Kung Fu : whats it really like?

[okehamptonunited]

From all the movies and my friends, Kung Fu has always been potrayed as diffrent stances. E.g Tiger Stance ( where somone pretends to be a tiger). It is reallly like this? or is it a myth?

[JusticeZero]

That's somewhat mythological.

If you think about it, most of what Boxing is portrayed as is one stance.

The same with sport wrestling, to a lesser extent.

"Chinese Martial Arts" signifies fighting skill to audiences. So directors signal this by having actors display various training or transitional postures out of the forms at each other to foreshadow and build the whole "These people do Kung Fu!" vibe, before their more traditional fight scene with more form movements mixed in, not necessarily in ways that make sense.

Remarking on this, a gungfu practitioner once posted a picture of a boxer in the middle of a pushup, and remarked on how ineffective that stance looked for combat. "That's not how they fight, that's how they train arm strength.." "Well, that "ridiculous fighting stance" that was posted earlier was a flexibility exercize, what's the difference?"

[okehamptonunited]

thank you for your response. I understand better now

[HiyaaMartialArts]

Firstly, "kung fu" has nothing to do with martial arts. The term simply means skill mastered through hard work and time; so you can have kung fu in painting, cooking, driving, martial arts, or anything else.

Within the TCMA, or Traditional Chinese Martial Arts, or "Kung Fu" (even though it's not technically correct - it's what the world knows), you have many different styles and even sub-styles. Just like there is "Karate" but that doesn't say much. Maybe it's "Isshin-Ryu Karate". And within each style or sub-style, you have all of your content (forms, training methodologies, conditioning, etc. etc.)

There are some very generic classifications, such as Northern vs. Southern (geographic place of origin within China), Internal vs. External, Buddhist vs. Taoist, Longfist vs. Short-range etc. However these should not be relied on, because many styles break and mix these classifications.

Hope this helps a bit.

[monk64]

If you're really interested, go to Wikipedia and look up some styles, then search Wikipedia for those style names. I've yet to find a martial art where someone wasn't showing off on YouTube

[Dobbersky]

I PRESUME most Kung Fu, Gung Fu or Quan Fa styles when it comes to fighting are very similar to San Shou or San Da. when it comes to the nitty gritty of the styles. the acrobatic forms are excellent but the fighting millimeters from the ground or hanging from the tops of Bamboo stalks are a bit unbelievable. but there's all sorts of myths not just in Chinese forms

The ONE form I would love to learn is the Black Tiger Form

[vitaniya]

Actually chinese kungfu pay attention to the practical applicability,some type actions are just for balance and force.

[KALIPUTRA]

I was always taught that the stances are an integral part of kung fu, so while not wishing to be offensive I will disagree with those who claim boxing has one significant stance. I find in both sparring and combat that I make use of all my stances and the teachers forceing me to practice and perfect my stances has paid off in that most people trying to sweep me cannot take me down rather they end up injuring their own legs.

As for the animal strikes and general martial arts fist techniques, amny will tell you that a closed fist is all you need in a fight, once again I respectfully disagree as Ive found that my dragon , tiger and crane fists allow me execute combos and techniques most common martial artists cannot comprehend having to ever face. (Also remember bodidharma had a huge influence on chinese boxing incorporating the animal styles which he learned from traditional martial arts like kalariyapattu and RSA).

Lastly we must remember kung fu literally means hard work, What happens when you work harder than any other man you inevitably get stronger, faster and more skillful than any other man. So definitely a martial art system for people of meek nature and weaker stature because it will help you grow physically, mentally and spiritually if you have an event halfway decent teacher.