Reasons styles are what they are

[delta1]

Instead of the usual 'This style could beat that one, and a street fighter could whup you all' thread, I thought we could look at why different styles were developed differently. So, name your style and tell a little about why it functions the way it does. Or, ask questions about other styles. Maybe tell a little of what you know of other styles. But please, keep it respectful and let's avoid the 'vs.' stuff for a while. All styles were developed to meet the specific needs of those who used them. (Ex: Chinese Long Fist uses primarily long, looping strikes and defenses. This is because it is a Northern Chinese style, and they were too bundled up against the cold to throw anything else. Arts from places like Malaysia and Thailand, on the other hand, tend to incorporate a lot of twists and kneels to deal with slippery jungle environments. And Ving Tsun is noted for its' effectiveness in close quarters, where it was developed to be used.) So, let's hear about your style and why it is as it is.

 

My base is American Kenpo, developed by Ed Parker as a logical, scientific, and practical self defense art for the American street. Mr. Parker studied the principles of many arts and catalogued them, and applied them to his base which was Chuan Fa. All excess or wasted motion was done away with, as well as any moves impractical for street or combat. AK has both hard and soft, circular and linear, and its' stances and footwork are mobile and adaptable to varried terrain and climates. It trains at all ranges and many of the moves and principles apply to ground fighting as well- a concept I've only recently started to work on. The terminology and teaching methods of AK are oriented more to the Western mind, though our Oriental roots are honored also.

 

I have a question: I've got a theory that one of the reasons some of the Japanese and Okinawan martial arts use low stances is the rugged terrain typical of these islands. The leg strength those stances must build would be an advantage there. I can also picture the low stances adapting well to mountains or corridors in their close packed towns. Do those of you who practice JMA or Okinawan Arts think this is the case, or am I way off track? What advantages do you see in those stances and where would they be most useful?

 

Now, I know you are dieing to tell about your art, or to ask questions about others. So let's hear it.

[SevenStar]

I think you're on track and off - that may have been why they were originally developed, but not necessarily why they are used that way now.

 

I'll use chinese styles as an example:

 

northern styles typically feature high stances and high kicks - the ground up there is more firm and they can get away with such.

 

southern is more marshy and less stable, so they have deep rooted stances, lowline kicks and plenty of hand strikes, minimizing the chances of losing their footing on unstable terrain.

 

today, low stances are tuahgt for training to build some strength and plenty of muscle endurance, but it's not reccomended that you fight from a low stance.

[SevenStar]

shuai chiao - we want to inflict pain, and want to do so fast. Throwing you (preferably onto your head) is an excellent way to do so.

 

judo - blending with your energy, using it against you. learining to disrupt your position, free practice with minimal risk of injury - similar in many respects to shuai chiao. It's called the gentle art, but a solid throw onto a hard surface is hardly gentle...

 

bjj - it's a sport, but a darn effective one.

 

As you can see, I'm a grappler primarily. I want to eat up your space, then throw you down.

 

In the past, I've trained muay thai, karate and longfist, but no longer train them, so I won't go into them.

[King of Fighters]

delta1, I think that this is best idea for a forum on the comparitive styles section yet. I think it would be very interesting to learn about everyone eleses styles.

[delta1]

Thanks, SevenStar. That's interesting.

 

King of Fighters, why not tell a little about Mui Thai? It's a good art for sport or street. How was it developed?

 

The rest of you, come on. You don't have anything to say about your art?

[1ONEfighting]

Here's a rundown of my style and experience.

 

TKD-Versatile, powerful kicks-developed by General Choi to differentiate Korean MA from Karate

 

Boxing-The hands to complement the kicks-developed into the sport of today after the Queensbury rules were placed in the 1890's

 

Judo-Brutal throws, and solid standup grappling-developed from classical Jiujitsu by Jigoro Kano, to create a safer sport out of the lethal art

 

Sambo-Great submissions, particularly refined leglocks-Russian origin, likely influenced by Judo and Jiujitsu

 

Hap Ki Do-Devastating all around, a little weak on the ground-Korean

 

Freestyle/Folkstyle wrestling-Unmatched takedowns-An American spin on the oldest sport

 

Shaolin Fu/Tai Chi-Adds softness and flow to all of my techniques-developed in China as a means of wellness and vitality

 

weapons (escrima/knives/nunchaku/tonfa/bo) Mostly okinawan and Filipino in origin, developed by farmers to defend against the Japanese

[King of Fighters]

Delta1,

 

Most of Muay Thai history has been lost over the years. Particularly in the 1700 during the war with the buremese, during a battle there was a fire in Thailands capital and the archives were destroyed.

 

This is probebly the most excepted theory. Thailand was under constant attack from its nieghbours, so they created a weapon system ( i dont remember what it was called). The soldiors made an idea of how to substitute their limbs for weapons, so they created an un armed hand to hand combat system for the battle field. Several attacks were sepposed to be based on weapons (like and elbow resembles and axe in its movements, ect..) The system was built for the battlefield for when a soldier lost his weapon, so the attacks were ment to be quick, simple and effiective because there would always be multiple attackers, little room and short amounts of time. Thats one of the reasons of why muay thai never made a ground fighting system because if you fell to the ground on the battle field, you would want to get up quickly or you were pretty much screwed. In times of peace, muay thai was used to keep the warriors strong and healthy. Sivilians begane to use it for self defence because it was easy to learn and effiective. Muay thai eventually was faught in the ring and became a sport and decipline for fighters, and is a source of entertainment for the people. Today it is a ring art but is very effiective for self defence. Its not like other ring arts though because it uses full contact sparring (including knees, elbows, clinch and leg kicks) so it teaches practioners to be tough and effeictive.

[delta1]

Thailand was under constant attack from its nieghbours, so they created a weapon system ( i dont remember what it was called).

 

Krabi Krabong uses weapons. Is that what you were thinking of?

 

Interesting history. There are a lot of arts like that, where the history is lost or shrouded in folk lore.

[delta1]

1on1, that's an impressive resume. Sounds like you might do full contact/submission fighting. Mixing several martial arts, how easy is it for you to transition between the principles of each in a fight? Or do they blend and flow together? A lot of what you do are similar enough to work well together. But the principles of a boxers strikes and footwork are a lot different to those of most martial arts. All good styles, just curious as to how well they work together for you.

[King of Fighters]

Yea delta1, i think that (krabi krabong) was it.