Kung Fu Tai Chi is ceasing publication

[MasterKiller]

So sorry to read this. KFTC has been close to many of our hearts for decades.

[mawali]

I have enjoyed the magazine over the years and have learnt alot in my journey by the histories of other SMA system that I was not aware of!
Other than travelling to another state (Wisconsin) to get the mag, it was a fun ride!

Prosper and Enjoy Life

[GeneChing]

Chinese Martial Arts in the News: May 22, 2020 – Epidemic, Closure and The Loss of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine

Introduction
It has been way too long since our last news update. We are fortunate to have had such a rich series of guest posts exploring the ways that COVID-19 has impacted both our personal training and the field of Martial Arts Studies. That series has not yet concluded, but I thought that it might be a nice change of page to get caught up with the news. For new readers, this is a semi-regular feature here at Kung Fu Tea in which we review media stories that mention the traditional fighting arts. In addition to discussing important events, this column also considers how the Asian hand combat systems are portrayed in the mainstream media. As one might expect, many of the martial arts stories published over the last month centered on the global disruption of the novel coronavirus. Still, it is fascinating to note the wide variety of ways that it is being discussed with reference to the martial arts.
While we try to summarize the major stories over the last month, there is always a chance that we may have missed something. If you are aware of an important news event relating to the TCMA, drop a link in the comments section below. If you know of a developing story that should be covered in the future feel free to send me an email.



The Impact of COVID-19 on the Chinese Martial Arts
Calculating the cost of a catastrophe is never easy. In the case of the TCMA these losses can be seen in the slow attrition of the schools, institutions and infrastructure that support our community. Perhaps the greatest of these institutional losses has been the closure of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine. The entire magazine industry has been in decline for decades, but in this case the current epidemic was the final straw. Gene Ching, the magazine’s former publisher (and before that editor), has been an important friends to the growing field of Martial Arts Studies and I have had the pleasure to work with him on several small projects over the years. This must have been a devastating blow for him and the entire production team. At the same time, Kung Fu Tai Chi served as an important unifying voice in an area so diverse and riven with factionalism that simply keeping up with current developments is a real challenge.
Newsstand martial arts magazine had a profound impact on me as I grew up in a small, relatively isolated, town. They created an image of martial practice that was almost intoxicating to my young and impressionable mind. The loss of KFTC Magazine feels like losing another slice of my younger self. All created things must end, and it has been a good 28 year run.

COVID-19 is not only impacting the martial arts in North America. While Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Peoples Republic of China seem to have come out on the other side of their respective curves, the effects of the pandemic on their economies, and martial arts communities, continues to be dire. Particularly interesting was an article in Bloomberg titled “Hong Kong’s Economic Crisis Just Keeps Getting Worse,” which opens and closes with the struggles of one of the city’s many Wing Chun schools. Of course, the ongoing civil unrest in Hong Kong adds an extra hurdle for that city’s economy.
“Passing on this cultural touchstone to the next generation is proving to be Lam [Shu-shing]’s biggest challenge yet as the number of students has dwindled to a handful. “This is the toughest moment in the past 40 years that I am teaching Kung Fu,” said Lam, who at almost 70 had to give up his gym when he couldn’t afford the rent. “I don’t see any improvement in Hong Kong any time soon.”

As in North America, some Chinese schools have found new opportunities as they continue to negotiate long-term shutdowns. I found a fun photo essay in the China Daily titled “Martial arts master turns to online classes for global students.” The physical and highly personal nature of instruction has made the martial arts sector resistant to any sort of consolidation (something that we have seen in other areas of the fitness industry). One wonders how resilient the new networks of students and teachers being formed now will prove to be, and whether they might be a harbinger of change in the future.

“Martial arts master Yu Danqiu is teaching apprentices around the world online after his club was closed by the COVID-19 outbreak. On May 9, Yu, chairman of the Ming He Quan, or the Calling Crane Fist Research Association of the Fujian Martial Arts association in Jianxindongling village of Cangshan district, in Fuzhou, East China’s Fujian province, taught fist forms remotely to apprentices from five countries, including Russia, Australia, and the United Kingdom.”

continued next post

[GeneChing]

Of particular interest to me has been the differences and similarities in how universities, on the one hand, and martial arts schools, on the other, have handled the migration to an online format. To be entirely honest, I am not sure how successful this experiment has been on he academic side. Chronic absenteeism and levels of rock-bottom morale suggesting actual depression have left many high-school and college instructors struggling to connect with their students. I have seen some great on-line teaching happen in traditional martial arts venues, but this is also a crowd that generally self-selects. Still, it is always fascinating to see these two world coming together as happened recently when the Taijiquan classes sponsored by Miami University’s Confucius Institute were forced to turn to on-line grading for their students’ Duanwei advancement.

“WA martial arts business owner willing to go to jail to stay open.” While most news stories featured discussions of the move to on-line teaching, the previous headline reminds us that a not insignfigant number of schools have refused to take this rout. In the last month there have been several stories of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools that have refused to close their doors in defiance of state and local regulations. One of these is the Battleground Martial Arts Academy in Battleground Washington.
“Rodeman says he disinfects the space on a daily basis, and does everything to maintain a clean environment. But he also noted that his business doesn’t really fit into the phased reopening plan, which left him with few options.
“A law enforcement officer came to my door, handed me a paper that says I can’t even reopen until phase four. I said, ‘Even at phase four, I’m still not legally able to practice jujitsu in here.’”
“So I decided to say, I can’t agree to that, I can’t follow,” he said. “I could be looking at a $5,000 fine and one year in jail. … I’m willing to make a stand because I believe what I’m doing is right.”
Prolonged closures is a threat to all sorts of martial arts schools and gyms. Still, BJJ schools seem to face additional challenges as their style has grounded its legitimacy not in solo-drills with grappling dummies, or Zoom conditioning classes, but rather in constant practice with a non-cooperative opponent. Not all instructors are enthusiastic about the possibilities of remote instruction as a way to stay connected with their students. Additionally, given the popularity of the style many schools are located in large locations which command relatively high rents. Similar stories of defiance are playing out in other states as well, such as the case of Rice Brothers BJJ in California.

“(My group) thinks the virus is on the downscale and there are studies that came out that show most of us have had coronavirus anyway,” Rice said. “We need to operate and we need to pay rent. It’s either we go broke and file bankruptcy or we operate business.”… Rice isn’t going to conduct online classes and remains adamant about allowing his grapplers to train at his gym. Rice says he is making his students follow proper sanitation guidelines by having them wear only freshly-cleaned gis and his staff is washing down the mats before and after each training session.”

Of course the vast majority of BJJ schools have opted to place the safety of their students and local community first by following state and local regulations. Still, the economic costs of being a good citizen are high as the following article reminds us. There is some relief on the horizon for gyms and martial arts studios in states like Georgia and Florida which are currently encouraging reopening. Yet once again, the intimate nature of BJJ training seems to ensure that returning to the mats will not necessarily be a return to normal training.

Gracie Barra Martial Arts School in Kissimmee is implementing several safety measures, including having each person practice in their own square, 6 feet apart from others.
“We are allowing people who live in the same household to train together, such as siblings, spouses, roommates,” Owner of Gracie Barra, Igor Andrade, said.
The school is also requiring temperature checks and sanitizing at the door. Members must also come dressed and ready to avoid crowded use of locker rooms.


While COVID-19 is having a profound impact on small businesses around the globe, its effects are also playing themselves out in the realm of public diplomacy. One Chinese, English language, tabloid ran a story titled “Chinese Martial Arts Help Cubans Deal with COVID-19 Lockdown.” The traditional arts seem to be almost custom made for this sort of event. And given the profound ways in which the COVID-19 outbreak has damaged China’s global image, it is not surprising to see stepped up public diplomacy efforts. At least some of that has come in form of increased support for martial arts communities overseas, as this article reminds us. Facing profound economic dislocation, the Chinese embassy in Rwanda has donated a large amount of food to help support the country’s Kung Fu community in the hopes that they can continue their training.
The National Review (which has a very specific editorial direction) addressed these sorts of efforts in an article titled “Traditional Chinese Medicine as Soft-Power Play.” While it directly addresses TCM’s interplay with COVID crisis, one suspects that similar arguments could be made about certain martial arts programs.
“As scientists and biotechnology companies around the world are racing to develop therapeutic drugs and a vaccine for COVID-19, China has been busy promoting traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) abroad as an effective treatment for the disease. The Chinese government reported that 87 percent of COVID-19 patients in China received TCM as part of their treatment and that 92 percent of them had shown improvement as a result. This claim hasn’t been independently or scientifically verified. So why is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) advocating TCM with such vigor? Ultimately, this push is part of a soft-power play.”

THREADS
Kung Fu Tai Chi is ceasing publication
Covid

[GeneChing]

READ Kung Fu Tai Chi 1992-2020 by Gene Ching



THREADS
Kung-Fu-Tai-Chi-is-ceasing-publication
Print-publishing-death-watch
Summmer-2020

[heavens000]

Basically, now it has only gotten worse, because of the war the process of recession has started and it is very risky to have a business these days. There are a lot of factors to consider in order to lose profits because times are unstable now. For a more effective business adaptation to the current problems, I advise you to continue reading this, which gives advice on how to cope with such problems.

[GeneChing]

Seems like stuff that happened at the beginning of the pandemic was in the jurassic age...

KungFuMagazine.com is doing fine. You'll know when it isn't because this forum will shut down.

[SteveLau]

With the Internet is flourishing, paper media in the publishing market has been declining, and electronic media has been rising. No, I do not think paper media will completely disappear on this planet. There will be an equilibrium.



Regards,

KC
Hong Kong

[Fu-Pow]

Seems like stuff that happened at the beginning of the pandemic was in the jurassic age...

KungFuMagazine.com is doing fine. You'll know when it isn't because this forum will shut down.

That's great to hear!