A complete system...?

[Open Stance...]

G'Day all......


I train in a school of kung-fu that extracts only the usefull and practical parts of praying mantis, crane and snake styles.

i believe it to be one of the most 'to the point ' styles i have come across. Much like JKD it abandons most 'traditional' aspects and keeps only the truely usefull.

My question is this,

There seems to be a large gap in the area of grappling and ground fighting in this style. What use is speed and power if your pinned to the floor and the guy is bending your ankle back so far you resemble rubber man!!
In what style should i seek an answer to fill this gap?
I was thinking maybe shoot-fighting,ju-jitsu??

All help greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!!

Open Stance...

[Leonidas]

I'm not a big fan of it but for groundfighting check out a BJJ school. I'd go with Shootwrestling if the wrestling portion is Catchwrestling, which i am a fan of, but i think most of them teach BJJ anyway. If not then dont bother since your learning a striking art already so it doesn't make much sense. If your looking for throws and groundfighting, i suggest Judo. For Jujutsu it depends on what type of Jujutsu you pick. You dont need to learn Aiki or training to fight in heavy Samurai armor if your doing Kung Fu. For a good Jujutsu school go to E-Budo. A Modern Jujutsu style, meaning created around the mid 1800's and not 1990 has some good training in throws, jointlocks, disarming and controlling techniques while standing and on the ground. I hope that helped.

Thats www.e-budo.com the place for info on all of the japanese martial arts. The Yang of Kung Fu Onlines Yin so to speak.

[KnightSabre]

I would have to say that BJJ has to be one of if not the most complete ground fighting system.
That and coupled with it's realistic training approach makes it very effective at it's chosen range.

[xiong]

You might try out Shuai Jiao, Chinese wrestling, to round out your skills. But I would make sure that your style really doesn't have these things.

Sometimes a shifu's emphasis on something is seen, by the student, as a deficiency of the art in the de emphasized portions.

Make sure your shifu is not just waiting till you get his core down before throwing you the added wrinkle of grappling.

Alot of time students want to go way too fast and not spend the time needed to master the fundamental skills in a progressive manner.

I didn't read your bio so I don't know how long you have been training this style, this has just been my general observation.

[Sho]

I'd say that judo is effective in groundfighting.

[yenhoi]

Dont style shop.

Your already in a school that teaches you how to fight. You said that its some sort of mixed school that gets rid of the un-useful, and teaches the practical parts of mantis, snake, and crane. If that is true then maybe in another 6 months your sifu will enlighten you to the usefull parts of those arts that deal with groundfighting. If you are truely unhappy/unsatisfied with your current training/kwoon, then you should move on to something more complete that your happy with. Trying to 'supplement' your "striking art" with a "grappling art" is going the wrong way on a one way street - you might get from point a to point b, but probably you will get in a wreck, or get pulled over by a cop.

Stick with your system, or find another one.

[Ryu]

Hmmm I respectfully disagree with that.

If you have doubts about fighting on the ground, train in BJJ on the side. Judo is good too, but BJJ makes you better, quicker..

If you want to be able to fight (if that's your goal) you've got to look at it as functionally and practically as you can. If your school doesn't do any groundfighting, and you're afraid you don't know how to fight there, go find a school that teaches it.
The "can't serve two masters" stuff is starting to rub me the wrong way lately. You are responsible for your performance in martial arts.

Ryu

[yenhoi]

I was really taking a shot at his expierence and school =D

If his school teaches "the best of this style/this style/this style" and after 6 months he doesnt feel confortable in all ranges, then perhaps thats something he should discuss with his sifu rather then going somewhere else.

Even though I only have 2 and a half years of consistent training, I would say that after only 6 months of guidence, you are not really ready to determine what you should learn to prepare you for fighting another person who wants to cause you harm.

Quote Ryu:

You are responsible for your performance in martial arts.

This should be posted on every wall of every dojo/kwoon/training center.

I dont think that spending 6 months training a "striking art" and then 'supplementing' that training with a "grappling art" is going to get very good results. On that same note, I dont think someone who has 6 years of training a "striking art" and then begins to 'supplement' thier training with a "grappling art" is going to get very good results either, unless thier striking art training was very well rounded, and not too ritualistic. At some point you must learn to train yourself,i dont think its at 6 months, or years later when you've been programmed too much.

[TjD]

before shopping around behind his back

why dont you ask him about groundfighting? he might have a lot to show you :)


seriously though, ask your sifu about it before you go looking for another school if your happy with what your learning - its definately more respectful


peace
travis

[TaoBoy]

Open Stance,

How long have you been training?

Are you intimate with all aspects of the system (inc. the concepts of distance and timing)?

Have you asked you Sifu or Dai Si Heng about grappling?

Gain a complete understanding of your current style before looking around.
You may find what you are looking for right in front of your nose.

:)

[red_fists]

Hi.

I have to agree with the previous posters.
In most styles after 6 month you are still doing pretty basic low-level stuff.

Other skills take a higher level and most probably will be taught later on, when you are ready for them.

Look at higher ranked Students and see how they deal with such a situation.
Speak with your Sifu.

Remember that fights usually start standing and the skills dealing with that aspect are often taught first.

[Ryu]

Yenhoi,
I probably jumped the gun a little bit. Yeah, I agree that 6 months of here and there doesn't get you far unless you have a sound foundation.

He should be aware of his goals though too. Before getting involved with a school he should know pretty much the curriculum. Ask about the ground arts addressed there, etc.

"You're responsible for your performance in martial arts."
It's a scary thought to some I'd say... :( Maybe to a lot.

Ryu

[Open Stance...]

Thanks for all the great feedback guys!!
This was my first thread and have found it very encouraging...

I think i agree with those that said to ask my sifu to see if groundfighting lies later on down the path....

I have gone from 6 yrs aikido training to a striking art and somehow feel a little naked not having those ground skills anymore...(in the kwoon)

Thanks once again to all who replied....

train hard.......Win easy......



Open stance...

[TaoBoy]

I think you will find that your style will deal with a lot of situations before they go to ground. Groundfighting styles may compliment this later - but for now focus on the one style.

Train hard.

[xiong]

Originally posted by Ryu

"You're responsible for your performance in martial arts."



Originally posterd by Yenhoi

"This should be posted on every wall of every dojo/kwoon/training center. "


I think that these two statements are the most intelligent I have read on this forum in over a year.