Chinese history is full of myths that are difficult to disentangle, and often Buddhist myths that are intertwined with Taoism so much that you don't know where one influence ends and the other begins. Fortunately there was a host of skeptics, such as this Hu Yin of the Sun dynasty, which following the very superstitious [...]
Shared Totemic Origins of Hung Gar and Wing Chun
onHung Gar was founded by Hong Xi Guan, a "tiger" practitioner. He met a woman named Fang Yong Chun, who had practiced white crane, and he couldn't beat her, and thus he married her, and this is the explanation for the tiger-crane system within Hung Gar. Fang Yong Chun's name is "Wing Chun" in Cantonese, [...]
Persecution of Ancient Chinese Martial Arts Goes Way Back…
onWhile it's true that after the 1949 Revolution the Communists cracked down on martial arts, particularly those with a supernatural flavor, the Jing Wu Association, perhaps influenced by the influx of Western Progressivism in China during the unequal treaty period, had already been actively dissociating martial arts from spirituality. The Boxer Rebellion, with its failed [...]
Did Dragon Martial Art Schools Originate as Sacred Dance Clubs?
onThe close association between dragons, colors, cardinal directions, elements, and even "emotions" indicates that Dragon "martial art styles", at their inceptions, were probably for divination and fortune-telling, and their ritual dances, maintained in the traditional Dragon dances of today, were to conjure rain and mitigate fertility and harvest crises. The various dragon schools (black, silver, [...]
Mantis Kung Fu Among the Bushmen
onIn researching the origins of movement in animal kung fu styles, I found that the Bushmen of South Africa had a mantis dance which was supposed to help them in warfare. Chinese mantis systems might have started similarly as these totem dances which were for warfare when martial arts was more restricted to sword and [...]
New Trailer Drops for God of War Ragnarök – This Time with Atreus
onRelease date: Nov 9, 2022. It was awesome being involved in this trailer. Thanks team 👍
Full Exit
onI left social media completely. I'm still on YouTube and Telegram, but those are less social, more informational. Here are some initial thoughts after getting off social: I'm more focused. Before, when I had a task to do, I'd go to the computer, open up Facebook or LinkedIn, and then forget what the task was. [...]
Elon’s Broken Dark Ray
onThe current situation on Twitter, which I can only ascertain through the thick walls of my office ever since deactivating my account, indicates either that the savior of free speech has arrived, or the apocalypse is nigh. Whichever side of this discussion you fall on, you might agree that Musk has now grasped control of [...]
Kratos Returns
onhttps://youtu.be/TXukPnO9IdY After years of secrecy, I'm pleased to finally announce my involvement in God of War Ragnarök as the stuntman for Kratos as well as various other characters. Even more exciting, our action design studio SuperAlloy Interactive assisted with combat choreography and provided stunt coordination and stunt work for the game and key characters. Thank [...]