elbows_and_knees

In all honesty, while you CAN modify weapons training for everyday items - umbrella for katana, cane for a jo, etc. IMO that's still not practical. for practicality, knife fighting, OC spray, etc. are what you should look into.

while that will help your punching, there are other and most likely more efficient ways to do it than learning to use a weapon. It just so happens to be a side effect of using a weapon.

or because there's no need. the time spent theorizing can be spent training. that's part of my point - they AREN'T kung fu principles. They are fighting principles, period. Good principles transcend stylist boundaries. that's way too broad of a generalization and an overall insult to modern practitioners... who is to say what "the real thing" is? IMO, modern training IS the real thing, not cultivation of some mystical force that you can't really prove the existence of. but quite obviously, no qigong = no power is false. the debates I've seen among practitioners are about what chi/ki/prana/punap actually is. I know some very traditional OMA who are convinced that it is merely body mechanics. CMA as well. I also know several CMA who are in the "bioelectricity" camp, and others who are in the "unexplainable internal energy" camp. nobody will show it? that's all the more reason to doubt its existence. it depends more on who you train under. some people's longfist is very external. others are more internal, like dr yang. Some are very shuai chiao intensive, while others, again, like dr yang, is mostly striking. so, you've never seen it? you just jave faith that they have it? If you saw it, in what capacity? didn't ask. Now, I DID see him touch a pressure point on my friends arm and make his entire arm go limp, but 1. it was a demo, so my friend wasn't resisting 2.wasn't more of a qinna demo than qigong. It was interesting nontheless though. then why have it? it's not about publicity, it's about preservation of the style. To many people, myself included, CMA already has a tarnished name. keeping things hidden is part of the reason why.

not all kung fu is based in buddhism, only the styles that were influenced by shaolin. However, you don't have to understand the history of the form in question if you know the intent behind it. intent and timing are things that should be taught to you, with or without history. That said, I'm not saying knowledge of the history isn't helpful, but it definitely is not necessary.

when I was in jun fan, we learned some pentjak. A buddy of mine trains kuntao and another trains bukti negara. it's a very close in style, lots of elbows_and_knees among other things. takedowns incorporate things like kneeing the person on the way to the ground. forms are learned differently than in most styles - you learn the strikes and the footwork seperately - djurus and lankas, if I remember right. after you learn them seperately and become proficient, you begin to put them together.

silat is some nasty stuff. What specifically are you trying to find out?

that's interesting. I actually didn't even know what three steps were until I ran into some tkd guys later into my training. not in the longfist class itself, but for those interested, there were qigong/neigong classes at a seperate time. yes. had to build a foundation yeah, but not as much as when I was in jun fan. yeah no bouncing, heavy focus on stances. but the techniques most typically used by most were basic strikes and kicks. I trained under a student of john tsai. it was both traditional and modern wushu. LOL!

to illustrate the dislike between the koreans and japanese, I've got a korean friend whose dad says: "God created the japanese. Then he realized he could do better, so he created koreans"

they have a lower center of gravity... it makes it easier for them to throw taller guys. Sharpen their footwork, work their infighting and teach them some throws and I bet they will eventually change their mind.

you need to step out of the martial arts nostalgia. Also, re-read what I said. Bigger and trained, advantage bigger guy. big and untrained, he can still give you fits, but will be easier to beat. I work at a bar and see it every night. I've seen too many MA get schooled by untrained bigger guys. you can't deny that size matters, regardless of whether it's a ring or the street. Once the fight starts, confidence doesn't matter much. confidence may end a confrontation BEFORE it starts, by making the guy think you can hold your own - he may think twice. But once the fists fly, confidence means squat. It's experience, skill and mentality then. As for tyson and k-1, I wouldn't do it either. The paychecks can't compare to what he gets in boxing. He's a professional, after all. On the same token, you don't see them stepping into a boxing ring either...

tang soo do is basically korean karate. many of korea's arts have a huge japanese influence behind them, do to their interactions with japan. However, it's no secret that the koreans and japanese don't really like eachother, so when TKD was created, they added more of a korean flavor to it so that it could be distinguished from the more japanese flavored tang soo do. There were also political reasons behind it, from what I understand. tang soo do has a heavy karate influence yudo is korean judo hapkido is korean aikijutsu with tsd / tkd strikes. kumdo is korean kendo Ssireum and tae kyon are native korean arts.

broadsword techniques really aren't that wide, ROM wise.

So do I. I've got a friend from taiwan, who everytime she introduces me to a martial arts friend of hers, refers to me as a master. I'm like "NOOOOOO - I'm no master by any stretch," but she does it anyway.

when a master? Never.

greco doesn't have a lot of good submissions...

that is VERY untrue. size matters on a lot of different levels. Now, that said, size becomes more of a factor as skill levels become equal. the big, strong, UNTRAINED guy can give a smaller, trained guy fits, but he's beatable. Against a big, strong, TRAINED guy, my money is on the big guy. Why do you think they have weight classes in organized fighting? because size matters. height matters from a strategy perspective. if you are shorter, you have to be able to get inside of the tall guy in order to be effective, otherwise you won't be able to touch him. Watch tyson in his prime. He was a master at getting on the inside, so even though he was always shorter, he overcame the reach disadvantage. Now, watch his fight with lennox lewis. Lewis ate him alive because he couldn't get inside. That is a perfect example of why these things matter. As far as finishing with one blow... good luck. That is more the exception than the rule.

that's actually not why they freeze. They freeze from the adrenaline response and "fight or flight" syndrome. Basically, they get scared. These people have likely not been in more than a few fights in their lives and don't have the experience to cope with the rush of adrenaline. Then, when they do fight, they revert to only what they are most comfortable with, because under stress, things that are not ingrained into your "muscle memory" will fly out the window - you will forget them. that doesn't really matter. In today's society, training can actually HURT you in a fight rather than help you. that tells me that 1. you haven't had a serious streetfight yet 2. you haven't fought anyone who literally wants to kill you. How do you know? How many martial artists did you watch or study to come to this conclusion? Where can we see the results of your study? NOTHING works all the time. If I am taller than you and you swing at me, guess what? It's gonna be harder for me to seionage you because you center of gravity is lower than mine. That's very true. It's good that you recognize that. Sorry for being harsh on your post, but it's things like this that you have to think about when you are teaching. After all, they are putting their life in your hands if they are in a confrontation. What you teach them will either help or hurt them. Out of curiosity, how old are you?

I know what that is, but that's not my issue. WHO can actually KILL with one blow AT WILL? fights don't work that way, ring or street. That is the ideal only, like the japanese saying ichi go; ichi-e - one encounter, one chance. But in real life, it just doesn't happen like that. As far as I'm concerned, if I can't use it at will, then it's not worth having. There must be A LOT of exceptions. Like bruce lee said, "boards no hit back". Breaking takes penetration power, but that really doesn't transfer to hitting a non-rigid and ever moving target quite as well. that's why you never see these one hit kills - not because they are illegal. The trademark of thai boxing is devastating power. And I've been hit harder by thai boxers than I have by any kung fu guy. Now, my old karate teacher, he had some serious power. But still not sufficient for these one hitter quitters you hear people talking about. I lift people with punches and knees regularly. At work about a month ago, somebody was resisting us. one of the other bouncers grabbed him and the guy tried to knee me. I stepped back, established a plomb, then shot my knee into his gut. Later that night, the bouncer that grabbed him told me that HE flew into the wall when I kneed the guy. It went straight through the target and knocked my buddy into the wall. Heck, Last week I saw an untrained guy hit someone so hard he lifted them off the ground. The particular technique you use to do it is irrelevant; it's the end result that matters.

To be honest, I have never heard of kickboxers, boxers or Bjj-ers or MMA-ists cutivating their chi, and if they do, I doubt wether they do so using none traditional methods. largely, you won't. because they don't. However, I'm VERY curious about whether or not their training will cultivate it in a similar manner. Like I said previously, they use many of kung fu's named principles, but they do not theorize about them, so they are unnamed. I don't disagree with that. I don't care enough about qigong training to seek that, however. I'm actually talking about debate among various cma and oma. people who do train it. I haven't seen anything unique about kung fo to back that claim. But admittedly, longfist is not an internal style. where is this power? who has it? I've met dr yang jwing ming, a noted internal practitioner, among other things. He didn't seem any more powerful than anyone else I've seen. I've run across other cma too, none having this power of which you speak.

I spent several years training in longfist. What I am referring to is hard compared to something like taiji, but fluid when compared to any CMA style. I agree there, but that wasn't the point. The point was to illustrate karate's internal training. perhaps I just trained with more traditional guys, but we NEVER did 1 and three step sparring. TKD schools did it, not the karate schools I trained in at the time. I know of schools today that do them, however. Same with our sparring -we never stepped back. you step into them or you stand your ground. Nor is there a person doing that in sparring or drilling... we angled as well. However, when stepping in, the step is usually with a reverse punch, not a passive block. no skin off my teeth there. I train thai boxing and judo. I didn't care for wing chun when I tried it and opted for longfist instead. I had no problem in transition. Like with anything, that will vary from person to person. and I'm trying to demonstrate how the two are more similar than many may think. yeah, we'll disagree on that one. prior to my kung fu training, all I had done were "hard" styles - karate, tang soo do, muay thai... My karate teacher was born and raised in kumamoto japan. He was very traditional.

thai roundhouse - lead leg.

that is a VERY bad idea at any level, unless you are punching and kicking slowly. doing it with speed (like the dragon ball z characters, which is why many young people want weighted clothing) will mess up your joints.

somewhat? why wouldn't it be?

Your root style is so ingrained that it will leave a distinct mark on new movements. Extra effort needs to be taken to correct 'tics' that might be considered bad habits in the new style. Ultimately, the difficulty of transition depends upon an individuals willingness to learn. this is true.

at an advanced level, karate is far from rigid and linear. One of the most fluid fighters I know is a karate stylist. Mobile, circular footwork combined with linear attacks. sanchin is a kata used for ki cultivation. it is karate's internal kata. shotokan tends to step forward into an attack, usually launching their own attack, typically a reverse punch. Don't many of karate's katas begin with either them standing their ground a blocking or stepping INTO the attack and blocking? That said, I don't think adapting to kung fu is necessarily a hard thing. I went from karate and thai boxing to jun fan and longfist with no problem at all, other than me always wanting to use thai kicks instead of chinese. footwork was no problem for me.