10:17 minutes (2.36 MB)
Michael and Lawson talk with tai chi and qi gong master Lee Holden, whose instructional programs are featured on PBS. They discuss his groundbreaking routines and the subject of his new book 7 Minutes of Magic, a superfast boost for mind, body and spirit.

In a world that is increasingly fast, the art of Tai Chi can be refreshingly - and beneficially - slow. The gentle, deliberate movements that help to keep millions of Chinese calm, centered, and fit are equally appropriate for a fast-paced American life.

Bruce Lee, who was born 65 years ago this past Sunday, believed in evolution (lowercase “e”). While posters of his bare upper body have adorned three generations of college dorm room walls and his legacy is obvious in Hollywood action movies, few Americans are aware that Lee founded the art of Jun Fan Gung Fu, which later became Jeet Kun Do, or JKD. Lee designed JKD to be a philosophy of fighting (rather than a style) based on the belief of blending styles and changing techniques as needed.

Last week Tiger Claw, a high-end martial arts equipment maker, and Disney’s Martial Arts Festival announced that they’ll be hosting a new national championship together starting next year. This is going to be a new division of the martial arts competition that Disney has been hosting since 1999 in its Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida’s Disneyworld campus––along with sports like volleyball, baseball, and soccer. That competition hosts 1,000 athletes watched by 5,500 spectators.

In yoga, “eight limbs” refers to the individual pieces of a system for spiritual transcendence and includes physical postures as well as ritual observances, moral injunctions, and devotional worship. In Muay Thai, a Southeast Asian martial art similar to kickboxing, eight limbs refers to what you'll be using to beat your opponent: two hands, two feet, two elbows, and two knees. Awareness of the method will spread now that the World Boxing Council has “announced”their first official Muay Thai division. It will include 16 weight classes and plans for a women’s division. The first matches will be in Queensland, Australia on December 10.

In the latest issue of The Journal of Asian Martial Arts, an academic and literary publication, psychologist and Guang Ping practitioner Richard Vogel, Ph.D. talks about intimate relationships from a new perspective in his article, “The ‘Ki’ to a Lasting Marriage––the Application of Internal Martial Arts Principles in the Marital Dojo.” Notions such as yielding, relaxing, and adhering can transfer easily to resolving personal conflict, explains Vogel. He also suggests that the highly attuned listening skills honed with a martial arts practice partner––especially in exercises like Tai Chi’s Push Hands ––are “conducive to more harmonious relationships.” And he notes that the “heightened awareness” and “enhancement of energy,” other side-effects of a practice, can also significantly reduce eruptions of emotional drama. Though Vogel doesn’t note the inherent irony, it’s fascinating how he’s applying techniques normally used for beating down your adversary to harmonizing with your mate. (Cue Pat Benatar?)

Mostly when I think of kung fu I imagine a sweaty-abbed Jackie Chan slo-mo destroying a bad guy with his flying feet. But when Variety reported on DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming flick, Kung Fu Panda, yesterday, the image got a little softer, more amusing––and slightly edifying. Jack Black's voice will star as Po, the most slacker panda in the Valley of Peace, who must get off his bamboo patch and become a kung fu fighter to save his town. Dustin Hoffman will be his Mr. Miyagi (paw on, paw off); Chan himself will voice Master Monkey, a kick-ass warrior; and Lucy Liu may be Master Viper, a Ms. Miyagi figure.