jow gar is a synthesis of hung gar, shaolin, and some other stuff.
but did the jow family simply take different forms from these systems to make a new whole, or did they adapt the forms themselves. for example, does hung gar use sub duk sau or sau fook fu, and how close are they to the jow gar system?
Wang Si Zhong
from my experiance jow gar kuen is very similiar to hung gar kuen at the early stages of development, but into the intermediate to senoir level the expantion is different.
the ging and ma are very close, however applicattion can vary, but without doubt there is a family resemblance between the two.
the intricacy of the jow ( chow ) gar system follows a similair development path like hung fut pai, in that the balance brought out shows simularity but you can see the difference in intention and content, also conection and application.
one of the examples you have used is fuk fu sau, a very common faht within both systems although with hung kuen it is a pronounce used hand, for specific usage, chow gar varies due to the speed of the hands that particular system uses.
all from only my experiance in a limmited capacity
I was wondering the same…
Hi ive been wondering the same thing for awhile,
i know jow ga is said to have the head of hung and tail of choy. so i would guess just form that statment that are upperbody is similiar to hung ga’s but our footwork isn’t (again - -just guessing, i have seen very lil’ hung ga). another thing i noticed is that in alot jow ga forms ive seen there are more kicks than would be expected in a southern style(i dont picture hung ga having as many kicks, and definetly not having a swallow-tail, i guess its jow ga’s northern influence there)
there are some hung ga players in one of my college courses, i might talk to them about it one day.
do eithier of you train jow ga?
Peace,
Wally
(again anything ive said is from my lil jow ga training and i have seen very lil hung ga)
ZhouJiaQuan,
I’ve trained some jow gar, which is why i asked the question. mostly because hung gar seems to be WAY more popular and the chances of following up on jow gar seem to be less than finding a new hung gar place. i trained jow gar while away at school and don’t fancy a 6-8 hour commute for 3 hours a week of training 
Wang Si Zhong
i do not train in chow gar either, i was given the oppertunity through my sifu name to be given instruction on the style, and permitted to compare, although i have to say it was more than 10yrs ago when i played some chow gar kuen.
it is true what you say about hung gar head chow gar tail, however when i learnt the first form, the transmission i was given showed it to be somewhat the other way around, this may incorrect, but it is only through my experiance and the way that i remember the simularity between the two.
the ma was solid and controlled, with a grounding familiar with hung kuen, the sau on the other hand also had a flavour of hung gar, however the connection and ging was softer and quicker in comparision, this did change when i was shown and permitted to experiment with intermediate level skills, this more with style and application, than learning forms.
in those days i was younger and fighting was more interesting hahaha.
to touch the hands though was interesting, and although not a gung sau it was most surley more intentive than just crossing hands, even though on a friendly bases.
if you get the chance to feel chow gar kuen it explains it far better than i ever could on this means.
for hand techniques, jow ga has a lot of the same style of striking as hung gar, like using the solid stance to give a foundation for power. i have to say there is more techniques that use more complicated footwork than hung gar uses. but in jow ga form you will see a combination using moving and circular footwork, then finishing with a deep, power strike.
we have two forms very similar to a hung gar form, fu hok kuen and siu fok fu. other than that, the forms is a combination of techniques. most of our form have tension introduction like hung gar fomrs. in fu pow chune, 5 animal, five paterns, and big tiger we have those intros. i only know three hung gar forms, and they only have some things similar like the hand technique and low stance emphasis.
Similiar forms…
kuntaman,
small tiger(siu fok fu, i think this is small tiger, my cantonese isnt very good 
) is similiar to a hung gar form? interesting, i will have to try to find a video of that somewhere.
I did kinda figure the tiger crane would be similiar(i just assumed that the majority our fu hok would be from the hung ga style).
I definetly want to check out the hung ga style. i will try to find a school around here one day and see if they will let me watch.
Any good vids of hung gar out there, preferable for download on the internet for free
Thanks, Train Hard,
Wally
(btw i realized i will say “our” by that i mean jow ga style)
yes i would agree with the idea that chow gar has varing steps to hung gar, and that the hand also varies.
part of the poem choy tao hung mei syu bo sei sau, explains this variation, but again from my experiance the syu bo sei sau, was more pronounce in later forms, and also in application. it was for this reason, well for myself anyway, that i found the early forms easy to play, but when the footwork and hand involved rat and snake, then variation of many things came into it.
did anyone else find this ???
from my limited experiences…
in reply to the original post:
jow ga borrows certain strategies and techniques from different stlyes, but our forms were created as a synthesis of the styles to meet the jow ga concepts rather than borrowing entire forms, that almost seems foolish and pointless
jow ga is exactly as jow lung explained it. head of hung, tail of choy… with the patterns of the tiger and the leopard many people ask me questions about our techniques and principles. the truth is that we have very definite principles, but there is always exception. the key word in jow ga is “adaptability”. we dont care what technique or strategy the person has because that is not our focus. we work with what we are given and we know that the end result is the opponent will be laid out, regardless.. a small example of this is that if you watch carefully in our forms(also with exception), we rarely retreat. when u see us retreat, it is brief and we come right back charging in with the swift footwork of choy ga and as ‘thekuntawman’ said,“…finishing with a deep, power strike!” of hung ga. now i’ve always been taught in jow ga not to let ur opponent get u on the run.. so like i said, yes, we do retreat, but we always come charging right back in! whether linear or circular. the bridge hands themselves to me are very live! what i mean by that is that they are swift and either breaking(destroying), grabbing, or deflecting. and depending on how you use your bride hand, that will vary. i’m in the habit of not paying too much attention to that bridge hand because it’s only the brief interlude of time before i’m rushing in to crush something else, if i haven’t done so already simultaneously for some reason. so as far as my limited experience goes,
p.s. zhoujiachuan
"small tiger(siu fok fu, i think this is small tiger, my cantonese isnt very good ) is similiar to a hung gar form? interesting, i will have to try to find a video of that somewhere. "
if u check out the “gung gee fook fu kuen” by sifu buck sam kong, it’s very similar to the “sai fook fu” of jow ga. in chinese, the character “gung gee” looks like the english letter “I”. so the form is meant to mean “subduing the tiger in an ‘I’ pattern”. “sai fook fu”(subduing the small tiger).
Mysteri
I have to disagree with you!
Gung Gee Fuk Fu kuen and Sui Fuk Fu are totally different forms.
The patterns both have different applications and movements and are nothing alike.
I have learnt sui fuk foo and am now learning gung gee fuk fu kuen.
Have you seen either of these forms done??
where did you get your info???
gung gee fook fu
joker:
thanx for ur reply. maybe i came off wrong about my info. yes, i do practice “sai fook fu” regularly, but no, i do not practice “gung gee…” i have however seen a lot of the techniques from the form and i was told it would be a good form in hung ga analogous to small tiger in jow ga. sorry, i have not seen the whole form in its entirety for myself, though i cant think of any other forms in hung ga that resemble “sai fu” so closely. again, thanx for ur reply and as i said this is all from my limited experience.
Well done my Jow Ga brothers!