KaiMen (original) (raw)
Nov
18
2024
Chaquan, Xinyi Liu He, and White Crane…What Joy!
Where does the time go? (No, seriously, if anyone has an answer for that we’d like to know.)
We seem to be busy all the time, then realize we have not posted any of the new material that stacks up here at Plum. So here is a rush of new and revised material for your edification.
Lu Style Xinyi Liuhe Quan (Chinese/English)
Ten Animals Xin Yi Liuhe (Revised)
Zhang Wenguang’s Chaquan Volume 2
Fujian White Crane Kung Fu (Revised)
OK, first of all, let’s talk Xinyi Liuhe. This is a style that is relatively under-respresented in English, so to be able to have two announcements is special.
The first title, Lu Style Xinyi Liuhe Quan, is remarkable: it is a comprehensive volume on the Shanghai Lu Family XYLH, and is presented in both Chinese AND English. Even if it were just in Chinese, the book would be generous in its efforts to present the system — from theory to fundamentals to form instruction to usage — but the well-done translation into English makes it that much better. And it comes packaged with a VCD!
The next gem on the Ten Animals XYLH is one that we have represented for a while, but this revised edition adds well-received photos of movement instruction to round it all out. While Counsilman’s text is well-written, movement instruction benefits tremendously when photos are added.
Andrea Falk (admittedly, one of Plum’s favorite authors and translators) has fulfilled her promise to one of her teachers by presenting his Chaquan system in English. This second volume of Zhang Wenguag’s Chaquan adds the further styles within the Chaquan System — Hua, Pao, Hong and Tui. As always, the details, personal experiences and fine hand of Falk’s translations add so much to our understandings of the systems she profiles.
Finally, another classic, Lorne Bernard’s 2005 Fujian White Crane Kung Fu book (formally titles Shaolin White Crane) has gotten a facelift in the way of updated and corrected text, MANY new photos, and even a newly-designed cover to be more in line with his more recent book, Authentic White Crane Kung Fu. Sifu Bernard’s two books on Fujian White Crane are key texts for this Southern style, recommended to all who practice.
More to come, ALWAYS more to come.
Oct
8
2024
Hung Gar’s Tiger Crane Sparring Set: THEY ARE ARRIVED!
There was a slight delay in receiving copies of Plum’s newest title, Fu Hok Sern Ying Deui Chak: Tiger and Crane Two Person Sparring Set, but they are now here and ready to order.
Donald Hamby visiting Lam Chun Fai at his school in Hong Kong
Early reviewers are impressed by the breadth and depth of the information in this book, along with the clear layout, making it easy to learn the set. Sifu Hamby’s efforts to create a lasting volume were particularly important to him, since his teacher, Lam Chun Fai, offered his ongoing support of and approval to the project.
Grandmaster Lam Cho
Oct
5
2024
The Essence of Gung Li Chuan
Click to see more
So many books, so little time to catalogue them!
We’re continuing to keep on top of our growing pile of new titles by presenting this new one, Essence of Gung Li Chuan, from the team that produced Essence of Lien Bu Chuan. Gung Li Chuan means flowing strength, and you might still hear this form referred to as such.
Those who know Plum know how hard we beat the drum for basics and fundamentals in Kung Fu, and we are just delighted when authors put so much time and energy into preserving this information, not to mention making it available to others. In this case, the lineage for this particular form comes from Grandmaster Han Ching Tan, of Central Guoshu Academy fame, and Li Mao-Ching. One of the authors, Nelson Cho, studied with GM Li — born in 1926 — when he was 15 years old, in China. He names his two fellow authors as his “closest friends” since they have been studying, practicing and teaching these Northern Long Fist forms for 50 years.
Recommended! And more great stuff to come, soon!
Sep
21
2024
Sifu Donald Hamby’s New Book: Tiger and Crane Two Person Sparring Set
Sifu Don Hamby, longtime practitioner and teacher of Lam Family Hung Gar, and direct student of Sifu Lam Chun Fai, has published his first book (and he chose Plum to publish it)! This exceptional book offers history, lineage, foundations and full color, step-by-step instruction for this treasured routine created by Grandmaster Lam Cho, nephew of Grandmaster Lam Sai Wing, the founder of the Hung Kuen system.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE BOOK NOW!
And if you order before October 1, use code Hamby2P for a 10% discount.
NOTE: We will start shipping orders around the first week in October.
You’ll also find at Plum Sifu Hamby’s Hung Gar DVDs, as well as Sifu Lam Chun Fai’s classics on Tid Sin Kuen and Hung Kuen Training.
Click Image to see the full selection, and to order
Click Image for details, and to order
Click image for details, and to order
Jun
17
2024
A Rare Weapon and Its Mates
Sifu Paul Koh has added a new volume to his series on Black Tiger Claw Kung Fu, this one on the Tiger Fork. Honestly, we’d be surprised to learn that there were even 3 other books in English on this uncommon weapon, and none that match the look of this one.
Although this new text offers a recently derived authentic hand form, demonstrated in dynamic full-color photos, what makes it even more special are the inclusions of several lengthy sections on the traditional mates for the Tiger Fork: Rattan Shield and Saber. The photos in two of these sections actually come from the archive, from a project that Sifu Koh started with his teacher, Sifu Tak Wah Eng, more than 20 years ago. These show a younger Koh and Eng demonstrating a two-person form. Then, the last section shows usage with these same tools.
The Tiger Fork, though no longer used to slay tigers (thank goodness), is a powerful teacher among the long weapons, with emphasis on balance and angle. Click the image to learn more about this book.
Apr
27
2024
Adam Hsu’s Baji Xinfa Available Again!
It’s back!
Exceptionally good news!
We have gotten in some more copies of Adam Hsu’s book, Baji Xinfa: Traditional Bajiquan, Modern Training Method. This is one of the few authentic books on Bajiquan, and it contains a good selection of QR Codes for online access to Hsu Sifu performing Bajiquan.
We had been told it was out of print, so we’re not sure if this is the last of them, or if they have been renewed with the printer.
Apr
14
2024
Tiger Tail Three Section Staff
Oh boy! This is a great new book from Sifu Paul Koh, this time on Black Tiger Claw’s Three Sectional Staff.
Books on the ‘soft weapons’ are not that common, and books with this presentation value are even rarer still. In what is becoming almost a trademark, Sifu Koh has once again made a book that is both beautiful as well as containing valuable material inside.
This is one for the shelves.
Mar
31
2024
Bridging: Engagement in Traditional Kung Fu
Comes a moment in every martial student’s practice when their focus shifts from attaining perfect posture to one effecting meaningful transitions. Or, better to say: There SHOULD be a moment in each martial student’s practice when their intent moves from picture-perfect postures to efficiently applied transitions.
Don’t get me wrong: the pre-structure of postures — from the correct weighting of the stance to the lowering of those shoulders around the ears to the intentional bend of the elbow and wrist — are all important. But I have seen teachers who put way too much emphasis on attaining these perfect mannequins — even to the point of blowing up old book illustrations to human-size for comparison, while de-emphasizing the movement between the postures. Those transitions are where kung fu often happens; everything else is voguing.
Probably the most significant feature that distinguishes the sophisticated from the beginning student is the skill of going from here to there and back. The study of these transitions is the gift that keeps on giving. The subject is too large for one short article, so I will restrict myself to just one method, “bridging.” In these almost magical moments, bridges reveal themselves as a kind of prestidigitation, the truth that actively shapes what they create, including the postures themselves. They catalogue the human highway with its hundreds of connected byways.
Bridging, simply, uses your and your opponent’s body to close the gap between you. The amount of power should be negligible — it is not a bump, shove, or strike. It relies on touching, continuing, sticking, wrapping, checking. As with the most effective kung fu movements, bridging is both defensive and offensive.
In a recent Kung Fu Skills class at the studio, I taught a lesson on bridging, and caught footage of some examples. You should be able to see sticking — following and shaping along the opponent’s body; contouring — using the opponent’s shape against them; leaking and sealing — recognizing and taking advantage of openings in the opponent’s structure. The sound is not perfect (it was a spontaneous shoot) but we hope you enjoy some highlights from this class.
Feb
22
2024
Grand Master Johnny Lee and My Jhong Law Horn (Mizong Lohan)
Sifu Doug Opbroek, author of the recent book, “**Footsteps of the Masters: Following in the Path of My Jhong Law Horn,**” sent us this nice article about his teacher, GM Johnny Lee, just published in a local Shreveport, LA newsmagazine. 
Sifu Opbroek’s book records the cultural context, folklore and oral tradition of the kung fu style, My Jhong Law Horn (Mizong Lohan). The book documents three grand masters carrying on this tradition; Grand Master Lee, who is celebrating 50 years of teaching, is one of the three teachers documented.
Feb
12
2024
Sun Xikun’s Authentic Transmission of Baguazhang
Well, well, well. Here we were just praising Chen Faxing’s translation into English of The Subtlety of Xingyi Boxing, when he delivers to us another important translation.
Sun Xikun’s Authentic Transmission of Baguazhang, now translated into English, is another significant volume in the martial canon. His detailed insights into Baguazhang, along with Xingyiquan and Taijiquan (his earlier studies) provides practitioners with advanced level insights into how to practice.
As we continue to report, the type of material that is now being translated and reprinted has moved beyond the basic “step into a left bow and arrow stance and punch.” For those not reading Chinese (that is, the majority of martial artists) there is the great good fortune of receiving these texts for ‘the first time,’ as exciting as browsing the market bookstores in the 1930’s, when they first appeared. We are so happy to be part of making these available.
Feb
7
2024
Second Look: The Subtlety of Xingyi Boxing
You’ve heard us say this before, but we get so many interesting books to review at Plum, we don’t always have the time we’d like to really get into and thoroughly read each volume before cataloguing and posting.
But sometimes, in what we laughingly refer to as our ‘spare time,’ a specific book or dvd catches our eye and we get to go back and take a Second Look.
We’ve been particularly enjoying Chen Faxing’s translation of Liu WenHua’s Subtlety of Xingyi Boxing. One of the things we like is that it approaches its subject not as an individual collection of punches and kicks, but as a whole art. Liu gives so much about the “feeling” of doing Xingyi by giving insight into each of its animal’s characteristics.
For instance, this excerpt on the Horse:
The horse farm manual says: horses have the skill of leaving tracks with their hooves. When running at their fastest, the hind hoof can surpass the front hoof multiple times. This is their strength. When training the horse form, the rear foot should be pushed back while the front foot moves forward. Then, with great effort, the rear foot is pulled forward. This step is called the “Fast step.” Practice with the opening move of hacking fist: clench both fists, advance with the left foot and then the right foot, quickly advance and stand still. The right hand strikes out while the left hand retracts, the left foot lifts up in this level with the right shin bone.
Liu continues with each animal’s contribution to the performance of Xingyi.
As we’ve mentioned, we are in a renaissance of translated martial material right now. There will be better and worse, but this one definitely shelves on the side of “better.” We highly recommend this book.
Dec
21
2023
My Jhong Law Horn: Douglas Opbroek’s New Book on a Different Branch of Mizong
A little while back, we received a new book to review, accompanied by a nice note from Sifu Douglas Opbroek, which read in part: “…As I have scrolled through your site and others over the years, I have yet to find a book or video on the combined system of the Yip family of Mizong Luohan (My Jhong Law Horn)…I just thought you might enjoy some insight into another branch of Mizong.”
And enjoy we did. Sifu Opbroek’s volume on the system is great! While it is not instructional, it gives great insight into the style itself — its nature, characteristics, even a song — along with its history and lineage, and interviews with its masters.
We are so happy that Sifu Opbroek has produced this beautifully designed labor of love, and we encourage you to take a look.
Dec
19
2023
The Shipping News
Some of you may have noticed that we have adjusted our shipping options a bit over the last few months. We wanted to try them out before announcing the changes, but we are confident that these are now working well.
Domestic Customers:
The post office has removed First Class as an alternative, replacing it with Ground Advantage. Orders using this option tend to move a little faster than media mail, a little slower than Priority, and the PO is keeping the rates reasonable (so far). The service seems to be working well.
International Customers:
Great news! We have been able to add Fedex as an option to most countries, at an astonishing discount to regular published rates (most are at least half off). We realize that Fedex is not always a favorable option (in a few countries, their customs and handling charges, once arrived, are ridiculous) but for most, Fedex will deliver our packages within a week’s time.
For those preferring our less expensive and regular tracked airmail, delivery is averaging about 12-20 days. We use a consolidator to also receive exceptional prices; the only downside is that it can take about one week to get the tracking number to you (even though the package is on its way).
Never hesitate to contact us if you have questions!
Dec
18
2023
Daniel Mroz on “Energy”
Over the 30 years that Plum has been in business, we have made countless dear friends and estimable colleagues, most of whom we have never actually met in person. One of these is Daniel Mroz — theatre artist, martial artist, writer and a professor in the Department of Theatre at the University of Ottawa. He is also the owner of a blazing sense of humor and a generous good heart.
A few weeks ago, he appeared on Paul Bowman’s Podcast, Martial Arts Studies, discussing “Energy.” We were so taken with the discussion that we asked if we might share it here, and he agreed, with the stipulation that we mention he would “…like to thank Simon Cox for sharing so many great ideas and sources. A lot of the material shared in the podcast came from following up on Simon’s suggestions.”
Nov
21
2023
The Eagle Flies
We have a stack of new material to present over the next few weeks, but wanted to get this one posted without waiting to catalogue others.
Sifu Benson Lee, senior student of Grandmaster Leung Shum in Eagle Claw Boxing, has released a stunning new volume specifically targeting Tactics and Applications for Self-Defense. Intended to highlight and preserve the training techniques of Eagle Claw, this oversized, profusely illustrated text is written for intermediate and advanced students (so, you beginners have something for which to train hard). What this means is that there is no dilution, no holding back, on the information generously given. Sifu Benson works through the forms to highlight the usage throughout, with drills, theory, Eagle Claw principles, and even weapons work.
A great and needed addition to the library of this fierce system.
Sep
4
2023
Masters Write — (I’m Looking At You)!
Martial Arts Notebook
You know how we tell you all the time to keep a martial notebook? How important that can be at every stage in your development? How happy you will be if you do?
No? Well, it’s ok to repeat oneself when the suggestion is this important, but even better when we have something to back it up: Masters: A Blank Book for your OWN Martial Writings.
And what a nice book it is: fine paper, photos on almost every page showing masters from many different styles; plenty of space to jot down your own secrets (or the secrets of your partner in that last sparring session); places for your observations of mantises, monkeys and bears.
We can just about guarantee that you will be the envy of all your classmates and colleagues, and when they ask, “Where did you get something that cool, you can say, “Plumpub, of course!”
Sep
4
2023
Another Classic Returns: Grandmaster James Mitose on Self Defense in Kenpo
What Is Self Defense?
Although Plum, almost exclusively, represents books and videos on traditional Chinese martial arts, there are times when we bow or nod to important works from among our cousins; in this case, it is GM James Mitose’s classic treatise on Self-Defense techniques and theory, What Is Self Defense, that strongly influenced the development of Kenpo (often referred to as “Kenpo Karate,” “Chinese Karate” or, on the book, “Kenpo Jiu-Jitsu”).
This book is not historical fluff, but an important document of methods and techniques that built the self-defense movement in the latter part of the 20th century. There is also a decided Buddhist bent to his writings, with many admonitions to only use these techniques when absolutely necessary. This book has been difficult to find for a long while, and we are happy to have some copies available at Plumpub.
Aug
30
2023
Qigong: 10 Points for Body Control
A very long while back, we published a 30 minute video on 10 points for controlling the body in Qigong. Over the years, this was one of our most popular DVDs — it is simple, accessible, and provides solid information for any martial artist wanting to understand basic Qigong structure.
The information is ageless, but videographic technology is not so compliant —thankfully, our skills and equipment have improved over time — so when it came time to reproduce a new batch of DVDs, we decided instead to offer this Plum vintage video for free. Yeah, there is a blue tint to some of the film, and it definitely qualifies as lower-res compared to the quality gotten from newer cameras and even phones. Still, we hope you enjoy it.
By the way, if you are interested in Blossoms in the Spring, the book/DVD mentioned in this video, we have it on sale at the moment, HERE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIrCPCw4noY?rel=0
NOTE: There is an annoying glitch in our “comments” section that does not allow for the normal comment process. Please leave your comments on the form below. They are important to us.
Aug
26
2023
The Dao of Shipping
Daoist writings (and I liberally paraphrase here) teach us that ‘Nature is not kind.’ This does not mean that Nature is unkind; more like Nature is not a Disney movie.
At Plum, we recognize a variation of this wisdom: ‘The post office is not kind.’ In all honesty, the vast majority of what we send to customers arrives in beautiful condition, mostly due to Linda’s shipping kung fu. If we awarded titles, she would be Grandmaster.
But, despite the care taken by our vendors, some boxes reach us in less-than-perfect shape, the bad news being that we end up with a pile of mildly and minorly dented, barely scrunched books. The good news is, we can discount these puppies and pass a little savings on to you.
Here is our current offering; Click the TITLE to read about the book, and click the IMAGE to add it directly to the shopping cart (you can add other items too!) You cannot order these from the regular pages; if you do, they will add them at full price. Except for the Xing Yi Quan Xue, we only have 1-3 copies of each. We’ll add more as we have time.
Aug
21
2023
Yes, The Saber!
Another great weapons book, Black Tiger Claw Single Saber, from the prolific Paul Koh, this one on Tiger Claw’s Single saber.
One of the many things we appreciate about Sifu Koh’s books is his emphasis on foundation as well as form and usage. A reader can easily learn and apply much from this text, even if not a Tiger stylist.
Weapons can be so easily passed by as tools to also develop empty hand technique, but in this text Sifu Koh actually has a section for the saber against a weaponless partner.
Much to see here, and as always, a beautiful layout and presentation.