Why I like Kung Fu

Because of the documentary aspect of the summer training camp, I've been going around doing little human interest pieces on the attendees.  While we were filming the first of them, focusing on Stephen Ross of Real Anime Training I ended up giving this little impromptu lecture on Kung Fu.  Because it's about boring old me, and not Stephen this probably won't make it into the final cut, but I thought it was fun so I'm posting it here.

I think this hows what a nice open minded guy Stephen is, even with four fights under his belt he's still willing to listen to what other people have to say.    You should definitely check out his blog and refer your friends to it, especially if they really love anime but haven't embraced exercise as part of their lifestyle.

Master Ma's Qi Style Styleings

One of the nice things about Mr. Zhang is that he always encourages cross training. On several occasions he's asked his brother in arms Ma Jie to show me a trick or two. Master Ma has always been generous with his time and been very patient with slow learners like myself, but he's also a very intense personality. I'm currently working on a documentary about my time with Master Ma, but I thought I'd share some of these clips with you guys as a reward for being part of the small but elite group of people that actually views this blog. My thanks to Mr. Ma for being so relaxed and natural on camera.













Mr. Ma is very enthusiastic about sharing his style. If anybody out there is interested in meeting him, shoot me a line and I'll provide his contact information.

Kung Fu and MMA: The Thesis

As some of you may have gathered, I'm more aptly described as an academic than entrepreneur or a fighter, but I think that these three skill-sets will all be required for success in the project of restoring the honor of Kung Fu. This occurred to me earlier as I was writing a letter for one of your applicants in hopes of convincing his employer that our project merited a leave of absence from his job.

I present an excerpt from the letter below in which I explain the significance our project in the original academic terms in which it was conceived. I hope that this may be of use to some of you out there who would like to study this topic  or seek funding for participation our program or similar programs. The attached copy of the research proposal mentioned is not included, but I would be willing to share the relevant portions with those who have need of them.

The Excerpt:

Earlier this year, I submitted a successful grant proposal to the University of South Carolina, and received funding to perform a preliminary study on Chinese Cultural practices related to martial arts in the era of globalization.  Partnering with a recipient of a similar grant from the University of Texas at Austin, the project also produced a short independent documentary on the subject of my research.  The documentary featured well known martial arts masters from the traditional community, as well as professional fighters and fighters from China’s national boxing team. You will find the successful grant proposal attached and the url. Where you may view an abridged version of the documentary, below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSKUJhrBak8&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6avpG0V5Ek&feature=related

Although the project was a success and has produced three conference papers to date as well as a pending publication, our time and funding were insufficient to completely answer the questions that underpinned the original study: What is the place for a traditional Chinese martial art in the global era? Can the essential characteristics that define Kung Fu be translated to a global audience, or will such practices be obscured by globalization/Americanization?

To answer these questions, I plan to return to China this summer with a group of American martial artists, who will participate in an intensive three month study of traditional Chinese Kung Fu in a setting of complete cultural immersion.  Some of these fighters will then be asked to compete in Chinese Martial arts contests at the end of their stay, which will involve extensive travel within China.  Our cameras will document their reactions to rural Chinese customs, traditional kungfu teaching methods and Chinese medicine, as well as documenting the reaction of the Chinese participants to this unique cultural exchange. At the same time, I will observe the proceedings ethnographically for a follow-up study on the research questions mentioned above, which will hopefully result in academic publications. All proceeds from the documentary will be contributed to a scholarship fund to improve the educational opportunities of young children in the community hosting our study.

.----
I hope some of you out there found this useful rather than boring. Perhaps, I'll put some more of my academic ramblings up here if it doesn't attract too much negative attention.

Here's some fun stuff as a reward for reading all the way through the above:

Kung Fu Experiment Update

Congratulations to everyone who has been accepted so far, and a big thank you for those of you who made donations or purchased books!

Many people were skeptical of this project, and perhaps understandably so given the novelty of the idea, but thanks to the good will of a few enthusiastic people, I can make two very happy announcements.

Firstly, we now have enough committed, high-quality applicants to make this program possible. The camp will proceed as planned!

Secondly, thanks to the proceeds from book sales, and a few very generous unsolicited donations there is now an extra $1000 dollars ( a whole plane ticket!) in our scholarship fund! I'm really astonished by this outcome and very moved.

Obviously spread over multiple people this money will not be enough to make this dream possible for people who otherwise would not have had the opportunity, but it will ease the burden put on the families who are so graciously preparing to part with their loved ones for an entire summer. If you donated or purchased a book, and would like to recognized, please contact me. I'll devote a permanent page of this blog to honoring your contributions.

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who was annoyed or inconvenienced by the marketing efforts that got us to this point. It wasn't easy to let people know about this with the $100 advertising budget I was allotted, and I know that Kung Fu in MMA is a very volatile subject at the best of times. Hopefully, next year we can get by on word of mouth as we do with our other programs.

My thanks on behalf of my teachers, please wish us luck in filling the remaining five spots!

Thanks!

Fight Nerds Episode 2

Me and my pal Eric ramble about UFC 123. If you like this or any of the other videos on this site, you should consider subscribing to our you-tube channel, because more and more videos will be coming out over the next few months.