I’ve been doing Hung Ga (at Yee’s) for about a year now and am wondering what other art I should cross train in?
Any experienced Hung Gar people have a decent suggestion? What are some of the weaknesses of Hung Gar vs another style?
Anybody else from Yee’s on this forum?
Thank you![/QUOTE]
I am not familiar with Yee’s Hung Gar , however Hung Ga is the strongest style in Kung Fu I learned from my late Sifu ( Ark Y Wong ) I found no weakness within it ,those of us that leaned it became stronger fighters. Not many people learn to use Kung Fu for combat. I never found a reason to cross train. However today is different . My best to you.
As a former YHG sifu, the best suggestion I can give you, from my experience, is touch hands with people NOT from YHG and see if your stuff works. You can read about my post-YHG journey on the New York Hung Ga FB page. You can also PM me with any questions about my YHG experience.
[QUOTE=SifuYui;1288954]As a former YHG sifu, the best suggestion I can give you, from my experience, is touch hands with people NOT from YHG and see if your stuff works. You can read about my post-YHG journey on the New York Hung Ga FB page. You can also PM me with any questions about my YHG experience.
Good luck with your training.
Best, Yui[/QUOTE]
The emphasized part is probably the most important advice you will get here. We can all speculate, but you’ll never truly know your deficiencies until you cross hands with as many different people, from as many different systems, in as many different venues (traditional martial arts tourneys to San Da to at least hard sparring with MMA types) as you possibly can. Find your deficiencies and seek out those that can help you shore them
And avoid advice from anyone telling you there’s no need to cross train. Those are people that aren’t constantly trying to test, refine, expand their skillset.
[QUOTE=SifuYui;1288954]As a former YHG sifu, the best suggestion I can give you, from my experience, is touch hands with people NOT from YHG and see if your stuff works.
Thanks for the replies guys! I think it’s only healthy to train in more than one art? I also want to take up Boxing - just simple boxing
I feel the only thing missing is hard sparring/sparring at the current school. Apart from that, it’s a really good school! We only spar for 10-15 mins a week and also slow/sensitivity spar for about 10-20 mins a week at the end of qi qong and drills. Training/conditioning is VERY tough at yee’s! I think there should be more sparring at the particular branch I go to. But there are so many other aspects to Hung Gar and fighting is only one of them!
The other art I’m considering is Judo - Shui Jao is largely missing from Kung Fu these days which is a shame really.
Sifu Yui, that’s really kind of you! I will send a pm if that’s OK sir.
So, it’s either Boxing or Judo (or both?! ) - hard decision…
IMO, Judo is an excellent art to supplement your HG training, as long as you have a strong basic foundation in your HG. I would not suggest taking up both Judo and boxing at the same time, though. If you join a good club in either method, you will realize that just one of them requires hard, time-consuming training. Also, there is a learning curve. You don’t want to overload. So if you have the time and the funds, take up either Judo or boxing, and after you’ve developed a good base and proficiency in the one art, then perhaps look into the other.
[QUOTE=SifuYui;1288996]Happy to answer any questions you may have HungGaEgg. PM me.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Yui[/QUOTE]
that’s good advice , Jiu-Jitsu is another option , boxing is very good to know, as is wrestling. It all depends on what is at your disposal. MMA might be agood way to go also. It mostly depends on the teacher you learn from, there are a great deal of well experienced people n this form
Going back to your original question HungGaEgg, my post-YHG journey showed me some of MY weaknesses, one of which was in the throwing arts. It’s interesting that you mentioned Shuai Jiao because that is one of the styles I delved into. I studied with Marcos, Junior, Bobby, and Dixon, who studied with Jeng Hsing Ping. I can tell you that I really enjoyed being tossed and throwing people. It made my body stronger and my sensitivity more acute.
As other forum members here have said, don’t get pigeon-holed into a box of “Hung Ga” only (one art only). Trust me, every style has their weaknesses and Hung Ga is no different. But it’s different for each practitioner and it’s up to you to find where your “weaknesses” are…
Good luck in finding your “weakness”, that’s the first step to becoming stronger/better!
[QUOTE=Jimbo;1288985]IMO, Judo is an excellent art to supplement your HG training, as long as you have a strong basic foundation in your HG. I would not suggest taking up both Judo and boxing at the same time, though. If you join a good club in either method, you will realize that just one of them requires hard, time-consuming training. Also, there is a learning curve. You don’t want to overload. So if you have the time and the funds, take up either Judo or boxing, and after you’ve developed a good base and proficiency in the one art, then perhaps look into the other.[/QUOTE]
Agreed, Judo is an awesome martial art but my heart is set on boxing But I will only take up one new art otherwise it’d just be overload.
I have been training in Martial Arts for over 40 years, the past 30 being in Hung Ga. However, I also trained in Shuai Jiao with the same group as Yui, and I found it to be a terrific addition to my Hung-Ga. (I had previously trained in hapkido and Jiu Jitsu, so I was no stranger to falls and throws and joint locking, so the transition was somewhat smoother) This also led me to want to explore ground fighting on a deeper level, which brought BJJ into my training. Previously, the only groundfighting I had learned was from Shuai Jiao, and wrestling, and being a “Sifu,” I wanted to be a better instructor to my students, so I decided to enroll in a BJJ school.
You had mentioned western boxing as well. I think this would be a great idea..BUT..I advise you to read Jack Dempsey’s book on Boxing first, as his structures are more aligned with our arts.
[QUOTE=TenTigers;1289123]I have been training in Martial Arts for over 40 years, the past 30 being in Hung Ga. However, I also trained in Shuai Jiao with the same group as Yui, and I found it to be a terrific addition to my Hung-Ga. (I had previously trained in hapkido and Jiu Jitsu, so I was no stranger to falls and throws and joint locking, so the transition was somewhat smoother) This also led me to want to explore ground fighting on a deeper level, which brought BJJ into my training. Previously, the only groundfighting I had learned was from Shuai Jiao, and wrestling, and being a “Sifu,” I wanted to be a better instructor to my students, so I decided to enroll in a BJJ school.
You had mentioned western boxing as well. I think this would be a great idea..BUT..I advise you to read Jack Dempsey’s book on Boxing first, as his structures are more aligned with our arts.
What a coincidence! I was actually on Amazon looking for a good book on boxing I already have “Chinese Fast Wrestling for Fighting” (by Liang, Shou-Yu). Jack Dempsey’s book looks really good! Thank you sir! I’ll buy a paperback version as I like to collect MA material.
Unfortunately, there are no Shuai Jiao schools where I live however there are plenty of good Judo schools. I also plan to take a Judo class every now and then in addition to boxing as Shuai Jiao is largely missing from our Hung Ga classes. Initially though, my focus will be on boxing in addition to Hung Ga I think Judo is a very underrated and awesome martial art and includes ground fighting as well Much obliged!
[QUOTE=HungGarEgg;1288983]Thanks for the replies guys! I think it’s only healthy to train in more than one art? I also want to take up Boxing - just simple boxing
I feel the only thing missing is hard sparring/sparring at the current school. Apart from that, it’s a really good school! We only spar for 10-15 mins a week and also slow/sensitivity spar for about 10-20 mins a week at the end of qi qong and drills. Training/conditioning is VERY tough at yee’s! I think there should be more sparring at the particular branch I go to. But there are so many other aspects to Hung Gar and fighting is only one of them!
The other art I’m considering is Judo - Shui Jao is largely missing from Kung Fu these days which is a shame really.
Sifu Yui, that’s really kind of you! I will send a pm if that’s OK sir.
So, it’s either Boxing or Judo (or both?! ) - hard decision…
Thanks a lot guys[/QUOTE]
There is nothing simple about boxing. It will fill that empty sparring spot for you, really quick.
Learning to wrestle is only going to serve you well too.
Just cross training with other sports like soft gymnastics and Tai Chi will do. Because one problem that Hung Gar students quite often has is that they have hard techniques and conditioning anchored in their body and mind. Such that there is not much softness in their skills. As a common comment goes, they move like stiff robots.
[QUOTE=TenTigers;1289247]um..did you click on the link? It’s the entire book on pdf[/QUOTE]
yes sir I did, I actually read some of it too. I would just like to buy a paperback version as well as this book used to go for £100’s when it was out of print and also I would like to collect a few good marital arts books I also don’t like the idea of printing an entire book - would just like a physical copy as well that I could read away from a computer screen.