the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

I've been talking about doing it for a long time, but with my foot injury several months ago I've had the time to actually do it.

http://maartensfs.wix.com/shanzhaiquan

On the website you'll find information about my master and the art. I will update the curriculum section in the next several days and add photos and some information to the China section.

I added two brand new videos to the media section. They are at the bottom and show some of our training methods. I'll be filming new material, covering the core of the curriculum and some applications, within the month. I'll also be trying to get some footage of full-contact sparring before leaving China, with any luck.

I hope that you all enjoy it. Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Nice site, clean lay out...

old school,,,in a new age...like the bike and young adventurer

Maarten,

As a native speaker of Chinese, I feel obliged to let you know (if you don't already) that the term "shanzhai," as in your teacher's invention Shanzhaiquan 山寨拳, has strong negative connotations in modern slang usage. When a speaker refers to something as "shanzhai," it means the item is a cheap, pirated, and bastardized version of the original.

My guess is perhaps your teacher was being humble and self-deprecatory when he used the term to describe his hybrid system.

C.J.W. wrote:
Maarten,

As a native speaker of Chinese, I feel obliged to let you know (if you don't already) that the term "shanzhai," as in your teacher's invention Shanzhaiquan 山寨拳, has strong negative connotations in modern slang usage. When a speaker refers to something as "shanzhai," it means the item is a cheap, pirated, and bastardized version of the original.

My guess is perhaps your teacher was being humble and self-deprecatory when he used the term to describe his hybrid system.

Hi C.J.W.,

This isalso mentioned in the website itself, under the "curriculum section" (emphasis mine):

"A man of good humour and quiet contemplation, Zou Jianhua chose the name Shanzhaiquan for three reasons. Shanzhai (山寨) has several meanings in Chinese (quan simply being fist). One meaning is a fortified mountain village outside of government supervision. In ancient times these places were where bandits and warlords would meet up and exchange knowledge, just as Shifu travelled around China, challenging many masters and making many friends along the way.

The other main, more modern meaning is that of a knock-off product, as Shanzhaiquan isn't any of the many styles it borrows from, but is effective nonetheless - just as knock-offs are made quickly and cheaply, but serve their purpose. The final meaning of Shanzhaiquan is a play on words. Here he uses the character 三, or three, (pronounced "san") instead of 山 to pay tribute to the three primary "camps" or masters that he learned from."

Maarten, this is a great site. Beautiful pictures, easy to navigate, with good content.

You probably already know this, but the "Blog" link on the toolbar at the top of the page is a generic template for a blog, with no content.

Best,
Greg

Yes, that's true about Shanzhai.. My master is fucking hilarious. He said "我们打真正的山寨拳。" =P Everything is a joke to him - except arse-kicking. I plan to go back to visit him in about two months to learn his sword/stick-fighting system.

I'm glad that you guys like the site. I spent a lot of time thinking this through, but was waiting until I felt my Gongfu was good enough and I had enough content to put myself out there. Since my other main passion is adventuring and photography there are a lot more photos to come. I plan to add them to the China section, divided into parts by landscapes, nature, culture, people etc.

What did you guys think about the videos? Those took me like a solid week to finish and upload (super slow in China and VPN keeps disconnecting). I want to keep this format going for as long as I'm in China, with footage of the country mixed in. I have enough material for two more videos, adventure-wise. Hope to get some more this summer.

Yes, the blog I haven't touched. That will come last. I'll write articles on there, probably after I return to the States.

Looks really great. Photos are awesome. Your sparring section looked good and fun.

P.S. are you Dutch or a fan of Dutch football?

Thanks, mate. Actually, the sparring was quite average.. That was before I really shifted into totally fighting with traditional techniques and strategies. It was an awkward in-between stage. Still, it shows the intensity we put into no/light contact sparring and there are some traditional techniques to be seen. And it was fun!

I need to make a proper sparring video to really showcase TCMA in a full-contact setting.. Just need good opponents that are willing to cooperate to get some good footage.. Easier said than done... At least my sparring is improving all the time, so eventually I'll get something.. =P

I am Dutch. Prefer kicking people over balls, though..

Seems like such a fun adventure.

Dutch football is a cultural thing people admire the way some people are interested in CMA imho. It's interesting to see the resurgence of Ajax. Hope those young guys win. But kicking people does look like fun, lol.

I like the training with the rope. Cool stuff.

It has been a fun adventure - most of the time... I honestly don't know much about Dutch football. I just like the sweater because of how it looks and because people can see where I'm from.. =P

Patrick wrote:I like the training with the rope. Cool stuff.

Glad you liked it. I replaced my pole shaking with this as soon as I learned it. It's not identical by any means, but it develops (along with some other methods like tree-pushing), a similar type of shocking power and is a hell of a lot more convenient to carry around.

Had to take them down. Forgot to add my wife to the credits!

Will put them back up ASAP.

Great job!

Thanks, mate!

The videos are back up. Also improved some minor details and fixed a problem with the audio of the second video while I was at it!

Great stuff! Love the site! I like how your mastered developed a style and you're further systemizing it.