The Power of Internal Martial Arts by B K Frantzis

[Guest]

I recommend this one, even though I have not yet finished reading it.

The author writes with more focus on Taijiquan and BaGua, but with a rich and varied journey through several martial arts, it is informative as well as an entertaining read.

He describes Shaolin as a hard, external style but from his viewpoint (and training encounters), it may well be.

[Guest]

I've read this book a few times, along with some of his other books. I enjoyed reading all of them. Though I don't agree with everything Frantzis has to say, his books are certainly full of useful information and interesting stories.

I actually had the opportunity to meet B.K. Frantzis a few years ago. I traveled up to Boston to participate in one of his seminars. I even got to "cross hands" with him when he asked for volunteers to attack him. Being a young, confident black belt, I stepped forward. I threw a bunch of kicks at him, all of which he handled easily.

That was a few years ago. Unfortunately, I don't think I was qualified to gauge his internal force since I wasn't sensitive to such things back then. I think Frantzis knows his stuff, and I certainly wouldn't want to fight him, but I do wonder about a few things. Specifically, I wonder why he rarely smiles, and I wonder why he doesn't look healthier.

Nevertheless, I would definitely recommend this book. It's a good addition to the internal martial artist's bookshelf.

[Guest]

Thanks Anthony for your response - my own post isn't directly to do with the book but with the whole topic.

Your reply sums up why I thought this forum would be a good idea - stick up a review, maybe have a few doubts but accept the author knows far more than you about his subject matter/book & see what others think. See what answers come back & then allow everything to grow from there.

Since you've met him - excellent bonus, nice little snippet re crossing hands too, fits with 'experience, not theorise'.

[Guest]

I've read this book several times and the author's encounter with Master Wang from Taiwain always makes me smile.

Doesn't the part where the young karateka Frantzis is working hard to perfect his kicks remind you of someone we know?

Jeff

[Guest]

Hai-YA!

[Guest]

Yes Anthony, and hello to you too

In Scotland, we wave with our hands

[Quatro Bajina]

Reviving the thread

I have a discussion in the other forum about this person and I find something very interesting:

* By reading his book, we think that Bruce has a good relationship with Wang Shu Jin. This is incorrect!!! Wang actually threw him out because of his personality. There is also another version that stated Bruce kicked Wang in the groin, out of nowhere, to test his ability. Wang immediately threw a palm strike to his skull and knocked him out. The students threw Bruce out afterwards. Whatever the version is, one can be certain that Wang doesn't like Bruce's personality.

* The same incident happen with Hung I Hsiang (Bruce talked back to Hung). However, there is no contact involved. This is the reason why Bruce filled in his gap with Huang Hsi I later on in his second visit to Taiwan.

*He doesn't care who he uses his kungfu on. He also tend to attract students who likes to fight

* He has high level of skill and his chikung works

Below is what I find very interesting:

There is one person in emptyflower that has the opportunity to meet with Bruce before and after the car accident. He said that before the accident, Bruce was really scary (Meaning almost unbeatable). The next time around when he crossed hand with Bruce, his kungfu diminish a lot, but he is still very good. Good, but not unbeatable. One might wonder whether there is some sort of karma that works here...

Antonius, since you met with the guy, what do you think of his personality? People that I talked with said that he likes to intimidate people. They even said that he got personality problem. Is this true?

Sorry for the long post. Just want to share that with the rest of you

PS: I have couple of topics that we can discuss. I will post them when I got a chance.