Category Archives: Arts

Arts

How To Spin And Throw Martial Arts Sai

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A Sai is a weapon which is used in Martial Arts in pairs. This is the only weapon in martial arts which originally was not a farming tool but used for defending against the swords or to break them.

In this article we will learn how to spin and throw a Sai.

1- Choose a Sai of right size. Make sure that the dagger doesn’t extend beyond the elbow whilst holding.

2- In order to spin a Sai, you need to hold it in the right position.

3- Hold the Sai in your hands such that the blade is placed between the middle and index finger.

4- Close palm such that it is facing towards you.

5- Hold your arm outward with your shoulder at 45 degrees, elbow bent at right angle and Sai pointing towards ceiling.

6- Now open your hand and let the Sai drops outwards, towards the floor.

7- Wrist should be rotated outward and stop before the Sai hits the elbow. Also, slightly bend your wrist in downward direction, at the same time rotate palm outwards away from the face.

8- By closing your hand and lifting the wrist, lift Sai back up and pull back the blade towards the ceiling.
9- Turn the palm towards yourself by rotation at 180 degree of wrist.

10- This is how you can spin. After repeating over and over, you can easily master spinning.

11- Next is throwing. In order to through a Sai successfully towards your opponent, you should bring it above the shoulder. Make sure the dagger is pointing towards the backside and your palm is facing towards the side of your head. After this, let go of the Sai very quickly by riffling your wrist towards the opponent.

Please note, when learning the Sai, you will probably be dropping it a lot. Wear something to protect your feet. Dropping a Sai on your foot does not feel good.

Initially you will find it quite difficult to spin or throw a Sai but with a lot of practice you can master this skill.

Arts

How to Do Fa-Jing –Issuing Energy — in Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua

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He was one of the greatest kung-fu masters in the world, a direct descendant of the creator of tai chi, and he was asking me to show him a punch. It was an exciting moment but also nerve-wracking. Trying not to be nervous, I settled into the posture and prepared to show him internal power. Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang stood in front of me, watching carefully.

Trying to remain relaxed, I shifted my weight from my right to my left leg and my right fist shot out, fast, relaxed, and powerful. At the same time, my left elbow thrust backward and my left hand stopped at my ribcage.

Grandmaster Chen was not impressed. He took my right hand in his left, my left hand in his right and told me to relax. Before I knew what was happening, he jerked the right hand out and pushed the left hand backward. I wasn’t quite relaxed enough and almost suffered whiplash in my neck.

Relax, he told me again, and once again he jerked my arms — hard — forcing one to punch and the other to return to my ribcage. For a minute, I was like a rag doll, completely limp as he repeatedly demonstrated how relaxed I was supposed to be when performing fa-jing.

It’s amazing how the internal arts of China — Tai Chi, Hsing-I and Bagua — have been distorted by teachers who take what they have read too literally. The subject of fa-jing (pronounced “fah-zhing”) is one example of how a simple concept is misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Fa-jing means “issuing energy.” Unfortunately, the people who desperately need to believe in the supernatural think that in doing fa-jing, you are shooting chi out of your hands or body. They take it literally.

It’s not magical or mystical. It’s a matter of physics, and in the internal arts, it’s a matter of body mechanics.

Boxers issue energy anytime they deliver a jab, a hook, or an uppercut. If you’re into karate, you issue energy when you break a board with your foot, and if you’re into MMA, energy is issued when you drive a knee into an opponent’s face.

In the internal arts, fa-jing — issuing energy — is more complex, but the end result is the same. You knock someone into next week.

Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang, whose ancestor,Chen Wangting created Tai Chi 11 generations ago, teaches that fa-jing is a matter of proper body structure (posture) and good internal movement. From there, he says you simply “step on the gas.” He likes using automobile metaphors. In other words, if you use good structure and mechanics and then add speed, you will create the unique relaxed power of the internal arts.

I’ve studied other martial arts and have found the body mechanics of the internal arts far more difficult and complex. For high-quality tai chi you must maintain ground strength, peng jin, whole-body movement, silk-reeling (spiraling movement through the body), dan t’ien rotation and opening/closing the kua. You must connect all of these skills through the body as you deliver the strike with speed, power, and relaxation.

It takes years to learn how to do this from an internal perspective, because we all bring bad habits to the internal arts and it takes years to learn the above-mentioned skills and learn to maintain the whole-body connection as you move. It takes years for us to lose the muscular tension that we’ve developed all of our lives.

When Grandmaster Chen worked with me on the punch, I didn’t have it the first few times I did the punch and he corrected me each time. Suddenly I understood, and the next time I punched I connected the relaxed power from my foot, through my body and out my hand, exploding and shifting my weight at the same time.

“Ahh!” he said, his face lighting up. “Good.”

As a martial artist, few things are better than getting a “good” from Chen Xiaowang.

A short time later, he astonished those of us attending his Washington, D.C. workshop by doing a series of fa-jing strikes.C. With each strike, it seemed his uniform was exploding in all directions. That type of power comes from being connected and relaxing — and from a lifetime of practice. When he does fa-jing, you can almost feel the energy even standing halfway across a room. It reminded me of being on the floor right behind the basketball hoop during a University of Iowa game. When the big players were slamming into each other beneath the hoop, you could feel the body heat and almost feel the energy as they collided. I’ll never forget it, and being close to Chen Xiaowang when he does fa-jing is very similar.

There are two myths about tai chi that all martial artists should put aside. One is that tai chi is a slow motion health and meditation exercise. In truth, it’s a powerful martial art that is practiced slowly so students can learn the body mechanics and later can speed up the movements and deliver amazing power without a lot of obvious effort to the untrained observer.

The other myth people should forget is about chi. Fa-jing has nothing to do with shooting energy out of your body. Instead of focusing on chi, which has never been proven exist in independent scientific studies and which is too often the focus of tai chi teachers, you should focus on proper posture and body mechanics. Do this and you’ll be closer to developing the relaxed power of fa-jing.

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Ken Gullette has practiced martial arts for 36 years and is best known for his high-quality instructional DVDs, his online internal arts school and his internal arts blog. He is dedicated to dispelling the myths surrounding tai chi, hsing-i and bagua, showing that the skills required for the internal arts are physical, not metaphysical.

Arts

Finding Bruce Lee’s Martial Art Jeet Kune Do In India Without Being Ripped Off

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Jeet Kune Do is the famous art of Bruce Lee, and many think that he showcased the art in his films such as Enter The Dragon which he in fact did not. In his many films Lee used more of his Tae Kwon Do kicking that he found suited films as they were flashy, yet impractical for the street defense system that he devised.

You will see many of these high flashy kicks in India from “instructors” claiming to teach the real Jeet Kune Do. Some of these little known instructors notably Ritesh Reddy,Deepak Rao and Seema Rao are all from jkdindia.com which is a not authorized by the Bruce Lee Foundation in any way, nor does the Foundation condone their activities and use of Bruce Lee images and logos. Just so you know jkdmumbai.tripod.com is the same group.
So now you know of what to look out for, how do you find the legitimate teachers located throughout India. This task has become harder in the past few years as more and more un authorized teachers and schools have popped up throughout India.

One good thing is that the Government of India is cracking down on all the false claims and fake schools.
For a school to teach Jeet Kune Do in India legally it has to be organized and or associated with a legitimate Jeet Kune Do group in the United States authorized to teach and recognized as legitimate such as the largest JKD group the World Jeet Kune Do Federation. The World Jeet Kune Do Federation website http://jeetkunedo.org lists instructors who are certified to teach real JKD and has a listing at the bottom of those to watch out for, a couple are from India.

At this time the Bruce Lee Foundation does not have an instructor list like the World Jeet Kune Do but apparently plans to in the future. The World Jeet Kune Do Federation according to sources is the only JKD group to have a formal agreement with the Bruce Lee Foundation.

Another good site to check out is http://jeetkunedoindia.com/ as they are recognized by the Unites States Associations.
One clear sign of an instructor who knows less than nothing is one who goes around talking trash about other teachers. Run far away when you encounter this trait. The philosophy behind these “bad behavior” tactics is to draw attention away from the instructors abilities by changing the focus to someone else. A good instructor does not need to say anything. High quality training and skills speak for themselves. Real JKD teachers don’t drag others down in an attempt to make themselves look competent or important. Still your best bet when checking out a school outside the United States, is to go to a United States based website as this is where all Jeet Kune Do began.

Enjoy your search for authentic Jeet Kune Do in India. Its supposed to be a fun and rewarding experience, just try to stay clear of all the politics and bickering and you will do just fine. If there are no instructors in your area there are some good Jeet Kune Do DVD’s out there you can train with as well.
Be like water my friend… I couldn’t resist.

Arts

Is Martial Arts Equal Self-Defence

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The answer is no. No doubt what you learn from combative arts classes could be used for self-defence but they are just not self-defence. In reality, what you have learnt from the martial arts classes have nothing to do with the realities of protecting your personal safety. But again, we constantly attempt to find out what is the best combative arts for someone to learn about self-defence.

Realise this, if self-defence is what you are looking for, most of the martial arts school will not be able to offer you that, especially on staying safe in a modern urban environment. You may ask why do you say so?

1. Self-defence has something to do with “defusing violence”.

Violence can originate from an argument, physical contact, a date rape, a drunk friend, a fight, etc. They are all violence. Do you know that these pose different problems and there are different solutions?. How many martial arts school’s syllabus actually teach the students about how to response to such a situation? Do you think by breaking board will help you in “defusing violence”? Different violent situations will require different levels of response. You will learn such level of response in self-defense lessons but not combative arts.

2. Martial arts emphasis on fighting style.

As you know each violence situation differs, self-defense is the answer in dealing with it. Remember this, what works for one situation may not work for another. Martial arts emphasis on fighting style. Form is more important than substance. But for self-defence, your personal safety is the priority. You learn how to defuse violence or getting out of that situation. It encompasses common sense, habits, lifestyle, alertness etc.

3. Martial arts are training but not education on how to deal with violence.

Martial arts are training and sports. People constantly mistaken it for education. Self-defence by its very nature addresses specific conditions and problems. Do you think the SWAT officer’s high risk entry training is of good help in controlling a drunk in a bar? Of course not. The training that works for such an officer doesn’t work for you as well. Self defence requires education and training. In combative arts, you will learn very specific things, however, that surely doesn’t mean that you are prepared to handle all violence situations. You need to be educated about what martial art techniques can be used for self-defence in each and every different circumstances.

You must know that most martial arts have become sports regardless their combative history or self-defence use they claim. There’ is a huge difference between sport fighting and defensive movement. If you still think that any martial art could be used for self-defence then you are exposing yourself to the danger.

Arts

Indian Art Now An Investors First Choice

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Today, the financial sector and the extravagant art galleries are playing counterparts in ensuring high stakes for Indian art in the stock market trading. Indian art has grown into a major brand and the artists have become the brand ambassadors like never before. There has been a complete change in the gears with the domestic as well as the international market finally noticing it as an investment option.

Earlier, art was purchased as a luxury commodity to add to your stylized home dcor and even office dcor for that matter. But in the recent times, Indian art has become an investment in every sense of the word. There are investors flocking the Indian art scene and investing in the works of art. These artworks now also possess a strong resale value due to their demand and valuing in the market.

There are major business tycoons and corporate biggies offering and working closely with the stalwarts from the art industry. The pooling of capital and resources has been a mutually benefitting situation for the business owners as well as the art lovers and artists.

With the India art industry on its ascending curve, the increasing number of investors only spells more funds and an even better platform for the upcoming artists. The leading name in the initiation of investments and promotion of the upcoming art, Copal Art plays a significant role in bringing funds to Indian art and fortunes turn in the favor of the Indian artists. Moreover, it offers a diverse range of services to both the upcoming as well as established artists from the Indian art industry.

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