is kung fu effective?

[aznkarateboi]

OK... I have heard many mixed opinions on this so here is a question and please answer with "Yes" or "No". Is Kung Fu (Hung gar/Hung fut) effective in a self defense situation? This is considering I train hard and daily under quality instruction.

[broomhilda000]

Yes, kung fu is very effective once learned. It's like playing chess shall we say. It usually takes people along time to master it but once they do they are great at it, same with kung fu. It may take you more than 3 years to learn to use it effectivley though. But once you master it you will be a quite a shall we say " butt kicker? "

 

The techniques take time to learn but if you practised hard under good instruction and atleast 3-4 times a week within 6-12 months you should be able to dish out alot of punishment but after a couple years you will become great if you are dedicated and train hard.

[Icetuete]

same goes for any martial art, doesnt it?

[Thuggish]

i studied shaolin kung fu for a short amount of time, and from my own experiences and the other more advanced students, it seems to take at least a year and a half before one would even have a chance of using it in a street fight effectively- probably more. after 5-10 years they seem to get pretty good. my instructor had done other martial arts, but had done shaolin kungfu for ten years, and hes a guy i wouldnt go up against for sure.... however, in the first couple of months under my own instruction i did learn a lot of things that could be useful, for instance 30 holds involving joint manipluation (called chin na's), and how to get out of them- so it does have a few benifits that are almost immediate. still, its a style that takes a long time to learn to use because it hasnt changed all that much since the old shaolin monks learned it- compared to other styles at least.