Most comprehensive close up fighting art

[Vito]

oh, my experience with kung fu styles didnt have jumping (was referring to tkd) but it did have a LOT of useless crap.

[SevenStar]

longfist has jumping. But, DM is right - thai boxing has jumping as well. Not all jumping techniques are useless.

[Drunken Monkey]

"oh, my experience with kung fu styles didnt have jumping (was referring to tkd) but it did have a LOT of useless crap"

 

but what was it?

 

and what was the useless crap?

 

going back to my kung fu,

 

what from the list i presented is useless crap?

[Vito]

well, it was based on snap punches (reverse punches) a ton of really wierd forms (katas) where youd hop aroudn and do all these things that just made no sense in the real world... breaking arms in midair (yea right, catch a punch and make an armbar with just your two hands...) uh, smash kicks (crescent kicks), this one manuever where youd stand in cat stance (maybe the worste stance ever... nah probably not) then draw in, then punch with both hands and kick all at the same time.... basically, everything except what youd learn in any actual combat class.

[Vito]

I like this. But careful, martial arts are not just for fighting.

 

ah.. for me they are. but thats just me.

[Drunken Monkey]

....but you are aware that 'kung fu' is a very wide spectrum, right?

 

not all styles have jumping moves.

 

if 'kung fu' is so useless then why do the hk and taiwan police use it as part of their core training?

 

why did the u.s marines employ a kung fu instructor to instruct one of their units?

 

why does the met police have a kung fu instructor listed as a recognised authority on self defence?

 

LOTS of uselss crap?

 

i know one that has about 40 'moves' that are basically combinations of about 5 blocks and 4 different ways of hitting,

 

trained against different attacks from various angles

 

and from different heights.

 

hardly useless and hardly crap.

 

heck.

 

even muay thai has a lot of useless tradition in it.

 

tell me that in your opinion, the bowing, dancing around the ring, stomping to each side etc etc isn't 'useless crap'.....

 

and i'm pretty sure i've asked you for a name before but you i seem to have missed it.

 

what's the name of the style you trained in?

 

i mean, hardly any chinese style of merit teaches under the umbrella title of 'kung fu'.

 

surely you know the name.

[SevenStar]

....but you are aware that 'kung fu' is a very wide spectrum, right?

 

not all styles have jumping moves.

 

agreed.

 

if 'kung fu' is so useless then why do the hk and taiwan police use it as part of their core training?

 

1. because they are chinese. I doubt they would ever let their police/military trainanything other than chinese styles.

 

2. because they train shuai chiao. grappling is awesome.

 

why did the u.s marines employ a kung fu instructor to instruct one of their units?

 

because that's what the unit's head wanted and contracted. Their are several units that have been taught thai boxing. judo is a standard part of the army curriculum. jkd has been taught to some units, as has kali. That really doesn't mean much.

 

why does the met police have a kung fu instructor listed as a recognised authority on self defence?

 

that too varies. Many police departments train either aikido or bjj.

 

LOTS of uselss crap?

 

i know one that has about 40 'moves' that are basically combinations of about 5 blocks and 4 different ways of hitting,

 

trained against different attacks from various angles

 

and from different heights.

 

hardly useless and hardly crap.

 

useless as in may hardly ever be used, or is not really necessary. for example:

 

tornado kick

 

butterfly kick

 

willow palm

 

lotus kick

 

kwan dao

 

hook swords

 

bear claw

 

leopard paw

 

most of the animal clawing techniques

 

heck.

 

even muay thai has a lot of useless tradition in it.

 

tell me that in your opinion, the bowing, dancing around the ring, stomping to each side etc etc isn't 'useless crap'.....

 

And if you notice, many schools don't teach it. In thailand it's different because the dance and bowing has buddhist significance and is also used to pay thanks and respect to your gym and to the sport. To them, it does mean something. In the US, it's not focused on. Why? because for us, it's not necessary.

[Ottman]

Just a question: Why limit yourself to only a set of a few basic moves? I can understand that it makes your strategy training easier and less cluttered, but you never know when you might need to use a certain move. Why not keep your options open? Also, in training, I don't think any move is useless crap, just for the fact that it can exercise your body with movements your not used to, and muscles (muscle groups) you haven't strengthened yet, so if you ever find yourself forced to move in a certain way, you're prepared to stay on balance and counter attack from an otherwise awkward, difficult position. Maybe certain nuances like jumping and spinning, or kicks like tornado kicks are impracticle in a fight, but that doesn't mean they're useless. They still train and strengthen the body, and if you can develop a good enough execution of these techniques, you can unleash them on someone who doesn't train with such moves, and therefore probably won't be expecting them. Never underestimate a kick just because it has extraneous movements in it that might seem unecessary to YOU. someone who trains to use a certain technique well enough, can probably execute it exactly how he/she intends to execute it, and that execution might be having it land squarely in your face. If you've also trained to execute that move, you probably have a better idea of what's coming, since you're familiar with it, and it will be easier to defend against it.

 

Now I'm being long winded, but I can still think of other reasons that no technique is ever completely useless. This type of thinking seems very closed-minded to me. Aren't martial arts about creativity?

[Drunken Monkey]

heck seven,

 

you should know me by now and where i stand regarding traditional/modern/useless etc etc......

 

i kinda wanted to see how he would answer.

 

anyway.

 

y'know, here in the uk, a lot of the tradition of muay thai is still practiced (but not 'forced').

[dingyuan]

SevenStar, not all Kung Fu are full of craps like you mention above there are also some more straight forward ones like Baji Quan, Pao Chui, Ba Shan Fan...etc. The kind of Kung Fu you saw I believe is only Wushu which is just a performce martial art.

 

I do admit that Kung Fu's not as popular as bjj or judo around the world that's becuase most people study martial art just to be able to fight. Chinese martial art is usually harder to learn than most other martial art and it will take you a while before you can truth like the other form of martial arts, most people tend to skip this "Kung Fu" part to go straight into punches, kicks and throw.