Articles
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Xingyiquan
A brief history Xingyiquan 形意拳 (literally form/shape intention boxing) , along with many other Chinese martial arts has a mythological origin, that does not necessarily match with the historical origin. The historical origins are not entirely clear, but there are some broad strokes that are largely agreed upon. Mythologically Xingyiquan was created by the great…
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The History of Tai Chi Chuan
x Tai Chi or as it is more completely transliterated Taijiquan (太極拳 ) has debatable roots. I will briefly cover a number of theories or stories of how Tai Chi originated. They each bring something to an understanding of the art. There is a mythic origin story with Daoist saint/immortal Zhang Sanfeng (張三丰). The story…
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Online Bagua training – Bagua in a nutshell
A classic Bagua position demonstrated against a misty background
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Martial arts and self-defence (from bullshit)
Not surprisingly people associate martial arts and self-defence. I believe your physical training should help you in this regard, rather than make you even more vulnerable (that’s the subject of another article or two). But for most of us, we don’t need to physically fight aggressors often. It’s many years since I’ve been in a…
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Tai chi Combat forms- my problem with them…
Sometimes I meet people who talk about or have learned Tai Chi combat forms. They often stress that they practice a special “combat form”, rather than a “health form”. Sometimes this is accompanied by an air of superiority, which I think is better characterised as delusion. This is broader than Tai Chi, and applies to…
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Bagua, Tai Chi and QiGong – Learn fitness, internal cultivation and martial skills from home.
Internal arts are time tested ways to build health, to de-stress, approached correctly they contain a wealth of martial skills. You can start at any age and still develop decade after decade. Can you learn internal martial arts like Bagua and Tai Chi online? Short answer, yes. It’s my job to guide you to get…
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Tim 17-23 Juillet 2023
Préparez-vous à une semaine d’entraînement exceptionnelle avec Tim Cartmell. Les grandes lignes Une semaine d’entraînement Les matinées sont consacrées aux arts internes chinois – principes d’utilisation du corps, formes/exercices simples, tactiques et techniques. Les après-midi sont consacrés au JJB et au MMA. Matinées 10H-12H30 après-midi 14H30-17H Les arts martiaux sont des arts martiaux – les…
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The best martial art…Dags, de yer laik dags?
This classic line from the film Snatch can be translated as Do you like dogs? But what’s that got to do with martial arts, or the best martial art? I’ll explain… You may have noticed I do like dogs. When Frida first joined our house I gave a talk about dogs and how the 60000+…
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Perfect martial movement – how can you develop it?
Whatever you practice you likely have some ideal of perfect martial movement. Perhaps that ideal movement is encapsulated for you in classical terms such as six harmonies, maybe it is something that you feel towards, or there is a teacher/fighter who you’d like to be more like. The point is, you aren’t there…yet…just…more…practice… There is…
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What to wear? Bagua uniforms vs rubber boots
Greetings from rainy Brittany. What’s with the title Bagua uniforms vs rubber boots? If you look at videos of Bagua online you are likely to come across people with a range of different clothes on. There are people who wear classic wushu silk pajamas. I think there are also growing number of folk clad in…