-do - Inciting Blind Rage Pat Parker here from Mokuren Dojo. Dojo Rat has been kind enough to ag... Read Full Story

Brian Johnson Kicks AssHey!Some of the local boys Did quite well at the recent No-Gi World Championship grappling tournament held in Irvine California. Watching Brian Johnson go to work on these guys is truely seeing a grappling master in the creative process. Now, aside from High School wrestling (which had quite different rules) I really have no working knowledge of how BJJ-type systems operate. With that in mind, I got quite a lot out of hearing Brian coaching Jake Burroughs (fight below) ... Read Full Story

What a Dick; The most Dangerous man in the worldWell, well...Years have now gone by since the terrible morning on September 11th when our country suffered the most significant terrorist attack in history. Just as with the failed cover-up known as the Warren Commission after the assassination of President Kennedy, the cover story dreamed up by the 911 Commission is beginning to fall apart.In his new book "The Ground Truth", Senior council to the 911 Commission John Farmer unravels the Bullshit... Read Full Story

Over at "The Ground Never Misses" my friend, Xingyi instructor and general Big-Bald-Badass Jake Burroughs is running This series on Mongolian wrestling. (Also Here). This brings up a story that old Mr. Choi, my Korean Tae Kwon Do master told me about his childhood; As I remember, he grew up in North Korea and his family fled to the South when war broke out. His family had a farm, and every day he would take a large potato to school with him. All the kids would put their potatoes on the woodst... Read Full Story

Stopping back in Taiwan for another look at the Tang Shou Tao martial arts system. This style represents a fusion of traditional Chinese arts with the structure and ranking borrowed from Japanese systems. I love this stuff. Look at the beauty of the forms-- and I think the guy demonstrating the chicken and swallow forms may be Su Dong Chen, who went on to be a famous master in his own right. From Wikipedia:Tang Shou Tao is not a separate style of martial art, but rather a practical, step-by-s... Read Full Story

A few days ago we took a look at a short compilation video of Sam Masich, a great Taiji instructor from Canada. Here's a few interviews and some action from a 1988 tournament that Sam was in. The quality of the fighting is certainly not as great as some Karate tournaments, but Sam says in the interview that this was his first fighting tournament, and he clearly dominates his opponents. All-in-all, this gives a nice flavor for the essence of Tai Chi Chuan. Read Full Story

Again we have instructor Michael Gilman with a very detailed explanation of the use of the hips or "Kua" in martial training. This video integrates the rooting aspect of gathering to the inside of the foot and releasing from the heel and outside of the foot with proper use of gathering and releasing from the "Kua". All of us have seen people who "float" on top of their hips. They move like stick figures and cannot perform proper rooting skills. No matter what art you practice, this will add g... Read Full Story