The Road Back - Keeping My Eyes on the Prize
I'm spending tonight in the hospital. I was here a week before Christmas, and I've spent the months since trying to overcome the near-disastrous impact of a bad case of pneumonia.
I've been coughing up blood since February, and after a break of over two months, it started up again two weeks ago and I've deteriorated since. This morning I thought I would bleed to death. It looked like someone had been blown away by a shotgun in my sink.
No one has been able to tell me why this is happening. During these months, I've continued teaching, doing the online school, making video lessons and DVDs, and working as hard as I can to get to the bottom of this condition. I've never really been sick in my life and in 2009, I haven't been able to get well.
In 2008, my heart decided to start beating funny and I wanted it fixed so I could get back to full kung-fu activity. I had three laser ablation procedures, where spots were burned in my heart, before they finally disconnected the rogue electrica...
Chen Xiaowang Performing Xinjia Erlu - Cannon Fist
Chen Xiaowang demonstrates the Chen Village version of Xinjia Erlu, also known as Cannon Fist. This was filmed in 1977, almost 50 years ago.
Fun with Tai Chi Self-Defense - Single Whip
This is a video I shot in 2008 showing some fighting applications for the Tai Chi movement "Single Whip." It's an example of the kind of instruction you'll find on my website.
The Road Back - One Step Closer to Recovery?
So they rammed a scope down the old gullet this morning. It wasn't bad. I stayed at the hospital all night -- didn't sleep much. A pitiful old woman was in the next room crying out all night, unable to breathe. There may be some dementia involved. I felt sorry for her. There are people in this pulmonary unit in pretty bad shape. So I watched TV, worked on my laptop, read a little bit, watched more TV -- an old monster movie on AMC -- and slept an hour at a time for about 4 hours or so.
I had to warn the nurses and remind the doctor about my powerful gag reflex. I've been through two scopes in the past year and a half that went horribly. Even though they tried to numb my throat, I gagged and choked all the way through the procedure. So they thanked me for warning them this morning. Once they hit me with the happy juice, I wasn't too aware during the scope. I remember coughing a lot, and they told me to try to stop, but I was fading in and out, seeing monitors that--without my glasse...
Congratulations to Student Kim Kruse
Kim Kruse showed a bit of spunk this weekend when she was the only one of our little core group to travel South to Keokuk, Iowa, for a great annual tournament that attracts martial artists from several states -- Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia, and more. It's always a great tournament with a lot of talent, and it's hosted by my friend Frank Pennington.
Kim has a blue sash in our system, and she won first place in empty-hand forms with a Hsing-I form called "Five Element Mountain Storm." She also won first place in weapons with a tai chi form. She competed against karate and TKD folks. She also won 3rd place in sparring.
Kim started in 2006 when Nancy and I had our school in Bettendorf. We closed it in 2007 to move to Tampa but Kim and a few other students kept practicing and improving. She's living proof that if you have a passion for these arts and keep advancing forward, step by step, you can begin developing a reputation for your skill.
Congratulations, Kim. Hopefully, I'll be...
Is the Science of Acupuncture Wrong? Evidence Mounts from Clinical Trials
I believe that acupuncture works to a certain degree on some pain. I don't believe the ancient Chinese science on the subject. I don't believe that chi circulates through meridians -- in fact, since chi has never been proven to really exist in an actual clinical trial, I am extremely skeptical about its existence. From an internal arts perspective, I believe that all skills are physical, the result of hard work and practice, not "chi cultivation."
One problem I've always had with articles and books about acupuncture is the sloppy science and anecdotal evidence used to back up theories and results. Most articles in magazines or stories on TV are done either by reporters who don't question the results, or by people who have a financial interest in making acupuncture look effective. What we've needed are double blind clinical trials that eliminate the rigging of the results.
It has been proven that a majority of clinical studies coming out of China are deceptive, making Chinese cultural...
Online Internal Arts Training Can Be Effective
I received a video from a member of the online school last week. He's a capta in in the army and has spent some time in the Middle East. He joined the online school a few weeks ago and has been studying the Internal Strength section (I recommend everyone start there no matter how long they've studied in the past).
He sent me a video last week so that I could coach him. His wife was on the camcorder and his daughter stood on a chair and pushed him in different ways so he could demonstrate the ground path.
I was impressed. His ground path was solid. He had never seen this concept before, although he has studied other martial arts and has army training. It was clear that he had learned it well.
In his next coaching session, he'll send me a video of silk-reeling so I can coach him on his whole-body movement, dan t'ien rotation, use of the kua, and spiraling movement.
Some people believe you can't learn the internal arts online. I'll be the first to admit that hands-on correction is the...
The 8 Pieces of Brocade - Qigong and Conditioning All in One
I just put a new video onto the online school-- the 8 Pieces of Brocade. This is a qigong exercise -- 8 movements -- that also serves to help in strengthening and conditioning the body, particularly the legs.
The 8 Pieces of Brocade are said to have been created about 1,000 years ago in the Sung Dynasty by Marshal Yeuh Fei for the exercise of his soldiers. It's pretty clear to see when you perform them that these are very effective for stretching and "warming up" before hard exercise or a good workout. In fact, it's possible this series of movements wasn't created as qigong at all, but that qigong was injected into the movements as the centuries went by.
I'm a firm believer in the positive impact of qigong, although I don't necessarily subscribe to the ancient science. When you calm the mind and body, put part of your mind on your dan t'ien, detach from daily concerns and use mental visualization techniques (involving the visualization of chi) it has a tremendous impact on your abi...
Amazing Tai Chi Talent at Such a Young Age - Chen Xiaowang's Son Chen Pengfei
This is the kind of video that makes a middle-aged guy like me shake his head and wish I had been able to study Chen Taiji at a young age. This is Chen Xiaowang's young son, Chen Pengfei doing a demo.
Peng Jin is the Most Important "Energy" in Tai Chi
"Jin" means "energy," although that has been misinterpreted by some literal-minded folks who believe it is an actual scientifically real "energy" in the body. It has also been called "power" by some.
I tend to think of jin as "skill" or "method."
The term "energy" is an abstract way of describing the skill that you develop with practice. Liu jin, for example, is "roll back" energy. It's a physical skill that combines reflexes and sensitivity when someone pushes or punches or attacks in another way. The skilled fighter who uses liu can deflect the attack, rolling it away and often causing the attacker to go off-balance. Naturally, this takes a lot of practice. It's impossible to develop this skill just by doing a form. It is a method of dealing with force coming in.
The most important of all the so-called "energies" of tai chi and the internal arts is peng jin. It MUST be present in all of your movements, even when you walk. If it isn't, you're not doing tai chi (or hsing-i or bagu...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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