David

Basically Jackie Chan. #1 Fearless Hyena - amazing ripped body and cartwheels on his head. #2 Drunken Master - cool music #3 Hand of Death - cool story and cool music

Yiquan is pure mind-training qigong isn't it? Not as holistic as standing on post. Rgds, David

I'll eat my hat if this question is older than Star Wars... Do you follow?

Glad to hear it . There's a parallel thread in the general forum...

Deja-vu! I just posted my answer to this on the identically-named topic in the CMA forum. Must resist cross-posting. ...must resist... I nominate Hakka shorthand kung fu styles such as my own southern mantis, as explained in that thread. I don't care how many punches you can do in a second - on a good day, I can deliver 3 or more hits simultaneously eg my right hand and elbow/forearm strike separate targets in one action while my other arm seizes while my right foot stomps some toes = 4 hits . But what it all boils down to is that speed is relative (haha) to the philosphy of the style and it means different things at different times in differetn circumstances. All styles are fast or they're dead. Rgds, David

My favourite quote on speed from Jonathon Livingstone Seagull: - Abridged quote from the late Jane Hallander's "Guide to Kung Fu Fighting Styles" talking about my style - all about speed: - Rgds, David

Hung Gar has a good rep where it's trained hard: lacklustre training won't cut it with this style. Some top mantis people have trained HG first, and it was reckoned to be the best possible foundation. Rgds, David

Buddha's second stage is said to be "following the breath" where one mentally follows the air in and out. Being one with your environment is the act of non-interfering participation in it. Good meditative topic . Rgds, David

It is "standing like a tree" or "standing on post" chi gung, using particular hand positions. You could learn it from the web or book.

I'min no position to judge, but I have been wondering about styles with high form-counts. If the style requires 50 or 90 forms to express it, how integrated is it? Can content from all forms be used with content from all the others? How do you make 10,000 techniques your own instinctive arsenal? My own mantis expanded from 4 or 5 to 30+ now. The main cause of this is that techniques used once in a particular form were drawn out and put into their own form so they get more attention/practice. Is the resulting form really a form worthy of the name, or a glorified drill? Do styles with 90 or more forms really just have a huge number of tedious drills, two for every technique? Rgds, David

Karatekid7, I know nothing of kiai's. In my art we keep our mouths tight shut mainly for defensive purposes. AnonymousOne, what special power are you on about? What mysticism? And I think ki is mental focus in the same way a human is a machine - ie it doesn't tell half the story. Rgds, David

Maybe 15 minutes of that position is too long for you. Tension comes as breaking-point approaches when you haven't got the hang of relaxation. Try not to *think* that you're holding your arms up; instead imagine that they're lightly resting on big balls or floating on water. That kind of thing... Rgds, David

I know mine but it wouldn't interest, or convey much, to anyone here. Nor am I generally interested in anyone else's save that a pertinent point arises from it. Kung fu is just too big to keep tabs on. Rgds, David PS Never seen the apostrophe in Hawaii before: is that the official spelling?

I know nothing, especially about Karate... Your throat kiai could be through incorrect emphasis in the strike. Perhaps you have a mental image of your body that is too much of an inverted triangle with shoulders broad and chest puffed out? Maximum strength comes from your centre: the dan tien and the body's core muscles of the waist. If so, shake it out, loosen up and breathe deep. Then again, this advice might ruin your Karate! There're different flavours of chi experience and I'm no expert at any of them. Magnetic experiences come with sensitivity work eg partner drills. Your hand sticks to the other in the sense that it effortlessly follows the other's motion. Electric-shock feelings... come in striking and seizing scenarios where the almost instantaneous nature of the technique overwhelms. Don't think this qualifies as a chi-feeling but it's certainly the result of chi kung. There's a form with the cool name "18 Dark Internal Power Hands" which can give me a feeling like I'm under water: my skin is super-sensitive to the air, feeling it intensely and my hearing blurs through overstimulation (I guess) of the ear-drum. Just like being under water. Other common effects are tremors and localised heat eg in the palms. Effects you can't feel but others can include a sandbag-like firmness and heaviness to the flesh and great power. Some principles of various practices with possible explanations: - Visualisation is useful in that mind leads the chi which leads the body. eg using intention to focus on the paths or major points as you move improves line and power. Flicking as if to get rid of water from your skin, shakes out knots in your muscles and sinews, acts like combing your hair enabling better (uninterrupted) chi flow. Stretching or openness through relaxation of muscle groups allows the chi to reach further and hence flow stronger. eg relaxing the thighs opens up the legs for chi flow, improving the strength of your root when you need it. Pressure through constriction of muscle groups allows chi to accumulate and increase power. eg packing the chi into the dan tien or fingers whilst perfroming dynamic tension (do you have tensed arms in Sanchin? My related form Saam Bo Gin "3 step arrow or piercing" does). Rgds, David

The opposite of McTaiChi would be Chen style; it's the original hardcore. You won't get t'ai chi without a teacher to correct 1,000 errors but you can do a lot of the work by learning qigong (chi kung) from a video. After you've seen one video, a book can develop the theme. At some point in that time, you could try a t'ai chi video in conjunction with an associated book. Rgds, David

Fisherman, I may be being a little less-than-fair to franchising; it comes from despising folks who would label me a consumer. The style I train has a feeling of real brotherhood (and including the odd female...) and I was thinking of similar when considering lineage-style qualities, with franchising being the neon-sgned opposite. In the end, a franchise or the like would have to be pretty incredible to make me prefer it. Just a personal bias. Rgds, David

I used to feel no obligation at all but of late I look at my teacher and ask myself why he teaches. I started training with him 7 years ago and have missed many lessons in that time. He has only missed one, when a close relative died, and he travels nearly 2hrs round trip to take the class. He doesn't do it for the money, he does it for the style. He wants to spread the word of kung fu, to make us better by releasing our potential. He also (selfishly!) wants people around that he can train with/against. So I guess my feeling is I should try to make the most of myself and ensure that teaching me is not exasperating for him. Out of respect for him, his efforts, and also his teachers back to the founder. Also, I look forward - to being a good father and training my own kid(s) in the future. The more I absorb, the more I can give. Rgds, David

Important to me. Something to inspire, inform and guide my training. Lineage is the credentials of my teacher laid out for me to examine. You won't find me training in a franchise or hybrid-style dojo if there's something with pedigree round the next corner. Rgds, David

The Chinese answer to the question is no more relevant than any of the English-speaking answers. It's an English question, after all: kung fu has been an English term since the 70's. Oxford Paperback Dictionary Aren't there 3 standardised romanisation methods? My take on it is who cares - they're all wrong. Write it however you want. Chinese computer settings allow you to generate Chinese characters according to these romanising methods but only Chinese ppl and scholars have need of that. It isn't *actual* Chinese so nobody should be *correcting* random romanisation. The rest of us just use the words vocally. Taichi is taiji is t'ai chi is t'ai chi chuan. My own art is romanised many ways: Zhou, Chu Chow, Chou. It's not something to stake your life on. Rgds, David

http://www.beijingwushuteam.com/Ani/cc.html shows what appears to be a competition form. I know nothing about longfist styles so how this applies to MA I'm not sure.

Shaolin Long Fist normally known as Chang Chuan..? The prototype (root) style for most of the stereotypical Shaolin styles including performance wushu. Very old.

Well Sunrunner, answer some/all of your own questions. I'm for anything (for anybody) that makes them more responsible but does not curtail they're ability to give and receive joy. Rgds, David PS I don't think it takes much to equal an "organised religion" lol.

You got arms? A proper guard will absorb and redirect a high/medium-high kick even if you're slow to know it's coming. Nimble footwork is a must. Don't get bogged down in posing in stances that aren't alive. Don't, in fact, do anything that isn't alive. There's a difference between intent and wearing blinkers. If you're too rigid and just not open enough to go with the flow, nothing will work right. Rgds, David

It starts with "kung fu" being basically incorrect, yet at the same time, the international (English) name of it. You can't change it after all these years, nor would it be helpful to do so. "Kung fu" doesn't convey much information in itself. The spectrum of arts that can be described as "kung fu" is too wide for it to be meaningful. It's as specific and useful as the word "colour" in a description - immediately you say "what friggin colour?". Rgds, David

Ignore all reference to qi. You can disbelieve it. Forget it. Then notice it after a while . Rgds, David