The Tai Chi Notebook

My guest for the latest episode of The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast is Tina Faulkner Elders, chief instructor of the RuYi School of Taijiquan and Qigong in Aberdeenshire. We talk about Tina’s training in qigong, first with her father, then in Beijing, China, and then on Wudang mountain itself, the legendary home of Taoism.

Links:

RuYi School of Taijiquan and Qigong

https://ruyischool.com/

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/RuyiAberdeenshire/

Youtube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsfluLjYWYdD7T8HhJ7BZOQ

The Tai Chi Notebook

http://thetaichinotebook.com

In episode 32 of The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast, I’m joined by Augustus John Roe, who is an author and martial artist living and working in Vietnam.

In our interview I get a chance to ask Gus about what traditional martial arts are like in Vietnam, how the MMA scene there developed and how popular Tai Chi is, not to mention the surprising involvement of Ho Chi Minh in the early development of the 24-Step Tai Chi form.

Links:

Augustus John Roe:

https://www.augustusjohnroe.com/

Ho Chi Minh Tai Chi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfIl0dKrP0c

https://thetaichinotebook.com/

Randy Brown is a Mantis Boxing and BJJ black belt coach teaching in the USA. In this podcast we explore how Randy has reworked his Mantis Boxing to explore the grappling potential hidden in its forms and how they can interact with his Brazilian Jiujitsu. We talk about a range of subjects including self defence vs sport, weapons vs barehand and how to turn dead systems into living arts again.

Links:

https://randybrownmantisboxing.com/

Nabil Ranné is a Chen style teacher living in Berlin who offers classes and online training at CTN Academy https://www.ctn.academy/ Nabil is a student of Chen Yu who is the only son of Chen ZhaoKui and grandson of the famous Chen Fake.

Here’s what we talk about:

Timestamps:

1.00: Nabil’s background in martial arts and what attracted him to Chen style Tai Chi

3.40: What is Jin in Tai Chi?

7.30: What makes Tai Chi different to other marital arts?

11.15: What is the strategy for Tai Chi?

16.00: What is the function of Tai Chi push hands?

17.55: Competition push hands vs Tai Chi push hands

22.20: The Xin Yi podcast and how do you train applications in Tai Chi

28.00: Real life self defence situations

36.00: Martial arts vs marital sports

44.02: Zhan Zhuang: Standing pillar practice

46.55: Chen style FaJin methods and their purpose

55.00: Nabil’s book and getting in touch

Links:

———

Nabil’s website: https://www.ctn.academy/

Nabil’s training history: https://www.ctn.academy/blog/learning-taijiquan-with-chen-yu-nabil-ranne

Nabil’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taijigongfu/

Find out more about The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast at: www.thetaichinotebook.com

This month's guest is Richard Johnson a long-time student of Joseph Chen of Chen Style Practical Method.

As well as a Tai Chi practitioner and teacher, Richard is a full time movement coach working with athletes, so he brings an appreciation of athletic movement to his views on Tai Chi.

In our discussion Richard delves deeply into the internal workings of the Chen Style Practical Method and we talk a lot some interesting movement principles based around rotation. We also talk about how the Practical Method is different to the Chen Village style of Tai Chi.

You can get in touch with Richard using his email address trukinetix at gmail.com

Find out more about this podcast at www.thetaichinotebook.com

Jess O’Brien is the author of the book Neijiaquan and co host of the Neijiaquan podcast, which he runs with Isaac Kamins.

Since 1999, Jess has studied extensively under BK Frantzis. Over the years, he has also trained with other, preeminent internal martial artists like Luo De Xiu. He has been active in martial arts since his teens.

In this episode we discuss what drew Jess to the internal arts and how he trained with various different teachers before becoming a student of Bruce Kumar Frantzis.

Links:

Neijiqaun podcast: http://www.theneijiaquanpodcast.com/

Water Tradition Internal Arts: http://www.watertradition.net/

Find out more about this podcast at: www.thetaichinotebook.com

Bruce Lee will be no stranger to anybody listening to The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast - even 50 years after his death he remains the most famous martial artist in the world.

But could he actually fight?

World Champions in karate competition have gone on record to point out that he never once competed in tournaments. So, were his martial abilities simply a trick of the camera?

My guest for this episode is Bruce Lee authority and bestselling author John Little.

John has a new book out called Wrath of the Dragon: The real fights of Bruce Lee, in which he takes a hard look at Bruce Lee’s real-life fights to definitively answer these questions

To get these first hand accounts John has tracked down over 30 witnesses to the real fights of Bruce Lee as well as those who were present at his many sparring sessions. There are over 30 years of research in this book that took him thousands of miles around the globe.

Find out more about Bruce Lee's fights in:

WRATH OF THE DRAON

The Real Fights of Bruce Lee

by John Little

Pub date: September 5, 2023

ISBN: 9781770417427

SPORTS & RECREATION /

Martial Arts

$28.95 CDN / $21.95 U.S.

Paper, 8.5 x 5.5", 352 pp

22 photographs, black and white

DISTRIBUTION:

Baker & Taylor Publisher

Services (US), Jaguar Book

Group (Canada)

Find out more about this podcast at www.thetaichinotebook.com

Bājíquán (八極拳) or shorter just Baji, is commonly known as “the martial art of bodyguards”. It emphasises the use of attacks that close down the distance as well as explosive close combat techniques such as combinations of elbow, knee and takedown techniques.

Both Rikard Elofsson and Miika Wikberg are senior Baji students of Lü Baochun, based in Finland who has over 40 years’ experience in the training and practice of baji. He has trained under many of the famous martial artists who used the style, such as Han Longquan and Zhang Xuchun.

Timestamps:

0.40: - Rikard - Introduce yourself/how did you meet your teacher Master Lü Baochun?

3.15: - Miika - Introduce yourself/how did you meet your teacher Master Lü Baochun?

7.15: What makes Baji different to other martial arts?

8.30: Old Baji and new Baji

9.20: Trademark techniques of Baji

10.15: How is Baji power different? Training methods and the 3 stepping methods.

12.40: The forms and sets in the Baji system

19.20: The history of Baji

25.15: The mixing of Baji and Pigua

26.09: Baji and body guarding

29.41: Is Baji hard to practice?

31.29: Baji and stamping/stomping

34.34: Baji and Tai Chi being taught together

36.25: How to train with Master Lü Baochun

38.00: Do you spar?

40.15: Can you add Baji to an existing skill set?

41.05 Is there a Baji Qigong?

42.18 Are there Baji conditioning exercises?

43.54 Iron Body and Baji

44.35 How do you integrate Baji with other arts?

47.24: Baji standing exercises

51.00: Wrap up and the Muhammad Ali influence

Links:

The Baji Association (English):

https://www.baji.info/en/

Bajiquan Wasa

https://www.facebook.com/bajiquanwasa/

https://www.instagram.com/bajiwasa/

Baji Kung Fu Stockholm:

https://www.facebook.com/kungfusthlm/

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/@Jumfer

https://www.youtube.com/@bajiwasa8400

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Tai Chi Notebook podcast! My guest today is Simon Cox, who co runs the Okanagan Valley Wudang (https://www.okanaganvalleywudang.com/) with his wife Brandi in Penticton, British Columbia.

Simon and Brandi spent six years living and training in China under master Yuan Xiu Gang at the Wudang Daoist Traditional Kung Fu Academy. While there they studied Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, meditation, herbal medicine, Daoist music, and ancient and modern Chinese language. 

After returning to the West, they started a Kung Fu school and community group in Houston Texas, where Simon was working on his PhD in Chinese and Tibetan mysticism at Rice University. At the end of 2019, they moved up to the Okanagan Valley and began sharing Wudang teachings with the local community.

What I really wanted to get at with Simon was an elucidation on his article about Zhang Sanfeng - exactly who was this mysterious Taoist immortal who is often credited as the founder of Tai Chi Chuan? I also wanted to find out more about Wudang mountain, and where its martial arts really come from.

Enjoy the episode! You can find out more about The Tai Chi Notebook here:

www.thetaichinotebook.com

Facebook.com/taichinotebook

Instagram.com/thetaichinotebook

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Okanagan Valley Wudang www.okanaganvalleywudang.com

Episode 24: Tai Chi and Taoism on Wudang Mountain with George Thompson

George Thompson is a film maker and Tai Chi teacher who studied on Wudang Mountain in China under Master Gu.

His videos at https://www.youtube.com/@George-Thompson have been watched by over 15 million people and has over 200K subscribers. He runs the Wayfinder Academy at https://www.wayfinder.academy through which he teaches online courses for balanced living.

In this episode I ask George what it is like to live and train Tai Chi on Wudang Mountain, what Wudang Tai Chi is like and what lessons he’s learned from Taoism.

You too can learn from George’s teacher, Master Gu, 15th generation of Wudang Sanfeng Pai of Wudang mountain via his online learning site at https://www.taoistwellness.online/

Click on the 7 day trial option, then use the coupon code TAICHINOTEBOOK when you sign up and you’ll get a lifetime 8% discount. That’s equivalent to one free month a year!

You can get a similar discount from George's website https://www.wayfinder.academy/ using the same discount code TAICHINOTEBOOK when you sign up.

Social: https://www.instagram.com/thetaichinotebook/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taichinotebook/

Web: https://thetaichinotebook.com/