My BJJ book, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: The Ultimate Illustrated Guidebook, co-authored with Seymour Yang is now on pre-sale at meerkatsu.com. The first edition will only be on sale until June 11, so if you want a copy, order now! In this podcast I talk to Seymour about how we made the book. This is a self-published limited-edition print run. It’s a gorgeously-printed hardback edition. At over 260 pages, with 970+ beautiful illustrations this is the ultimate coffee table BJJ book, but it doesn’t just ...
Jun 07, 2025•1 hr 49 min•Season 2Ep. 39
In this podcast I talk to internal martial artist Ethan Murchie about this teacher Vince Black from whom he learned xing yi mixed with elements of Sufism and Shamanism, as well as the North American Tang Shou Tao Association which Vince set up and is still running today. We also cover the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal medicine (the Huangdi Neijing) which Ethan teaches through his Living Neijing website, the meaning of Chinese terms like qi, peng, lu, ji and an, as well as his tai chi teac...
Mar 30, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Simon Thakur is the founder of Ancestral Movement "An ecological approach to movement and mind-body practice, exploring ancient ancestral patterns of movement and awareness built into our bodies, rediscovering the power, grace and ease of natural movement and our bodies’ innate connection to the rest of the living world. In this episode we cover many subjects including Yoga, Chinese Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Tai Chi, Shamanism and more! Simon's website: https://www.ancestralmovement.com...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Alan Wycherley runs the YouTube channel 'In Defence of the Traditional Martial Arts' and is a tai chi practitioner who is interested in using the art as a practical self-defence system. In Defence of the Traditional Martial Arts: https://www.youtube.com/@indefenceofthetraditionalma Twitter: https://x.com/alwycherley The Fajin Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thefajinproject Podcast by The Tai Chi Notebook (c) 2025 https://thetaichinotebook.com/...
Jan 11, 2025•44 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Baguazhang misconceptions with Edward Hines My guest for episode 35 is Edward Hines, a long time Baguazhang student of Lou Dexiu. Ed started training Bagua in Taiwan way back in 1991, and has continued ever since. He now teaches online at I-bagua.com and has books about Baguazhang you can find on Amazon. To frame our chat we decided to cast around for the most common misconceptions you hear about Baguazhang, and address each of them, one at a time. Links: www.i-bagua.com thetaichinotebook.com...
Oct 31, 2024•57 min•Season 2Ep. 35
This episode of The Tai Chi Notebook podcast is slightly different to a regular episode. There isn't a guest, but that doesn't mean I'm alone... This episode is brought to you using the power of AI. I fed a recent blog post from The Tai Chi Notebook into Google's NotebookLM, an AI that produces a podcast based on your article, just to see what would happen and the result was so good that I decided to put it out as a real episode! See what you think. Original blog post: https://thetaichinotebook....
Sep 22, 2024•12 min•Season 2Ep. 34
My guest for the latest episode of The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast is Tina Faulkner Elders, chief instructor of the RuYi School of Taijiquan and Qigong in Aberdeenshire. We talk about Tina’s training in qigong, first with her father, then in Beijing, China, and then on Wudang mountain itself, the legendary home of Taoism. Links: RuYi School of Taijiquan and Qigong https://ruyischool.com/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RuyiAberdeenshire/ Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsf...
Aug 28, 2024•45 min•Season 2Ep. 33
In episode 32 of The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast, I’m joined by Augustus John Roe, who is an author and martial artist living and working in Vietnam. In our interview I get a chance to ask Gus about what traditional martial arts are like in Vietnam, how the MMA scene there developed and how popular Tai Chi is, not to mention the surprising involvement of Ho Chi Minh in the early development of the 24-Step Tai Chi form. Links: Augustus John Roe: https://www.augustusjohnroe.com/ Ho Chi Minh Tai Chi: ...
Jul 14, 2024•38 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Randy Brown is a Mantis Boxing and BJJ black belt coach teaching in the USA. In this podcast we explore how Randy has reworked his Mantis Boxing to explore the grappling potential hidden in its forms and how they can interact with his Brazilian Jiujitsu. We talk about a range of subjects including self defence vs sport, weapons vs barehand and how to turn dead systems into living arts again. Links: https://randybrownmantisboxing.com/
Jun 09, 2024•30 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Nabil Ranné is a Chen style teacher living in Berlin who offers classes and online training at CTN Academy https://www.ctn.academy/ Nabil is a student of Chen Yu who is the only son of Chen ZhaoKui and grandson of the famous Chen Fake. Here’s what we talk about: Timestamps: 1.00: Nabil’s background in martial arts and what attracted him to Chen style Tai Chi 3.40: What is Jin in Tai Chi? 7.30: What makes Tai Chi different to other marital arts? 11.15: What is the strategy for Tai Chi? 16.00: Wha...
Apr 17, 2024•58 min•Season 2Ep. 30
This month's guest is Richard Johnson a long-time student of Joseph Chen of Chen Style Practical Method. As well as a Tai Chi practitioner and teacher, Richard is a full time movement coach working with athletes, so he brings an appreciation of athletic movement to his views on Tai Chi. In our discussion Richard delves deeply into the internal workings of the Chen Style Practical Method and we talk a lot some interesting movement principles based around rotation. We also talk about how the Pract...
Nov 01, 2023•50 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Jess O’Brien is the author of the book Neijiaquan and co host of the Neijiaquan podcast, which he runs with Isaac Kamins. Since 1999, Jess has studied extensively under BK Frantzis. Over the years, he has also trained with other, preeminent internal martial artists like Luo De Xiu. He has been active in martial arts since his teens. In this episode we discuss what drew Jess to the internal arts and how he trained with various different teachers before becoming a student of Bruce Kumar Frantzis. ...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Bruce Lee will be no stranger to anybody listening to The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast - even 50 years after his death he remains the most famous martial artist in the world. But could he actually fight? World Champions in karate competition have gone on record to point out that he never once competed in tournaments. So, were his martial abilities simply a trick of the camera? My guest for this episode is Bruce Lee authority and bestselling author John Little. John has a new book out called Wrath of...
Sep 07, 2023•56 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Bājíquán (八極拳) or shorter just Baji, is commonly known as “the martial art of bodyguards”. It emphasises the use of attacks that close down the distance as well as explosive close combat techniques such as combinations of elbow, knee and takedown techniques. Both Rikard Elofsson and Miika Wikberg are senior Baji students of Lü Baochun, based in Finland who has over 40 years’ experience in the training and practice of baji. He has trained under many of the famous martial artists who used the styl...
Jul 14, 2023•55 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Tai Chi Notebook podcast! My guest today is Simon Cox, who co runs the Okanagan Valley Wudang (https://www.okanaganvalleywudang.com/) with his wife Brandi in Penticton, British Columbia. Simon and Brandi spent six years living and training in China under master Yuan Xiu Gang at the Wudang Daoist Traditional Kung Fu Academy. While there they studied Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, meditation, herbal medicine, Daoist music, and ancient and modern Chinese lang...
Jul 03, 2023•50 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Episode 24: Tai Chi and Taoism on Wudang Mountain with George Thompson George Thompson is a film maker and Tai Chi teacher who studied on Wudang Mountain in China under Master Gu. His videos at https://www.youtube.com/@George-Thompson have been watched by over 15 million people and has over 200K subscribers. He runs the Wayfinder Academy at https://www.wayfinder.academy through which he teaches online courses for balanced living. In this episode I ask George what it is like to live and train Tai...
May 05, 2023•39 min•Season 2Ep. 24
In this episode I catch up with my old Xing Yi training partner Mike Ash who has been doing marital arts for years. We talk about how we met, Mike's training history and the different martial arts he's trained in over the years as well as his latest adventures in Yang style Tai Chi and Chi Kung. We also discuss what makes a martial art popular and the current trend towards MMA, why Tai Chi is still so popular and why Xing Yi isn't in comparison. Enjoy the episode and check out thetaichinotebook....
Apr 19, 2023•50 min•Season 2Ep. 23
In the latest episode of the Tai Chi Notebook podcast host Graham is left all on his own without a guest, so he’s decided to pick up a book and read it to you! He’s gone for The Tai Chi Classic, one of the core works which make up a collection known as The Tai Chi Classics. Graham goes through the text a paragraph at a time and gives his interpretation of what the classic is saying. We hope you enjoy! The Tai Chi Classic In motion, the whole body should be light and agile, with all parts linked ...
Mar 31, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Hello and welcome to the first Tai Chi Notebook podcast of 2023! Happy Year of the Rabbit! My guest for this episode is Will Wain Williams. Will has a background in Taiji Mantis Kung Fu, which he trained in China, where he also lived for 13 years. He’s traveled around Asia documenting ancient Kung Fu systems for his YouTube Channel Monkey Steals Peach ( https://www.youtube.com/@MonkeyStealsPeach ). I talk to Will’s about his travels documenting kung fu styles, as well as upcoming trip to Taiwan ...
Jan 31, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Matt Hill is the owner of the Systema Academy in Wiltshire, England. Matt has a long history in martial arts, starting with Aikido, training under Morihiro Saito Sensei in Japan in the early 90s. From there he joined the Parachute Regiment leaving as a Captain in 2003. After this he started training in Systema under Vladimir Vasiliev and now teaches Systema, Bushcraft and leads groups trekking through jungles all around the world. Matt was kind enough to give me a 1-1 in Systema before we record...
Nov 22, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Salvatore Pace, or Salvo for short is a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu and owner of Gracie Barra Bath, the Head Quarters of Gracie Barra in the South West of the UK, Gracie Barra West Wilts and co-owner of Gracie Barra Gillingham. He is a two time NAGA European Champion and Grappler's Quest champion. Salvo grew up in Sicily and had a passion for martial arts as a young boy, practicing everything he could get his hands on, from boxing and Kung Fu to wrestling, and then MMA in the eme...
Nov 01, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 19
My guest for this episode is Matthew Kreuger who hails all the way from sunny Alaska where he runs a his own podcast called ‘Walking with the Tengu’, which explores classics texts and writings for the modern martial artist. Matthew is also a fellow practitioner of Brazilian jiujitsu and also practice the Japanese sword art of Iaido and the Chinese throwing art of Shuai Jiao. Today we mainly discuss the topic of warriorship, but we actually start off with the topic of the performance aspects of m...
Oct 07, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Today’s episode is an interview with my old friend Professor Paul Bowman of Cardiff University who is something of a mover and shaker in the academic field of martial arts studies. Paul has written several academic books on martial arts including Martial Arts Mythologies, The Invention of Martial Arts and Theorising Bruce Lee. He also co-edits the Martial Arts Studies Journal for the Martial Arts Studies Research Network. Years ago I taught Paul attended my Tai Chi class- and now we both train B...
Sep 12, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 17
My guest in this episode will need no introduction to anybody who trains in the Chinese styles of Xing Yi and Baguazhang, especially in the United States. Tim Cartmell is a lifelong martial artist who spent many years living in Asia learning the internal arts, before heading back to the US where he took up BJJ, becoming a black belt. Tim is now the head jiujitsu coach at Ace Jiujitsu Academy in Fountain Valley, California where he teaches classes and trains professional MMA fighters. https://www...
Aug 22, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 16
In this episode I’m teaming up with Ken Gullette, to answer the kind of questions that Tai Chi teachers get asked all the time. Ken is an all-round good guy and owner of the Internal Fighting Arts website where he teaches the arts of Xing Yi, Bagua and Tai Chi at a very reasonable monthly cost. Check him out at www.internalfightingarts.com Ken is a Chen style guy, and I’m a Yang style guy so it’s no surprise we have slightly different views on a lot of different topics, but that’s part of the fu...
Jul 22, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 15
In this episode my guest is Phil Duffy, a senior student of Sifu Wan Kei-Ho from Hong Kong, who carries on a lineage of Northern Shaolin and Buk Sing Choy Li Fut from the famous masters Ku Yu Chang and Tam Sam. Buk Sing is a much rarer sub style of Choy Li Fut that involves less long forms and more conditioning and drills, and it’s the same style of Choy Li Fut that I learned in the UK, so when I met Phil back in the 2000s we had a lot to talk about. We’ve kept in touch over the years so it was ...
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 14
In this episode my guest is Seymour Yang, a long time acquaintance of mine who is also something of a legend in the BJJ world, where he goes by the name Meerkatsu and is famous for his BJJ artworks, which get turned into beautiful t-shirts, rash guards and gis. Seymour is also a black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu and teaches at the Roger Gracie academy in South Hertfordshire. So, it’s no surprise that this episode is highly focused on the art of Brazilian jiujitsu. We’re talking right after we bot...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 13
My guest in this episode is Michael Babin a Tai Chi practitioner from Ottawa, Canada who has been teaching Tai Chi since the 1980s. He’s primarily a Yang style practitioner, but also does a bit of Sun style Tai Chi on the side. Michael is now officially retired from running his own school, but still keeps his hand in training 3 or 4 times a week with his old students. In our discussion we talk a lot about the problems associated with teaching Tai Chi and what the Tai Chi scene was like in Canada...
Apr 25, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Arlene Faulk is the author of Walking on Pins and Needles, her memoir of living with multiple sclerosis without a diagnosis for many years, spending two years not getting up from the couch and how she eventually found Tai Chi and how it helped her combat the disease and regain her health, eventually becoming a Tai Chi teacher herself. Make sure you listen right to the end as we have some tips from Arlene on how you can use Tai Chi principles to feel better right now as you listen to the podcast....
Mar 11, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Welcome to the first Tai Chi Notebook Podcast of 2022. Happy new year of the tiger and I hope you are in good health. In this episode my guest is David Rogers of the Rising Crane Chinese Marital Arts school in the UK. David has an extensive background in Chinese martial arts and has been training since 1984 and teaching for over 25 years, mainly in Tai Chi and Hap Gar, but he’s also trained people for MMA fights and been quite involved in the competition scene, so he’s got lots of great insights...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 10
