Interest Monday - Injustice: Gods Among Us

I've been playing this game for a couple of weeks now and I'm in love with it so far. Injustice: Gods Among Us seems to be a mix of Street Fighter with Dragonball Z due to its Super Moves and Wagers respectively. Even though I originally was thrown off by the super simple control scheme, with the fact that you're left without the usage of the circle/B button unless you're equipped with a weapon switch, I got used to it rather quickly and I had a lot of fun.

Fun Friday - Why Mahou Kunoichi?

It's Friday! Yay!
If you're just jumping onto my site, yokoso. If you've been following me from day one, arigatou.

I had a rather interesting dream last night about this blog in particular and all of the commentary going on. Some of them were rather supportive and provoked more discussion which I readily responded. However most had the recurring question - why did I name my blog Mahou Kunoichi? Why couldn't I have simply called this Magical Female Ninja or went with something simpler to pronouce?

Here's your answer my friends.

Training Wednesday - Phase 1 Halfway Mark

I'm halfway through my first phase of Zhan Zhuang training and so far it has been beneficial to my body and spirit. But obviously, the martial arts journey is not easy and the last couple of weeks have certainly been a rough but interesting start.

Phase one of training consists of 5 minutes of Wu Chi, which literally involves standing as still as a tree, followed by Holding the Balloon, also for a 5 minute interval, for a total of 10 minutes of training. While it doesn't sound terrific by martial arts standards, especially if you're used to more dynamic arts, the action of standing completely still AND maintaining a state of physical and mental relaxation is work.

Interest Monday - The Black Kung-Fu Experience

I love watching movies and there's nothing more that I like than the real world applications of the arts. I bumped into this documentary through a random browse of Amazon Prime and I've been hooked ever since.

For those media and history buffs, The Black Kung-Fu Experience gives a worthwhile education on the popularity of martial arts action films in the 60s and 70s as well as the motives for these artists choosing the warrior's way. It also shows the impact of their training on fellow martial artists and American culture as a whole.

I wish the movie was longer. Apparently this was supposed to be a mini-series but due to the limited budget, only one film was created. It does have great popularity on the independent and TV film circuit and it's still getting traffic to this day.

Regardless of film length, this is one film that I really enjoyed and it warmed up my spirits on a cold day. It's also the thing that pushed me to step back into the martial artist's path. In a way, I never felt like I left it. I just took a 4 year detour.

Go on and watch this film. It's really worth the 56 minutes. PBS is selling the DVD and iTunes has the film on sale. You can also stream it for free on Amazon Prime.

 Trailer - 

More info - 
Film's Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TheBlackKungfuExperience
ITVS site - http://www.itvs.org/films/black-kungfu-experience
Amazon Prime Streaming - http://www.amazon.com/The-Black-Kungfu-Experience-Clief/dp/B00D5P17OK/ref=tmm_aiv_title_0/182-1257109-1670415
PBS shop - http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=20299556&cp&kw=black+kungfu+experience&origkw=black+kungfu+experience&sr=1

Welcome to MK!

And no, I'm not referring to Mortal Kombat (even though I love the theme and the games to death).

Welcome to Mahou Kunoichi - the one blog where martial arts interests, media and current training methods collide. I've been invested in this world since I was 4 years old and I feel like now is the time that I recorded my experiences on a blog devoted to my first "profession". I jumped back on the MA bandwagon at 21 1/2 and I'm not looking back!

As today is a math equation (2 x 7 = 14) as well as my half-birthday, I decided to give myself a present to commemorate this special day through starting up this blog. I also hope to help other people and learn more in the process.

I'm currently training in Chi Kung, specifically in the Zhan Zhuang method as illustrated in the book The Way of Energy by Master Lam Kam Chuen. In terms of prior MA experience, I have practiced Aikido for 13 years and dabbled in Tae Kwon Do, Krav Maga and Karate.

I'll talk about my Zhan Zhuang training as well as my back-story and interests - Asian culture and MA-related.

Thank you for jumping on here and feel free to look at my other site - MessagesByTanders - which covers my general interests and college life. I also love discussions so leave me a message. I'll be sure to respond as quickly as possible. :)

Peace, love and goodwill to all on this journey!
<3 TM