clfsean

It's the Dingji Ma from Hung Sing Choy Lee Fut. More closely related to the Futsan Hung Sing CLF brought to the US by Lau Bun in the 20's. It's not the same as a bow & arrow stance. The feet aren't at a matched 45 degree angle. That would be Bow & Arrow or Waan Gong Ma. We use that for moving forward. The Dingji Ma isn't a forward directing posture. At least in my experience with it so far.

Welcome! Glad to share what little I know. Nah it's a style to be certain, but there are flavors & variations that make it wide spread & not "cookie cutter". Think of it like a "college" & the various subsets "school of ... " Yeah ... the one that came down from Chan Yiu Chi (Chan Koon Pak's son) headed by Chen Yong Fa is probably considered "it". Again though, depends on who you ask.

In a nutshell which can be broken down if you want / need ... There are 3 main branches of Choy Lay Fut -- Chan Family -- Futsan Hung Sing -- Buk Sing As to the differences, there are plenty. The thing that makes all three CLF is the fact they all use the 10 seed principles (gwa, chaap, so, pau, kuhp, jong, kum, na, biu, ding). The variations come with application theory, hei gong & noi gong training, weapon/empty hand/dummy sets, outside influences, etc... Then there are also divisions with the 3 main branches to create other smaller or more distinct lines. For instance a level down look at the 3 branches above could look like this (depending on who you talk to) -- Chan Family -- Chan On Bak (became Kong Chow line under DFW umbrella) -- Chan Koon Bak (umbrella'd as Wing Sing under Chen Yong Fa) -- Futsan Hung Sing -- Buk Sing Choy Lay Fut -- Lau Bun Hung Sing And it gets even deeper & more clouded from there easily. However, ALL practice the same stances & seeds above with room for subtle substitution based on teachings & training. The easiest thing is to get a little better history of the teacher & go from there. Lemme know if there's anything else. OH ... I have practiced Lau Bun Hung Sing, Kong Chow line from DFW & now am in the Chan Tai San line from the Green Cloud Monastary & Chan Sai Mo, which that falls under Chan On Bak so there are shared sets between the orthodox Chan CLF line of Chen Yong Fa & DFW, with our own twist to them.

Yeah... been to China/Tibet. Neat to see & say it's been done. But honestly the MA quality there wasn't all that I had expected to find. But that's ok, there's plenty here that fits my needs/expectations. I think everybody should at one time or another make a trip to see where "it" came from no matter the flavor, train on the same ground, get a chance to see the culture that created it, etc ...

No single art does. It's the practitioner, how well they understand the mechanics taught, how well the teacher got the mechanics across to the student, etc ... Some stress it more, some don't. But no single "art" produced more or less of anything.

Leung Shum of Ying Jow Pai (Eagle Claw) starts everybody off with a black sash "so now you have a black belt, we can just focus on training". Which this by the by isn't unusual in TCMAs since most of the time sashes are used to notate schools & affiliations, not ranks at least "back in the day". Very few still continue that practice unfortunately.

It's an ok movie with lots of movie fu.

My question(s) concerning "Shaolin Kenpo" follow this line ... Who'd he study under? How long did he study? Why the need to combine two disparate things? Where'd the "Shaolin" go once he named it "Shaolin Kenpo"? Why not name it "Shorin Kenpo"? "Shaolin Kenpo" makes as much sense as "French Tacos". Then again, I'm a bit of purist. That's a good starting spot for me. If it works, it works. I'm not saying one way or another, but let's be honest (in general terms) about what's what & be up front about things.

Ed Parker was friends with Ark Y Wong (5 Families 5 Animals) in LA. Parker & Ralph Castro used to go to San Francisco's Chinatown during Chinese New Year & film different schools demo'ing for the celebration. I forgot the name of the guy that he "teamed" with early on that exposed him to/taught/showed a version of Hung Ga's "Tiger Crane Duet" (Fu Hok Seurng Ying Kuen). James somebody ... Woo maybe? This is all pretty well known stuff. I've read about Chow's father teaching him before meeting up with Mitose. But I saw a video once of Chow performing & I saw nothing overtly resembling CMA's in what he did. He looked very Japanese/Okinawan with what he did. If Parker had a CMA training at some point, it wasn't very deep & the impact on what is considered Kenpo now is minimal if barely existing in technique. There are ideas there (circle, some body mechanics) that lend to CMAs but it's nothing special or conclusive. Just some thoughts & this isn't any kind of slighting or the like Kenpo. Just thoughts from a CMA practitioner.

No... Wing Chun is about as fractured & opinion driven as anything you can imagine. I'm not a WC player so I can't tell you what you should/shouldn't see, but the most important thing at this point is to feel it. Go feel it. Once you have felt it, you'll get a better idea of what you're looking for/quality of the instruction. But play within their framework to be honest about what you experience. Don't try to overlay your existing Shotokan with it.

Not good... not good really at all

Sure you can but to expect any quality or positive results I gotta say no. CMA's on the surface are relatively simple looking but it's the small things that you don't see but feel to make things work. It'd be like trying to learn aikido by video without a partner. Even with some of the better known "distance courses" can't do much more than surface motions for you & that will be at a rudimentary level only. It really truly requires a good qualified teacher to make sure you get what you're wanting. Where abouts are you located? General area will do. Sometimes you might be surprised with what's out there but not necessarily in the Yellow Pages.

Nope. Having studying Xingyi for a little while, it's not something that can be done online much like most martial arts of serious value & content. You need a teacher. Your notion of Xingyi focusing on speed is off base... way off base. That kinda shows you need a teacher to guide you from San Ti & Wu Ji up through the elements & forward. That's not even making contact yet. If a teacher isn't in your area, you need to make arrangements to travel to one sporadically, study hard and MAYBE get videos from them on what you've studied with them for reference while you plan your next visit to study with them. Sorry but that's the honest truth.

That's San Da (Cantonese) or San Shou (Mandarin). It's the "free fighting" aspect of TCMA's in a sport organized format. In essence it is Chinese sport kickboxing. This is Kung Fu San Soo...

Yeah if your college(town) has a CMA available, be ready to re-adjust your body.

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Let's also not forgot that his training in WC was not complete or even close. I think it was only about 2 years. Sure he learned some other sets (forms, not even close to other styles per se) and techniques, but his "traditional" training was far from thorough. What he was though was a good fighter with some training. But his outlook was a bit different given cultural background, training background & subsequent vision & him just being him. Believe me, the last thing I want is to get by anybody that knows how to integrate their body properly into a strike... OMA, JMA, CMA, KMA, etc...

Very true. I remember starting in 81 thinking "I'll never make it". Our class was held in a building with minimal heat, no AC and one door. The building was cinderblock & polished concrete for the floor. Our black belts were that perceived spooky good back then. There were no kids classes. I was 11 & started in the only class held. Now I look back & feel a sense of accomplishment in earning that first rank there, let alone a black belt at the earliest age they would award one (16), as compared to the run-of-the-mill "junior black belt club" type schools so common now. That was magic & mystery back then & before. Now it's payable over a guaranteed contract price.

Yeah... I can get behind that in a general sense.

Oh I did. Started in 1981 in old MDK TKD, then went to Ninpo Taijutsu in the Bujinkan, smattering of Aikido here & there. Then CMAs made their way under my skin in 1999 & been here since.

CMA's aren't being forgotten. Shadowed by other things due to whatever the personal reasons of the practitioner sure, but not forgotten. Everything ebbs & flows based on trends. The people who are intent about learning it, will find it & study. Those who aren't, won't. Either way, it's not going away & there could be big things coming for the CMA community in general over the next 7 to 8 years. We'll have to wait & see. But I think things are just fine.

Here... try this... visual aid for comparing similarities rather than obvious differences... Sanchin anybody???

Differences vs similarities... skip differences. That's far to easy & simplistic. Look to what's similar & you can see what the Chinese taught, what the Okinawans adapted & changed & then what is totally Okinawan. Uechi-ryu is the closest I've come across to what's taught in China. Specifically from the Fujian province & area. Goju-ryu to me has the best interpretation & blending of China & Okinawa.

They're buddies of mine.

Howdy! Long time MA practitioner, long time forum time waster, first time here though!!