Kung Fu Tai Chi July - August 2015

Our cover master for this issue, Jack Tu, and I share the same birthday. I’d call him ‘my brother from another mother’ but I know his mom Sandy well and that would be weird. Besides I’m not sure that this American idiom translates to Chinese that well. What’s more, a BBC documentary crew filmed Jack’s dad, Grandmaster Tu Jin-Sheng (our March+April 2003 cover master) tow a truck across our parking lot with his Iron Crotch in 2005 (talk about sounding weird, right?). In one segment, I helped by kicking him in the family jewels. The photo of that kick spread to a lot of news outlets, and four years later, it appeared in an article on Cracked.com titled 6 People With Amazing Abilities (That Are Totally Useless). The article stated…

The first full day of our annual China factory inspection trip was March 5, the 15th day of the first month in the Lunar calendar. The 15th day is the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration when the Lantern Festival occurs. Many factories don’t open until after this celebration is done. Arriving on that day was auspicious. We were lucky enough to taste the special foods that local Chinese eat during the Lantern Festival, especially the scrumptious treat called tangyuan (汤圆). These soft sweet dumplings made of sweet rice are usually eaten in a soup. They can be filled with red bean paste, sesame paste or, my favorite, nothing at all! After a day of work, we ventured to Tianjin’s Old Cultural Street. There were so many people…

China’s Pollution Problem In mid-April, China really turned red. The skies over Aershan, a city in Inner Mongolia, turned brilliant red from pollution. At the same time, on the other side of China, canals in Shenzhen turned bright red too, caused by a toxic spill from a local ink-production company. Strangely colored water and skies have become commonplace in China due to catastrophic pollution problems, so much so that there are fashion shows focusing on designer breathing masks and there is a growing market for bagged and canned air in many major metropolitan areas. In late 2013, a Shijiazhuang primary school in Hebei Province began disseminating a martial arts program specifically designed to counter the effects of smog and haze. The form had 23 movements designed to enhance physical fitness and…

Grandmaster James Lacy was a prolific writer, the founder of Mew Hing Productions and a very controversial figure in the martial arts. Lacy claimed he inherited 1000 Kung Fu forms and 1000 herb formulas during his 10-year discipleship with his teacher, Great Grandmaster Doo Wai. He was renowned for his Iron Palm skills and specialized in coconut breaking. Lacy was one of the pioneers in martial arts instructional videos, having sold several titles under the first major American videotape distributor, Panther Productions. After Panther was bought out, he founded Mew Hing Productions in 1991. In the ‘90s, he authored articles for all of the leading martial arts magazines. Almost all of those magazines are out of print now. He authored or was involved in over a dozen articles for Kung Fu…

The Chinese martial arts community mourns the loss of one if its most renowned pioneers in the rare art of Pak Mei (White Eyebrow) Kung Fu. Master Kwong Man Fong passed away on Sunday March 22nd, 2015 at the age of 70. Fong’s 54 year commitment to the Art of Pak Mei and strict adherence to tradition and the system’s creed has served as an example to many; not just to his students but to all who value Mo Duk (martial virtue). Fong has played a significant role in the advancement of the system, accepting many students regardless of race and void of discrimination. He taught how he trained, without simplifying the Art and without bending to short-lived trends just to appeal to the masses. Born in 1945, Master Kwong Man…

The senior Kung Fu Master, Mr. Che Cheng Chiang (江志成), President of International Martial Arts Federation, has passed away on February 17, 2015. The Martial Arts circles have lost a teacher and a promoter. Grandmaster Che Cheng Chiang was born in Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, in 1935. His family was from Fujian, China. He started studying Shaolin Kung Fu and Qigong since he was young under Master Ji Chen and completed Acupoint by Qigong in ten years. He began teaching martial arts and traditional medical treatment at the age of 27. At 33, he was appointed Director and Head Coach of the Taipei Martial Arts Association, in which he won more than 20 gold medals at Taiwan and World Martial Arts Championship tournaments. In 1970, Dr. Chiang was invited to Japan and Korea…