I am taking Xingyi, and the pace is very much slower, and allows one to understand all the concepts behind the motions. While this may sound a little silly, the movements we learn are all based on the ability to generate power with the core of our bodies. Having had some prior experience in TKD and JJ, I don’t think Xinyi could be taught in an external manner due to the way the system works.
In other words, the punches simply would not work in my opinion without mastering the aspects of stance and movement of the body as a whole. Sounds like jibberish I know, but do this if you want to understand what I am trying to say; go look at a book on Hsing I, and tell me that those punches look like they would be easily effective. You could never learn an art like that from a book due to small details that you cannot really capture in pictures.
I like what I am learning, although I would learn something else if I just had to learn a system of moves quickly for some reason.
a female shows up and asks a question, and all of a sudden you guys turn civil. so THAT’S what it takes! and all the while i’ve been thinking i needed to harass and insult you to get anything useful out of you.
TKD is an allright style. In the martial arts world it is one of the simpler styles, meaning not very indepth and not a lot of information. Thats the bad thing I see with TKD. I am a Black Belt in TKD (And other sytles) and have experience in it.
But TKD is not a bad style, I have met many good fighters in it, and its not how much you know but how well you know it.
The biggest lesson I learned from TKD is to get good at the techniques that will work for you. If you look at the NHB fighters they are not learning complete systems, they are learning what works for them.
I enjoy more complex systems because it is interesting to me. There are systems that are more street orientated than TKD, and a greater number of people can make the Kung Fu styles work for them because there is so much more there to draw from.
In most systems you train to your strenths, drawing what is effective for you. Most TKD schools try to mold you to what they do. For many this can work, but if you do not possess the strength, flexability and other assets TKD may not work for you.
If you are in TKD stay there until you get to your first Dan, then broaden yourself, you will have a base to start with and can grow in a more complex art from there.
i kind of think of tkd and karate as children’s arts. the parent tells you exactly what to do and you do what your told. there seems to be very little room for personalizing the movements.
in kf the goal is to make every strike, defence, and concept unique to you by molding it to your personality, body, and spirit (if you believe in it). you dont do things the way your teacher tells you, rather you follow his guide lines until you make it yours.
that’s actually another reason why allot of internal schools have you perform the movements slowly for a good while.
gives you the time to feel every part of yoru body through the entire movement. the results are actually pretty friggen amazing . .. not what i expected to say the least.
"i kind of think of tkd and karate as children’s arts. the parent tells you exactly what to do and you do what your told. there seems to be very little room for personalizing the movements. "
You see that in TKD more than Karate styles. In most Karate styles you are encouraged to personalize it, and if you think about it that would be a continuation of what the origionator was doing.
i have never seen a good karate guy, but from seeing all the crappy ones i can imagine what the style would look like in the hands of a good practicioner. seems like it would actually be pretty efective.
I get the feeling that my kwoon train alot harder than most japanese styles out there. I believe that traditional kung fu training exercises are alot thougher than the japanese’s… But that’s just something I’ve seen lately.
Anyway, if u train the hardest you can, and really devote yourself then any art will do just fine.
I think alot of people dont like Karate because they get told horror stories about it being bad for your health. Since theres no chi/heigung and its done in more of a way that could damage joints and bones. Also since Karate was taught more openly and in some cases information was held back purposely its more likely that you wont learn how to fight. I at one point wanted to learn Goju ryu (i still do) but because of all the crap schools out there i decided to go with Kung Fu. Added on to that, there are no legends about Grandmasters killing 20 men with his pinky finger while blindfolded and feet bounded. No stories about old men in their 80’s defeating someone 20 years old which makes Kung Fu more appealing since you can use it in your old age and it gives you health. Added on to the that is the fact that it seems like simplified Kung Fu with only basic techniques. Wing Chun, Bak Mei, Xingyiquan etc are all praised for their simplicity which is known to win fights better than complex techniques but Karate is sh*tted on for doing the same thing. I’ll admit when Karate had the -jutsu instead of the -do it was abit more complete and had all of the things Kung Fu has except alittle different. (Dim mak, Grappling, Internal excercises, Weapons…) But that doesn’t take away from it effectiveness. Just find the right teacher. Some even still practice it’s Internal excercises, (Just dont know if their doing it properly)
The reason kungfu is tons better than karate is because we have way cooler costumes. Seriously, we do. Karate and TDK have boring monochromatic gi’s with tacky club patches all over them. Give me a break, take a beginner aesthetics class, ok? Oooh-aaaah, member of the International World Federation of Oingo Boingo Martial Posturing! - postcards from Snoresville. On the other hand, kungfu has everything from short shorts and t-shirts to super-elaborate silk peejays with flowing sashes, and let us not forget the whole Shaolin monk thang, that is hot hot hot this year, just check out KungFu Magazine’s cover this month.
It’s so simple, really. What a stupid question. Next.
I agree with you completely!..I dont care if I win or lose…If it is done in style and not in some pijamas!
Ah! What women can teach to us, neanderthals.
Come in my cave with me ma belle Jasmine!
What the CMA guys have that JMA & KMA don’t is Iron peni$ training, but unlike we who practice real martial arts like TKD, karate and Judo, they need it!
Much prettier outfits. Bright silk rocks !
Agree, and don’t forget we have “T” shirts and the girls get to wear shorts and halter tops in the summer!!!
Very pretty and flowery forms
Agree, but many of the traditional ones are pretty boring looking and damm hard to do over and over againg.
Has very little of that awfull yelling
YES!!! THANK GOD!!! All that yelling is just sully and embarasing, and makes the bad guys laugh at us!!!
You don’t sweat nearly as much as karateka
HA!!! what a bunch of bull, you Karatikas would DIE with a traditional Kung Fu work out!!! I bet you could’nt even hold a correct horse stance for 3 minutes let alone the rest of the training.
Even really old people can do kung-fu
True, and they move prettty dammmm good too.
After 3 months you feel you are unbeatable in a fight
Not really, that’s a Karate thing mostly.
Doesn’t do much of that sparring cr@p
HA, what Kung Fu schools have you seen? Every form has martial applications for each move, and we drill those untill we die, then we free fight them untill they are so ingrained into our subconcious we could do them even practically knocked out or sleeping.
Has own t.v. series
VERY cool, but I think we could do better!!!
No time wasted on punching bags
Bull ****tt, bag work is essential to kung fu, it’s even in the Shaolin’s 72 consamate arts manual, and don’t forget we have MUCH superior Iron Hand training, to the point that many “karate” schools are now useing “OUR” Iron Hand methods because “Thier’s” ruin the hands and knuckles!!!
We also have far more sophisticated training and depth of knowledge and teach many ranges and stratigyes in each system including methodes for punching, Kicking, grapeling and throwing. Karate is mostly punching, Tae Kwon do is mostly Kicking, and you need Akido and Judo training all at once to get some coverage in all the basic venues. Then, it’s a hodge podged method, we have it it all in one cohisive and complementery system where all 4 ranges are designed to work together and complement and enhance one another. We can start striking, move in close and jionty lock, throw, and strike you on the ground. If we get in toruble, we have built in escapes that are often setups for the kill. Karate seems to just be a straightline hit as hard as you can trade blows and hope you kill’em stratigy.
Plus, our training is easier on the joints and we have many more cool looking weapons to play with. Heck, ther is’nt anything Karate has that we don’t, but there’s alot “they” dont have that “we” do!!!
We are overlooking one some of our most important assets.
1 We can easily strike Jet Li poses and impress the girls.
2 There are many more movies and storys about our exploits.
3 Sometimes if your lucky you get made a ‘closed door diciple’ and you can look down on [plus beat up] all your old training partners.
4 We actualy can throw chi balls we just dont do it in public or when anyones around as it violates our anicent codes.
5 We get the pleasure of learning things with cool names like ‘Iron shirt’ only to discover it just involves beating yourself up for hours on end. YAY! But look on the bright side at least you get dit dar to fix the bruises you create. Oh what a wonderfull world.
6 You can then partake in infighting with other linages of the same art for no reason other than bring shame to your ancestors.
7 We have weapons you cant even imagine… and techniques with them we cant even perform!
8 You get the pleasure of explaining why you do what you do over and over and over and over and over again.
9 We dance around in cool lion costumes to celebrate new years.
10 We can wear white silk suits and use the excuse were dressing like a kung fu man not a backstreet boy…
Im actualy a chinese martial artist [Hung Ga ] and proud of it…
Im just not above taking the micky out of it either:D
I train WC and I love it but during the 70s a crowd of different MA from HK went to Japan for some serious fighting and they got there asses whipped. Some of the WC men actually got there arms broken from trying to block karate style round-house kicks with there arms!
But of course it is one thing to stand on a tatami and another to face of in a dark alley…
I hate karate, because it’s so **** stiff. They don’t do their techniques with any sort of relaxation, instead they waste their energy too much. Karate can be a very good art for selfdefence, if you can change it a bit for real life combat. but every karateka I’ve seen, are soooo proud of their system, and they tend to be real a-holes. Karate seems to make the practisioner very agressive also in real life! That’s not a very good thing. Ofcourse, everybody loves their own art (me too), so someone will moarn about this comment.
And kungfu… When people don’t know anything about kungfu, they think it’s like in the matrix etc. I saw a documentary on the history and development of kung fu, which had very many interviews of kung fu masters in China. They said that it’s a shame that kung fu has changed more into a wushu type of fighting. “All those high jumps have nothing to do with the real kung fu of the old days”. My personal opinion is this. Kung fu guys tend to overestimate their abilities, but are usually afraid of showing them. They say:“I’m still a beginner” allthought they have trained for 10 years. The forms are veeery beautiful, but in real life situation, that kind of training is not very helpfull. Ofcourse, almost anything can be used. I beginning to see why Bruce Lee always criticised the classical styles.
Taekwondo is the art for me. We practise almost nothing but kicks, and I like it. It’s not street effective, but so what? It’s a sport, but hell, it’s very fun! If you people say that other then kung fu lacks the internal part, then you’re wrong. My dojangs practisioners are all friends, and the people who I practise most with, are very good persons. What makes you say that kung fu trains the mind more then TKD? How do you train your mind, by doing forms? Anyway, taekwondo is still my fav. I also like the uniforms It’s the rules that make the advantages and disadvantages of each art.
"Some of the WC men actually got there arms broken from trying to block karate style round-house kicks with there arms! "
Serves them right. No self-respecting wingchunner would try to block anything that way. They clearly have NO understanding of basic beginner WC principles. You sure they were wing chun and not one of those JKcough other CMA styles?
Ahhhh, old jong my favorite woolly mammoth. Thank you for the lovely invite darling, but Mrs. jong tells me me you are currently not allowed to bring your little friends into the cave. Best to check with her first. And she says don’t forget to wipe your paws before entering, no tracking muddy snow inside
