The Ultimate Book of Martial Arts: A Step-by-step Practical Guide- Tae Kwondo, Karate, Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, Judo, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Kendo, Iaido, Shinto Ryu, by Fay Goodman (oversized TPB, 2005, 256 pages, $3)
Nice book, with step by step instructions and large photos to describe the various techniques. Also described are each martial arts' history and philosophy, clothing and equipment, and etiquette.
OK, I must admit I was drawn to the section on Kung Fu, as memories of David Carridine and grasshoppers flashed through my brain. According to this book the TV show hero may have been using the type of kung fu called mok-gar. Legend has it that it was originaly developed by a midget in a Chinese monastery.
Wing chun kung fu was developed later, about 1700. According to legend, the Manchurian Emperor feared the power of a Honan province monastery, and sent his army to destroy it. The monastery was burned, but some of the monastery leaders escaped. An abbess, Ng Mei, was a master of kung fu, and developed the wing chun system. It was a matter of survival. The traditional kung fu needed years to master, was practiced in large open spaces, and relied on flexibility, and muscular and bone strength. Ng Mei had little time to train her students, and their fighting would be done in confined spaces. She started to develop " a system based on the principle of winning at all costs, by using speed and subtlety to overcome an opponent's natural advantages... The emphasis lay in sudden contraction and relaxation... causing the practitioner to explode into action, using natural weapons such as finger jabs to the eyes, elbow strikes to the face and the powerful use of knees and feet to an opponent's lower body."
Way to go, girl! Look for this book in the martial arts section of sports.
