All posts in Art

How to Do Fa-Jing –Issuing Energy — in Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua

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He was one of the greatest kung-fu masters in the world, a direct descendant of the creator of tai chi, and he was asking me to show him a punch. It was an exciting moment but also nerve-wracking. Trying not to be nervous, I settled into the posture and prepared to show him internal power. Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang stood in front of me, watching carefully.

Trying to remain relaxed, I shifted my weight from my right to my left leg and my right fist shot out, fast, relaxed, and powerful. At the same time, my left elbow thrust backward and my left hand stopped at my ribcage.

Grandmaster Chen was not impressed. He took my right hand in his left, my left hand in his right and told me to relax. Before I knew what was happening, he jerked the right hand out and pushed the left hand backward. I wasn’t quite relaxed enough and almost suffered whiplash in my neck.

Relax, he told me again, and once again he jerked my arms — hard — forcing one to punch and the other to return to my ribcage. For a minute, I was like a rag doll, completely limp as he repeatedly demonstrated how relaxed I was supposed to be when performing fa-jing.

It’s amazing how the internal arts of China — Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua — have been distorted by teachers who take what they have read too literally. The subject of fa-jing (pronounced “fah-zhing”) is one example of how a simple concept is misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Fa-jing means “issuing energy.” Unfortunately, the people who desperately need to believe in the supernatural think that in doing fa-jing, you are shooting chi out of your hands or body. They take it literally.

It’s not magical or mystical. It’s a matter of physics, and in the internal arts, it’s a matter of body mechanics.

Boxers issue energy anytime they deliver a jab, a hook, or an uppercut. If you’re into karate, you issue energy when you break a board with your foot, and if you’re into MMA, energy is issued when you drive a knee into an opponent’s face.

In the internal arts, fa-jing — issuing energy — is more complex, but the end result is the same. You knock someone into next week.

Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang, whose ancestor,Chen Wangting created Tai Chi 11 generations ago, teaches that fa-jing is a matter of proper body structure (posture) and good internal movement. From there, he says you simply “step on the gas.” He likes using automobile metaphors. In other words, if you use good structure and mechanics and then add speed, you will create the unique relaxed power of the internal arts.

I’ve studied other martial arts and have found the body mechanics of the internal arts far more difficult and complex. For high-quality tai chi you must maintain ground strength, peng jin, whole-body movement, silk-reeling (spiraling movement through the body), dan t’ien rotation and opening/closing the kua. You must connect all of these skills through the body as you deliver the strike with speed, power, and relaxation.

It takes years to learn how to do this from an internal perspective, because we all bring bad habits to the internal arts and it takes years to learn the above-mentioned skills and learn to maintain the whole-body connection as you move. It takes years for us to lose the muscular tension that we’ve developed all of our lives.

When Grandmaster Chen worked with me on the punch, I didn’t have it the first few times I did the punch and he corrected me each time. Suddenly I understood, and the next time I punched I connected the relaxed power from my foot, through my body and out my hand, exploding and shifting my weight at the same time.

“Ahh!” he said, his face lighting up. “Good.”

As a martial artist, few things are better than getting a “good” from Chen Xiaowang.

A short time later, he astonished those of us attending his Washington, D.C. workshop by doing a series of fa-jing strikes.C. With each strike, it seemed his uniform was exploding in all directions. That type of power comes from being connected and relaxing — and from a lifetime of practice. When he does fa-jing, you can almost feel the energy even standing halfway across a room. It reminded me of being on the floor right behind the basketball hoop during a University of Iowa game. When the big players were slamming into each other beneath the hoop, you could feel the body heat and almost feel the energy as they collided. I’ll never forget it, and being close to Chen Xiaowang when he does fa-jing is very similar.

There are two myths about tai chi that all martial artists should put aside. One is that tai chi is a slow motion health and meditation exercise. In truth, it’s a powerful martial art that is practiced slowly so students can learn the body mechanics and later can speed up the movements and deliver amazing power without a lot of obvious effort to the untrained observer.

The other myth people should forget is about chi. Fa-jing has nothing to do with shooting energy out of your body. Instead of focusing on chi, which has never been proven exist in independent scientific studies and which is too often the focus of tai chi teachers, you should focus on proper posture and body mechanics. Do this and you’ll be closer to developing the relaxed power of fa-jing.

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Ken Gullette has practiced martial arts for 36 years and is best known for his high-quality instructional DVDs, his online internal arts school and his internal arts blog. He is dedicated to dispelling the myths surrounding tai chi, hsing-i and bagua, showing that the skills required for the internal arts are physical, not metaphysical.

Street Judo – Does Judo Work In Street Fights

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So, you may be asking yourself if judo is a worthwhile martial art to train for street fights. I can give you some examples on how street judo can save your butt in a fight in the dojo or in the bar or any other type of self defense situation. You must follow these strategies outlined below to decide if this art is practical for the applications of street fighting below:

Street Judo #1 – A very good aspect of street fights that applies to judo is the fact that fights go to the ground often. Internet casino games have existed since smart phones have invented. Most online casino games are not going to force you to deliver your bank information, which usually means you, can have fun even should you not bet. At this site you’ll find fruits slots for everyone. You can pick from the many mobile casino games, like lucks casino, and you may literally enjoy wherever you’re. Which helps alot, especially if you are trained in a martial art like Judo. Being able to throw someone on the ground and having them land on their head is good, and being able to choke them out within 5 seconds is even better in a street fight. Judo may not have the fancy kicks or punches of karate or taekwondo but it when it comes to clinch fighting and submitting someone on the ground only jiujutsu can compare.

Street Judo #2 – Alot of the push and pull and weight distribution of this martial art apply to many street battle situations. If you are able to throw someone off their balance, toss them with your hip so they smash their head into the pavement as their first source of ground contact can win you the fight. I have used judo extensively as a bouncer for the past few years and can honestly say when someone is grabbing or pushing at you having these street judo skills is mandatory to escape the situation with the upper hand.

Street Judo #3 – Training in judo at the local dojo is good because it builds up your fitness and gives you actual skills you can use to fight someone off beginning with your very first white belt. It’s a great art to know and I personally suggest you cross train in other arts like taekwondo or karate to broaden your focus and skills to become a better and more well rounded self defense fighter.

Street Judo #4 – A wonderful tactic that street judo can teach you is: Knowing how to fall properly. I have had many serious falls including mountain bike accidents and even being hit by cars. I was never seriously injured because I was always able to tuck and roll or land properly, like they teach you in street judo. Follow these tips to get the most from your martial arts training!

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Mixed Martial Arts Baltimore Training for More Than Competitive Fighting

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Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, combines different fighting techniques from multiple sources into a single focused approach to fighting and self defense. The techniques used include a mix of both martial arts traditions and non-traditions that are combined for fighting in competitions. By competing in Mixed Martial Arts competitions, martial artists from many different backgrounds can compete against each other, following rules that allow various striking and grappling techniques from both standing and ground positions.
Competitive history of MMA fighting can be traced back to numerous events in Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim through out the early 1900s. In more recent history, the modern era of Mixed Martial Arts, competition started with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC in the early 1990s. The huge growth in popularity of the UFC and MMA resulted in numerous training centers either opening new or switching their programs over to use Mixed Martial Arts for self defense as well as high intensity workouts. Training in Mixed Martial Arts has hit the mainstream and is now practiced by a wide range of individuals at nearly any age. Visit this source to find more info about it.
Most ‘traditional’ mixed martial arts have a specific focus and these arts could be trained to improve in that area. The most popular disciplines for each type include Stand-Up forms (like kick boxing and full contact karate), Clinch form (like Greco-Roman wrestling, Same, and Judo) for clinching or throwing, and Ground form (like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Sambo) which improve ground control and submission holds. These focus areas were initially practiced individually by competitive fighters. As the sport has become more mainstream and more widely taught the techniques have combined into a single Mixed Martial Arts program. The key to a successful result of mixed martial arts training is to find the right trainer and maintain a consistent workout schedule.

An example of such a training center with the right trainers is the Baltimore MD based Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu center (http://www.baltimore-mma.com). Mixed Martial Arts Baltimore is the Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training center. Crazy 88 BJJ is the Team Lloyd Irvin Training Center that teaches BJJ to anyone. While the center has members that compete at national levels around the United States they also have many members who train just for the high quality workout that BJJ can be. For Mixed Martial Arts in Baltimore, Crazy 88 offers the facility and trainers to enable any student to develop their skills regardless of starting level, and also to keep in shape.

Often, beginners to the BJJ training methods are intimidated by the usual training approaches. The usual approach typically involves throwing new people into advanced courses to get beat up and learn the painful way. Crazy 88 BJJ the center for Mixed Martial Arts Baltimore has specifically designed workout schedules and trainers that work with beginning students of all ages. In fact, almost 50% of their training center’s courses are “White Belt” courses, designed specifically for beginners.

While traditional Mixed Martial Arts programs have focused on training for competition, the popularity of the UFC and other type events have moved MMA and more specifically BJJ training into a mainstream fitness approach for many people. BJJ has proven to be an excellent workout routine for students of all ages and all skill levels if you have the appropriate facility, the right trainers, a flexible program, and stay consistent in the workouts.

Powerpanther.orgYour Ever Reliable PHP Link Directory

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The internet is a place where one can have unlimited opportunities to make his business grow. He is directly connected to people from all over the world. However, because of the wide use of the internet, it is most likely to have many competitors as well. You have to be at the top of the list of Search Engines to get lots of traffic towards your web site and hence, increase the revenue of your business online. You can always promote your web site by going to social media sites and introducing your business to the virtual world. However, because you have to get as much revenue as you can, you have to go to numerous sites. The PHP link directory can help you drive traffic into your site. Follow this link to find more detailed info.

You do not have to worry about submitting manually, these link directories would give you lots of links to your site or business. With just an input of your URL, and some details about your site, or some introductory articles, you are definitely on your way on making your business earn more in just a matter of days. You just have to be determined to reach your goal of getting your business going towards the direction where you want it to head to. In choosing a Web directory, you have to make sure that you are going for the one that can give you lots of links to your business, one that is reputable and proven to drive traffic fast.

Such PHP link directory would be PowerPanther.org. The site has been in the business for almost a decade already with a page rank of 4. You would definitely have better opportunities for your business because the site boasts of almost twelve thousand unique visits each month and sixty thousand page views every thirty days. You would not run out of opportunities as well because the site hosts almost fourteen thousand links and has nearly seven hundred categories to choose from. You can choose from categories like Arts and Humanities, Blogs, Business and Economy, Computers and Internet, Education, Entertainment, Health, News and Media, Recreation and Sports, Reference, Science and Technology, Shopping and Society. The link directory also has one of the best weighting and credibility, so if you want to get the attention of Search Engines, you have to go for PowePanther.org.

You would also have a great value for your links. You can opt for the High PR Submission, which is reserved for Webmaster of sites that have Page Rank 5. There is also the Regular Link with Reciprocal, for those sites that do not have high Page Rank and need back linking to their site. There is also the Regular Yearly Subscription, where you pay only $9.95 per year to allow you to add your website and give you five Deep Links to five categories, at most. If you want to be Permanently Regular, you can subscribe to this for only $ 19.95 paid one time. There is also the Yearly and Permanent Featured Subscriptions, where you are able to add your site, attain Deep Links, show your link to all links, even those that are not featured, and also show on all pages where you are going to submit, aside from being at the top of any search results where your listing would match. This would only cost you $24.95 for year subscription and only $69.95 one time payment for permanent subscription. You are already getting the best value for the best service for the betterment of your online business.

For further Information, Visit :http://powerpanther.org/

Martial Arts Equipment For All Styles

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In the “old days,” it was not unusual for jugs of water, bags of rice, and buckets filled with sand to be incorporated into a number of different workout programs. Nowadays, we’re fortunate enough to have access to an excellent selection of martial arts equipment. Because of the effective usage of such equipment, it becomes possible to achieve the most from a structured class or private training. More additional info you’ll find at this article now.

Of course, this could raise questions regarding the type of martial arts equipment is necessary for the “average” workout. Again, there’s enormous variety available. Below is a brief overview of the martial arts equipment you’ll commonly encounter. Nearly all of it is a must for virtually every martial arts practitioner regardless of style.

Certainly, the common punch bag is a clear must in a dojo or training hall. Punching bags not just give you a definitive target to direct your blows towards. Such bags enhance the possibility to develop solid endurance and cardiovascular conditioning. You can find great variety among the many different punching bags available and they include:

Standard Boxing Size: These would be traditional boxing bags that mimic the shape and size of the torso. They’re primarily for the purpose of punching but mid-line and high line kicks are generally effectively trained on these bags as well.

Banana Bags: Most are thinner punching bags which are the size of the human body. The lower region of the punch bag permits the effective training of leg kicks, knees, and also other strikes.

Light Bags: Light punching bags are low weight (about 1/3 the weight and size of a punching bag) and are designed mainly to give resistance to jabbing style punches as well as hook and uppercut line blows. Some even make use of a lightweight punch bag to train headbutts!

Punching bags may be hanging bags that are affixed to various “hooks” in the ceiling or they may be freestanding. Freestanding bags are, essentially durable base mounts. Such bags are significantly more expensive than a number of the traditional hanging bags but they are much easier to move and store.

While hitting the heavy bag is really a must for effective training, you really do need to hit it in as safe a manner as possible. This will likely require the proper protective gloves essential for hitting an impact target. Including all manner of impact targets – heavy bags, focus mitts, shields, and Muay Thai pads. The knuckles inside the hand are quite small and fragile bones. For this reason reliable gloves – whether they are traditional 12oz, 14oz, or 16oz boxing gloves, boxing bag gloves, or mixed martial arts lightweight finger free gloves – must be worn when hitting a heavy punch bag. For those that enjoy sparring with “point karate” gloves, be mindful of the fact that such gloves aren’t manufactured for hitting impact targets. They will not provide you with the adequate protection you require for such training. Stick with using them for light contact sparring instead.

As most martial artists realize, the hands are not the only area that require protection which explains why a substantial amount of martial arts equipment will provide protection to the feet. Shin pads and point fighting footwear are two of the most common. Some may assume that such equipment is only used in sparring. In actuality, wearing when hitting impact targets is advisable too since this can protect the lower extremities and nerve endings from damage. Really, the perennial running theme here is that most martial arts equipment is intended to enhance safety. Obviously, you can also get some items that serve other purposes as well and they’re well worth a look at too.

Stretching devices can be employed to help you extend the range of motion in the leg ligaments. This will definitely prove helpful for people who would like to enhance their kicking flexibility. Similarly, the “old school” Eagle Catcher is a perfect spring action handheld device designed to build up a great level of gripping stretch. The classic makiwara pad has long since been used to toughen the hands in traditional karate training. Similarly, the kung fu wall bag is a fantastic asset for developing strikes common in the Chinese martial arts. Such older and more traditional training aids definitely have their place in a modern world which is becoming more and more noted for its sportive approach to training. But, whether you are practicing for competition or traditional self-defense, you will need equipment that helps facilitate your goals.

Regardless of the type of martial arts equipment you purchase, you want to make sure it is from a reputable name brand manufacturer. Some will make the error of buying more affordable equipment from a “no frills” manufacturer. Rarely is such equipment worth much of anything. Not only will cheap equipment not deliver on expectations, it can put the user at an injury risk. Certainly, that would not be helpful in any way whatsoever. Keep with reliable name brands for your martial arts equipment needs. Such an approach will assuredly prove significantly more helpful in the end.