Zhong Gau

mentereligius: just do the twist.

Ding: yep.

Law Hon Gung: Hung Fot person, did you study with Tai or Cheng?

Chuang Tzu Ni of seattle has a Chinese student who has a guang do in portland. they also have another in the northern cali-so ore area. not sure what they're called, though.

basic forum question: is kung fu effective? in 1995 i crushed the skull of African Arts Founder James MeClanehan with a roundhouse punch that forensic measurements indicated yielded 527 pounds of force or 670 foot-pounds.

I've heard of that technique.

the nice thng about this discussion is it is very much a circular expression, a dance even, of two opponents sizing each other up and deciding when to pounce.

Light work:

since y'all like to gritch about the meaning of words so much perhaps you should read the philosophy of Martin Heidegger.

regaurding characters: many different character in chinese have pronunciations that our anglican ears can't differentiate so they all sound like a similar word , Zhang, for instance: ba gua zhang zhang gung/zhong gau zhang xiamen zhang hua yu zhang gee/gong gi most characters have multiple meanings that can only be deciphered through parcing the context.

Yeah, but isn't the nuance something like 'continuously changing stance' or 'approach'

Hung Gar was founded on the basis of combining the hardest of the hard and the softest of the soft. thus Tiger-Crane. All of its techniques can be boiled down to techniques from these two systems and variations. It is cansidered a Hard-Soft system. It is the oldest of the Choy Li Fut principle governed styles. It's primary empty hand forms are the Seven Star Linking/ Five Elements Cascade, Profound, Wave, Tiger-Crane, Whipping Crane and Iron Whip. Styles that are similar to hung gar are: Mok gar, fut gar, hung fot, crane, snake, tiger, dragon, 5 elements hsing-I, Sil Lum, Mantis Boxing. Choy Li Fut has no direct translation but the concept in english is a combination of a hard whirlwind and a rock at the end of a rope, or a flail. A tornado carrying debris comes to mind.

Check Chuang Tzu Ni's schools and publications out of seattle, wa. he was a buddist prefect durring the Cultural Revolution. They teach Ba gua, and a non named Choy li fut to devotees who join thier temple. Also founded Earth Form tai chi. Check some of the Shaolin weapons videos. the guy that does the Monk's spade is the real thing. Durring the Maoist revolution those monks that survived the purging of the temples and made it to beijing and hong Kong joined wushu national teams to hide. Shaolin systems common in the states: Hung Gar, Hung Fot, Wah Lum, Wing Chun, Ba Gua.

try wing lam enterprises (WLE.com) they're a mostly hung gar outlet.

Capt Jack: you're in the heart of Hung Gar Territory. Tiger Crane is the stylistic signature of Hung Gar. Praying Mantis has several styles: Wah Lum style/Chat Tsing form foundation, Southern Praying Mantis Boxing Form (which comes from the Five Families of Sil Lum and is the original character of the other mantis forms/styles), Nothern Crane (mantis substyle), 7 star mantis form. as for the weapons, all those are fairly standard Shaolin weapons ( in all shaolin systems) except the chain/whip-chain. that is a characteristic hung gar-fut gar-hung fot weapon.

Wing chun is excellent for fighting close in and can destroy long distance styles by getting in close where they are ineffective. it is primarily hands and elbows but the techniques can be applied to your feet as well. don't be fooled by the distance of its attacks: it still uses full length punches to get the most affect. It is best suited for fighting one opponent in a crowded phonebooth or nightclub.

sounds fun..

gracie jitsu looks a lot like Monkey groundfighting/chin na.

sorry.

Some of the teaching videos are okay. but you probably won't get much of the internal stuff. Tai-chi.com has the largest selection of tai chi stuff. keep in mind that tai chi is not like *any* korean or japanese arts. the muscle usage is completely different. Never use a tight muscle for anything: your movements should be slow fluid and relaxed. Your tkd/karate will suffer and get sloppy but if you do tai chi and do it well you can probably make the transition to Kung fu. Jet Li's styles are TKD and Tai Chi. Yang style is the easiest of the lot. unless you can find someone who can teach it to you (most kung fu guang dos also offer a tai chi/qi gong session) your best bet would be the 88 manuever form. there are several tapes but make sure you get one that shows from a right rear oblique, front and rear views and repeats moves. stay away from the 'competition' forms as these are for retired gymnasts and are much more difficult even for masters of the forms.

Are you looking for a relationship or a Simu?

"Wah Lum" Means Good Place. They are a choy li fut style but focus on less than combative techniques. It is a Junked terrestrial style and has wushu-i-ness. It was developed by my teacher's rival when they both studied with Yip Mann, a true chinese grandmaster. the sytem founder, Chan Pui, developed a very good understanding of kung fu fighting basics but lacked substantial knowledge of advanced fighting techniques, as evidenced by my teacher's defeating both Yip Mann and Chan Pui together. Most Wah Lum teachers do not know intimate details of their style's history or its problems. However, if someone comes to me and asks me to teach them from the beginning i usually tell them to study tai chi, wing chun and wah lum for two or three years until they get a good foundation. It'd be cheaper than paying my hourly fee and i don't think most people want to learn the kinds of techniques that would get them into trouble with the law or a survivor's lawyer.

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yeah, If there is an unquenchable desire to get real bare knuckle fighting experience, or even to test what you've learned i can refer you to several very traditional chinese stylists who'd love to feed you to thier students.