so many styles!!! how do you choose??

[Nick_sam]

i have been doing a lot of research into the different martial arts, and am absolutely perplexed by kung fu in all its forms - all, what seems like, six million of them!! lol, just kidding!

what im wondering is, rather than ask you all what every style involves, what style of kung fu you do, and what it involves stylistically - ie, kick orientated, flamboyant, emphasis on weapons, emphasis on body movement or sheer strength, etc. and of course what attracted you to your art.

im very much interested to hear all this!

look forward to a good read!

[stonecrusher69]

I guess I'm first.My style is Fut Sao Wing Chun Kuen.Wing Chun is a southern Chinese M.A. It is a close range system using mostly the hand techniqes,although there are many kicks in the system.The hands and feet defend and attack together as a unit.The kicks are mostly low to the waist and below.In Wing Chun we punch high and kick low.We kick low to maintain balance and to pin/jam/uproot the other guy with our legs.We don't use brute force we rely on proper structure to obsorb our opponents energy,and to use his own power agaist him.

What attracted me to this style was its simple moves (not flashing)and practical M.A.

[Nick_sam]

another one i havnt heard of!! lol

thanks for being the first!

[Enviroman]

For a lot of people, it's availability. Financial availability, distance availability, etc. If you're lucky enough to be able to choose among a lot of arts, I'd recommend sitting in on a few classes, check out the style, and see if you would feel comfortable committing yourself to that style.

[A. Orstrom]

And don't be afraid to go with an art that just fascinates you and where you feel at home. Effectivenes and emphasis on style etc. is not all what it is cracked up to be.

A lot of people cross train, or change paths all together, there is nothing wrong with that. Just immerse yourself and see what happens.

[battousai16]

i gotta' say, what's attracted me to my styles is mostly how well i get along with my instructors. y'know, both personally, how our philosophies compare, and the like. sit 'em down and talk to them for awhile, that's what i did.

[mantis]

this can help you

i really believe in the completeness of mantis style especially after I made my sifu show me how to defend my TKD!!

http://www.mantiskungfu.com/CompleteSystem.htm

[Adonis]

Flip a coin or go "inca bink of bottle of ink" (while pointing in the yellow pages of diffrent schools.

[KempoTiger]

Depends. What do you wish to gain from training?

Strong kicks, and excellent tournament prowess? Go with Taekwondo.

Relaxation, and the building of internal energy? Go with Tai Chi

Cool looking forms and a better sense of fluidity? Pick a Kung Fu school

Reliable, useful, quick to the point Self Defense Techniques? Go with Kempo, Kajukenbo, Jujitsu, Jeet Kun Do, or perhaps one of those Israeli military defense schools like Krav Maga.

Want to learn to straight up fight in and out of the ring? Go Muay Thai, JKD (a GOOD school), Brazillian Jujitsu, or quite simply a gym that runs a decent Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) class.

Of course I am generalizing greatly in the way I am describing systems here, but this is the basic jist of what you're looking at if you really have no idea what style to choose from.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

-KT

[mantis]

a coin only helps if you have 4 choices

head, tail, coin in a crack, a crow snatches the coin in the air...

im a software engineer, so i'd say generate a random number associated with a choice!