That is Th3 R34l Wu!

Funny, how many of the folks around here who are setting themselves up as teachers ignore that fact that there are direct descendants of Wu Jian Quan (sp?) living and teaching in N.A. . . . .

Wing Chun gong fu!
Key principles of Wing Chun include attacking and defending the centerline, simultaneous blocking and striking, economy of motion, and utilizing superior position and technique rather than meeting force against force. In Wing Chun, there are no wasted movements. Wing Chun was developed to allow practitioners to become skilled fighters in the shortest period of time possible.
Wing Chun has 3 empty hand forms, a wooden dummy form, sensitivity drills, and Chi Sao (rolling hands training. Five years of consistent training is generally accepted as the length of time to learn the entire system. The Wing Chun System helps one to develop timing, sensitivity, balance, coordination and relaxation.
Over 12 years experience in Wing Chun.

I train in Toronto, Ontario. Ma Yueh Liang was married to Wu Ying Hua, who was my teacher's great aunt (Wu Kung Yi's sister).

Wu Kung Yi -> Wu Tai Kwei -> my teacher.

Where exactly in Toronto? I don't live far from there, and I would be interested to see the school.

It's downtown.
http://toronto.wustyle.com/?Learning_Tai_Chi:Curriculum

If you PM me, we can arrange to meet up when you want to come down.

It appears I must be a supporting member to PM. I'm in Buffalo, so I'll have to plan a day trip anyway, but I'll defiinately get back to you when I have a free day. Thanks.

We've covered this to an extent in past, but I would like to make a dedicated CMA version. So here we go:

What are the specific principles of your style?

Simplicity, Directness, and Economy of Motion/Energy.

The Centerline theory, which states that the central line of your body contains all your vital points. it is what you must defend and where your attacks start.

it is Ideal to Parry/Deflect your opponent's force/energy/momentum than to stop or block it because you will be using your enemy's force against him, whereas blocking is just force against force.

What abilities does your style claim to impart?

Lightning reflexes due to training to fight using tactile sensitivity

The ability to totally destroy your opponent in a short amount of time by striking either one, or several vital points on their body multiple times.

What is the average timeline for the development of those abilities?

5-7 years depending on the practitioners ability to absorb information and train the methods.

The nerve! On what basis are you cheeky enough to be claim enough expertise to speak for your style?

I've only been training for about 1 or 2 years, yet if someone tries to strong arm me on the street i will punch their head until their brain is bouncing around in their skull like Muhammad Ali's Speed bag.

Mr Repulsive Monkey,

I am a beginner at tai chi, taoist style, and I have been told by me teacher that engaging in anything hard (weightlifting, karate) would inhibit the learnig process. He said if I had to do anything it should be something similar, like AIkido. What are your thoughts, if you would?

John Hoshowsky

Mr Repulsive Monkey,

I am a beginner at tai chi, taoist style, and I have been told by me teacher that engaging in anything hard (weightlifting, karate) would inhibit the learnig process. He said if I had to do anything it should be something similar, like AIkido. What are your thoughts, if you would?

John Hoshowsky

I think it depends on what you and he define as the learning process. If your goal is overall martial arts proficiency, I think cross training in general is beneficial. If, however, you are focusing on the internal arts, then I can see your Sifu's point, and it may be best to hold off at this point. This is because falling into an "internal mode" tends to be a difficult process in the beginning for a lot of people, and training in hard style arts simultaneously could make it harder.

Is it this version of Taoist Tai Chi? http://taoist.org/english/index.php

I think they do not teach anything martial, no?

I think it really depends on what you want to achieve. If you are interested in martial arts, then choose the style that you think suits you best. You should be able to find some pointers on this site. The tai chi you practice might end up as a good relaxing exercise to augment your training.

BTW, I was just looking at the website now. As long as I remember, the Taoists have used "tai chi" (as in the philosophical concept) and not "tai chi chuan" (the "chuan" can be translated as "Boxing"). However, the Chinese on the site *does* have the "chuan".

Mr Repulsive Monkey,

I am a beginner at tai chi, taoist style, and I have been told by me teacher that engaging in anything hard (weightlifting, karate) would inhibit the learnig process. He said if I had to do anything it should be something similar, like AIkido. What are your thoughts, if you would?

John Hoshowsky

I have heard this before about Tai Chi, but I will never be convinced that getting yourself in shape wont help you.

Well, what do we know about the way the body works? Does learning a specific type of motor unit pattern negatively affect learning another type? Not to my knowledge -- at least for dissimilar patterns. However, there is another type of nervous system training that takes place with tai chi; namely the development of awareness . Your muscles, tendons, senses etc. all work to deliver information on where your body is in space and what it feels like. Using these tools to be as relaxed as possible is essential to your practice.

While I don't advocate living a sheltered life (particularly one free of yucky physical exertion), I do think that there is one issue to consider: practicing things that leave residual muscular tension are problematic in the early stages. They're going to inhibit you from developing a sense of just how relaxed you actually can be.

This process takes at least a few months (and often much longer) to reach a high point. It also pretty much has to be integrated into everything you do. Once that high point has been reached, I think that you can begin to get into other activities, so long as you retain the ability to bring your muscles back into a relaxed state equal or better to the level previously attained.

Okeedoke?

Choy Lee Fut (or Choy Lay Fut or Choy Lay Fat, it all sounds the same) is a relatively young (for chinese standards, I'd say) style being only a hundred and fifty something years old. I practice the Hung Sing branch from Cheung Yim (a.k.a. Cheung Hung Sing), in some stories the co-founder of the style, in some others just a student of the founder, it depends on which branch you ask.

I was never taught specific principles but the forms show you that the main principle is "hit your opponent once, if he's not down yet keep on hitting him". It's quite dynamic, more fluid than Hung Gar and the other southern families.

Choy Lee Fut was designed to train people in short time. So the forms are a bit hard for a beginner, not the moves themselves, but the rythm and the "going down then going up again" which strengthens your legs. In my school we begin training with two more basic forms (Lim Po Kuen and Dun Da from Ku Yu Cheung's Bak Siu Lum) and then we go fully into the proper style. Also, the style has only ten bare hand forms and a few specific weapons so you can learn it all in less than a lifetime.
If you really train hard, I'd say in a couple of years you can really be good. The techniques are quite easy and most of them very effective. Lots of circular punches (with a downward angle so as to use gravity as help) and the leopard fist which targets the soft parts of the body using the middle knuckles.

I've been training for almost eight years now, but with college and stuff I really train hard in the summer or when I don't have classes.

'What are the specific principles of your style?'

Relaxed power, touch sensitivity, awareness, sinking the weight into each strike, building determination and resolve, gaining a healthy sense of self confidence.


'What abilities does your style claim to impart?'

The ability to hit very hard and hurt people and having the confidence to do this if there is no other course of action.

'What is the average timeline for the development of those abilities?'

The development never stops. You should be able to use what you've learnt straight away to some extent but the learning never stops. My teachers been training in the same art for 25 years and he's still learning from his master. I don't think any decent art is ever more than a work in progress, its only in crap schools that 7th Dans attain perfection(?).

Okay, Mizong Luohan (My Jhong Law Horn)

Principles:

1) Use the "short" power principles of IMA in a "long," Shaolin-style frame. The sum of joint forces moving from the legs, hips, waist to maximum extension, while loading pressure on the structure of the joints.

2) Strike in combinations without being entangled in the opponent's guard. Maintain the offense. We do some sticking and pushing, but almost always for the purpose of getting the opponents guard out of the way.

3) Use deceptive and varied footwork to rapidly change level and distance while maintaining pressure. We move from short to big movements and change direction and level often.

Abilities:

1) Hitting hard and fast from any standup distance instead of of an ideal kickboxing distance. I'd say the base is a lot like snappy kickboxing with a bunch of tricks.

2) Avoiding and overcoming the opponent's defense.

3) Practical (knife and stick) and traditional (18 weapons) weapons skills.

Time

It really depends on your commitment level. Our school leaves it to the student to decide progression speed. The teacher has an idea of what complete knowledge at a certain level is, though, so you won't be exposed to some material without sparring, for instance. One of my seniors did okay at Sanda when he went to China after about 4 years of casual training, but one person who's been around longer is really not interested in application.

I should also note that my school also covers Yang Ta Chi and Xingyi as well. The Tai Chi is separate but seriously influences the kung fu, while the Xingyi is taught with the Mizong.

A lot of people on this site look for a style that is quick to learn and effective in a fight, and that is it. Chinese martial arts are not known for this. I am curious as to why the members here have chosen to train kung fu.

Because they thought it would be cool and would work.

edit: nice White Fang animation.