Hard time finding right style for me.. would apreciate help.

[Deceitful Fist]

Firstly, im new here so apologies if ive posted in the wrong place.

Basically im looking to learn an effective martial art, preferably a kung fu style. Through much research i feel i'd like to learn Hung gar due to alot of reasons.

What im looking for from a style is a really effective system of fighting, and when it comes to kung fu its quite hard to see online if it is / isnt effective. I understand tht it is up to the student (moslty) who makes the most of the effectiveness of the style, or not, but i was just looking to hear from peoples *experiences* which they feel has shown great effectiveness.

Im looking to learn better blocks and strikes, im about 6'2 in height and not the most muscly of guys, but i am rather athletic. Speed / evasiveness (including blocking) plus strong effective strikes are important to me.

Also any links or references to clubs tht teach this local to me would be apreciated. (London).

Greetings to all

1

[Bjjexpertise@be]

I'm gonna deliver it rather bluntly so here it goes:

The key to finding the right style is you going around and trying one until you find one you truly enjoy and find that really suits you.

This isn't just for Kung Fu, it goes for all martial arts. Some people find that Wing Chun really works for them, others Boxing, or Jiujitsu, or Judo, the list goes on.
Try everything, throw a bunch of crap on the wall and see what sticks. You'll know when you find it.

We can all make "educated guesses" about what style you should be good at based on your height and body size but it really doesn't mean anything, people are just prone to picking up different things differently. For example, in BJJ, I'm pretty good with the triangle....even though I have really really ridiculously short legs. However, that doesn't stop me from triangling some big 200 pound guy, just makes the choke that much tighter once I sink it in with my short legs.

Summary:
Try it all, find the one that you enjoy and pick up fast on.

"The Truth" hath spoken!!

[Deceitful Fist]

yeah, sorry i forgot to mention that in my post. I understand that you cant get a propper, or complete 'feel' for a martial art until you've gone and tried it out.

I previously did Atemi-Jujitsu for a short while. The club was better than all the other clbs i'd seen. There were several reasons i stopped, although really enjoying it, but the thing i enjoyed most about it was the striking / blocking etc. Although i found some of the throws pretty cool, I really doubt Id be trying to single arm shoulder through someone in a fight, thus realising I am probably more suited to a system focues on striking, im very quick learner and taleneted at anything i wish to be (no ego, used to be modest, but now im just being honest) I found that my striking etc to be very acurate and precise as mentioned by some of the senior students and instructors.

I think a southern style wouldbe more what im looking for, as most of the northern styles i have seen are too acrobatic and as much as i find tht stuff fun, im not looking to backflip in a fight. (not attacking the style just saying i want to focus on effective fighting techniques)

As I am leaning towards the Hung Gar style at the moment perhaps some people could mention some of their experience with it, amd/or direct me to appropriate thread.

[Red Rum]

BJJexpertise has answered the question very well and is the best answer you will get. There is a lot of hearsay that wing chun is the best kung fu fighting system, yet I have seen some preying mantis which has been better than some wing chun. It comes down to schools near you, the kind of teacher that suits you (someone you can understand, and who trains in the way that you want to train)

Most kung fu styles are very similar and you will see elements of each in each other

As has been suggested before, go down to the schools and ask for a demo. Think of the questions you want answered (not too many) and ask them.
You will often gauge what the school is like by the way they reat newbies (ie if they don't let you through the front door, don't bother with them)

Good luck

[Deceitful Fist]

yeah I know it totally depends on school / teacher most of the time, the students also have to be dedicated if they are to make anything out of whats being taught still.

I was looking into wing chun as ive seen some that has been really impressive, and i didnt have much against trying it out, then i saw a video of a local school and it looked so sloppy a thought they were playing tht playground game were u slap your hands together and sing songs whatever thts called. That really put me off for a bit, but with any martial art there will be good schools and bad school. I plan to go visit some wing chun schools tho.

Red Rum can you suggest (If you know of any) any good wing chun schools or instructors that maybe you have heard good things of that teach in the london area?

all helps apreciated, thanks for your time/knowledge.



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OKay i think i got a better idea, If people could tell me what martial art they learn (their main style) and tell me what it is that they find good about it. I dont want this to turn into an attack on evryones styles, so if you can stick to mentioning what you do why you do it and why you believe it to be a good system (without comparing it to other systems unless necessary) thanks.

[Red Rum]

There are plenty of exceptional wing chun schools in the London area.
Kamon is the one I teach and train at and I have found this to be the best street applicable style, mainly because Kevin Chan (founder) is a street fighter at heart (although he has mellowed out a bit). Some schools within the federation are a bit more taditional based, but the rougher ones can be found at Croydon, Tooting, Streatham, Epsom, Sutton, Ealing and Covent Garden

The great thing is that you can pay £48 per month and train throughout the week (although usually twice a week is enough for most students).

Details can be found here www.kamonwingchun.com
We have a couple of youtube clips if you type in Kamon

If you want to come down to my class, I'll give you a brief demo (send me a private message) and give you a discount

Other good WC schools come under Alan Orr and James Sinclair

[Guest]

DF,

My immediate observation is that your search criteria already holds a contradiction that I feel will limit you. Your goal is to find an "effective fighting system" and yet you seem keen to pursue a traditional Chinese system of Kung Fu. I'm not sure the two will provide optimum results.

Now, before I get jumped on, I'm not saying that TCMA are innefective, but stand back and look at this logically. Many systems in TCMA are hundreds if not thousands of years old, based on the history and practices of cultures that have no bearing on yours. Some are based on the observations of mammals, insects, or creatures of legends, and designed to be used against an enemy who no longer exists.

Its 2008. If you want an effective fighting style then my personal recommendation is to look at what fighters on the front line are using right here and now. Look at what common threads you see across Military, Law Enforcement, Security and Combat Athletics. There are common threads that I believe will give you stronger options.

Red Rum has made a very fair offer, and for the record I consider Kamin to be a very good group but that is because they have moved with the times and embraced cross training in proven arts.

Just my opinion.

[Red Rum]

Spot on. A lot of CMA's deal with building things like core strength and internal energies. Many of them do not deal with intense pressure tested conditions (sparring, random attacks etc). In Kamon, beginners are taught basic stancework, movement of the hands (chain punching), before going onto the more intense side of the art (hard feeding techniques, padwork etc).

It is hard to satisfy everyone. I like the traditional arts, because as a big bloke, I have a hard punch already. It is the subtlety that I am lacking which develops through things like chi sao and formwork. Many people who come across me are surprised by the way I fight as I weigh 25 stone but can move faster than people who weigh 8 stone

[Deceitful Fist]

Haha yeah I knew about the contradiction slightly in what I was saying but I know some traditional styles still have very appliable techniques. Of course I dont wish to join a club on the sole basis of it being traditional if I dont end up learning anything of much use. Maybe a traditional system would be good to add to a more 'modern' system at a later stage, any thoughts on that? as i do like some of the traditional aspects to martial arts aswell as the fighting, although to me if a system is traditional but has an unefective method of fighting it starts losing alot of point.
One thing that attracts me to Wing Chun is the use of closed fists as oposed to alot of hand shapes like tiger claws crane beaks etc. Not discrediting them im just saying at this moment i would probly feel more comfortable hitting someone with a closed fist / Palm.
The thing with most martial arts which can make it tricky to gauge is at classes i have visited i have often seen alot of very sloppy students, and i apreciate that everyone learns at different speeds i have seen students that look rather skilled but they are usually few. The teachers do often seem VERY skilled as they should be which i guess is a good thing hopefuly its just their students letting them down and not the teacher letting the students down. Saying that, im very good at learning stuff fast, so i shouldnt judge the class off some of the poorer students but of the teacher / seniors and whether i feel myself could learn/feel comfortable doing what i see.

I'm hopefuly going to go check out a Wing Chun class pretty soon, so I'll let you know how that goes for me.

[Red Rum]

No matter what class you see, you will always find sloppy students. Everyone has different talents and abilities. Some people train because they want a part time hobby. Others dedicate their life to it. You can’t really separate these students off in class, but what will happen is that the dedicated students will progress faster. You train for yourself. When I go to a class I might be up against a sloppy student and a very good student. It can be a nice mix training with both.

There is a difference though between a student who is sloppy because he is a new student or new to a drill and who is trying his best, and a student who is sloppy because his training is poor or because he has poor foundations

In Kamon, we believe that the best strike is the one that comes naturally. When you are angry, you clench your fists and you think, ‘I’m going to hit something’. You don’t think ‘I’m going to form a tiger fist and then hit something’. So our strikes are very simple to pull off and you don’t feel as though you have to change your type of movement to suit the style

[Tom Yum]

Shuai Jiao (Chinese wrestling) seems effective. It looks like freestyle wrestling mixed with judo, but has kick attacks as well.

You're not going to have an easy time finding a public school that teaches effective Chinese martial arts. You're going to have to find someone who teaches on a more private level or whom is contracted to teach police/military/security.

Gong-fu taught to Recon at Camp Pendleton
YouTube - Camp Pendleton October, 1997 Part Three

[shaolin-warrior]

www.wengchun.co.uk/