North Star Martial Arts
In depth discussions of internal martial arts, theatricality, and Daoist ritual emptiness. Original martial arts ideas and Daoist education with a sense of humor and intelligence.
Books: TAI CHI, BAGUAZHANG AND THE GOLDEN ELIXIR, Internal Martial Arts Before the Boxer Uprising. By Scott Park Phillips. Paper ($30.00), Digital ($9.99)
Possible Origins, A Cultural History of Chinese Martial Arts, Theater and Religion, (2016) By Scott Park Phillips. Paper ($18.95), Digital ($9.99)
Watch Video: A Cultural History of Tai Chi
New Eastover Workshop, in Eastern Massachusetts, Italy, and France are in the works.
Daodejing Online - Learn Daoist Meditation through studying Daoism’s most sacred text Laozi’s Daodejing. You can join from anywhere in the world, $50. Email me if you are interesting in joining!
I am happy to announce the publication of the Journal of Daoist Studies volume 9 (2016), available at Three Pines Press. It is $25 for the paper book and $15 for the digital book.
Oh, and my article Daoyin Reimagined: A Comparison of Three Embodied Traditions, co-written with Daniel Mroz, is in it!
Read MoreA new (composite) thought about martial arts social movements.
There are three types of martial arts social movements. For the sake of neat categories we will call them Nationalist, Universalist, and Trader. I will explain each in turn. Each type of social movement contains a unique value system and has identifying characteristics that can allow us to understand most of the conflicts that happen between them.
Read MoreA few short paragraphs on the etymology the "martial arts." Excellent work.
Long time readers of this blog know that I've gone from ranting-and-raging to equanimity on the subject of Yoga overstreching and hypermobility. Finally the subject is getting some serious attention:
Read MoreI love practicing martial arts in the snow. There has been a lot of snow lately so I haven't had time to blog.
But here are some things I've dug up.
First off is a very straight story about Buddhist nun's practicing Kungfu. It seems so normal. That is what I like about the story. Kungfu Nuns!
Read MoreI've been watching the new AMC show Into the Badlands. I came across this article explaining how choreographer Dee Dee Ku works. He gave all the actors a crash course in martial arts, six hours a day for six weeks. During that period he had everyone doing wire-work and acrobatics too. He then started to choreograph for each actor based on their strengths and talents.
The article explains that it would be a disaster if the show was just martial arts with bad acting, and equally bad if it was just good acting with terrible martial arts. I wonder if it is occurring to anyone else that if you want to be in the movies these days, both acting and martial arts are a requirement.
Read MoreTeaching Circus Daoyin
We did three hours of intense animal Daoyin. It was good. People got so tired they naturally returned to stillness. Which is the point ofDaoyin, to discover and feel the spontaneous pull between movement and stillness. In that pull our form becomes pliable because it is freed from our story. And our story is freed from the limitation of our form. The movement is designed to push both sorts of boundaries. This type of class is a very positive experience for most people. It fully integrates strength, flexibility, body re-orientation, and locomotion.
Read MoreHere is a sample of the kind of secret Italian martial-dance that is slowly becoming available. This change in perceptions about the martial origins of dance, is a parallel-opposite of the transition happening in North Asian martial arts which are taking back their theatrical and religions roots.
Read MoreHere is the latest promo for my upcoming San Francisco Bay Area workshops Circus Daoyin and Dance as Self-Defense:
Check it out my new and improved descriptions! http://eepurl.com/bGNJKD
Because we are social animals, we tend to mistake the social activity of fighting with the self-defense mode of embodying our inner predator.
Read MorePlease come to my workshops in San Francisco/Oakland [Nov. 29th and Dec. 2nd] Read about them and sign up at the Soja website: sojamindbody.com/schedule/ (make sure to click on "Adult Workshops"). You can also see Anna Valdiserri's and Rory Miller's workshops there, I highly recommend them.
I would like to spend a little time pitching my workshops here. The copy text is challenging to write because I'm in uncharted territory. I'm a cowbody doing my own thing.
The Circus Daoyin class is my attempt to bust yoga people out of the "prison" of the yoga mat.
Read MoreThis wonderful publication is now out. It is free, and I have a review it. Check it out! Download it. Share it. A new field of study has come into existence.
The whole thing: The Journal of Martial Arts Studies
The Individual Articles
A place to train and learn about traditional Chinese martial arts, which are a form of religious theater combined with martial skills.
