My wife and I did a piece for the March/April issue (which I think is on the newsstands now) of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine on Taiwanese Daoist temple parades. The article is called Street Fighting Men (because of the martial tone of the parades.).

To give folks an idea of what these parades are about, here is a photo I shot from our patio of two of the Daoist generals walking past the 7-11. The two are the 7th and 8th Lords.


This is some of the parade performers playing around in the back alley of my house. What the deal is, is they are taking a break while waiting for the other troupes to arrive.

So the article talks a bit about all that. I probably have mentioned this before, but I do have a lot of respect for Gene Ching, who is the editor of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine because he is trying to bring in wider Chinese culture into his martial arts magazine.

Take care,
Brian

Cheers Brian,
Gene Ching's Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine is one I usually try to grab a copy of. Always good for a few interesting articles.

Hi Mal,
Yeah, it is kind of interesting because for the majority of Taiwanese their only "live" exposure (I mean other than Shaw Brothers movies and Kung Fu soap operas) to Chinese martial arts comes through these Daoist temple street parades and performances.

So thanks for the kind words. You do Yang style taiji right?

take care,
Brian

Yes, Yang style Tai Chi and Tong Long (southern preying mantis)

Don't get that sort of culture here in the back yard (alley) of my house. Although people find it strange that I occasionally get kangaroos (They come to eat the weeds out of my poorly maintained yard)