This episode will focus on Baguazhang, one of the three so-called internal styles of Chinese martial arts. Bagua became quite well-known and influental in Beijing during the early Republic. It developed into a number of substyles, some of which took roots in Taiwan. Our guest speaker and new member of the Gongfu Crew, Carsten Stausberg, learned Yizong Bagua from Luo Dexiu over the course of several years in Taiwan. He was kind enough to share his insights into the training method with me.

More info on Carsten and his teaching and training on his Instagram channel (carsten.stausberg) and on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@casitor1)

Gongfu Crew S01E06 Baguazhang with Carsten Stausberg

This episodes deep dives into Xingyiquan, one of the so-called internal martial arts, usually grouped together with Taijiquan and Baguazhang. It was quite influental during the Republican era on the Chinese mainland, where its practitioners were known for their martial skill and fighting prowess.

I had the opportunity to talk to Byron Jacobs, who was fortunate enough to learn from Di Guoyong, himself one of the most renown Xingyi practitioners of Beijing. Byron is also very active in the online martial arts community through his Mushin Martial Culture platform and the Drunken Boxing Podcast. In addition to that, he recently published the well-received book "Dragon Body, Tiger Spirit", a translatation and explanation of the Xingyiquan classic texts. You can find it in the shop on his website:

https://www.mushinmartialculture.com/our-story



Gongfu Crew S01E05 - Xingyiquan with Byron Jacobs

In this episode we will talk about another extremely famous school of Chinese martial arts: Hunggar. Originally coming from the area around Canton, it has become famous not only because it was featured in countless Hongkong movies, but also because it made its way to the US and Europe quite early. Ghyslain learned a very traditional, Taiwanese form of Hunggar and shares his insights into the training approach, methodology and fighting philosophy of the style.

Ghyslain also has an interesting channel on Instagram that you should defenitely check out: gk_wushuquest

You can also find some more info on his website: https://wushuquest.com/

Gongfu Crew S01E04 - Hunggar with Ghyslain Kuehn

This third episode will introduce a variant of one of the most well-known yet misunderstood styles of Chinese martial arts: Taijiquan. I had the chance to sit down with Nabil Ranné, practitioner of Chen-style Taijiquan and a tudi of Chen Yu, himself a member of the Chen clan as well as the family line of famous Chen Fake. Nabil introduces the basic ideas behind training this line of Chen-style Taiji, what fascinates him about the method, and how to progress.

More info about his network: https://ctnd.de/

And access to his online teaching platform: https://www.ctn.academy/

Gongfu Crew S01E03 - Taijiquan with Nabil Ranné

In this first full episode of the Podcast I had the opportunity to talk to Will Wain-Williams, the man behind the Monkey Steals Peach channels. The style of Kungfu that he studied himself for many years is Taiji Meihua Tanglangquan, a form of Praying Mantis Boxing. He introduces the style and goes in-depth regarding its goals, training methods, techniques and tactics. At the end of the episode we also come back to Monkey Steals Peach and talk about what comes next for the channels.

Find out more about what Will is doing here:

https://monkeystealspeach.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnWbYukwGkgW3W1PBVfWEMA

Gongfu Crew S01E02 - Praying Mantis with Will-Wain Williams

In this short trailer episode I introduce the basic idea and direction of the podcast and its first seasons.

Gongfu Crew S01E01 - Trailer

The Podcast about authentic, pragmatic, serious Gongfu. We explore the world of Chinese martial arts by diving into its various traditions and schools. We bring together dedicated practioners of different styles to shed light on their training methods, fighting philosophy, their take on health and spirituality, and where each tradition is going. And we highlight issues that many practitioners of Chinese martial arts face on their own journey.

Find us on Instagram to learn more about the world of Gongfu: gongfu.crew