One Shoe, Two Shoe, Old Shoe, New Shoe

The Changing of the Shoes - A Solemn Event in my Personal Training
(Note the nicks from a kwan dao on the left shoe, above)

This week’s workouts were a first for me - my first workouts in new wrestling shoes in more than five years.

The other pair has lasted me a good long time. I use wrestling shoes because they are sturdy, lightweight and flexible. When practicing kung fu or taiji, I think it is important to be able to feel the ground beneath your feet.

What’s more, I have better luck with wrestling shoes staying on my feet. The slippers that are considered part of most traditional kung fu uniforms are certainly comfortable. But, in my experience, finding a pair that fits is tricky. Too often, I’ve had them come flying off whenever I throw a kick or when practicing on a wet surface, like grass.

Other athletic shoes are just too heavy. Certainly those cross-training shoes are the worst for practice.

I hate getting rid of old shoes. The old ones are comfortable. They bend in all the right places. The rubber treads are worn off in all the right places, making it is for me to pivot, while the rubber itself still gives me enough traction that I don’t fall and kill myself.

I put off changing my shoes for about a year. The others started to fall apart when I came too close to my own foot while practicing with my kwan dao. I cut through some of the material in one of the shoes.

Once something like that happens, it’s only a matter of time before more holes and tears appear.

Changing my shoes forces me to take an inventory of my training equipment. I start to look at what needs to be cleaned, what needs repairs or maintenance. Especially now, given my economic situation, I don’t have any extra money for replacing broken gear.

I lucked out with my shoes. I bought two pairs during a buy one/get one sale at a sporting goods store. The new pair I put on isn’t exactly new. They’re five years old, but they’ve been sitting in a shoe box in my closet.

Practicing with my sam jei guan (three-sectioned staff). Note the new colors, black and red.

In addition to the shoes, I took a look at my old three-sectioned staff. It’s the same one I bought 25 years ago. It’s still holding up, but it did need to be painted.

Rather than simply break out with the spray paint and masking tape and have at it, I decided to try something different. I’ve been practicing the Yau Kung Mun version of the three sectional instead of just free-styling it, or trying and failing to recall the form I previously learned.

One of the risks of the three-sectioned staff is that at least one section will always be out of your direct control. I noticed that sometimes when I thought I was holding an end section, I was holding the middle, and vice versa.

So I decided to try different colors. The middle section is red with black trim, while the end sections are both black with red trim. Like my competition uniform.

Besides looking cool, I find it gives me a quick, visual clue as to what section is in my hand at a given moment. This comes in handy, especially during the opening move when the pieces of the staff go from being held together to spread apart.

Which brings me to my recent workouts. I’ve been working the three sectioned staff and the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Fierce Tiger Crashes from Forest) in my recent workouts.

Today, I managed to get a lot done in just a little more than an hour. Starting with a full-body stretch, I did an eight-rough circuit with the Mung Fu Chuit Lum form, the ab wheel and three to eight reps of claw pushups.

I did the pushups in a pyramid fashion, starting with all five fingers in the first set, and removing a finger with each set until I was down to just doing them on my thumb. For the last few sets, I only did about three reps, but I’m proud to say that I can finally do them with a fully-extended pushup position, not from my knees.

After the set on my thumbs, I started adding fingers with each set. I closed with a set of 15 pushups with all the fingers on each hand.

With the circuit completed, I warmed up with five rollouts on each side and five runs of the first half of the three sectioned staff. It’s a simple form. When you remove the repeating moves, there’s probably only about a dozen moves in that whole set.

But it will take a lot out of you. Especially with the rollouts.

Wednesday's Workout - Tougher than Expected

I was still recovering from Monday and Tuesday's workouts. My back, my legs and forearms were killing me.

What's more, Vitaly had a half-day at school. I'd already promised him that I would take him and his new bike to Lowry Park. We pedaled the two mile distance between our house and the park. Under normal circumstances, two miles isn't a long or hard ride.

But I was supervising my son, which takes a surprising lot out of me. I warned him several times that he had to follow all of my instructions, that he was not to cross any street until I got there with him. He did follow my instructions, but I had to keep him on a short (figurative) leash to reign in his daredevil side.

In addition to the mental stress, the fall temperatures we've been having gave way to some 90-something degree weather.

We stopped at two of the park's playgrounds. While he rode around on his bike or climbed on monkey bars, I did about five runs each of the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Fierce Tiger Crashes from Forest) set. Like most of the other Yau Kung Mun sets, it's short and fast. I've also been placing some emphasis on the fu jow (tiger claw) strikes in that set, visualizing the arm grabs and throat chokes.

I closed with a quick stretching routine which emphasized hips, core and legs. On the plus side, my right knee feels better than it has in weeks. I'm a lot less stiff and sore there today as I have been for much of the summer.

Tonight, I'll probably take some time off of the MFCL set to work exclusively on some Baguazhang with Bret.

On that note, I want to inform my Tampa-area readers that Bret is teaching Gao Family Bagua to the general public. For more information, email me at hand2handckbc@hotmail.com.

Tuesday's Workout - Pushing Through

The view from the docks at Rivercrest Park, another peaceful place along the Hillsborough River. At the right time, I get to watch manatees drift along while resting between sets.

I went to Rivercrest Park, another City of Tampa Park along the Hillsborough River. It's a bit more out-of-the-way than Lowry Park, but I wanted to include some back exercises in my circuit.

Unfortunately, they dismantled the chin-up bars along that park's Parcourse. I had to content myself with doing the best I could with the monkey bars. I still got in a decent circuit of the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Fierce Tiger Charges from Forest) set, pullups and leg raises, even though the monkey bars were designed for children.

I completed the circuit in right at 10 minutes. For the rest of the hour, I worked on various basics including: two versions of Jik Bo, a training exercise from both Yau Kung Mun (Soft Power) and Bak Mei (White Eyebrow) styles of Kung Fu.

An example of Jik Bo. Not pretty. Not a lot of moves. But a very practical exercise that's good for developing a powerful jab/low cross combination.

I also worked on some of the new Baguazhang basics I learned from Bret last week before wrapping up with some basics and some sections of the Sam Jie Guan (Three-sectioned staff). Even though I didn't do the entire sent, which includes two roll-outs, I still managed to put myself through a little training hell and really wear out my forearms.

Good Monday Workout! It's Great to get Outside Again!

I took my Monday workout to Lowry Park. There's a fairly secluded spot with some nice thick grass and soft ground next to a creek that feeds into the Hillsborough River that is probably my favorite place in the park.

Located only a mile from my house, in the middle of Tampa, it is still possible to see some typical Florida wildlife, including turtles, alligators (see above) and even manatees.

Not many people are likely to come walking through. It helps me to avoid hecklers, or worse, those half-wits who think their idle curiosity gives them the right to interrupt my workout. Anyone who trains outdoors in a public place knows who I'm talking about.

"Hey, is that some kind of kerrotty?"

"Do you give kerrotty lessons?"

The only sounds were the loud "bloops" coming from a troop of siamang apes at Lowry Park Zoo across the street. I took it as cheers of encouragement even if they weren't able to see me practice.

One of my most vocal fans

The soft grass and smooth ground makes it the perfect place to practice the Yau Kung Mun Sam Jie Guan (Three Sectioned Staff) set. I'll write more about that later.

An example of the Sam Jie Guan or Three-sectioned staff

After staking out my spot, I did a full-body stretch. Surprisingly, I haven't lost much, but my glutes, my adductors and my hamstrings are killing me today. I followed that up with a simple circuit that will be the core of my workouts for this month.

This circuit consisted of five runs each of the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Tiger Charges from the Forest) set and the Sam Jie Guan. The soft ground makes it easier to do those set since the MFCL has several of the Yau Kung Mun knee drops.

But the reall killer was the roll-outs done while striking with the Sam Jie Guan. I've put on about 30 pounds since I last did any serious training in Judo, JuJitsu or Aikido. You'll really feel that weight when you hit the ground, no matter how soft it is.

Between each run of the Sam Jie Guan and the MFCL, I did a set of six to 10 claw pushups and 15 crunches. To keep things interesting, I did my last three sets of pushups with my feet elevated on a park bench.

Like the stretching, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I haven't lost much from lack of practice. In fact, my strength has increased and the pushups were much easier than the last time I did them.

I guess I did get something from that body building at Gold's Gym.

I'm Back! And I Have Some Stories to Tell!

Hello everybody!

I'm back. Yeah, it's been a while. I've got a lot of catching up to do, so let's get this started.

After a summer of health issues, between my stomach, a cold and a stubborn case of strep throat, I knew I had to get back into shape. Taking my mother's advice and her generosity, I let her pay for a trial membership for me at the local Gold's Gym.

I needed to restore myself to some semblance of decent condition. I also hate being at the mercy of the weather. I love working out outdoors. In fact, I generally prefer it. But as Jimmy Buffett once said, "You can't reason with hurricane season."




Sometimes, the weather just won't cooperate. Thunder, lightning and rain drive me into the small section of my carport where I keep my wooden dummy. It really limits my workouts. There's very few forms or weapons I can practice in that small space.

So after shopping around and getting jerked around by the local health clubs, I settled on Golds.
I'll give them a lot of credit. They certainly were convenient and well-equipped. I enjoyed doing maki komis using the weight stacks on a Universal-type machine. Even more, I enjoyed watching some other gym rats attempt the same exercise and get slammed against the machine because they have a poor root.

But beyond indulging my sadistic sense of humor, after three weeks, I got bored with it. Pure bodybuilding in and of itself has gotten boring. Don't get me wrong. I like weight lifting and I think it should be a part of any athlete's workout. But just going up and down with a barbell or weight stack without some direct martial applications doesn't do it for me anymore.

I opted not to join full-time. I'll probably go with the YMCA since they have some good activities for the wife and kid.

I did have a good introductory Baguazhang practice with Bret Bumgarner. He's starting to teach his art openly and I'm helping him with some of the administrative work and marketing.

The workout was tough. Bagua is a lot more than walking around in a circle. Bret's style, which is Gao family style, is very combat-oriented. It also has a strong Xinyi flavor to it through its use of the San-Ti (Trinity) posture.

By the next morning, my legs were killing me, but my back was looser than it has been in weeks.

After recovering on Friday, I had a good session with Don. He helped me get back up to speed on the Mung Fu Chuit Lum (Tiger Charges from the Forest) set. We also did some chi sao, t'ui shou and t'ui kirk practice. Don's approach to sensitivity exercises is very unconventional to say the least. He likes to mix it up with moves not normally associated with such practices. In a previous chi sao session, he bit me in the arm.

I think such a move would get you disqualified from competition. But then, during his career in the Navy, I think Don was a lot less worried about being called out by a referree than he was with avoiding a stint in a POW camp.

Those sessions with Don and Bret did snap me out of my funk. With hurricane season drawing to a close and dryer weather on the way, I can look forward to some nice sessions along the river.


One other thing - Check out the November 2009 issue of Black Belt: The World's Leading Magazine of Self Defense for my article on "Five Urban Legends that Refuse to Die" in the martial arts. It includes my all-time favorite, the notion that a black belt holder must register his hands as deadly weapons.

Available at your local newstand, Bounders, Buns & Noodles, Crooks-a-Zillion or other megalithic chain bookstore.

P.S. In the past, I have used this blog to comment on a number of things only tangentially related to martial arts, fitness or self defense. In the future, I'll be putting such things on my other blog, Sean C. Ledig - Writer / Editor / Photojournalist.

While there will be some crossover between the two blogs, I'll be using this one to discuss martial arts, fitness and related topics. The other blog will be a chance to keep my friends, family and fans informed of my latest projects, as well as my musings on politics, pop culture and philosophy.

When you get a chance, check it out.

Disney buys Marvel: Is this good for Marvel

Bart Simpson's favorite hangout. In real life, you're more likely to find middle-aged men than 10-year-old boys at comic book stores.

Watching Bart Simpson makes me nostalgic. In so many ways, I was Bart when I was 10 years-old.

One way in particular is that we are both comic book collectors and fans. From my childhood through my mid-teens, a great deal of my allowance, and money from other sources, like birthday and Christmas gifts, went to comics.

As soon as I had it, I’d be off to the Acme Mall Bookstore, Sleeping Giant Books or The Paperback Trader, getting the latest issues of X-Men, The Fantastic Four or Captain America. Or, in the case of the Paperback Trader, back issues as well.

I identify so much whenever Bart is found hanging out at The Android’s Dungeon, home of John Anderson, aka Comic Book Guy. (If you’re a Simpsons fan and didn’t know his real name, shame on you!)

Trouble is, in real life, you won’t see 10-year-olds hanging out at comic book stores. When I was 11 years-old, my $1 allowance would be enough for three comics. Today, my son’s $2 allowance would buy him about half a Marvel or DC comic.

Comics have been priced out of most kids’ budgets. Plus, they are competing with so many other forms of entertainment - video games, DVD’s, hundreds of cable channels - that we couldn’t even imagine back in the 70’s.

Kids today still love their superheroes. My son’s superheroes are many of the same ones I had when I was his age. He likes them just as much as I did. But he doesn’t get his heroes from comics anymore. He gets them from movies, TV, DVD and videogames.

Two days ago, I wrote in this space about the cons of Disney's purchase of Marvel Comics. Today, I wish to talk about how Disney can help Marvel, especially in these interactive, multi-media times.

Marvel Comics has a long history of failures when it comes to bringing their heroes to TV or the movies. A 1960’s TV show, “Marvel Superheroes”, which featured the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, was so horribly animated that its only value is for the cheese factor.

Several animated TV shows for “Spider-Man” and “The Fantastic Four” had mixed success.

In the 1970’s, Marvel tried bringing several of it’s characters to live action on the small screen. Spider-Man, Dr. Strange and Captain America all bombed. The live action version of The Hulk, with bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, enjoyed some success and lasted for almost four years.

Marvel's live-action version of The Hulk (above) was a moderate success on TV that lasted for almost four seasons (1977-1981). The same could not be said for Captain America (below) which bombed after two made-for-TV movies.

However, attempts to introduce Daredevil and Thor in TV movies with The Hulk were horrible, horrible embarrassments in the late 1980’s. Movies based on The Punisher and Captain America in the early 1990’s went straight to video.

Matt Salinger (son of author J.D.) in a Captain America movie that went straight to video in 1990.

It wasn’t until a relatively minor character, Blade the Vampire Slayer, was brought to life by Wesley Snipes in 1998 did Marvel enjoy any major success on the big screen. The “X-Men” in 2000, as well as its sequels in 2003 and 2006, were also extremely successful.

Wesley Snipes version of a minor Marvel Comics character, Blade, The Vampire Slayer (above) in 1998, singled handedly turned around Marvel's poor track record at the box office. That success was repeated with the X-Men (below) two years later.

Several movies with Spider-Man followed, as well as Iron Man in 2008. Both of those characters were quite successful.

Sadly, the success could not be replicated with “The Incredible Hulk”, “Daredevil” or “Elektra.” The first Fantastic Four movie was pretty good, despite some liberties taken with the characters and their back stories. The second sucked, despite the introduction of the Silver Surfer.

“Ghost Rider” had some great special effects, but personally, Nicolas Cage was not my first choice for the lead role.

The fact is, comics are a dying art form. The only people who still read them are middle-aged to seniors, with the occasional college kid or serviceman. Just go to a comic store on the day the new comics arrive. Those 30 and 40-somethings with the suits and ties stopping in after work are not buying for their kids. Those books they buy will be bagged and boarded and stashed away where the kids can’t read them as soon as the buyer gets home.

If we are going to keep those characters and their stories alive, film, TV and animation are the ways to go. And Disney dominates in all three mediums. Disney gave us the first full-length animated movie with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” in 1938. Disney owns the ABC television network, several theme parks, several cable channels and a shitload of downtown Orlando, FL.

Disney is synonymous with feature animations and for good reason - their movies are some of the best animated films ever made. And their live-action movies are very good, too.

As a corporation, Disney employs thousands of writers, actors, stuntmen, animators, special effects technicians, cameramen, editors, musicians and computer experts. In fact, they pretty much have everyone they need on their staff in any facet of the entertainment industry.

With Disney’s vast financial resources, coupled with their vast human resources, they could turn around Marvel Comics’ mixed success with bringing their characters to the large or small screen. Whether with live actors or animation, they have what it takes to make great movies, DVD’s and TV shows.

As long as they stay faithful and respectful to the spirit of the characters, as long as they realize that Wolverine is not Mickey Mouse and that the Punisher is not Goofy, I see no reason why this partnership can’t be successful.

But for now, the only thing we can do is wait and see how Disney and Marvel handle this great entertainment opportunity.

Disney buys Marvel: Is this a sign of the Apocalypse?

Followers of “Tales from the Carport Kwoon” know that I tend to venture off into a wide range of subjects, no matter how tangentially they are connected to martial arts or fitness. In previous posts, I’ve proclaimed my preference for The Green Hornet over Batman and mourned the passing of “Kung Fu” star, David Carradine and “Enter the Dragon” villain, Shek Kin.

Most recently, I appealed to my fellow gun owners, no matter how you feel about the health care debate or about President Barack Obama, to leave your guns at home when you go to public meetings. You’re only playing into the hands of those who would like to obliterate the right to keep and bear arms.

Today, I’ll be commenting on Disney’s buyout of Marvel Comics Group for $4 billion. What do comic books have to do with martial arts? Well, martial artists are notorious comic book fans and comic fans are major lovers of martial arts in film and TV. I personally know three black belts who’ve owned or managed comic book stores.

I also know comic books have inspired many young men to enter the gym and build up their muscles in an effort to look like their favorite characters. Former professional wrestler and one-half of the champion tag team, The Killer Bees, B. Brian Blair, once admitted to me that his love of Superman was what started him on his own physical fitness kick.

Pro-wrestler Brian Blair, left, said his desire to be like Superman inspired him to hit the gym.

If you’re looking for an easy answer about whether Disney’s purchase of Marvel is a good thing, stop now. There are few easy answers in life and you’re not going to find it here.

I’ve been a longtime fan of both Marvel and Disney. I grew up with Disney in my house, primarily because of my father. I had paperbacks and comics featuring Disney characters as a small child. When I adopted my son, the first place my father took him was to Walt Disney World.

The first Marvel Comic I ever owned.

When I was seven, I was hooked on Marvel Comics, especially with the purchase of Marvel Spotlight issue five, the first appearance of the Ghost Rider. Today, I have a collection of between 3,000 and 4,000 comics. At least two-thirds of that collection consists of Marvels.

First, lets look at some of the cons of Tuesday’s purchase by Disney. The Disney company is synonymous with “family entertainment.” Of course, family entertainment is pretty much a euphemism for “toning down and dumbing down entertainment for the palatability of small children.”

Perhaps the worst example is Disney’s version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” a very dark tale by Victor Hugo, and turning into the usual song and dance production.

Not the only, but perhaps the most egregious example of how Disney has taken dark, gothic literature and toned it down for children.

But it doesn’t end with “Hunchback.” Disney has taken many classic tales from the public domain and adapted them for screenplays, especially fairy tales like “Snow White”, “Cinderella”, “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Little Mermaid.” Anyone familiar with the original stories, as recounted by The Brothers Grimm and Lewis Carroll, knows that they were also much darker, much more gruesome, than Disney would have you believe.

Meanwhile, Marvel has a well-deserved reputation for pushing the envelope. Even when under the restrictive Comics Code Authority, they loved to see what they could get away with. They even exerted pressure on the CCA to ease up on some of their standards. For example, the Code originally prohibited depictions of occult figures, especially “living dead” creatures like vampires and zombies.

Only under pressure from Marvel Comics did the Comics Code Authority ease up on their rules to allow horror comics, like these featuring Dracula and Frankenstein's moster, to hit the newstands.

In 1972, Marvel got the code to ease up on that restriction, and released a number of horror comics, including “Tomb of Dracula” and “The Monster of Frankenstein.”



In one famous incident, Marvel released “The Amazing Spider-Man” number 96 without the Code’s seal. At the time, the Code forbade any mention of drug abuse, even if it was anti-drug. But Marvel’s editor-in-chief and co-creator of most of its superheroes, Stan Lee, was asked to do an anti-drug story by the White House. When he asked the Code for permission to do a story about Peter Parker’s friend, Harry Osborne struggling with drug addiction, the Code said “no.”

Quick! What's missing from this cover?

Lee was shocked that they would say no even though this request came from the President himself. So Lee shocked the industry by releasing that issue without the seal.

But Marvel has pushed the envelope in other ways, ways that seem incredibly minor today but were shocking when they happened. The company gave us heroes like The Punisher, Wolverine and Blade the Vampire Slayer, who didn’t share other heroes self-imposed restrictions on killing bad guys. In X-Men 116, Wolverine fatally dispatched a sentry who was guarding an enemy’s hide-out. The reader doesn’t see the killing, but the horrified look on Nightcrawler and Storm’s faces leaves no doubt as to what happened.

In the 1980’s, while still operating under the Code, Marvel pushed the limits in another, then-shocking way in the pages of the Fantastic Four, showing husband and wife characters, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman sharing a bed. Horror of horrors! A married couple in the same bed! You'd think they were answering the question about whether Mr. Fantastic could stretch all parts of his body!

Though it should be noted that the same taboo wasn’t broken on prime time network TV until the 1970’s when Mike and Carol Brady were shown sharing a bed on “The Brady Bunch.”

Still, The Fantastic Four pushed a lot of boundaries. Long before the Simpsons, they were the first dysfunctional family in comics. The FF dealt with everything from marital infidelity, divorce, domestic violence and even child abuse just among its members.

Perhaps the other way Marvel pushed the envelope was with the vocabulary used by its characters. When Marvel was started, the general rule in comics was to avoid three-syllable words. Four syllable words were pretty much verboten.

But Lee considered himself a writer, first and foremost. He wanted characters and stories which appealed to adults. His critics once derided him by saying that a kid would need a dictionary to get through a Marvel Comic.

Lee responded that there are worse things to do to a kid than make him look up a word in the dictionary.

Of course today, Lee and Marvel are still going strong. Can rival companies, like Gold Key, Atlas or Charlton say the same?

So where do things go now? Will we see The Punisher forced to load his M16 with tranquilizer darts? Will Wolverine be forced to sheathe his claws? Stay tuned, folks.

And come back here tomorrow for the pros of Disney’s purchase of Marvel.

Same Kwoon time. Same Kwoon channel.