New book available now

My new book comes out. It’s all about Choy Lee Fut, this time covering one of the most well known and popular forms of this martial arts system, Siu Mui Fa Kyun, or Small Plum Blossom Fist. Besides the completed form, you can find some traditional fight applications and other contents related with the art itself.

Rolando Martins | Published 31 March 2019

My new book is available for sale now at any Amazon online store. Designed a couple of years ago, it took its time to mature, a bit like wine in oak casks, to make sure that I wouldn’t publish something sensuous and monotonous, but rather aromatic, mature and deep. I was careful enough to design it with decent illustrative quality and appealing contents, a sober yet functional and orderly layout, neat photographic production and comfortable reading, making it easy to interpret, yet objective and pragmatic. Ultimately, a reference manual for this discipline, which I believe it may become.

This book is the natural extension of my earlier publication, delving deeper into technical aspects that were merely touched upon in “Fundamental Choy Lee Fut Kung Fu”. This is beyond any doubt a technical book, taking on such a popular subject in the Choy Lee Fut community – I should add, in the Kung Fu community in general – as the practice of choreographies or pre-arranged movements, that simulate combat against imaginary opponents. The book approaches in a systematic and deep manner, one of the most popular choreographies of this system of Kung Fu: Siu Mui Fa Kyun, or Small Plum Blossom Hand Form.

The structural rig of the book is essentially based on the detailed description of this famous technical sequence, supported by photographs, diagrams and detailed descriptions of each of its movements, and with the peculiarity of frequently making historical references to movements that have since evolved or diverged (depending on each one’s opinion), to their present configuration.

In addition, and after some considerations on theoretical aspects of Chinese martial arts, I would draw your attention to a chapter devoted to the most appropriate way of approaching the practice of this sequence, which applies naturally to any other sequence of Choy Lee Fut – eventually other martial arts – given the natural transversal characteristics of this type of training.

I end the book with some practical applications, trying to convey an idea of the functional aspect of the most popular exercises. It should be noted that these applications follow the martial traditions of the school, for me one of the most interesting aspects of the traditional martial arts, and an indispensable stage for the understanding of Choy Lee Fut as an global fighting art and self-defense system.

For an overall idea of the book, I include the index below. You can look at the contents within and have an idea what could you expect, because the title may be somewhat misleading in relation to the content, perhaps going a little further than the simplicity of couple words could reveal.

This particular sequence was first taught to me by my first CLF master, the well-known Dr. Gaspar García Lopez, recently deceased, being that throughout my learning path I kept adapting it and adapting myself, to the many variations that I have come across. It was however with Master Chen Yon Fa that I corrected it in a deeper way, although even within this lineage, there may be some variations in sequence details, which may usually adapt better to this or that practitioner which also, ultimately, have been transmitted differently by this or that teacher.

However, because so many variations can create some confusion among (but not limited to) practitioners and connoisseurs, I believe that a detailed description, with frequent allusions to the original sequence – created by the 3rd generation Grand Master Chan Yiu Chi – may situate the enthusiast within the wide technical diversity of Choy Lee Fut, and frame him/her deeply in the fundamental practice principles, ultimately serving as a reference manual for such a particular and dear subject, to all enthusiasts of this centuries-old martial art.

Therefore, dear visitor, if yours is the interest in acquiring one of these books, just follow the link that appears beoolw the book pictures on thes article..

Last but not least, note that this book is published in my native language, Portuguese, and that the English translation is in the process. I assume that sometime in 2019 will be available also in English, a moment that I will announce here, so the best way to know it is to follow me on any social media that you ca find here at my website.