HG

That's great you've decided to try Hung-Ga. There's a steep learning curve in the begining stages. Remember there's a method to the madness. Stances, bridge conditioning, basic drills & Gung Ji form will make up most of your initial training. In our lineage there are four hand & seven weapon forms: -Gung Ji Fook Fu/Subduing the tiger in an "I" pattern -Fu Hok Seung Ying/Tiger & Crane double form -Ng Ying Kuen/Five animals fist -Tiet Sing Kuen/Iron wire fist -Broadsword, Pole, Butterfly Swords, Spear, Tiger Fork, Kwan Dao & Fan Check out http: //yeeshungga.com/tradition/

How do you mean? You look at your hands as you fight? I was taught the eyes follow the hands when doing forms. Helps bring the energy to the hands. When fighting your eyes look towards your opponent.

No, not all kung fu does this. It was explained to me by friends in another CMA that utilizing a soft focus on the elbows & knees makes perceiving movement easier. Maybe this is what she was doing.

That's a classic. One of my favorite kung fu flicks.

Yes, I think any martial artist who has been at it for awhile has felt like this from time to time. It's important on those days to contiune with training and push through the malaise.

Adrian Paul (Actor - The Highlander TV Series, End Game) Student of Sifu Vernon Reita - Hung-Ga & Choy Li Fut John Cusack (Actor) Student of Benny "The Jet" - Kick Boxing & Muay Thai

Interesting, please elaborate further on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vEuPanpokQ&NR

Flexibity can be developed. Your size really doesn't limit you to any particular style. Find out what's available in your area & take the free class. Off the top of my head, Kung Fu styles that are offensive minded are: Choy Lay Fut, Fu Jow Pai, Wing Chun, Hung-Ga & Hsing-I.

Smith has a unique writing style that can take some getting used to but is still a great read. The Taiwan masters (most of which have passed away) are quite opinionated. One of the more interesting accounts Smith recalls is John Bluming trading strikes with Wang Shu-Chin; both are well known in their respective martial art circles.

"Chinese Boxing" by Robert W. Smith. Smith who's a Karate/Judo black belt describes his experiences learning Kung Fu from various Taiwan masters back in the late 50's through the 60's.

Your gym is going to be the best place to learn MMA. If you want to learn kung fu - find a kung fu school. The depth of instruction will go much deeper than a MMA gym. Accreditations from non-kung fu organizations about kung fu can be hit or miss. Kung fu is a demanding art, give only half effort & at best you'll maybe get half kung fu skill in return. MMA will get you fighting quickly & give you an exposure to all the ranges of fighting. Lau Ga is a solid Southern kung fu; you'll be fighting there too, just not right away. It all depends upon what you really want. Try some classes out & pick the one that fits you best. Hope this helps.

You best way to find out is to try out a class. What you should expect is a calm atmoshpere, usually and older crowd. The emphasis would be on the proper execution of the forms - movements will coordinate with your breathing. Which will be done very slowly. Push Hands is a partner exercise that develops sensitivity to an incoming force. If you are lucky enough to have found a Tai Chi teacher that knows the martial aspect of the art, then you'll have additional trainings to make the movements more applicable to fighting/self defense. There's far more to Tai Chi than my explanation. Again, your best bet is to go try out a class.

LOL I know what you mean, it can be incredibly frustrating. Yes, it's very confusing. The calm mind is paramount, yet a killer instinct & an intent to damage another human being is also a necessity. I guess there will always be debate on what is the best approach to find the balance between the two. I agree. It all depends what TCMA school you happen to join, no legit school I know of takes more than a year to produce some usable raw fighting skill.

We all have different martial art experiences. Done in the right way drilling is an effective way to give the fight or flight adrenline rush/response a 'direction' especially in beginners. Dalton doesn't like those kind of smash em up hulk type bouncers - don't have the "right temperament for the trade". Partner practice is valuable but you need to have some thing there to train. Otherwise you resort to whatever comes natural. This just seems like a hard way to learn. I do agree with you on the importance of being relaxed though. This is somewhat similar to what I know. Some kind of basic movement has to be in place before sparring. That little bit of drilling made a tremendous difference for me. Also, sparring is a tool that has no more/less importance than any other from of training. It's just one more piece of the puzzle for actual usage in a self defense setting. It's too bad your TMCA experience didn't get you the results you were seeking. The steep learning curve in the early stages of kung fu is major drawback to some. I will continue to state there is a method to the madness. Did your friend stick with the Hsing-I? actually, if you look at real muay thai, they teach you not to bounce either. thai footwork is far less mobile than a shuffling boxer. That is why many schools today use boxing footwork. however, boxers are still very rooted, despite the shuffling they do. Read above I was refering to TCMA artists.

Traditional-Fist excellent post - well said. I agree, there has to be some kind of training in place to over ride the natural fight or flight response. Repetitive drills combined with intent is a staple in our system. Exactly. At this stage 'Kung Fu' goes out the window & survival mode takes over when a beginner takes a hard shot &/or starts to feel pain. The are too many essential trainings to accquire at the begining stages, putting sparring ahead of them would be a big mistake. No stance=No kung fu. Boring and at times grueling but an absolute requirement for proper skill development. There is no shortcut around this. Kung Fu is a demanding martial art, that being said there is a method to the madness. It kills me to watch TCMA artists bobbing up & down. All those time tested prinicples of rooting & connection gone to waste. While a huge amount of patience is required, no Kung Fu style takes ten years to learn. Daily training/practice & instruction from a good Sifu is a hard combination to beat. Kung Fu is and always will be about hard work. Without a solid foundation of the basics to build upon, no real skill will be attained.

Yeah it will probably come from a san shou school sooner or later. Shuai Jiao guys might, I think that will depend upon how the rules would effect their throwing. I was involved in running the Shaui Jiao ring at our tournament last year. A good hard throw is genuinely appreciated by all the competitors. There is none of the incidental contact bickering that plagues the chi sao and sparring divivsions. It is clearly obvious SJ guys are real comfortable working with partners.

You move fast - well done.

There's more to UFC fighting than just taking a beating. While it might look unpolished there is skill within the scope of what goes on in the octagon/ring.

Check out the major boxing suppliers I believe there is something you can attach to the bag.

I'd be interested in reading this study as well.

Every school is different. As others have already stated, it comes down to the rules of the organization and if you really want to follow them. From a high level of respect I always address Sifu by his title. He's a gifted teacher and martial artist.

Tradition can be one of the major downfalls of TMAs. Just because it is tradition, doesn't mean it is right. Agreed, not all schools follow this particular traditional aspect. I was just explaining the reasons why for those that still do. Tradition is an integral part of most CMAs, the good schools look for ways to keep time honored traditions/principles and current enviromental demands in balance.

It doesn't seem very fair to the rest of the students. Why would they do this?? It's not and some CMA schools still operate like this. You need to take a look at the learning enviroment these older Sifu came from to understand why. Once accepted by the school Sifu your primary teachers were your older training brothers. As you progressed in skill, put in the time and demonstrated loyalty to the school. The Sifu would begin to comment on your technique. Eventually (over a couple of years) you would become a inner room disciple, now the Sifu would take a vested interest in your training.

No, it won't you have nothing to worry about. If you do find the bag getting bigger and it's starting to look like the monolith from 2001 - I'd stop.