One of the top three Chinese martial arts fiction writers, Gu Long (1937-1985) wrote sixty-nine novels in a career spanning twenty-five years. Millions of copies of his books have been sold, and many of them have been repeatedly adapted for TV or cinema. His other important novels include The Compassionate Swordsman and the Merciless Sword (1970), The Orchid at Midnight (1979) and Hunting Hawk, Gambling Game (1984). At the age of forty-eight, he died of liver disease caused by excessive alcohol drinking. Rebecca S. Tai received her master’s degree from University of California, Los Angeles. She enjoys reading adventure fiction and watching martial arts drama.
On one of his missions, Xiao (the Eleventh Son, known as the Great Bandit) meets Shen, the fairest woman in the martial world. By the will of fate, he rescues Shen several times, which plants the seed of love in both of them. However, Shen is married to a rich young man who is also an outstanding martial artist. As if things were not complicated enough, Xiao has his own secret admirer, Feng, an attractive swordswoman with a quick temper. Xiao is drawn into a messy fight for a legendary saber, the Deer Carver, and is accused of stealing it. Xiao finds out that the person who has set him up is a mysterious young man with an angel’s face and a devil’s heart. Before he can pursue any further, Shen’s grandmother is murdered, and Xiao is named the killer. It appears that things are spinning out of control?
The following are some comments made by several foreign readers.
This book is the only official translated wuxia novel of by the Late Gu Long (Ku Long, Ku lung) available in English to date. Gu Long is one of the three best wuxia writers ever, so having one his novels finally being recognized is indeed wonderful. While comparing it to other translated wuxia novels are rather unfair, because Gu Long has his own distinct writing style, nevertheless in technical aspect of translating, Becky Tai, the translator, exceeded the rest, mainly when compared John Minfor and Graham Earnshaw. Becky Tai maintained the writer’s original writing style and mood, even if the words and sentences are now in English. Additionally, Becky kept the names and important terms in Chinese pinyin and explained them to her readers, a much better approach than changing character’s name into English or ignorantly using the term "Karate" for Chinese martial arts, like Minford did in his translation of The Deer and the Cauldron. Overall, this book worths every penny and should be collected by anyone who love the "wuxia" (Chinese knight-errand) genre but unable to read neither Chinese characters nor any other Asian language in which many wuxia novels have been translated.
As far as I know, this is Gu Long’s second novel published in the West. The first was Christine Courniot’s French translation of "Les Quatre Brigands du Huabei" available from amazon.fr. This is the first professional and complete English translation done by Rebecca Tai. Those of us, who have an interest in martial arts fiction, seek out novels like this one but you do not have to be a martial arts aficionado to appreciate this excellent novel. Gu Long, more than Louis Cha, has a poetic style of writing that is unique to the genre of Chinese martial arts fiction. I find the settings of his novels lush and beautiful which leaves a lot to the imagination. Gu Long has acute psychological insight into human nature combined with the human relational understanding of honor and shame. The characters are fascinating, the situations that these characters find themselves in are at times fantastic but that is typical of literature that encompasses history and fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was a new and refreshing experience.
This is one of the first translated novels from the famed Chinese martial arts fiction write Gu Long. It’s well translated and takes you back in time to a mythical China thousands of years ago, when martial art and Chinese beauties went hand in hand. The world Gu Long creates is romanticized with diverse characters both good and evil, and all well versed in the martial arts. With great character development, Xiao, Feng, and Shen are very believable and sometimes humorous. This is like a literary version of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero, or House of Flying Daggers. Kudos to Rebecca Tai for translating and Homa for bringing a great Chinese literary gem to the states!
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What's the best age to enroll a child in martial arts?I'd like to enroll my daughter in a martial arts class (she's three), but would it be worth it at this age? Also, what form of martial arts would be recommended for children which focuses on the removing herself from a dangerous situation and fleeing?
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amazing work, i would think it’s a photo!
that is beyond. holy that is amazing. is it a picture or a painting. when you can blur those lines, you know you have something.great stuff thanx
AMAZINGGG
wow, amazing. Deep is my favorite actor too.
(Brasil)
Well I can tell you first off a few things from experience and one is that weight is harder to keep off as you get older. Secondly, sometimes people lose their competitive desire and so they quit or retire earlier than otherwise. For you it is partly because of your club closing so the fact that you are now starting to want to go back should in itself tell you that you have not lost your desire completely.
I would start off gradually and not throw anything faster or harder than half to three fourths speed and power for the first two weeks. That way you will avoid potential injuries to start with. Secondly, I would challenge myself to get back into shape and be better than I was before and to build myself into shape. It did not take just a month to get out of shape and put that weight on and I suspect that it will take more than a month to get back into shape and get the weight off. Third, I would do some cross-training picking something non-martial arts related like swimming, biking, rollerblading to do occasionally and substitute occasionally for part of my work outs. As for diet plans there is certainly enough information out there but if you are interested in competing again try to pick one that builds and adds muscle some as opposed to just losing weight. A modified Atkins diet for instance would be my recommendation since it has so much protein. I competed for many years and learning how to deal with some of the ups and downs that come with that or some of the outside factors that can affect that are something in itself that competitors have to learn how to deal with. Good luck.
I agree with everyone saying it is up to the individual to have confidence in themselves, but they also MUST have confidence in their art too. If someone is very confident in their physical capabilities but not in the techniques they are using then their fight confidence will surely suffer. If you just want to know how to fight and stay composed and cerebral I would recommend a mix of Muay Thai kickboxing and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Muay Thai is a devastating stand up style, and it does not take a long time to develop good street effective fundamentals. Like all martial arts the complex techniques, and understanding of actually fighting takes a lot more time. If you learn bjj as well, you will have the confidence to handle yourself on the ground if the fight ends up there.
Amazing painting, and love your song also.
as many different types as you can,starting with a stand up style.or a style that is well rounded.heres a bit of info.
A good well rounded style would be freestyle Karate.You will learn stand up,ground,grappling and weapons.What a lot of people don't understand is that freestyle Karate is about practical street defence not who can kick the highest or punch a pad the hardest.It's definitely not a sport martial art like TKD or BJJ.The motto of my style is the best of everything in progression.Basically that means we don't care where the technique comes from we improve it and integrate it into our style while still maintaining tradition as do most freestyle Karate's.
The hardest thing is finding a good experienced instructor.I would recommend Bushi Kai or Zen Do Kai, but if your not in Australia or New Zealand you may have some difficulty finding some one who teaches these styles.These styles also usually have separate classes available to everyone in Muay Thai and BJJ/Submission/Shoot wrestling.If you can't find one of these i would suggest Kempo or Enshin or another freestyle Karate.
http://www.zendokai.com.au/countries2/USA/index.htm
I believe that he did many years of Shotokan Karate, and in one of the episodes threw in Sambo. If you're considering taking martial arts be sure to find an art that best fits you.
Finding what you like best may take a lot of research. It depends if you like to throw punches, kicks, or grapple. Find what you like best, and what you think you would be able to accelerate in.
The most effective martial arts used by covert ops, special forces, CIA, etc. include, but aren't limited to: Krav Maga, Wing Chun, and Kajukenbo.
Remember, you won't like a martial art unless it's something that interest you. Whether you want to do something flashy, or learn something more practical is up to you!
Good luck on your journey.
AMAZING!! love it!
its like u took a picture@@
fantastic!
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu has a lot of control holds that I use in my day job. Most of the holds are within policy so I use that to my advantage. Below is a paste from the Gracie Academy in Torrance Ca.
Why LEOs Need GCMLE
According to the F.B.I., in 2007 there were 59,201 sworn law enforcement officers assaulted in the line of duty. Over 80% of these assaults (47,495) were committed by unarmed perpetrators who only used their hands and/or feet to attack the officer. It is most important to consider the two biggest reasons why law enforcement officers did not shoot these perpetrators before their unarmed assaults were carried out:
Unjustified – Unless someone’s life is at risk, the officer is not justified in using deadly force.
Unable – Most physical assaults on officers take place so abruptly that the officer does not have the time or distance necessary to draw his or her firearm or less-lethal weapons, safely.
Since it is so common that officers are assaulted in situations where they are unjustified or unable to use their weapons in their defense, it is imperative that they be empowered with a very effective, court-defensible system of self-defense that will ensure their safety in the worst case scenarios that they are so likely to encounter. GCMLE is the solution.
Reduced Liability
It is a fact that any law enforcement officer who is not confident in their ability to control a suspect with their hands is more prone to resort to their weapons, prematurely, and all it takes is one excessive force incident to dramatically alter the stability of a police department and its relationship with the community they serve. Since the GCMLE course is based on controlled pain compliance techniques rather than uncontrollable strikes, the physical damage to the suspect is kept to an absolute minimum. Lawsuits and charges of police brutality decrease significantly when GCMLE is used.
Note: If an instructor of the agency or organization holds a valid certification in the GCMLE and a police brutality case arises involving the usage of the techniques, Rorion Gracie will be willing to testify on behalf of the department.
there all the best if your tall muay tai is for you, if your athletic choose karate or take won do , if your not strong and have very little striking skill choose aikido.wing Chung and jiu jitsu is for every one.
choosing the best type of martial art is like choose your dream car some might choose fast one ,some big ,on looks it depends on the person just like martial arts that why there is so much argument which one is the best a short person might argue that bjj is better than muay tai because he can kick as good as the tall people in muay tai and a tall person will get grappled easy in bjj because hes got alot of limbs and bones sticking out . no one can tell you the best martial art they would just tell what there good at.
NOTE if your talking about Brazilian ju jitsu it would be the perfect martial art for some one your height .it doesn't have nothing to do with how strong you are I'm 5"11 and I submit people 6-7 feet tall I'm there all so girls in my class that can beat me. if i were you i would choose japanese ju -jitsu NOT brazlian ju jitsu there not the same jjj has strikes and kicks with a little bit of subbmission fighing, bjj is just submission fighting but more in depeth
It depends upon the age of your children. If they are mature enough to handle the discipline of a martial arts school then yes it could benefit them. Children who are meek and timid will gain a whole lot of confidence in themselves. Young children that tend to bully others tend to have a great deal of discipline while in class but have not the maturity to transfer those lessons into the school yard… end up showing off and may still bully smaller children. If the Martial arts school is reputable, gets wind of their behavior… they may take appropriate measures to stop it… if bullying continues they will dismiss him/her from their training.
My son was small and picked on in school, so learning a martial art has tremendously helped his self confidence. Though he wasn't mature enough to start taking his training seriously until he was about 12 years old. My Girl have matured at a much younger age and though they are only 4 and 6 I feel they should be able to train by the time they reach 10 years old.
you, sir, are freakishly talented. congratulations.
They dueled a lot. Look up info on Saber fighting. The Prussians were big into Sabers.
Great actor great painting great music ,,lovely for real
No TKD is NOT an art of redirection, or of opposing energies. Most of the Okinawan or Japanese styles are good examples of this. Aikido, Kenpo, Judo,even Isshinryu (to some degree) are the types of styles you are thinking of.
I have studied the martial science & martial arts for 28 years and have tried to learn as much as i can about every style I come across. Having fought, taught, and studied since i was 5 gives me a blessed insight on the inner workings of them and the concepts behind their development. I have also been given the honor of being named as a certified martial arts/science historian.