Thursday, July 29, 2010

Monkey Kung Fu

monkey kung fu as shown above :)
Hi guys , I KS is here to introduce Monkey kungfu to you guys !!

Now , a little scope about monkey kungfu :)
  1. Monkey Kung Fu (猴拳), or Monkey Fist, is a Chinese martial art which utilizes ape or monkey-like movements as part of its technique
  2. Monkey kung fu integrates the use of an extensive collection of weapons for use in combat, thus creating an effective way to help you realize the true meaning of the monkey and have a feel for the monkey based movements.
  3. Hou Quan (猴拳), literally Monkey Fist, can be traced back to the Han dynasty and is recorded in the Mi Hou Wu dance performed at the Emperor's court.

Techniques


Hou Quan

Traditional hou quan as taught in Mainland China includes running on all fours (i.e. the hands and feet), various difficult acrobatic movements such as flipping sideways in the air, front flips, back flips, back handsprings, hand stands, walking on the hands, forward lunges/dives, backward lunges, spinning on the butt, spinning on the back and many kicks and strikes. Most of the attacks are aimed at the knees, groin area, throat or eyes of the opponent and hand strikes are normally either open handed slaps or clawing with a semi-closed fist called the monkey claw. A wide array of facial monkey expressions are also practiced, inclusive of happiness, anger, fear, fright, confusion and bewilderment etc. Except for very brief periods, most movements inclusive of running are executed from either a squatting or semi-squatting position and are normally accompanied by very swift and 'jerky' head movements as the practitioner nervously looks around. The monkey staff, or hou gun (猴棍), is one of this style's specialty weapons. Monkey boxing is an imitative technique and so execution of the movements and facial expressions must be so convincing that it looks exactly like a monkey and not simply like a human imitating a monkey hence the very high degree of difficulty associated with this technique.


Da Sheng

There are five variations of monkey kung fu developed as part of the Da Sheng Men system, and still utilized in the later Da Sheng Pi Gua system (although the Crafty monkey variation described below may have been absorbed into the Lost monkey curriculum in Da Shing Pi Gua and Bei Shaolin among others, hence there are only five variations listed, in these systems):

  1. Drunken Monkey uses a lot of throat, eye and groin strikes as well as tumbling and falling techniques. It incorporates a lot of false steps to give the appearance it is defenseless and uses a lot of off balance strikes. The practitioner waddles, takes very faltering steps and sometimes fall to the ground and lies prone while waiting for the opponent to approach at which time a devastating attack is launched at the knees or groin areas of the opponent. In drunken monkey you use more internal energy than any other. It is one of the more difficult of the monkey styles to master and also extremely effective against a standard, attack-oriented enemy. Countering this style involves shifting your body around often to ensure that the Drunken Monkey user impacts more solid, tougher areas of your body.
  2. Stone Monkey is a "physical" style. The practitioner trains up his body to exchange blows with the opponent - Stone Monkey uses a kind of Iron body method. It will leave an area exposed on its body for an opponent to attack, so it can attack a more vital spot on the body. Its is important not to attack reflexively at open spots, and try to hammer away at their weak spots until they give in.
  3. Lost Monkey feigns a lot. Practitioners of Lost Monkey give the appearance of being lost and confused to deceive the opponent into underestimating his abilities, and he retaliates when it is least expected. The hands and footwork change and flow from each other at will. All monkeys are sociable animals and so they live in troupes or family groups. They are also very territorial by nature and so when they wander into the territory of another troupe there is normally a fight possibly resulting in death to the trespassers. This technique incorporates the fear, nervousness and mischief of a monkey who has wandered into a neighboring territory, in that it attempts to pick and eat as many fruits and insects as quickly as is possible while nervously looking around before scurrying back to its own home range.
  4. Standing Monkey or Tall Monkey is a relatively conventional monkey that likes to keep an upright position and avoid tumbling around. This style is more suited for tall people. Tall monkey likes to climb body limbs to make attacks at pressure points. It is a long range style.
  5. Wooden Monkey mimics a serious, angry monkey that attacks and defends with ferocity. The attitude of this monkey is more serious, and its movements are noticeably less light than the other monkeys. Wood monkey likes to grapple and bring its opponent to the ground.
Okay. time for some video about monkey kung fu :)
Have fun and enjoy. Everything lies in passion :)









BJJ and Capoeira

HELLO EVERYONE! Moving on from the usual stuff we talk about. Today I'm going to talk about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Capoeira.

Brazil
ian Jiu-jitsu


Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu focuses on grappling, i
t came from the Japanese martial art, Judo. In BJJ, they believe that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themself against a bigger opponent by using the proper technique, mainly joint locks and choke holds. BJJ emphasizes on taking an opponent to the ground and utilizing ground fighting

techniques, and submission holds which involve joint-locks and choke holds.

The premise is that most of the advantage of a larger, stronger opponent comes from superior reach and more powerful strikes, both of which are somewhat neglected when grappling on the ground.

BJJ is common in MMA, in fact it is a staple in MMA, it is what all fighters in MMA use for ground work, as they keep maneuvering till one person has dominant control over the other, e.g. side control, mount, back mount.

Capoeira

Capoeira is a very different martial arts, it includes music and dance as well. It was created in Brazil by slaves from Africa.

I feel like it would be difficult to explain Capoeira, so I'm just going to show you what it is like.








Hung Kuen aka 洪拳

(Wong Fei-Hung)
Hi guys ! I will be bringing you to a world of kung fu once again !
Anyone know who is Wong Fei-Hung?
If you know , you properly wont be new to this kung fu , which i will be introducing.
Before i begin , a Little scope about 洪拳.
  1. Hung Ga 洪家, Hung Kuen 洪拳, or Hung Ga Kuen 洪家拳 is a southern Chinese martial art associated with theChinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung, who was a master of Hung Ga.
  2. Hung Ga was named after Hung Hei-Gun, who learned martial arts from Jee Sin, a Chan (Zen) master at the Southern Shaolin Temple.
  3. Jee Sin (AKA Gee Sum Sim See) was also the master of four other students, namely Choy Gau Lee, Mok Da Si, Lau Sam-Ngan and Li Yao San. These five martial artists later became the founders of the five major family styles of Southern Chinese martial arts:

Hung Gar Style

The hallmarks of Hung Gar are deep low stances, notably its "sei ping ma" horse stance, and strong hand techniques, notably the bridge hand and the versatile tiger claw.

The student traditionally spent anywhere from some months to three years in stance training, which would often consist of sitting in horse stance for between half an hour to several hours at one time, before learning any forms. Each form then might take a year or so to learn, with weapons learned last. However, in modernity, this mode of instruction has been deemed economically unfeasible and impractical for students, who have other concerns beyond practicing kung fu.

Hung Gar is sometimes mis-characterized as solely external—that is, reliant on brute physical force rather than the cultivation of qi—even though the student advances progressively towards an internal focus.


Wong Fei Hung is visibly the most famous Hung Ga practitioner of modern times. As such his branch/lineage has received the most attention and as such recorded in various documents.

The Original Hung Ga curriculum that Wong Fei-Hung learned from his father comprised the sets :

  1. Single Bow Fist (單弓拳),
  2. Double Bow Fist (雙弓拳),
  3. Tiger Taming Fist (伏虎拳),
  4. Tiger Fist (虎拳),
  5. Black Tiger Fist (黑虎拳)
  6. Mother & Son Butterfly Swords (子母雙刀),
  7. Fifth Brother Eight Trigram Pole (五郎八卦棍)
Wong distilled his father's empty-hand material along with the material he learned from other masters into the "pillars" of Hung Ga, four empty-hand routines that constitute the core of the Wong Fei-Hung lineage:

"工" Character Taming the Tiger Fist 工字伏虎拳

pinyin: gōng zì fú hǔ quán; Yale Cantonese: gung ji fuk fu keun

The long routine Taming the Tiger trains the student in the basic techniques of Hung Ga while building endurance. It is said to go at least as far back as Jee Sin, who is said to have taught Taming the Tiger—or at least an early version of it—to both Hung Hei-Gun and Luk Ah-Choi.
The "工" Character Tiger Taming Fist is so called because its footwork traces a path resembling the character "工".


Tiger Crane Paired Form Fist 虎鶴雙形拳

pinyin: hǔ hè shuāng xíng quán; Yale Cantonese: fu hok seung ying keun

Tiger Crane builds on Taming the Tiger, adding "vocabulary" to the Hung Ga practitioner's repertoire. Wong Fei-Hung choreographed the version of Tiger Crane handed down in the lineages that descend from him. He is said to have added to Tiger Crane the bridge hand techniques and rooting of the master Tit Kiu Saam as well as long arm techniques, attributed variously to the Fat Ga, Lo Hon, and Lama styles. Tiger Crane Paired Form routines from outside Wong Fei-Hung Hung Gar still exist.


Five Animal Fist 五形拳/Five Animal Five Element Fist 五形五行拳

pinyin: wǔ xíng quán; Yale Cantonese: ng ying keun/pinyin: wǔ xíng wǔ xíng quán; Yale Cantonese: ng ying ng haang keun

These routines serve as a bridge between the external force of Tiger Crane and the internal focus of Iron Wire. "Five Animals" (literally "Five Forms") refers to the characteristic Five Animals of the Southern Chinese martial arts: Dragon, Snake, Tiger, Leopard, and Crane. "Five Elements" refers to the five classical Chinese elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. The Hung Ga Five Animal Fist was choreographed by Wong Fei Hung and expanded by Lam Sai Wing (林世榮), a senior student and teaching assistant of Wong Fei Hung, into the Five Animal Five Element Fist (also called the "Ten Form Fist"). In the Lam Sai Wing branch of Hung Ga, the Five Animal Five Element Fist has largely, but not entirely, superseded the Five Animal Fist, which has become associated with Tang Fong and others who were no longer students when the Five Animal Five Element Fist was created.


Iron Wire Fist 鐵線拳

pinyin: tiě xiàn quán; Yale Cantonese: tit sin kuen

Iron Wire builds internal power and is attributed to the martial arts master Tit Kiu Saam (鐵橋三). Like Wong Fei Hung's father Wong Kei-Ying, Tit Kiu Saam was one of the Ten Tigers of Canton. As a teenager, Wong Fei Hung learned Iron Wire from Lam Fuk-Sing (林福成), a student of Tit Kiu Saam. The Iron Wire form is essentially a combination of qigong (or meditative breathing) withisometric exercise particularly dynamic tension although weights were also used in traditional practice in the form of iron rings worn on the wrists. If properly practiced it can increase strength considerably and promote a stable root. However as with both most forms of qigong and most forms of isometric exercise it must be practiced regularly or the benefits are quickly lost.

Wong Fei Hung was known for his Fifth Brother Eight Trigram Pole (五郎八卦棍) (unrelated to Baguazhang, or "Eight Trigram Palm"), which can be found in the curricula of both the Lam Sai Wing andTang Fung branches of Hung Ga, two of the major branches of the Wong Fei-Hung lineage, as can the Spring & Autumn Guandao (春秋大刀), and the Yu Family Tiger Fork (瑤家大扒). Both branches also train the broadsword (刀), the butterfly swords (雙刀), the spear (槍), and even the fan (扇), but use different routines to do so. Mother & Son Butterfly Swords (子母雙刀) can still be found in the curriculum of the Tang Fong branch.


Branches of Hung Kuen

Beyond that, the curricula of different branches of Hung Ga differ tremendously with regard to routines and the selection of weapons, even within the Wong Fei Hung lineage. Just as those branches that do not descend from Lam Sai Wing do not practice the Five Animal Five Element Fist, those branches that do not descend from Wong Fei Hung sometimes called "old" or "village" Hung Kuen, do not practice the routines he choreographed, nor do the branches that do not descend from Tit Kiu Saam practice Iron Wire. Conversely, the curricula of some branches have grown through the addition of further routines by creation or acquisition.

Nonetheless, the various branches of the Wong Fei Hung lineage still share the Hung Ga foundation he systematized. Lacking such a common point of reference, "village" styles of Hung Kuen show even greater variation.

The curriculum that Jee Sin taught Hung Hei-Gun is said to have comprised Tiger style, Luohan style, and Taming the Tiger routine. Exchanging material with other martial artists allowed Hung to develop or acquire Tiger Crane Paired Form routine, a combination animal routine, Southern Flower Fist, and several weapons.

According to Hung Ga tradition, the martial arts that Jee Sin originally taught Hung Hei Gun were short range and the more active footwork, wider stances, and long range techniques commonly associated with Hung Ga were added later. It is said to have featured "a two-foot horse," that is, narrow stances, and routines whose footwork typically took up no more than four tiles' worth of space.


Ha Sei Fu Hung Ga 下四虎洪家

The Ha Sei Fu (下四虎) is said to fit this description, though the implied link to the legendary Jee Sin is more speculative than most because of its poorly documented genealogy. Ha Sei Fu Hung Ga of Leung Wah Chew is a Five Animal style with a separate routine for each animal. Other Branches of Ha Sei Fu Hung Ga also contain combined animal sets like tiger & Crane, Dragon & Leopard, etc.


Five-Pattern Hung Kuen 五形洪拳

Like Ha Sei Fu Hung Ga, the Ng Ying Hung Kuen (五形洪拳) fits the description of Jee Sin's martial arts, but traces its ancestry to Ng Mui and Miu Hin (苗顯) who, like Jee Sin, were both survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery. From Miu Hin, the Five-Pattern Hung Kuen passed to his daughter Miu Tsui Fa (苗筴花), and from his daughter to his grandson Fong Sai-Yuk (方世玉), both Chinese folk heroes like Jee Sin, Ng Mui, and their forebear Miu Hin. Yuen Yik Kai's Books introduced this branch to the Western/European venue. while conventionally translated as "Five-Pattern Hung Fist" rather than "Five Animal Hung Fist", it is a Five Animal style, one with a single routine for all Five Animals but also has other sets as well.


Tiger Crane Paired Form 虎鶴雙形

The Tiger-Crane Combination style has been found in almost every Hung Style. While not as long as the Wong Fei Hung version that is typically seen as containing 108 movements/techniques.

Ang Lian-Huat attributes the art to Hung Hei Gun's combination of the Tiger style he learned from Jee Sin with the Crane style he learned from his wife, whose name is given in Hokkien as Tee Eng-Choon. Like other martial arts that trace their origins to Fujian (e.g. Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors), this style uses San Chian as its foundation.

Wong Kiew Kit trace their version of The Tiger Crane routine not to Hung Hei Gun or Luk Ah Choi but to their senior classmate Harng Yein.


Okay ! enough of wordy stuff . time for some video related to 洪拳

the Video belong show some style of 洪拳.





Okay ! thats it for today ! stay tune for more Tomorrow ! by WKS :)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Zui Quan aka drunken fist style



Zui quan aka drunken fist kungfu style is a chinese kungfu style practice both for health and fighting purpose. It imitates a drunkard with its movement. This wushu is consider to be a very difficult one to master. Reason being that you need strong joints and fingers for this style. The drunken fist style is sometimes call drunken alcohol fist. (醉酒拳)

Drunken boxers needs to have good eye sights and fist play. Their main tactics is to fake their defense while trying to attack and aim in one direction but attacking in the other.
There is no stand alone styles for the drunken fist as this is only true in the movies. Only a few systems have a true ‘Drunken Boxing’ set. Choy Li Fut is one such system. The principle concept of the drunken fist is basically move as if one were half drunk.

Choy li fut. A Chinese kungfu style


Choy Li Fut is unsurpassed as a practical self-defense system because of its unique versatility. One of the most popular systems in mainland China, Choy Li Fut is one of the few Kung Fu styles that combines the in-close fighting and hand techniques of traditional Southern Chinese Kung Fu with the kicking and fast moving footwork found in Northern styles. In addition to kicking and striking, Choy Li Fut also includes the study of joint locking, pressure points, and ground fighting. Choy Li Fut also includes the study of a wide variety of traditional Chinese weapons.

Monday, July 26, 2010

"The returns of Judo's kungfu"

Welcome back to "Judo's world skill"

...to be continue with the kungfu topics on "Judo" topic.
Judo - for judo wears, usually trainees and trainers white uniforms called "judogi", for judo lessons. The uniform also known as (aka) "gi". The judogi was inverted by Kano in the year 1907, and almost the same uniforms issued by other's martial arts or kungfu like karate, aikido and so on. The modern judogi consists of white or blue cotton drawstring pants and a matching white or blue quilted cotton jacket, fastened by a belt with it's ranking colour. Most of the belts coloured to indicate rank same as karate ranking. The jacket is use for the stresses of grappling the withstand and also is thicker than that of a karate uniform (karategi).
The world skills for judo are variety movements of rolls, falls, throws, hold downs, chokes, joint-locks, and strikes, the primary tactics and special movements are throwing opponent on the ground, and groundwork. Throwing are seperated into two kind of techniques:
  1. Standing skill - are more focus into hand techniques, hip techniques, and foot and leg master of skills.
  2. Sacrifice skill - practises and focus into the tactics of thrower falling backwards, and also focus on those falls onto towards his/her side.
    Below is the video to show how Judo's skill works:

Let's do the right skills, be it, JUDO.
=======================ys==============================

More on gear for MMA and Muay Thai

Hello everyone!
I promised a post on what gear MMA and Muay Thai fighters use, so here it is!

Both Muay thai and MMA use Thai Pads, hand wraps, gloves, punching mitts and bags. Loads of physical training is done as well, besides pad work. Fighters need to make sure that they do not run out of gas in fights, so it is important to keep your fitness up.


Thai Pads

There are many different types of Thai pads of different sizes. These Thai pads are especially good for training on combinations, as they are not too huge or too small. They can be used for kicks and punches as well.


Punching mitts

There are special punching mitts for different types of martial arts, but they all serve the same purpose, to train on the quickness and accuracy of your punches. Punching mitts are lighter than Thai pads, allowing the person holding the punching mitts to move faster, and you would have to keep up with your partner.




Hand wraps and Mouth Guards
It is a need to have hand wraps when you take up Muay Thai or MMA. Hand wraps maintain the alignment of your joints, compress and lend strength to the soft tissues of the hand during the impact of a punch. Without wrapping up, you could suffer from sprains or fractures.

Mouth guards cover your teeth and gums to prevent and reduce injury to your teeth, arches, lips and gums.




Bags
I think we are all familiar with these. If you do not have a partner to practice with, then you would probably want to try practicing on these. Punching bags allow you to practice what you would do when in a real fight, as punching bags are about the size of a human being. Good thing is, you can throw elbows, knees, punches, kicks, anything, but you don't hurt anyone. You might hurt yourself though, if certain moves are done wrongly, or if you decide to try something really smart like a headbutt.

I've talked about gloves before! So, that's all folks!


How To Tie Your Hand Wraps


Bag Work


Know some combinations and don't have the gear at home? Try shadow boxing