The aboriginal priest lead me through a traditional long house, eventually depositing me in a private room with shower. ”This a good room.” said Father Steven. “The old priest lived in here for thirty three years.” “Why did he give it up?” I asked. “He died, in that bed.” Said Father Steven, pointing. “Great!” With […]
“A Shaolin priest can walk through walls. Looked for, he cannot be seen. felt, he cannot be touched. This rice paper is the test, clean as the cocoon of the silk worm, fragile as the wings of the dragon fly. When you can walk its length and leave no trace, you will have learned.” Kung […]
For the martial artist, it is important in each evolution of training to know what you are doing, and why. You should change your training routine to match the specific challenge that lies ahead. When planning to enter a sparring competition, full contact fighting, or san da / san shou (Chinese kickboxing), you must train […]
In a country with no NASCAR racing and tight gun control laws, how do men bond? The answer is simple. They get together every Wednesday night and pound the daylights out of each other. While training in Taiwan, I attended the inauguration of Fight Club Kaohsiung, which is sponsored by Mindful Phoenix Arts Group. The […]
"We can fight standing up." Explained San Kim Sean, Grand Master of Khmer Bokator. At more than sixty years old, he looked as if he was in his forties, but moved like a man much younger. He throws a kick at me, similar to the round house, used in Khmer Boxing. The kick missed, and […]
Copyright Antonio Graceffo 2004 Each martial art has a certain, unique rhythm, which derives from the style and the rules of competition. A boxing match sounds like pity-pat, pity-pat, pity-pat, as the fighters circle, and throw jabs, feeling each other out. A Tae Kwan Do match would sound more like a machine gun, rata-tat-tat, rata-tat-tat, […]
Antonio's training and pro-boxing in Thailand are some of the adventures featured in his new book, Bikes, Boats, and Boxing Gloves: Adventure Writer in the Kingdom of Siam. On the night that I heard about Thailand's last Muay Thai Temple, The Golden Horse Monastery (Wat Acha Tong), near Chiangrai, I was pre-occupied with packing. In […]
The Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Kung Fu and modern Chinese Buddhism, is the oldest and most mysterious kung fu school in the world. It is an exotic and mythical destination of daydreams to millions of people. In the history of the temple, very few foreigners have ever had a chance to study there. Foreigners […]