Shaolin Gung Fu a Course in Traditional forms books

[FIRE HAWK]

Do these books have anything on Southern Mantis, Bak Mei ,Dragon Style or Chuka Shaolin Phoenix Eye Fist in them what is in these books what kind of kung fu styles ?

[GeneChing]

Those are all southern based styles - these books outline a Songshan Shaolin curriculum - check it out here:
http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/bslx115.html

[diego]

I have the first chuka pi fist book, What is your call on what that system is?, isit more bakmei or spm?:confused: :)

[FIRE HAWK]

Chuka Shaolin Phoenix Eye Fist is half Chu Gar Southern Mantis and is mixed with some Fukien Shaolin styles some say Fukien White Crane but when i look at Chuka Shaolins forms and Fukien White Crane forms they are different Chuka Shaolin is a different type of Chu Gar Southern Mantis than the Hong Kong and Mainland China Chu Gar Southern Mantis in the Tuttle dictionary of martial arts Chuka Shaolin is called Jyu Ga southern mantis and the Chu Gar southern mantis styles that come from Hong Kong and Mainland China are called Chyu Ga but they are both called Chuka and Zhu Jia in Mandarine which is a word for Chu Gar Southern Mantis there are two types of Chu Gar southern mantis Chuka Shaolin wich is called Chuka, Chu Gar Chong Gar Chaun ,Jyu Ga, and Zhu Jia where Hong Kong and Mainland China Chu Gar southern mantis is called Chuka ,Chu gar, Chyu Ga, Zhu Jia. The styles are similar and they are also not so similar it depends on how you look at these two arts but Chuka Shaolin is half Chu Gar Southern Mantis .As for Pak Mei being in Chuka Shaolin from i see it looks like Pak Mei when they do certain things with there hands and feet and some of the drills and the way they move and put there hand close to the elbow and other things but when i compare the names of the forms in Chuka Shaolin and Pak Mei they are different at least i think they are Chuka Shaolin came from Fukien Province and the Nun setteled in Kwangtung that could be in a Hakka region it should be Lee Siong Pheow came from Kwangtung to Malaysia and he would not teach Chuka Shaolin to anybody but Hakka people it is known that Cheung Lai Cheun lived in Kwangtung Canton and learned Hakka arts there and pak Mei and taught there to students he came from the Hakka community and southern mantis and other Hakka arts were practiced there perhaps Chuka Shaolin shares a common Hakka origin with Pak Mei along the lines that they could have come from the same Hakka area maybe this is why they look somewhat alike i have found no real historcal connection with Chuka Shaolin and Pak Mei other than they might come from the same Hakka roots and that one person said that in Vietnam a version of Chuka Shaolin is practiced along with Pak Mei i am not sure if this is the same Chuka Shaolin that is in Malaysia that is in the book. So i know that there is one version of Chu Gar Southern Mantis that Chuka Shaolin is half of and that there are some other Fukien Shaolin arts in Chuka Shaolin like they have a Lohan form for example it is very diffcult to say what else is in Chuka Shaolin Chuka Shaolin in Malaysia is also called Chu Gar Chong Gar Chuan and Hukka and a person told me that Chuka Shaolin is a old version of Chu Gar Gao which is southern mantis the search goes on or maybe it ends and there is no more information i would think that somebody somewhere would know somthing more about Chuka Shaolin.

[zhenwu]

So Gene...or another who may know...
In your opinion, are these books 1) Actually useful in learning a thing or two or 2) Just novelty, and cool to have as a kung fu pupil and martial art enthusiast?
Thanks. Your tireless effort in informing others is much appreciated!

[Shaolindynasty]

The books are cool to have for any kungfu student but for the most part the first three are only useful to students who practice the songshan curriculum. The last 2 contain some applications and qigong/medical stuff, they can be of some use. The first 3 books really just have a bunch of forms with no application, not very useful without a teacher of that curriculum, like most books.

I would actually reccomend "kungfu elements" instead. That book has tons of great info, actually more so than the "course in traditional forms" series. Alot less expensive to!

Now if Gene would just post the proper link

[beiquan]

i have all 5 of these books, and i agree completely with shaolindynasty -- pretty much only good for novelty, although the last two books have some interesting info. the last book particularly has a lot of chinese medicine and qigong related stuff, but the translation isn't particularly good...

[GeneChing]

...but then, I'm a Songshan Shaolin student so it has a lot more meaning for me. In fact, it has been my personal mission to bring those books to the West - I was the one that brought them all out. but in all honesty, I'm not sure if they have as much appeal outside out style. Then again I have a full bookshelf of books from other styles. I guess it depends on how big of a book lover you are.

I do agree with SD - Kung Fu Elements is a better general book, if that's what you're looking for http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/bw005.html