One of the art's earliest and most complete training manuals, The Method of Chinese Wrestling explores all aspects of this ancient fighting system, including solo training, training with equipment, constructing training apparatus, application of techniques, and the rules of competition. Throwing, gripping, and falling techniques are revealed in minute detail, and in accompanying photographs, the author and his top students illustrate the methods described. Both a fascinating historical document and a practical training guide, the book is an essential reference for anyone interested in the martial arts.
Chin-na is one of the most convenient of the martial arts to study. It requires no great amount of practice space and no special or protective clothing or devices. It does, however, require a reliable practice partner. Training by oneself produces no true progress, only a false sense of confidence. Two or more practice partners is even more advantageous. The greater the variety of the partners, the more experience the student will gain and the quicker and more completely the techniques will be mastered.
Willy Lin follows his first successful chinna book with advanced information and illustrations on how to counter the most common street attacks with this gentle art.
San Shou Kuai Jiao (Fast Wrestling for Fighting) is the Chinese martial art of throws and takedowns. A San Shou Kuai Jiao throw can cause tremendous damage to your opponent while keeping you safely on your feet. For centuries, fighters in China have valued this art for its speed and power. Today, China's police and military forces are trained in its techniques. Chinese Fast Wrestling for Fighting presents seventy-five throws and takedowns against punches, kicks, and grabs, and demonstrates basic training methods such as stances, footwork, and strength training. Written by a gold medal winner in Chinese wrestling (Liang), this book is a complete training guide to this powerful martial art. Throw your opponent to the ground - fast! Effective for competition and self-defense. 460 action photos detail every technique. Includes a chapter on ground fighting.
First published in 1936, this work represents primary source material of ancient combat techniques designed in a time of occupation and war, when the threat of lethal hand-to-hand combat was an ever-present reality for soldiers, those involved in law enforcement, and very often for the ordinary citizen. This is the seminal work in the field, written by the form’s founders, Liu Jinsheng and Zhao Jiang, as a training manual for the Police Academy of Zheijiang province. The intent of this translation is to provide authentic historical documentation for martial arts techniques that have been modified for use today in both competition and self-defense. Submission grappling is a technique in which fighters use locks, chokes, and breaking techniques to defeat their challengers in no-holds-barred matches. Chi Na Fa remains the most comprehensive explanation available of these Chinese grappling techniques, from which derive many current techniques. Renowned author and Brazillian jiu jitsu champion Tim Cartmell presents the book in a clear, compelling new translation.
The book "CHIN NA FA" was written by Liu Jin Sheng in collaboration with Zhao Jiang. The first edition of the book was issued in July of 1936 as a manual for the Police Academy of Zhejiang province. The book was printed by the publishing house Shan Wu in Shanghai..".".If you are in command of this technique, you can sway the destiny of the enemy. You can kill your enemy, cause unbearable pain, tear his muscles and sinews, break his bones or make him unconscious for some time and completely disable him to resist. Even a woman or a physically weak man who mastered this technique can curb a strong enemy. This technique demands deftness and skill, not brute force. It is necessary to train oneself daily to make the body flexible and nimble, but "hardness" must be hidden inside this "softness."/Author Liu Jin Sheng.The Police Academy of Zhejiang province.1-st of May of the 24-th year of the Chinese Republic (1935)/
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.
How Chinese characters triumphed over the QWERTY keyboard and laid the foundation for China's information technology successes today. Chinese writing is character based, the one major world script that is neither alphabetic nor syllabic. Through the years, the Chinese written language encountered presumed alphabetic universalism in the form of Morse Code, Braille, stenography, Linotype, punch cards, word processing, and other systems developed with the Latin alphabet in mind. This book is about those encounters—in particular thousands of Chinese characters versus the typewriter and its QWERTY keyboard. Thomas Mullaney describes a fascinating series of experiments, prototypes, failures, and successes in the century-long quest for a workable Chinese typewriter. The earliest Chinese typewriters, Mullaney tells us, were figments of popular imagination, sensational accounts of twelve-foot keyboards with 5,000 keys. One of the first Chinese typewriters actually constructed was invented by a Christian missionary, who organized characters by common usage (but promoted the less-common characters for “Jesus" to the common usage level). Later came typewriters manufactured for use in Chinese offices, and typewriting schools that turned out trained “typewriter girls” and “typewriter boys.” Still later was the “Double Pigeon” typewriter produced by the Shanghai Calculator and Typewriter Factory, the typewriter of choice under Mao. Clerks and secretaries in this era experimented with alternative ways of organizing characters on their tray beds, inventing an input method that was the first instance of “predictive text.” Today, after more than a century of resistance against the alphabetic, not only have Chinese characters prevailed, they form the linguistic substrate of the vibrant world of Chinese information technology. The Chinese Typewriter, not just an “object history” but grappling with broad questions of technological change and global communication, shows how this happened. A Study of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute Columbia University
This book reveals closely guarded secrets of what many consider the most realistic form of unarmed combat of all: San Shou kung fu. Almost never seen in the West, San Shou combines kickboxing, grappling and wrestling and is practiced by elite Chinese military and police units.
Since ancient times, some observant people have made the revered Book of Change (Yijing) their lifelong study. Change is the fundamental principle found in every aspect of our lives. Change is the Way of the universe. Confucian and Daoist texts are filled with anecdotal and philosophic discourse related to this theme. There is little wonder why we find the concept of change in the diverse Chinese martial traditions. This anthology presents articles from the Journal of Asian Martial Arts that are related to the theme of change. This does not mean that the authors are writing solely about philosophic ideas such as yin-yang, taiji, five phases (wuxing), or the eight hexagrams (bagua). From the content of these articles you will see how the views, needs, purposes and understandings of Chinese martial arts have changed over the centuries. By expounding on these themes, each author demonstrates how the actual practice of martial arts has changed in tandem with these fluctuating views. Supported by in depth research, interviews, and field experience, the nine articles included here offer us a view of Chinese martial arts from many angles. Of course effectiveness is one of the criteria for skills that are valued as being truely martial. To improve the effectiveness, some leading practitioners gained insights from nature, particularly from the animal kingdom. Also, in both ancient and modern times, Chinese practitioners borrowed from other styles. The concept of “mixed martial arts” is nothing new.There have been spinoffs to the warrior arts. Even centuries ago the martial arts were utilized in entertaining “flowery’ performances, as in Peking opera. The variety of martial movements were certainly conducive for good health so there is a long tradition of incorporating these in exercises practices solely for health and longevity. In the early twentieth century, martial arts became a political tool for boosting the spirit of country, vitalizing the “sick man of Asia.” Perhaps the most notable change in Chinese martial arts can be seen in the modern sportification of it. Motivated by rank, trophies, and money, the combative elements have been forsaken in favor of competition and show. Orignally practical, techniques have been transformed into pure acrobatics. This special anthology provides an encompassing overview of the development and variety of Chinese martial arts. You will come to appreciate the ancient roots and the forces that have influenced how and why these arts are practiced today.
