Once again a very informative piece James. As you say, it IS a complex subject this 'chi', but you have this 'way' about you that lends the subject matter to be less complex than what is percieved ordinarily. I believe you are able to do this by researching your subject matter and then breaking it down into little 'chunks' or 'basics', so that we 'lay persons' are able to understand more about the subject. I sure do wish that i lived in your area and that you were my teacher in the art of Tai-Chi!

...Elliot Ness in the video, he never seems to age that fella! Back to thread though. I am no expert on guns nor film sets, conspiracy theoreys, or bullets, and neither am i a Detective, OR a health and safety expert. It appears to me though, that this was a whole catalogue of errors from day one. Yes it IS a heartbreaking and tragic story, but i am going to err on the side of an accident, purely and simply BECAUSE no one knows the whole truth, no one knows exactly what happened in the weeks leading up to this tragedy. People can and no doubt will offer up conjecture after conjecture for many years to come, much the same as is still being conjectured about the death of brandons father. Afraid to say it but we will never know the answer, we will never know exactly what happened. All i can say is, may Brandon and his father Bruce rest in peace for ever more. @Tim-bo, i think Shannon has a new film out, not sure what its called though, but i DO know she went through some tough MA training to do it. If i can find the info i will let you know ok!?!

Terry, I agree with your ideas, but there are obviously wrong formulas from the point of view of classical physics. I recommend you take care when talking to unknown people, but nice article anyway.

Martial art is very important for the defense. i think that schools should be take initiative to provide the training to the students because of that student can aware about that art in the school time.we have to aware many people to learn this art that keep us fit and fine and we can be able to make self defense.

funakoshi realy is legend and a big teahcer of martia art! he made his way only himself for me he is the best teacher ever!!!

Height = Reach in most cases, but with MM and BJJ that equasation is removed

Well said... very well said! Thanks for sharing. Every style is valuable because all have something to offer in my opinion. It's all up to the individual and what aspects they find valuable to them.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Kimbo-Slice-returns-to-ring-for-the-fake-stuff-?urn=mma-309733

Thank you for the '2nd in the series' article James. Nice read. Just goes to show the massive differences between teachers and how important it is to get a decent one.

Thanks for the insight Jason. If I was to spend a Saturday getting tossed around and Sunday knotting my arms like pretzels, then this is the way to do it.....

The author of Excursions in Iron Palm emailed me and talked to me a bit about some of the flaws I found with the book. I will reprint his email to me below, and I didn't ask her permission to do so, so I apologize in advance Mr. Walker if you have concerns with me doing so. -------- Hey Jason, During my weekly look at sites that link to PlumDragon, I happened across your review. I appreciate your time to write the review and am always interested in honest opinions, positive and negative. With that said, I hope I could address the portions of the book that you found to be negative: - Price: While the price point may seem kind of high, customers often pay $40+ just for a recipe translation such as the one given in the book for the Ku Yu Cheong. Additionally, Ive released multiple formulas in that book which are not public in nature, making this book unique in terms of the formulas it gives. That alone is worth more than the asking price. However, I do understand consumers determine what a book is worth, so Im taking into account your statement and may make a price adjustment based on feedback I will receive from other sources in lieu of this. - Pictures: Some of those pictures were taken more than a couple years back, some were taken by other people, and some were probably my error in how I sized them. While I do wish that some of them were better, some of them could not be redone and I felt that their inclusion was more important than simply leaving them out. - Vibrating Palm: There was fully meant to be an entire section on Vibrating Palm, includig history and some basic exercises. I shouldnt go into the details but I had to pull the idea of a fleshed out Vibrating Palm section at the last moment, very literally. Having counted on that for so long, it was difficult to just take it out entirely. Perhaps I should have just removed the little blurb... - Pavlovs Dog: Thank you for pointing that out! I never would have considered that, and my editor made no note of it. With all that said, we *already* have plans for a 2nd edition and Ive alerady made notations on the table of contents and such in preparation for this, but its still a couple years away. I plan to expand the book in a large way, providing a full iron palm program design chapter, additional formulas, a larger section on applications, some new pictures, and further explanations. Additionally, I will be addressing all of the shortcomings that I am aware of through the readers. I hope that some of the explanations on items you noted above make sense and Id certainly appreciate any additional feedback you have, questions, comments etc--it is useful to me! ;) Regards, Josh http://www.PlumDragonHerbs.com

Useful article 2peeks. Keep them coming.

Why does no one ever mention this film. Ok the story isn't that impressive the the fights and cheography is superb. Also any film with donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue all turning out great performances is a must watch in my book.

Jackie Chan must be desperate.

Thanks for the article. Pleasing to read how much martial arts means to you and how happy it can make you. Great stuff.

very informative, i hope to have these concerns one day. thanks

Thanks as well for sharing! As for me, it's what I loved since before I could remember. Though I officially started training under the tutelage of an instructor at age 15, I've been into the martial arts long before then in the form as learning wrestling techniques that I can remember as a kid with my cousins, learning some basic kung-fu from an uncle as a kid and even growing up playing "slap boxing" as a kid all helped developed me. And of course, Bruce Lee, which was one of the first person I can remember watching on film as a kid! In these ways, martial arts were ingrained in me as a kid. It became a part of my life.

Great tips! I don't "own" any martial art buisness or anything... but this info is great (I know people who run martial arts buisnesses and establishments), something that can always be passed on. And who knows.... maybe for my own future knowledge. Nice post.

It's interesting to hear other peoples opinions. When i did Lau Gar we used to do the usual sit ups, pushups, squat-thrusts etc. Then we used to do stance training but no conditioning. (I hung a wooden post wrapped with rope in my garden to condition my arms). In the beginning we used to have to hold ma bo for 10-20mins at a time but over the years this ended up being 5mins or less. I think alot of prospective students were put off by this type of training because it's too much like hard work (gung fu, anyone?). When I started Chow's mantis we did the usual warm ups and then would do stances, drills and conditioning (sam sing, gau choi etc). A lot of styles do NOT stress the importance of conditioning and I think a lot of it has to do with people not wanting to get hurt or a few knocks and bruises. If this is the case why take up a martial art?. In Chow Gar a big part of the training is nei-gung to build up the body and strengthen the arms,ribs, back, legs etc. The guys I train with have very hard arms and hands and we use dit dar jow all the time. The guys I train with have also trained in Hung Gar, wing chun and Escrima and I have noticed that each of these systems is taught with combat applications as the main goal. I am very lucky I found a good instructor and school.

A good informative article Martin