The Xingyi Quan of the Chinese Army

Author: Dennis Rovere
Publisher: Blue Snake Books
ISBN: 9781583942574
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 180

Book Description
Huang Bo Nien’s Xingyi Fist and Weapon Instruction was the first manual to systematically adapt a traditional Chinese martial art for modern military training. When it was first published in Chinese in 1928, it was heralded as an exciting new approach to martial arts; today, it remains an important work for close combat enthusiasts, traditional martial artists, and Chinese and military historians alike. While organized as a means of progressive training—from empty-hand fighting to combat with weapons—no actual applications are given in Huang’s original manual. Building upon a new translation of Huang’s text, The Xingyi Quan of the Chinese Army also expands and illustrates his instructions with xingyi training drills and combat applications taught to select units of the Chinese army prior to and during World War II. These applications are not speculative reconstructions, but are based on actual training methodology from the Central Military Academy at Nanjing, taught to the author by Colonel Chang Xiang Wu. Also included are theory sections and background material from the Chinese army training for empty-hand and two-handed saber—material never before published in any book on xingyi.

Hsing-I

Author: Robert W. Smith
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 9781556434556
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Book Description
Harmoniously merging the mind and the body, Hsing-I Ch'uan is simultaneously one of the most simple and most complex of the Chinese martial arts. The five forms, based on the Chinese concept of the five elements, provide a toolbox of techniques that the skillful Hsing-I practitioner uses to box with himself, channeling ch'i into spirit and spirit into mindful stillness. From this synthesis of external and internal forces springs new energy and true ability. Engagingly written and amply illustrated with black and white photographs, Robert W. Smith's primer includes the history and meaning of Hsing-I, detailed instruction in the five forms and twelve animal styles, and cogent advice from the masters. First published almost 30 years ago, Hsing-I: Chinese Mind-Body Boxing was among the first books on Hsing-I and remains one of the best.

The Shaolin Monastery

Author: Meir Shahar
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824831101
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Book Description
This meticulously researched and eminently readable study considers the economic, political, and religious factors that led Shaolin monks to disregard the Buddhist prohibition against violence and instead create fighting techniques that by the 21st century have spread throughout the world.

History in Three Keys

Author: Paul A. Cohen
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231106504
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 460

Book Description
Part Two explores the thought, feelings, and behavior of the direct participants in the Boxer experience, individuals who, without a preconceived idea of the entire event, understood what was happening to them in a manner fundamentally different from historians.

Classical Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan

Author: Tina Chunna Zhang
Publisher: Blue Snake Books
ISBN: 1583941541
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 219

Book Description
Here is the original, rarely seen Tai Ji Quan developed by Yang Lu Chan's best Imperial Palace Guard student, Quan You, over 150 years ago. While other styles branched off into sport, health, and meditation, Quan You's disciples preserved the traditional ways. This book covers the principles, characteristics, and essentials of the Wu method, along with its famous masters. The entire classical form is illustrated step-by-step, and includes weapons skills.

Chinese Martial Arts

Author: Peter A. Lorge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521878810
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Book Description
In the global world of the twenty-first century, martial arts are practised for self-defense and sporting purposes only. However, for thousands of years, they were a central feature of military practice in China and essential for the smooth functioning of society. This book, which opens with an intriguing account of the very first female martial artist, charts the history of combat and fighting techniques in China from the Bronze Age to the present. This broad panorama affords fascinating glimpses into the transformation of martial skills, techniques and weaponry against the background of Chinese history, the rise and fall of empires, their governments and their armies. Quotations from literature and poetry, and the stories of individual warriors, infuse the narrative, offering personal reflections on prowess in the battlefield and techniques of engagement. This is an engaging and readable introduction to the authentic history of Chinese martial arts.

The Creation of Wing Chun

Author: Benjamin N. Judkins
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 143845693X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 366

Book Description
Looks at southern Chinese martial arts traditions and how they have become important to local identity and narratives of resistance. This book explores the social history of southern Chinese martial arts and their contemporary importance to local identity and narratives of resistance. Hong Kongs Bruce Lee ushered the Chinese martial arts onto an international stage in the 1970s. Lees teacher, Ip Man, master of Wing Chun Kung Fu, has recently emerged as a highly visible symbol of southern Chinese identity and pride. Benjamin N. Judkins and Jon Nielson examine the emergence of Wing Chun to reveal how this body of social practices developed and why individuals continue to turn to the martial arts as they navigate the challenges of a rapidly evolving environment. After surveying the development of hand combat traditions in Guangdong Province from roughly the start of the nineteenth century until 1949, the authors turn to Wing Chun, noting its development, the changing social attitudes towards this practice over time, and its ultimate emergence as a global art form.

Civil-Military Change in China Elites, Institutes, and Ideas after the 16th Party Congress

Author: Larry Wortzel
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428910263
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 383

Book Description
In November 2002, the Chinese Communist Party held its 16th Congress and formally initiated a sweeping turnover of senior leaders in both the Party and the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The meeting heralded not merely a new set of personalities in positions of political and military power, but also the emergence of a new generation of leaders. Who are these individuals, and what does their rise mean for the future of China and its military? The group of China specialists who have written this book have applied their research talents, intelligence, and hands-on experience to clarify and explain the most important issues of the day in China. China obviously matters to the United States because of its size, its spectacular patterns of growth, its profound problems linked to rapid growth, and its military intentions. These specialists have avoided the diseases of bias, demagoguery, predispositions, and showmanship, which infect so many of the analyses of China. Rather, they have examined the facts and the trends to explain the divisions and cohesions in the Chinese leadership and their potential significance to the United States and the rest of the world. These annual conferences have a long continuity stretching back to the early 1990s. Hence, there is a common database for the books produced each year. The writers revisit major problems in China's development, particularly in the military sphere. They also examine how Chinese policies have evolved over the years, and how important the United States has been in influencing China's strategy. What, for instance, will the emerging leadership with its factious differences do about Taiwan and North Korea? The conference took place at the Carlisle Barracks in September 19- 21, 2003, and was sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Army War College. The exchanges were frank, the atmosphere was filled with camaraderie and tension.

The Complete Book of Yiquan

Author: Tang Cheong Shing
Publisher: Singing Dragon
ISBN: 0857011723
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 418

Book Description
With detailed photographs and clear instruction for practice, this is the first book comprehensively to cover the history, development and training methods of this rarely taught esoteric internal martial art. The deceptively simple postures and movements of Yiquan are highly effective for achieving results for both health and combat, making it very appealing to martial artists, and Master Tang here reveals the secrets of a martial art still surrounded in mystery. He also provides a history of the origins and lineage of the Yiquan tradition, as well as detailed information on the stances and movements, weapons, and programs, grading and teaching. This complete guide to Yiquan will be essential for anyone interested in Yiquan or oriental martial and internal arts more generally.

Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals

Author: Brian Kennedy
Publisher: Blue Snake Books
ISBN: 9781583941942
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
Secret training manuals, magic swords, and flying kung fu masters—these are staples of Chinese martial arts movies and novels, but only secret manuals have a basis in reality. Chinese martial arts masters of the past did indeed write such works, along with manuals for the general public. This collection introduces Western readers to the rich and diverse tradition of these influential texts, rarely available to the English-speaking reader. Authors Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo, who coauthor a regular column for Classical Fighting Arts magazine, showcase illustrated manuals from the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and the Republican period. Aimed at fans, students, and practitioners, the book explains the principles, techniques, and forms of each system while also placing them in the wider cultural context of Chinese martial arts. Individual chapters cover the history of the manuals, Taiwanese martial arts, the lives and livelihoods of the masters, the Imperial military exams, the significance of the Shaolin Temple, and more. Featuring a wealth of rare photographs of great masters as well as original drawings depicting the intended forms of each discipline, this book offers a multifaceted portrait of Chinese martial arts and their place in Chinese culture.