For any person to attempt to put their views and understanding of the Twelve Bridges into print is not a decision to be taken lightly. The Twelve Bridges are so poorly understood by so many who wish to seem “in the know”, and if these people have ever published, printed, or in some cases even…

Hung Gar translated into English, means Hung Family. Hung is a family name, like Smith or Jones in America. The word ‘hung’ (洪) is often confused with the words for ‘red’ (紅)or ‘hero’ (雄), which are pronounced the same, but are written with different characters. There are two common uses for this character. The first…

There are a great many martial artists who claim to have studied more than one system, and this is never a real problem. Any intelligent martial artists is going to study one core system, and then fill the holes in their self defense through cross training in whatever system they feel best addresses the shortcomings…

I return once again to the subject of fraud.   It shames an industry which is supposed to be built upon integrity and other like values that there are so many who are shamelessly promoting themselves beyond all credibility. As a small word of advice, I recommend that you do not put too much faith…

I am always excited to hear that someone is interested in training in the martial arts. I wish they would all train with me, but the simple fact is that they are not all interested in what I teach. Even so, I still get excited for them when they are about to begin that great…

I believe I first heard it described this way from Master Chief Hartman, AKA TKDTutor. Originally, the teaching of martial arts was an avocation. This means that it was not done as a way to make a living. It was done out of love of the art. In modern times, the teaching of martial arts…

Before anyone’s feathers get all fluffy, I want to point out that I use the term “kung fu legend” as a joke. It was used by someone to describe me, and I laughed it off, but it kept playing in my head. It also seems I must remind people that the words in these posts…

I came across this article and wanted to comment on it. In order to show that I am not editing the article in order to make it easier to make my point, you may see it for yourself at http://kicksboxes.blogspot.com/2008/01/clearing-air-on-dillman-thomas.html This version was copy and pasted on February 6, 2008 at 1:32 PM, and discrepancies…

When one decides to follow the path of the martial arts, as a beginner, there are many false notions which will usually fall away with time. One of these notions is the idea of one style being superior to another style.  While this attitude is to be expected, it is immature.  Advanced martial artists can…

I posted this a while back on a kung fu forum. I found it again, and it moved me so much I decided to transfer it here.First, and probably most important – Never sacrifice family for any amount of skill in any art or system. Skill in the martial art of your choice is a…

Picking up where we left off…However, there are two books, written around the time of Bodidharma, and history has attributed authorship to Bodidharma. One is called the Yi Jin Jing, and the other is called the Xi Sui Jing. The Yi Jin Jing, or “Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic” is a book detailing a series of exercises…

History for me has always been something that I love. So, after years of studying and training Kung Fu I searched for the history of my style only to find a lot of nonsense, and too many lies and legends. There is no way for me to write the authoritative and accurate account of the…

First off, I would like to state that most diagnosis of ADD/ADHD are pure BS made up by people who don’t want to face up to a kid who is too busy. The biggest problem I have with the rampant ADD/ADHD mentality in our country is the way it is misused as an excuse for…

I began my martial arts journey, really as a child. I saw TV rasslin’, and thought it was real. I remember thinking that those guys must be the toughest guys in the world, to take that kind of a beating every day. I wanted to be that tough. My brother and I were always rough…

In the world of martial arts, there are some pretty funny ideas. In the 1970’s, there was not a lot of Chinese martial arts (authentic) to be had. Most of what was out there was of the Northern Shaolin variety. The Southern Shaolin martial systems are very different in structure, philosophy, and execution. The common…

Many martial artists use the categories of “old school” and “new school” to build themselves up, and put others down. It is usually the people who are putting the others down who will label themselves as “old school”. Another term used frequently in putting down a martial arts school is “McDojo” or “McKwoon” or “McDojang”….

Every once in a while I need to get all mushy… I owe all that I have to one person. My Wife. My wife is the one person, more than anyone else in my life, who figures in all that I do. She makes me stronger than I really am, and better than I really…

It is often said that “children are our future”. I work with youth, almost exclusively. The organization I work for teaches martial arts to at-risk youth as an alternative elective, or PE credit. We are a part of their regular daily class schedule. They see us as often as their math teacher. I ran, and…

This is the first post here on my wordpress. I am not nearly the prolific writer that it might appear that I am when you look at the dates and times of my initial entries, I am moving my old blog here. Everything contained here is nothing more than my opinion and observations. If you…