Women in kung fu

[SiMui]

Hi all. Being in the minority in the martial arts world, I was wondering if anyone has stories to tell about prominent female martial artists in their schools.

Also, do you think it is reasonable for a woman to aspire to having her own school? Or is there too much stereotyping (or other reasons) that she would be ultimately unsuccessful?

Love to hear your thoughts. Don't worry, I'm not going to pitch a fit if I disagree with your views. Remember I asked. :)

SiMui

[TenTigers]

There are many successful women in Martial arts. Gini Lau, Lily Lau, Graciales Cassias, Melody Shuman, in my neck of the woods, there is Suigetsu Dojo, owned by Dara Masi and Melanie Fine, and Empire State Karate, owned by Joyce Santamaria-a leader in the Martial Arts industry.
Go for it!

[David Jamieson]

Hi all. Being in the minority in the martial arts world, I was wondering if anyone has stories to tell about prominent female martial artists in their schools.

Also, do you think it is reasonable for a woman to aspire to having her own school? Or is there too much stereotyping (or other reasons) that she would be ultimately unsuccessful?

Love to hear your thoughts. Don't worry, I'm not going to pitch a fit if I disagree with your views. Remember I asked. :)

SiMui


Cynthia Rothrock has a school, has been in a bajillion karate movies, plus there are more and more women stepping up every day. Some of the thai fighters in the category de la femme are wicked!

But kungfu has it's share of talented women and many are sifu as well.

[banditshaw]

Mok Gwai Lan who was Wong Fei Hung's last wife was well known and had a school of her own that is still going strong today.

Here is a rare clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1u7Fn0ahM

[Satori Science]

Chan Mui Gwai aka Rose Chen was Tam Fei Pang's last closed door disciple and is infamous for her whipping power and chop choi. A few of my brothers study with her now and she is a real task master, really old school southern style gung.

[zhugeliang]

Wang Jurong had her school in Houston and her daughter is now running the school and teaching classes.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Lucia Rijker.
One of the best fighters in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi7EGIh4TJQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0yzj0p9BNI

[4 Dragons]

Mok Gwai Lan who was Wong Fei Hung's last wife was well known and had a school of her own that is still going strong today.

Here is a rare clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1u7Fn0ahM

That was cool to see, thanks!

Check these Kung Fu ladies out...
http://www.choylaifut.com/about.php

The all time Kung Fu woman was Ng Mui.

[SiMui]

Thanks for your thoughts so far. Here's another thought.... Would you rather be taught to fight by a man or a woman?

Simui.

[NGKSMM]

I’m proud to say that female Sifus / Instructors of our system Ng Ga Kuen of Ark Yuey Wong are inspiriting and capable to perform, compete, and teach in all level as their male counterparts.

Here are some videos of them showing forms in artistic, athletic, and power performace; also in fighting competition.

Double fan form
http://youtube.com/watch?v=T3uvBn9CRUs

Hand form
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JJXHIvtfAdM

Hand form
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NWGaqNEy0PU

Fighting / Sparring Competition, 2 of our Sifu / instructor ended up fighting for 1st and 2 nd place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71FTgNtO7ms

[Old Noob]

Thanks for your thoughts so far. Here's another thought.... Would you rather be taught to fight by a man or a woman?

Simui.

I'm 6'5", 230 lbs. We have a female instructor in our school who's maybe 5'2" and maybe 100 lbs. She smokes us every time she runs class and her advice on techniques is top notch. She'll tell me "you might be able to knock me down with that sweep but to make it work in general, you need to do [X]" If you've got the goods to teach, people will come.

[gunglihchuan]

I think that as long as the Sifu is skillful, respects their students, and teaches good self defense from their style gender is not an issue.

In the first school I attended one of the best fighters in the school was one of my older sisters.

In the last school I attended my sihing's wife was a great performer and fighter. One of my sifu's daughters was an incredible martial artist and I would be happy to be able to achieve her level of ability in the next ten years.

There is a hung gar school that is close to my home in which the chief instructor is a woman, Sifu Wanda White. http://www.bostonacademyofmartialarts.com/instructors.aspx

One of my best friends had a female sifu master Bow Sim Mark before I met him. This friend was over six feet tall and had developed great fighting skills from his female sifu.

I agree with the earlier posters that examples of modern female masters are Lily and Gini Lau; Mimi Chan; I believe Tat Mau Wong has a young daughter that is a master.

I think as long as you have the permission to teach from a legitimate sifu and you want to pass on your knowledge you should open a kwoon.

On the issue of female sifus teaching fighting and which I would prefer. Again it does not matter to me.

I am short and muscular 5'3" and around 130 lbs. I out weighed my sijeh by about 35 lbs but I remember her using a chin na technique that I could not break with all my strength and I can bench press 250 lbs.

She also was able to block almost every one of my kicks in a free sparring session with the soles of her feet. She was very good. I wish did teach her fighting technique to her younger kung fu siblings and her fighting was not nearly as good as her sister- in-law.


I hope things work out for you.
Sincerely,
Steve

[warr10rdude]

Let's put it this way. If someone were to mention the word "sifu" to me, the first
thing that comes to mind is a man, as I had always thought it a male's domain (no
thanks to the gazillion books, media, and Hollywood that helped shape my thinking). I would be lying if I told you otherwise.

That being said, it's the "quality" of teaching that I would be more concerned about than the "equality" aspects. If the woman sifu has a proven record to be a far better fighter and a more efficient teacher than a male sifu, by all means I would go with the woman sifu. At least that's how I feel today.

You cannot ignore the fact though that it's generally ingrained into the male human psyche to naturally gravitate towards a male sifu, whom he will again naturally hold in higher regard to be more superior to a female sifu. That's where homework comes into play, and who and where a person ends up with will depend on how much digging for information they do.

[SiMui]

Thanks for all the great clips everyone! There are some very talented ladies out there.

And thanks for your honesty, WarriorDude. I was wondering how much of this natural inclination would rule men's decision on which sifu to choose. Decisions are not made solely by logic. :)

Simui

[SiMui]

btw, this is a hypothetical question. I am far from the level of skill necessary to become a sifu. But I have dreams. :D

your little sister in kungfu,
Simui

[David Jamieson]

If a woman is granted the title of sifu, then she has done the work.

If there is gender prejudice, then the only person losing is the bigot.

Ultimately, it is up to the individual to learn the information that is transmitted to them by the doing and the practice.

Nobody hands anyone kungfu, you earn it at a very personal level, who opens doors and who gives you keys is important as well, but gender? I think not.

[warr10rdude]

And thanks for your honesty, WarriorDude. I was wondering how much of this natural inclination would rule men's decision on which sifu to choose. Decisions are not made solely by logic. :)

Well, that's why there are leaders, and that's why there are followers. :) It's really up to the individual I would think, and how open-minded they are. For example, I don't hold out much hope for male chauvinists to study under a female sifu regardless of quality. You know the saying "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"? That's just how it is with some people I guess.

btw, this is a hypothetical question. I am far from the level of skill necessary to become a sifu. But I have dreams. :D

Dreams are a great start! Work on it, and it will become a reality someday. ;) It won't be easy though. If anything, you probably have to work ten times harder than the guys to prove your worth. Still, don't let that deter you. The couple of posts prior to mine have very good points. So hang in there! :cool:

[Chan Da-Wei]

Hi Simui,

Nice post. There are not enough female martial artists around. Especially since females almost always have the most to gain in training in a MA.

Anyhow my Sifu is female and has trained for a very long time. Despite Sifu being female, we would be no different in terms of attracting and retaining female students than if we had a male sifu I expect.

Cheers,
David

[Su Lin]

Hi Simui.

I'm not posting here as an "expert" or master but I am a woman who does kung fu (and mma). I have always been the only woman in our small club but also lucky enough not to have had any issues surrounding it at all. In fact I barely ever think about being a woman when training, I train as hard as the men and spar as hard so I think I have their respect for that. It's not really hard in mma either, I think I have proven myself by getting on with it and showing I am willing to work and put the work in. I don't get comments such as "oooh you're strong for a girl" etc , instead I get "you did really well there, you have good skills". I think people know me better than to try the " for a woman" thing.

I don't really have aspirations for my own kwoon but I take my black sash in October and may help teach and maybe help with a kickboxing class after that.I haven't been doing mma long but I hope to compete one day and maybe help out with other women who may start training with us.

I would never be put off by a female sifu,as long as I knew she had the skills she would get my respect.

:)

[SiMui]

Hi Su Lin and everyone. I appreciate hearing about your experiences. I've only had good experiences with my kwoons, too. But I think I may be getting a biased view of the situation given all the enlightened people on this board! :D I still wonder if all the unenlightened potential kung fu students would vastly outnumber the ones who had no gender bias. I guess I won't know until I try.

Well, gotta run to kung fu class. Catch you later.
SiMui

[SiMui]

Good luck with your black sash test, Su Lin! You go girrrl!!

SiMui