Ken Gullette talks with instructor Gerald A. Sharp, who Ken first became aware of in the 1990s when he bought Gerald's "Five Fists of Power" VHS instructional tape. Gerald A. Sharp began studying martial arts at age 12. Later, he studied with several internal arts teachers, notably Wu Taiji with Master Ma Yueh Liang, and he studied Pa-Kua Chang, Hsing-I Chuan and Nei Jia Kung Fu with Zou Shuxian, who was the Top Disciple and adopted daughter of Jiang Rong Qiao. He has won numerous medals in tournaments in the United States and China. In this wide-ranging interview, Ken and Gerald talk about Ge ..read more

Byron Jacobs published an excellent Xingyi Quan book in 2023 titled "Dragon Body, Tiger Spirit." In this book, Byron translates a collection of Xingyi Quan classics and provides commentary that will help anyone who studies and practices this powerful martial art. Byron lives in Beijing and has an extensive martial arts history. He has been a guest previously. Byron is a disciple of Master Di Guoyong. In this interview, Ken Gullette and Byron talk about the book, how it came to be, and details on some of the training tips and methods described in the pages. Running time is one hour and nine min ..read more

This podcast features some of Ken Gullette's favorite clips from the first couple of years the Internal Fighting Arts podcast. It's a Greatest Hits featuring fascinating interviews with great internal martial artists including Michael Chritton, Stefan Berwick, Marin Spivack, Kimberly Ivy, Kent Howard, Byron Jacobs, and Jeet Kune Do instructor Tim Tackett. You'll hear what it's like to meet and train with top Chinese masters, the difficult training -- "eating bitter" -- that real skill requires. You will be as fired up as Ken is listening to personal stories about what it's like to be a discipl ..read more

Ken Gullette interviews instructor Tony Wong. His birth name was Wong Wai Yi and he grew up in Hong Kong before moving to the United States. He lives and teaches in the San Francisco area. Tony has trained with some outstanding teachers. He studied Wing Chun with Kenneth Chung, Wuji Qigong with Cai Song Fang, and he studied Chen Taijiquan with Zhang Xue Xin, Chen Xiaowang, Chen Xiaoxing and Chen Qingzhou. He also studied Yiquan with Chen Zhengzhong. In this interview, Ken talks with Tony, who has interesting stories to tell about his teachers and other experiences, including what it was like t ..read more

Ken Gullette talks with Michael Dorgan, a disciple of the late Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang. Among Michael's other teachers are the late Master Zhang Xue Xin and his gongfu brother, Chen Xiang. Michael has a wonderful new book about his life in martial arts and in journalism. It's titled No Fight No Blame: A Journalist's Life in Martial Arts. The book is available on Amazon and Ken recommends it highly. In this interview, Michael talks about the book, training with teachers including Grandmaster Feng, and how his Taijiquan has helped as he has attempted to overcome cancer in recent year ..read more

Ken Gullette talks with Scott M. Rodell, a Yang style Taijiquan instructor who is known for his swordsmanship. He is the founding director of the Great River Taoist Center in Annandale, Virginia. Scott's principal teacher was Wang Yen-Nien. From Wang, Scott learned the entire Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan system. Scott is known for his swordsmanship and teaches in-person at the center and also online through his website www.grtc.org. Ken has studied martial arts nearly 50 years and has worked with the jian (straight sword) and dao (broadsword or saber) for 35 years, winning many tournament weapons ..read more

If you are like a lot of martial artists, you dream about having your own bricks-and-mortar martial arts school. In this episode, Ken Gullette talks with Kimberly Ivy, who has had a Taijiquan school in Seattle for 30 years, and Michael Celeste, who has owned a school for six years teaching Yang Taiji and Wing Chun in Mt. Arlington, New Jersey. Martial arts skill is not the only thing you need to operate a school. Regardless of your martial arts style, it takes very hard physical work, a little business savvy and a commitment to be there. It's also expensive. This is episode 65 in the podcast ..read more

In a different kind of episode, Ken Gullette does a joint podcast with Graham Barlow, the martial artist behind "The Tai Chi Notebook" podcast. Graham is a former guest on Ken's podcast, and as friends, they realized they both are asked the same type of questions by people who are interested in the internal arts -- questions on subjects such as the meaning of "spirit" in Taiji and whether it's okay to do weight training when studying Taiji. Ken and Graham sometimes see these issues differently, so they decided to discuss the questions and release the conversation on both of their podcasts. Gra ..read more

Ken Gullette talks with Taoist Monk Yun Rou about applying philosophy to the sobering reality of death. Everyone will die, but for those who are diagnosed with a life-threatening condition, as both Ken and Monk Yun Rou have experienced, the question arises: how do you apply your philosophy or religion to give you peace at the time you are standing at the edge of eternity? This conversation looks at it from the perspective of philosophy. Yun Rou teaches Taoist philosophy and Taiji. He is also a writer, with many books available through Amazon. His website is www.monkyunrou.com. Ken teaches the ..read more

Ken Gullette talks with Ryan Craig, an instructor of Chen style Taijiquan in Philadelphia, PA. Ryan is a student of Nabil Ranne, who is a disciple of Chen Yu and lives in Berlin. Ken has also studied with Nabil for the past two years, so this is a conversation between two Taiji guys geeking out over the art and having fun talking about starting in the Chen Village line, then making a transition to the Chen Zhaokui line of Chen style. Ken met Ryan in May 2022 when Ryan hosted Nabil for a four-day workshop in Philadelphia. Ryan's website is www.phillychentaiji.com. Ken's website is www.internalf ..read more