As you may have guessed, I’m on holiday. I’ve been in Singapore for the last couple of weeks, chilling out, catching up with people, and thinking hard about the future.

Not much martial arts stuff to report, except that once again it’s important to be in the right place at the right time, and to seize opportunities when they arise. I popped into Kinokuniya at Ngee Ann City last Monday, and noticed a sole copy of Dr. John Painter’s Combat Baguazhang Volume 2. I flicked through it, and immediately decided I had to buy it! It’s full of really good material. The next day, I went in again, and there were four or five copies of volume one, so of course I grabbed one of those too! Two days later, they had all vanished, so it seems there’s a number of people in Singapore who are on the lookout for baguazhang books!

I haven’t had time to do more than skim them so far, but these books look very, very good - just what I needed at this stage. No forms, more of a focus on principles and application, some interesting discussions about the history and philosophy of baguazhang, etc. I’ll only have time to read them once I get back to Beijing, I think.

What else? I caught up with Master Zhou Yue Wen for lunch; he’s doing well, it seems. Master Sun Ru Xian asked me if I could find a DVD of Filipino stick fighting for him, and thanks to Jono I managed to find one. Ummm, that’s about it, I think.

More once I’m back in the ‘Jing.

2 Comments »

1. 

   You may want to keep in mind that Dr. Painter’s baguazhang seems to be somewhat different from baguazhang of the (Dong Haichuan) lines that you have been learning. Even within the Dong lines, there are considerable differences, of course…

   Comment by Ed — August 25, 2008 @ 2:10 pm

2. 

   Happy holidays for you!
   I’m just back from 23 days of perfect German summer, nice beers, lots of cheese and good dark fullcorn bread.
   Still 3 more weeks of vacation for me, so I try to catch up on my writing, gardening and start training slowly, after a 2 week break.

   Comment by Bai Yiming — August 26, 2008 @ 10:27 am

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