Cuong Nhu...

[Beka]

After doing a board search and recieving a few questions in the introductions forum, I've realized Cuong Nhu is less well known than I thought. It's not the heavy hitter that Shotokan or Kung Fu or Tae Kwon Do are. I was really shocked the other day when I ran into a friend of mine and discovered that he too used to study Cuong Nhu a few years back, because no one has really heard of it.

 

Cuong Nhu (pronouced kung new), meaning Hard Soft, was founded by Grandmaster Ngo Dong in 1965 in Vietnam. He brought it over to the United States in 1971 at the University of Florida. It is a mixture of seven different styles. Shotokan is very present as the base, especially in the first few katas, but the style also incorporates Aikido, Judo, Wing Chun, Vovinam, Tai Chi Chuan, and Boxing. Early on we learn hard moves, hard punches, hard blocks, kicks, etc. Later on, we learn more of the soft moves (ie Aikido). There are a fair amount of throws, also. We use two weapons, the Bo and Tambos. I don't know the official take, but many of the higher ranked Dans learn other weapons as well. I saw a recently promoted black belt fiddling with some nunchuks the other day, so I know we have a variety of things to learn.

 

My Sensei is Shichidan John Burns, and he's amazing. I thought I would mention that. I am in awe of my sensei and I have so much respect for him.

 

The belt ranks only use 4 colors, white, green, brown, and black (with 2 stripes between each). When you have 2 green stripes you can begin with weapons. At a green belt you can begin sparring. To achieve a brown belt, you must write an essay about Cuong Nhu and its role in your life. As a brown belt you are expected to teach the lower ranks, usually in childrens classes (which are aggrivatingly huge), but today a brown belt lead the class while Sensei John was out of town. Because so many people see the black belt as the goal, Cuong Nhu tests for Shodan 6 months after the black belt is recieved, to encourage students to stick with it. Also, it is encouraged that you learn other styles so you can bring them back to Cuong Nhu to help broaden the style.

 

For all of the mixing going on, I think it is very well integrated, and a really beautiful style. I knew nothing about it when I started, I just went in for a free lesson to see if I liked it. I was more drawn in by the attitude at my dojo than anything. I think there is a major emphasis on teaching each other, and a sense of responsiblity. Maybe it is just my dojo, but the students are all very supportive of each other, and I don't get the feeling that anyone has an attitude. And of course, knowing how to break someone's arm is a plus.

 

I think that's all I can think of for now. I will be participating in more discussions here, so if anyone has any other questions, go ahead and ask! I'm glad I found this place! I love talking about karate, and all my friends are starting to get a little bit annoyed always having to listen to me yammer on about it.

 

beka

[cross]

Hey Beka,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

I have to say i hae never heard of Cuong Nhu, but after reading the info you posted it seems pretty interesting.

[delta1]

Cuong Nhu sounds interesting. I like the hard-soft approach. My base is American Kenpo, and we use both hard and soft in ballance. Ed Parker was also a student of Taiji, and incorporated some in AK. I'll have to keep a lookout for CN. I'd like to see it work and compare how it incorporates the diverse styles and principles. Thanks for the write up.

[gheinisch]

Thanks for the info on your style. It sounds like it is very effective. Look forward to hearing more about it in your posts.

[aefibird]

Wow, that sounds like a very interesting style!

 

Beka, does your dojo have a website? Also, did you do any other martial arts before CN or is it your first MA?

[Beka]

the Cuong Nhu website is just https://www.cuongnhu.com. I studied something when I was like 8 years old, and I got to be a white belt with 2 black stripes. woohoo! I went to a tournament and started bowing to all sorts of people. I bowed too much. But I got a gold medal anyway!

[Pacificshore]

Hey Beka:

 

Your website link came up to a web service. Is the site down?

[Beka]

how weird! well, if you type it into the address bar, rather than clicking the link, it will work.

[Mc. Steve]

Your website link came up to a web service. Is the site down?

The link Beka posted has a dot after .com

 

Just delete it and it loads fine. or click here.

 

Sounds interesting, cheers for the lowdown. Wish my art would incorperate some more non-striking moves into our silabus. Think I might join the local Aikedo class.

 

S