New Wing Chun DVDs available

Four new Wing Chun DVD titles have just arrived from China to add to our popular Wing Chun forms series:

Wing Chun Footwork DVD

Wing Chun Punching DVD

Wing Chun Palm Techniques DVD

Wing Chun Elbow Knee and Foot Techniques DVD

Coping with Blisters on the Feet

Many martial artists, especially beginners or those training on a new surface, experience painful blisters on the feet. Trish Bare Grounds, author of Bare Essentials Guide to Martial Arts Injury Care & Prevention offers two methods to help heal blisters more quickly:

For blisters of the foot you can aid in the healing process and help toughen your feet up by one of two methods. The first is to use an ice bath (ice and water in a bucket) and add a substance known as povidine or Betadine®. This is done by adding one part povidine solution to ten parts water creating a ten percent solution. Soak your entire foot in this ice bath and solution for ten to twelve minutes, one to two times per day until the blisters heal and begin to toughen.

A second method is to simply replace the povidine solution with household bleach, in the same one to ten ratio, creating a ten percent bleach solution and soaking in the ice bath with bleach solution for ten to twelve minutes, one to two times per day. Both solutions will temporarily change the color of your skin, with the povidine giving a slight orange tint, whereas the bleach may lighten the skin a little. Once again, be cautious with children under the age 8, and those athletes with known skin allergies or sensitivity as they may have a reaction to these solutions.

Rare Kung Fu Wushu Competition Footage

Turtle Press has just discovered a DVD of rare Kung Fu and Wushu competition footage filmed in China over the last two decades. Many of the performances on the DVD are by masters who have since passed away, making this a special treat for the hardcore Chinese martial arts enthusiast.

Just released: World Taekwondo Hanmadang 2005 DVD

The World Taekwondo Hanmadang 2005 DVD has just been released and is available for preorder at TurtlePress.com. This DVD presents an international taekwondo competition where nearly 3000 Taekwondo practitioners from 10 countries competed in diverse events like Poomse, Breaking, Taekwondo Aerobics, self-defense and more. We expect to have these in our warehouse to ship by Jan 23rd. Reserve your copy today!

Bargain Basement Books Delivery

We have just received a delivery of bargain basement books - about a dozen titles in all. If you see a title you want, act quickly because the quantities in stock are small and the bargain basement empties out fast.

Relative Distance in Fighting

From Combat Strategy:

Real distance is determined by the absolute measure of distance from one point to another. However, this objective measure works only in a world where all people are physical and mental equals. Since this is unreasonable, you cannot rely on real distance alone to determine your combat strategy.

Relative distance is used to account for the many mitigating factors of actual combat including:

• Skill level
• Mental toughness
• Speed
• Size
• Types of available weapons (bodily and environmental)
• Vulnerability of targets exposed
• Type of techniques available

EXAMPLE: In neutral and long-range combat, you use speed to initiate an attack. However if your opponent is faster than you, you will easily be countered before you complete the attack. If you are faster, then your relative distance to the target is shorter but if your opponent is faster than your relative distance is longer.

Proper Breathing Techinique

According to Dr. Jacob Jordan, author of Total MindBody Training, the average person does not breath correctly and therefor does not get the maximum intake of air with every breath. "A normal thoracic breath draws only 500 to 700 cc of air in the average adult. This results in less efficient oxygen delivery to your circulatory system and subsequently less potential for physical action. On the other hand, a deep, abdominal breath typically draws 2500cc to 3000cc of air, expanding the entire lungs for optimal oxygen delivery."

To maximize every breath, he suggests practicing deep abdominal breathing. "Breathing should be accomplished by allowing the abdomen to inflate like a balloon creating the sensation of air being pulled deep into the lower body. When you have reached a maximum comfortable breath, press the air even further down towards the pelvis by tensing the abdomen slightly. Expiration is then accomplished in a gradual, controlled manner. Keeping slight tension in the abdominal muscles, the air is slowly released."

When breathing, he recommends using the nose, not the mouth. "All breathing should be done through the nose with the exception of when vocalizing as when a martial artist performs a kiai. Nose breathing is most efficient for oxygen delivery and preserves the moisture of the airways. This becomes extremely important when involved in lengthy, dehydrating workouts."

Loren Christensen honored by Black Belt Magazine

Loren Christensen, author of the best selling book Solo Training and the recently released Solo Training DVD has been named one of the "Toughest Martial Artists" by Black Belt magazine. Check out the details in the April issue of Black Belt, on newstands soon.

Zen Man Movie Website

The official Zen Man movie website is live at www.zenmanmovie.com

Check out the site today for trailers, production stills, movie themed wallpaper and more details about Sang H. Kim's first feature film.

Video to DVD conversion complete

Turtle Press has completed transferring video titles to DVD format and will soon be discontinuing VHS sales. Some titles will not be transferred to DVD and will instead be discontinued, so order soon if there are VHS titles on your wish list.

Turtle Press video previews on Google

Turtle Press vidoe previews can now be seen on Google Video in broadband windows media format. If you're having difficultly previewing titles on our site in RealPlayer or just prefer to watch the previews in your browser, go to video.google.com and search on the DVD title or key words.

Feinting for Street Fighting

Loren Christensen and Wim Demeere, authors of Timing in the Fighting Arts, offer this simple partner drill to practice using feinting in a self-defense situation:

Square off with your partner and run trough your entire arsenal of feints using your head, arm, kicks, grabs, footwork, and even shouts. Your partner should give you honest feedback. If he feels your feint isn’t convincing enough, he tells you so. Now, don’t take it personally and come back at him with, “Yeah, but your mama’s a thief.” Learn from the critique and strive to correct the problem.

Here are a few tricks for you to try. They are simple because our fighting philosophy is simple. It’s already hard enough on the streets without getting complex in your self-defense.

Switch levels of attack Fake an attack to your opponent’s legs and when he moves to block, hit him in the face. The bigger the difference in the levels, the harder it is for him to defend against your follow-up attack. If you can’t hit at extreme levels, do less. Fake a head punch, and when he dodges, slam a hard punch into his liver.

Practice 1 or 2 sets of 10 reps of each combination on both sides.

Last Day to Save on Advanced Joongbong DVD

The Advanced Joongbong DVD will ship on Dec 15th. Today is the last to preorder and save $5.00 off the regular price.

Dec 15th final day for ground shipping

Order before Thursday Dec 15th to take advantage of lower cost priority mail or UPS ground shipping on Christmas orders. This is also the final day for all international orders to arrive in time for Christmas. After Dec. 15th, choose UPS second day air or UPS next day air for guaranteed Christmas arrival.

2 Turtle Press titles in Black Belt Top 10

According to Black Belt Magazine Turtle Press had two of the top ten selling martial arts books in 2005:

Ultimate Flexibility by Sang H. Kim ranked number 2 for the year, edging out martial arts classics A Book of Five Rings and Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Solo Training by Loren W. Christensen, a consistent top seller on Amazon.com for the past few years came in at number 8.

Martial Arts Drill for Kids: Obstacle Course

The following drill is excerpted from the Martial Arts Instructors Desk Reference:

Making an obstacle course in the training hall is a great class starter for kids' classes. Don't let anyone stand around waiting in line - assign a time killing exercise like jumping jacks or running place between turns at a station. Some ideas for stations to keep everyone moving:

• Jump over a pile of kicking shields
• Crawl through a tunnel of kicking shields without touching them
• Jump over a series of heavy bags laid about two feet apart
• Kick or strike a hanging target, hanging bag or stand up heavy bag
• Weave around a line of hand targets
• Duck walk under a hanging heavy bag
• Look in the mirror and kihap loudly five times
• Roll between two kicking shields without touching them
• Block an " attack " by a blocker or foam wand
• Kick a paper cup off of the top of a standing bag
• Crawl under a stick balanced on two chairs
• Walk on a line on the floor (masking tape works well and removes easily after use)
• Hop over a belt laid on the floor to form a zig-zag course

Some stations may require an adult to reset or facilitate.

Free Gift with your Order

When you place an order of $10 or more before Dec. 31, 2005, Turtle Press will include one free mystery gift with your order.

Free video with your order of $10-49.99

Free DVD with your order of $50 or more

Brief History of Taekkyon

Taekkyon is a traditional bare-hand martial arts developed by the Korean people and is recognized as the original form of bare-hand martial arts in Korea. Before the 6th century, Taekkyon was practiced by the ruling classes and from the 9th to 12th century, became very popular, even among the common people. According to the Koryusa, a Korean history book written in the 15th century, Taekkyon was widely encouraged and practiced by everyone from the king himself to farmers.

But as the society moved toward a system that encouraged education and literary pursuits and discouraged military pursuits, the practice of Taekkyon declined. By the 13 century, Taekkyon was considered a folk custom rather than an actively practiced martial art.

During the Japanese colonial period, Taekkyon was banned and nearly vanished. Fortunately Song Duk-ki (1893-1987) preserved the art and handed it down to modern day Koreans. After the independence of Korea, the practice of Taekkyon became considerably less popular than the practice of Japanese based arts. The establishment of Taekwondo after the Korean War and its subsequent popularity served to further overshadow the practice of Taekkyon.

Taekkyon began to rise in popularity again in the early 1980s. It was designated by the government as Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 76 on June 1, 1983 owing to the extensive efforts by Shin Han-seung (1928-1987), who learned Taekkyon from Song Duk-ki. After the death of both masters, Lee Yong-bok, who learned Taekkyon from these two masters in 1984, established the Korea Traditional Taekkyon Institute to revive Taekkyon. Through his efforts, a resurgence in Taekkyon practice resulted and on June 30, 1985, the first Taekkyon game in 80 years took place in Kooduk stadium located in Pusan.

Preorder and Save: Taekkyon DVD

Save $5.00 when you preorder the new Taekkyon DVD. Taekkyon is a native Korean martial art that was nearly lost forever during the early 1900's. Preserved by Grandmaster Song Duk-ki until his death, it is considered a Cultural Asset by the Korean government. In this DVD, filmed on location at the historical Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Grandmaster Lee Yong-bok, head of the Korea Taekkyon Association, and his National Demonstration Team present dynamic performances of Taekkyon at its best.

Warming up for Competition

"One of the most common questions I get from students is how to prepare for a tournament," says Sang H. Kim, author of Taekwondo Kyorugi. While training is a lengthy process, he offers some tips for a successful tournament day. "After you have passed through the weigh-in or registration process, go over your plan and review your most important techniques. Spend some time to familiarize yourself with the competition site and get used to the temperature, lighting, and layout. If you know when you will compete, plan to start warming up about thirty minutes before the start of your match. If you do not know when you will compete, as is often the case in smaller competitions, try to stay loose and focused but do not overexert yourself early in the day."

"If you win your first match, you will most likely have to compete again soon. Take a few minutes to relax and cool down after your first match, then ask your coach for feedback. Focus on what you did well and what you need to improve for your next outing. Attend to any injuries you might have gotten with ice or tape. About fifteen to twenty minutes before your next match, begin to physically and mentally prepare yourself. Follow this pattern until you have completed your competition for the day."