This was asked by Cha Kuen:
so question is..
Out of cck’s students today , which one learned the most about fighting. Because I see most passing on the forms and technqiues, self defense…but how many learned more of the free fighting, sparring from cck?
I always wondered.
I don’t speak for anyone but myself. I am only offering my experience when I was training in GM Chiu’s HK Kwoon, which is now closed. Out of the few years (87-91) that I was there I witnessed only one sparring session between 2 students. Both of them are advanced students. One of them, Leung Cheuk Kwan (sp?) was appointed as assistant instructor during the time. The other was actually an American, Eli, who used to be a grandstudent of GM Chiu. That session was supervised by GM Chiu himself. There were striking, kicking, tie-ups (grappling) and takedowns. There was no official word on who was the winner. They just sparred and we all enjoyed it. Except for the fact that they both worn gloves and not waiting for command to go at it, there wasn’t much different than we normally would do. That is to say that the Sau Fa/Shou Fa training that we all received from GM Chiu was pretty much the way we fight. Everyone there was more concern about refining what they have than who would kick ass better.
I am not sure of how others are teaching or training their students here in the west. I am sure everyone has a good reason to train the way they envision. I have heard things but I have no first hand experience so I would not comment on them. GM Chiu had hundreds if not thousands of students all over the globe. I haven’t done a survey of training programs that they offer. When I can make it to one of the annual events hosted by the CCK TCPM American contigent to meet up with every body, I definitely will report my findings to all interested parties.
As far as my training goes, I practice along with my students. We sparr and roll together. We also welcome people from other styles to come and sparr. That’s how I got some of my students. How many techniques could I use? Less than 10. How much do I know about fighting relative to GM Chiu? I would be more than ecstatic if I am anywhere near 2 to 5 % of his capacity.
If there is one thing that I ever learned from GM Chiu, it is the down to earth approach to traditional Kung Fu. There is no secrets but details.
I hope this helps. I will happy to answer any questions concerning our training.
Best regards
Mantis108
