January 8, 2024
Many things are the same: if the orientation is wrong, it's just wrong. The incorrect thing, even if it is done effectively, is still incorrect.
Reading Time 10 minutes
January 1, 2024
If you found information relevant to the group’s safety during your intelligence gathering, share it during the intel briefing.
Reading Time 3 minutes.
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December 25, 2023
It is known that keys open locks, but who has considered a key carried to a foreign land in a time of crisis and exodus, what meaning can it claim in a new place? Even more so, what is the significance of a key left behind with no lock to open?
December 18, 2023
It is easy to fall into the trap of seeing our martial arts masters as infallible or near-invincible in skill. However, this mindset is not just erroneous, but downright dangerous too. The following article will explain why.
December 11, 2023
Numerous research findings indicate that Tai Chi & Qigong is as effective as, if not more effective than, conventional exercise, physical therapy, and cognitive-behavior therapy.
YMAA Publication Center author Joe Varady talks with Shaolin staff practitioner Gene Ching about his new video series The Art and Science of Staff Fighting, his method of cross-training many martial arts, HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts), and the reality of using long weapons (or a broom!) in real life defense situations.
Stressing Karate’s possible use for supporting Japan’s armed forces was Itosu Sensei’s pragmatic strategy to secure sufficient funds for his educational campaign by tapping into Japan’s funds for its militarization―whereas the final and underlying goal of this educational campaign was not to create the raw material for the nation’s military forces, but something different, something nobler.
If you’ve read the first two books in my “Heads Up” situational awareness series, you may have already known that Emily is my youngest daughter. Her plan to escape the man in the truck wasn’t perfect, but it was efficient. The fact that she could fight off the effects of an adrenaline dump, devise a plan, and return home safely was good enough for me…This is a book about situational awareness, what it is, and how to teach it to your teens. That’s the goal here.
In this practice, a practitioner will use his mind, with some specific physical movements, to lead the Qì to the Láogōng (P-8, 勞宮) cavity and allow the Qì to be distributed to the entire hand. This practice has also been commonly used to improve the Qì circulation in the six Qì channels, circulating to the tip of the fingers.
Now that you have provided us with some fascinating background details dealing with family, studies, and work, I'd like to focus on your martial art studies. What exactly got you interested in these arts? Please provide some details about your very first teacher.
The name Dr. Yang Jwingming became known to many because of his early publications dealing with Taijiquan. Despite some editorial faults expected in early works by a native-Chinese speaker who was a novice to publishing, his pioneering volumes offered insights and experience into the art that captivated thousands.
China has more than seven thousand years of history. The greatest contribution it can make to benefit the human race is to share the knowledge it has accumulated in the field of Qi.
The Chinese word Qi (氣)is defined as energy, as in all energy in the universe, and Gong means hard work or study. Therefore, Qigong (氣功) means "the study of natural energy." Western science has identified a bioelectric potential in the body which could be one of the primary aspects of Qi energy. This "bioelectricity" is recognized by YMAA as an important area of Qigong study and research.
Bioenergetics expert Nick Loffree talks with YMAA writer Gene Ching about his qigong training with Master Lee Holden, the modern definition of bioenergy or Qi, and his personal healing with qigong after a mental health crisis.
Both Western and Eastern medical traditions base their definition of health on the correct functioning of bodily systems. In the Western paradigm, this is considered optimal cellular metabolism. In the Eastern model, this is considered the smooth flow of qi. Which concept is correct? They both are.
What if we change our New Year's resolution to see if we can make some progress? What if our new resolution might be "Making Peace with Myself?”
YMAA author Ramel Rones talks with Gene Ching about his pioneering work bringing tai chi and qigong into the medical community for decades.
This year, 2022, marks the Year of the Tiger in the Lunar calendar. Revered for its power and ferocity, tiger figures prominently as a symbol in the martial arts and qigong. In celebration of the new year, YMAA Publication Center staff writer Gene Ching explores some of the connections of tigers to the martial arts.
Regardless of your physical condition when you begin your training and in spite of the hurdles you’ll encounter during it, strive to keep in mind that you are, underneath it all, an athlete. We all are, by virtue of 300,000 years of evolution.
Through building up physical and mental strength, inappropriate overcompensating and aggressive tendencies lessen and eventually even vanish, since traditional karate training creates new self-definitions of capability and new self-perceptions of being able to successfully defend oneself and others. Unavoidably, self-confidence and courage eventually will improve and reduce feelings of inferiority.
Dr. Yang’s research and translations are extraordinary in themselves, yet he has also brought something else equally relevant and necessary to a grounded actualization of Qìgōng meditation: a clear and legitimate voice of modern science and the scientific method.
Set in Okinawa during World War II, it’s a story of reverence, the coming of age, love, tragedy, war, and honor. A retired Okinawa karate instructor, Ota Kenichi Ota, writes memoirs of training with world-famous master, Chojun Miyagi.
YMAA Staff Writer Gene Ching interviews YOQI master Marisa Cranfill about her blend of Yoga and Qigong and how to practice to boost the immune system.
YMAA Staff Writer Gene Ching interviews master Chenhan Yang about the unique details of Wu-style Tai Chi Chuan (taijiquan).
YMAA Staff Writer Gene Ching interviews master Chenhan Yang about the unique details of Sun-style Tai Chi Chuan (taijiquan).