Ronda Rousey Judo, BJJ & MMA Career Highlight. Dana White, Jon Jones, Gina Carano, Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, Randy Couture give their opinions on Ronda Rousey

Xingyi Da Qiang- Mind Intention Big Spear - 形意枪

 

Xingyi Da Qiang- Mind Intention Big Spear - 形意枪

Mongolian Wrestling Techniques

Mongolian wrestling, known as Bökh is the folk wrestling style of Mongols. Bökh means "durability". It was a military sport intended to provide mainly strength, stamina and skills training to troops. Bokh is the most important of the Mongolian culture's historic "Three Manly Skills", that also include horsemanship and archery.

Genghis Khan considered wrestling to be an important way to keep his army in good physical shape and combat ready. The court of Qing Empire (1646--1911) held regular wrestling events, mainly between ethnic Manchu and Mongol wrestlers. Russian Sambo also has its roots in Mongolian Wrestling. There are several different versions, Mongolian (in the country of Mongolia and in Tuva of Russia), Buryatian (in the Buryatia of Russia) and Southern Mongolian (in northern China).

Since there are no weight classes in the Naadam of Mongolia, a small wrestler can compete against an opponent over twice his size. Smallest wrestlers usually weigh around 70 kg, while the biggest are over 200 kg, the median weight of a competitor at the Naadam is around 115 kg.

Mongolian athletes have won 56 gold medals and 36 athletes became world champions until 2013. Freestyle wrestling has been practised since 1958 in Mongolia.Today 5,000 people (2013) participate in freestyle wrestling programs in Mongolia, and the national team consists of 26 athletes.

Mongolian freestyle wrestlers have won the first and the most Olympic medals of Mongolia. Mongolian wrestlers are using their warrior spirit and fighting skills to conquer the national sport of Japan - sumo wrestling. Starting in 1991, Mongolians began to become especially dominant in sumo, as of 2005, Mongolians composed roughly 5% of all ranked sumo wrestlers, making them more than 60% (37 out of 61) of non-Japanese rikishi in Japan. In a 2009 survey conducted by a Japanese statistical agency, of the four sumo wrestlers named as most famous by Japanese people, three were Mongolian.

Tian Gan - Ten Celestial Stems Demo

From Dr. Ken Fish:
"This video was filmed in Taipei about 30 years ago, and demonstrates a version of the BaGua Ten Celestial Stems exercise as taught in the Hong Yi Xiang line. It differs in a number of ways from the set as taught to me by master Zhang Junfeng, but that is not important. I am posting it to give a general idea of the depth of the stances and exertion required to perform the sets and obtain any useful training from them.
The level of skill demonstrated is beginning intermediate. There are numerous deficiencies in the performance - for example the lack of foot movement - the feet should move as if grinding something underfoot, and power generation should be from heel to hand and heel to crown. No matter - the point is that these exercises require deep stance work, exertion throughout the body for each movement, and understanding of the type of mechanical movement that each "stem" is supposed to train."

1. 砍 Kan - to hack
2. 搬 Ban - to move by lifting or carrying
3. 按 An - to press down with the hand
4. 斜挂 Xie Gua - Gua is a kind of chopping maneuver. Xie Gua is chopping in a lateral plane.
5. 扚 Diao - to strike quickly (a quick block with the back of the wrist moving immediately to a palm strike)
6. 掖 Ye - extended bow stance and palm strike (rotate around the central axis and extend)
7. 插抓 Cha Zhua - thrusting with a spear hand upwards, then horizontal, then down. Variation - thrust and grasp
8. 崩 Beng - vertical punches in a horse stance
9. 挫 Cuo - to push down, grind (variations on palm strikes in a deep horse stance)
10. 撞 zhuang - to crash into - double palm strikes in bow stances

 - Ken Fish

Xingyi Quan - 12 Animals Instructional Video

 

Hebei Xingyi Quan - 12 Animals Instructional Video from the lineage of Li Cun Yi.

KUNG FU QUEST - XING YI QUAN

Kung Fu Quest - Xingyi Quan - with subtitles

Teacher Luo De Xiu Coaching MMA at One FC Taiwan!

                             Teacher Luo De Xiu Coaching MMA at One FC Taiwan! HERE

Bagua Zhang - Marcus Brinkman - Boulder Internal Arts - Yi Zong Bagua - Boulder, Colorado

 

My teacher Marcus Brinkman demonstrating some of his amazing skills. Learn the Xingyi and Bagua of Marcus Brinkman at  Boulder Internal Arts an Yi Zong School 

The Fighting Techniques of Pa Kua Chang

 

The Fighting Techniques of Pa Kua Chang by Jerry Alan Johnson.

 

Consisting of Pa Kua fighting theory, joint locking, throws, sweeps, point paralyzing, and 64 Configuration Eight Animal Boxing. This is an instructional video designed to teach the Pa Kua Practitioner to effectively utilize their Pa Kua system for combat.

Mindfulness meditation training changes brain structure in 8 weeks

 

(PhysOrg.com) -- Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. In a study that will appear in the January 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain's grey matter.
 

"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day," says Sara Lazar, PhD, of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program, the study's senior author. "This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing."
Previous studies from Lazar's group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced mediation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.

For the current study, MR images were take of the brain structure of 16 study participants two weeks before and after they took part in the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. In addition to weekly meetings that included practice of mindfulness meditation – which focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of sensations, feelings and state of mind – participants received audio recordings for guided meditation practice and were asked to keep track of how much time they practiced each day. A set of MR brain images were also taken of a control group of non-meditators over a similar time interval.

 Meditation group participants reported spending an average of 27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, and their responses to a mindfulness questionnaire indicated significant improvements compared with pre-participation responses. The analysis of MR images, which focused on areas where meditation-associated differences were seen in earlier studies, found increased grey-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and in structures associated with self-awareness, compassion and introspection. Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased grey-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. Although no change was seen in a self-awareness-associated structure called the insula, which had been identified in earlier studies, the authors suggest that longer-term meditation practice might be needed to produce changes in that area. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.

"It is fascinating to see the brain's plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life." says Britta Hölzel, PhD, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany. "Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change."

Amishi Jha, PhD, a University of Miami neuroscientist who investigates mindfulness-training's effects on individuals in high-stress situations, says, "These results shed light on the mechanisms of action of mindfulness-based training. They demonstrate that the first-person experience of stress can not only be reduced with an 8-week mindfulness training program but that this experiential change corresponds with structural changes in the amydala, a finding that opens doors to many possibilities for further research on MBSR's potential to protect against stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder." Jha was not one of the study investigators.

 Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2011-01-mindfulness-meditation-brain-weeks.html#jCp

Yang Taiji (Tai Chi) Quan Spear

Yang Taiji (Tai Chi) Quan Spear - Yongnian, China

Thirty-Six Stratagems - Chinese Strategies for Winning

The Thirty-Six Stratagems was a Chinese essay used to illustrate a series of stratagems used in politics, war, as well as in civil interaction. Found: HERE

Origin

 

The name of the collection comes from the Book of Qi, in its seventh biographical volume, Biography of Wáng Jìngzé (王敬則傳／王敬则传).^[1] Wáng was a general who had served Southern Qi since the first Emperor Gao of the dynasty. When Emperor Ming came to power and executed many members of the court and royal family for fear that they would threaten his reign, Wáng believed that he would be targeted next and rebelled. As Wáng received news that Xiao Baojuan, son and crown prince of Emperor Ming, had escaped in haste after learning of the rebellion, he commented that "of the thirty-six stratagems of Lord Tán, retreat was his best, you father and son should run for sure."^[2] Lord Tán here refers to general Tan Daoji of the Liu Song Dynasty, who was forced to retreat after his failed attack on Northern Wei, and Wáng mentioned his name in contempt as an example of cowardice.^[3]

It should be noted that the number thirty-six was used by Wáng as a figure of speech in this context, and is meant to denote numerous stratagems instead of any specific number. Wáng's choice of this term was in reference to the I Ching, where six is the number of Yin that shared many characteristics with the dark schemes involved in military strategy. As thirty-six is the square of six, it therefore acted as a metaphor for numerous strategies.^[3] Since Wáng was not referring to any thirty-six specific stratagems however, the thirty-six proverbs and their connection to military strategies and tactics are likely to have been created after the fact, with the collection only borrowing its name from Wáng's saying.^[4]

The Thirty-Six Stratagems have variably been attributed to Sun Tzu from the Spring and Autumn Period of China, or Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms period, but neither are regarded as the true author by historians. Instead, the prevailing view is that the Thirty-Six Stratagems may have originated in both written and oral history, with many different versions compiled by different authors throughout Chinese history. Some stratagems reference occurrences in the time of Sun Bin, approx. 150 years after Sun Wu's death.^[4]

The original hand-copied paperback that is the basis of the current version was believed to have been discovered in China's Shaanxi province, of an unknown date and author, and put into print by a local publisher in 1941. The Thirty-Six Stratagems only came to the public's attention after a review of it was published in the Chinese Communist Party's Guangming Daily newspaper on September 16, 1961. It was subsequently reprinted and distributed with growing popularity.^[4]

The Thirty-Six Stratagems are divided into a preface, six chapters containing six stratagems each, and an afterword that was incomplete with missing text. The first three chapters generally describe tactics for use in advantageous situations, whereas the last three chapters contain stratagems that are more suitable for disadvantageous situations. The original text of the Thirty-Six Stratagems has a laconic style that is common to Classical Chinese. Each proverb is accompanied by a short comment, no longer than a sentence or two, that explains how said proverb is applicable to military tactics. These 36 Chinese proverbs are related to 36 battle scenarios in Chinese history and folklore, predominantly of the Warring States period and the Three Kingdoms Period.

Chapter 1: Winning Stratagems

• (勝戰計 Shèng zhàn jì)

Deceive the heavens to cross the ocean

• (瞞天過海／瞒天过海, Mán tiān guò hǎi)
• Mask your real goals, by using the ruse of a fake goal, until the real goal is achieved. Tactically, this is known as an 'open feint': in front of everyone, you point west, when your goal is actually in the east.

Besiege Wèi to rescue Zhào

• (圍魏救趙／围魏救赵, Wéi Wèi jiù Zhào)
• When the enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, then attack something he holds dear. Know that he cannot be superior in all things. Somewhere there is a gap in the armour, a weakness that can be attacked instead. The idea here is to avoid a head on battle with a strong enemy, and instead strike at his weakness elsewhere. This will force the strong enemy to retreat in order to support his weakness. Battling against the now tired and low-morale enemy will give a much higher chance of success.

Kill with a borrowed sword

• (借刀殺人／借刀杀人, Jiè dāo shā rén)
• Attack using the strength of another (in a situation where using one's own strength is not favourable). Trick an ally into attacking him, bribe an official to turn traitor, or use the enemy's own strength against him. The idea here is to cause damage to the enemy by getting a 3rd party to do the deed.

Wait at leisure while the enemy labors

• (以逸待勞／以逸待劳, Yǐ yì dài láo)
• It is an advantage to choose the time and place for battle. In this way you know when and where the battle will take place, while your enemy does not. Encourage your enemy to expend his energy in futile quests while you conserve your strength. When he is exhausted and confused, you attack with energy and purpose. The idea is to have your troops well-prepared for battle, in the same time that the enemy is rushing to fight against you. This will give your troops a huge advantage in the upcoming battle, of which you will get to select the time and place.

Loot a burning house

• (趁火打劫, Chèn huǒ dǎ jié)
• When a country is beset by internal conflicts, when disease and famine ravage the population, when corruption and crime are rampant, then it will be unable to deal with an outside threat. This is the time to attack. Keep gathering internal information about an enemy. If the enemy is currently in its weakest state ever, attack it without mercy and totally destroy it to prevent future troubles.

Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west

• (聲東擊西／声东击西, Shēng dōng jī xī)
• In any battle the element of surprise can provide an overwhelming advantage. Even when face to face with an enemy, surprise can still be employed by attacking where he least expects it. To do this you must create an expectation in the enemy's mind through the use of a feint. The idea here is to get the enemy to focus his forces in a location, and then attack elsewhere which would be weakly defended.

Chapter 2: Enemy Dealing Stratagems

• (敵戰計)

Create something from nothing

• (無中生有／无中生有, Wú zhōng shēng yǒu)
• A plain lie. Make somebody believe there was something when there is in fact nothing. One method of using this strategy is to create an illusion of something's existence, while it does not exist. Another method is to create an illusion that something does not exist, while it does.

Openly repair the gallery roads, but sneak through the passage of Chencang

• (明修棧道,暗渡陳倉／明修栈道,暗渡陈仓, Míng xiū zhàn dào, àn dù chén cāng)
• Deceive the enemy with an obvious approach that will take a very long time, while surprising him by taking a shortcut and sneak up to him. As the enemy concentrates on the decoy, he will miss you sneaking up to him. This tactic is an extension of the "Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west" tactic. But instead of simply spreading misinformation to draw the enemy's attention, physical baits are used to increase the enemy's certainty on the misinformation. These baits must be easily seen by the enemy, to ensure that they draw the enemy's attention. At the same time, the baits must act as if they are meant to do what they were falsely doing, to avoid drawing the enemy's suspicion.

Watch the fires burning across the river

• (隔岸觀火／隔岸观火, Gé àn guān huǒ)
• Delay entering the field of battle until all the other players have become exhausted fighting amongst themselves. Then go in at full strength and pick up the pieces.

Hide a knife behind a smile

• (笑裏藏刀／笑里藏刀, Xiào lǐ cáng dāo)
• Charm and ingratiate yourself to your enemy. When you have gained his trust, move against him in secret.

Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree

• (李代桃僵, Lǐ dài táo jiāng)
• There are circumstances in which you must sacrifice short-term objectives in order to gain the long-term goal. This is the scapegoat strategy whereby someone else suffers the consequences so that the rest do not.

Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat

• (順手牽羊／顺手牵羊, Shùn shǒu qiān yáng)
• While carrying out your plans be flexible enough to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself, however small, and avail yourself of any profit, however slight.

Chapter 3: Attacking Stratagems

• (攻戰計)

Stomp the grass to scare the snake

• (打草驚蛇／打草惊蛇, Dá cǎo jīng shé)
• Do something unaimed, but spectacular ("hitting the grass") to provoke a response of the enemy ("startle the snake"), thereby giving away his plans or position, or just taunt him. Do something unusual, strange, and unexpected as this will arouse the enemy's suspicion and disrupt his thinking. More widely used as "[Do not] startle the snake by hitting the grass". An imprudent act will give your position or intentions away to the enemy.

Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul

• (借屍還魂／借尸还魂, Jiè shī huán hún)
• Take an institution, a technology, a method, or even an ideology that has been forgotten or discarded and appropriate it for your own purpose. Revive something from the past by giving it a new purpose or bring to life old ideas, customs, or traditions and reinterpret them to fit your purposes.

Entice the tiger to leave its mountain lair

• (調虎離山／调虎离山, Diào hǔ lí shān)
• Never directly attack an opponent whose advantage is derived from its position. Instead lure him away from his position thus separating him from his source of strength.

In order to capture, one must let loose

• (欲擒故縱／欲擒故纵, Yù qín gū zòng)
• Cornered prey will often mount a final desperate attack. To prevent this you let the enemy believe he still has a chance for freedom. His will to fight is thus dampened by his desire to escape. When in the end the freedom is proven a falsehood the enemy's morale will be defeated and he will surrender without a fight.

Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem

• (拋磚引玉／抛砖引玉, Pāo zhuān yǐn yù)
• Bait someone by making him believe he gains something or just make him react to it ("toss out a brick") and obtain something valuable from him in return ("get a jade gem").

Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief

• (擒賊擒王／擒贼擒王, Qín zéi qín wáng)
• If the enemy's army is strong but is allied to the commander only by money, superstition or threats, then take aim at the leader. If the commander falls the rest of the army will disperse or come over to your side. If, however, they are allied to the leader through loyalty then beware, the army can continue to fight on after his death out of vengeance.

Chapter 4: Chaos Stratagems

• (混戰計)

Remove the firewood from under the pot

• (釜底抽薪, Fǔ dǐ chōu xīn)
• Take out the leading argument or asset of someone; "steal someone's thunder". This is the very essence of indirect approach: instead of attacking enemy's fighting forces, the attacks are directed against his ability to wage war.

Disturb the water and catch a fish

• (渾水摸魚／浑水摸鱼 or 混水摸鱼, Hún shuǐ mō yú)
• Create confusion and use this confusion to further your own goals.

Slough off the cicada's golden shell

• (金蟬脱殼／金蝉脱壳, Jīn chán tuō qiào)
• Mask yourself. Either leave one's distinctive traits behind, thus becoming inconspicuous, or masquerade as something or someone else. This strategy is mainly used to escape from enemy of superior strength.

Shut the door to catch the thief

• (關門捉賊／关门捉贼, Guān mén zhuō zéi)
• To capture your enemy, or more generally in fighting wars, to deliver the final blow to your enemy, you must plan prudently if you want to succeed. Do not rush into action. Before you "move in for the kill", first cut off your enemy's escape routes, and cut off any routes through which outside help can reach them.

Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbor

• (遠交近攻／远交近攻, Yuǎn jiāo jìn gōng)
• It is known that nations that border each other become enemies while nations separated by distance and obstacles make better allies. When you are the strongest in one field, your greatest threat is from the second strongest in your field, not the strongest from another field.

Obtain safe passage to conquer the State of Guo

• (假道伐虢, Jiǎ dào fá Guó)
• Borrow the resources of an ally to attack a common enemy. Once the enemy is defeated, use those resources to turn on the ally that lent you them in the first place.

Chapter 5: Proximate Stratagems

• (並戰計)

Replace the beams with rotten timbers

• (偷梁換柱／偷梁换柱, Tōu liáng huàn zhù)
• Disrupt the enemy's formations, interfere with their methods of operations, change the rules in which they are used to follow, go contrary to their standard training. In this way you remove the supporting pillar, the common link that makes a group of men an effective fighting force.

Point at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree

• (指桑罵槐／指桑骂槐, Zhǐ sāng mà huái)
• To discipline, control, or warn others whose status or position excludes them from direct confrontation; use analogy and innuendo. Without directly naming names, those accused cannot retaliate without revealing their complicity.

Feign madness but keep your balance

• (假痴不癲／假痴不癫, Jiǎ chī bù diān)
• Hide behind the mask of a fool, a drunk, or a madman to create confusion about your intentions and motivations. Lure your opponent into underestimating your ability until, overconfident, he drops his guard. Then you may attack.

Remove the ladder when the enemy has ascended to the roof

• (上屋抽梯, Shàng wū chōu tī)
• With baits and deceptions, lure your enemy into treacherous terrain. Then cut off his lines of communication and avenue of escape. To save himself, he must fight both your own forces and the elements of nature.

Deck the tree with false blossoms

• (樹上開花／树上开花, Shù shàng kāi huā)
• Tying silk blossoms on a dead tree gives the illusion that the tree is healthy. Through the use of artifice and disguise, make something of no value appear valuable; of no threat appear dangerous; of no use appear useful.

Make the host and the guest exchange roles

• (反客為主／反客为主, Fǎn kè wéi zhǔ)
• Usurp leadership in a situation where you are normally subordinate. Infiltrate your target. Initially, pretend to be a guest to be accepted, but develop from inside and become the owner later.

Chapter 6: Desperate Stratagems

• (敗戰計)

The beauty trap (Honeypot)

• (美人計／美人计, Měi rén jì)
• Send your enemy beautiful women to cause discord within his camp. This strategy can work on three levels. First, the ruler becomes so enamoured with the beauty that he neglects his duties and allows his vigilance to wane. Second, other males at court will begin to display aggressive behaviour that inflames minor differences hindering co-operation and destroying morale. Third, other females at court, motivated by jealousy and envy, begin to plot intrigues further exacerbating the situation.

The empty fort strategy

• (空城計／空城计, Kōng chéng jì)
• When the enemy is superior in numbers and your situation is such that you expect to be overrun at any moment, then drop all pretense of military preparedness, act calmly and taunt the enemy, so that the enemy will think you have a huge ambush hidden for them. It works best by acting calm and at ease when your enemy expects you to be tense. This ploy is only successful if in most cases you do have a powerful hidden force and only sparsely use the empty fort strategy.

Let the enemy's own spy sow discord in the enemy camp

• (反間計／反间计, Fǎn jiàn jì)
• Undermine your enemy's ability to fight by secretly causing discord between him and his friends, allies, advisors, family, commanders, soldiers, and population. While he is preoccupied settling internal disputes, his ability to attack or defend, is compromised.

Inflict injury on oneself to win the enemy's trust

• (苦肉計／苦肉计, Kǔ ròu jì)
• Pretending to be injured has two possible applications. In the first, the enemy is lulled into relaxing his guard since he no longer considers you to be an immediate threat. The second is a way of ingratiating yourself to your enemy by pretending the injury was caused by a mutual enemy.

Chain stratagems

• (連環計／连环计, Lián huán jì)
• In important matters, one should use several stratagems applied simultaneously after another as in a chain of stratagems. Keep different plans operating in an overall scheme; however, in this manner if any one strategy fails, then the chain breaks and the whole scheme fails.

If all else fails, retreat

• (走為上／走为上, Zǒu wéi shàng) cf. 退避三舍
• If it becomes obvious that your current course of action will lead to defeat, then retreat and regroup. When your side is losing, there are only three choices remaining: surrender, compromise, or escape. Surrender is complete defeat, compromise is half defeat, but escape is not defeat. As long as you are not defeated, you still have a chance. This is the most famous of the stratagems, immortalized in the form of a Chinese idiom: "Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best" (三十六计，走为上计).

Ronda Rousey vs Alexis Davis UFC 175 06-07-2014

Ronda Rousey vs Alexis Davis UFC 175 06-07-2014

Boxing Tricks by Manny Pacquiao

 

10 Manny Pacquiao Boxing Tricks

Tai Chi vs Judo

 

Tai Chi vs Judo