FIRE HAWK
08-13-2001, 05:58 AM
Chow Gar compared with Chu Gar
A comparison of Chow Gar and Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis By Matt Leggans
So much has been said about these two systems by both famillies over the years. It has been my good fortune to have experienced them both and so I have decided to share with the rest of the world my unbiased observation of the two. Even though I currently teach Chow Gar here in the states, the following is by no means my biased opinion of one sysyem over the other. For at the end of the day it's not really what you study, but how you study that counts.
My first meeting with Chu Gar was about 6 years ago through a friend of mine. He had studied in Chicago a few years before leaving. From his experiences he has been able to give me an insight into this system and help me to compare it to my own (Chow Gar). Se lets get started. What I noticed right away was the stance difference. The Chu Gar was much more closed with the toes of the right foot pointing almost perpendicular to the toes of the left. Basically the feet made almost at a 90 degree angle. The Chow Gar being much more open with the legs pointing in more of a forward direction. The steps that were taken were almost identicle, with the Chow Gar lifting the forward foot and knee not quite so far off the ground.
I also saw that while the I was taught to keep my torso mostly straight with shoulders dropped, my friend had been taught to completely bellow out his midsection making him almost appear to be some what hunched over. This he said was to help pack the hard chi down into the Dan Tien to better aid in explosive power. They would "suck in and then spit out" he would always say.
The arm postioning was mostly the same. Very mantis like with the hands outstretched awaiting for the person to come. "Beggars Hands" he called them, the same term used in Chow Gar.
The attiude was also very similiar. They move, you attack. Machine gun kung fu he called it. It was also very destructive focusing all of its strikes on Dim Mak points all over the body. The pheonix eye was used extensively just as in the Chow Gar. The kicks were kept low and often combined with hand techniques. And just like the Chow Gar, he like to get around the back so as to reach the vital spots with a wirlwind of strikes. Many things were very similiar such as short range strikes and hand positioning. However, one big difference that I noticed was the training exercises. There is an exercise in Chow Gar calle "Chy Sao" or grinding arm. It is used to help the practitioner develop "Gen" or shock power. This excersise was totally foreign to him and we could both only assume that it was a Chow Gar specialty. They instead prefered to do more sensivity traing. Both sticky hands and sticky legs. He never showed much of this out of respect for his teacher's wishes. We only dicussed the differnces. This is not to say that the Chow Gar does not have simliar excersices for sensitivity traing. It only means that things were a little different. It appears that while both systems are powerful, the Chow Gar spends more time with the power training aspect while the Chu Gar spent more time on sensitivity. This however is not to say that an individual could not in his or her own time concentrate contrary to this. It is merely that way that we were taught.
One last thing that stuck out in my mind was the lack of a particular technique called "Gow Choy". Gow Choy is a Chow Gar favorite and is extensivily trained. It is one of the more used and more powerfull techniques in the Chow Gar. It is a little like a Hammer Hand with a pheonix eye sticking out. Both my Chu Gar friend and I have found it to be a great technique which can be trained to an incredible degree. Over all it was apparent that these two systems had a lot in common. And yes, while some thhings may have differed like stance and what not, that is not to say that one is better than the other. Every person is entitled to do things the way that works best for them. Of course there were many more differences and similarities than I listed but that is to be expected. All that I can really say is that properly trained either of the two could be very effective in self deffence situaions.
And just one more thing before I go that I hope that all those who read this will understand. I know that ther is a lot of talk about who originated the system and who did this and who did that. I also know that having recently returned from my training in England that I am kind of the new mantis on the block. So let me just state this now so as not to have to repeat myslelf later on several times: I don't care who originated what way back when I was not even being close to being born. Please don't write or call to argue about history....it really doesn't matter. I am here to promote good Chow Gar in the states. And I am happy to have any practitioner of the martial arts regardless of familly style to be my friend, and not my enemy. All I care about is traing and passing along what has been so graciously given to me. I hope that if you're reading this you'd like to do the same. Time spent arguing is time lost on training the soul. And with that I wish you all good health and happy training. I hope that you have enjoyed my brief comparisson of my experience with Chow and Chu Gar.
I like to give thanks to my Master Paul Whitrod (U.K.) for having taught, and still teaching me, the Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis system.
http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/chowgar/chugar.html
A comparison of Chow Gar and Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis By Matt Leggans
So much has been said about these two systems by both famillies over the years. It has been my good fortune to have experienced them both and so I have decided to share with the rest of the world my unbiased observation of the two. Even though I currently teach Chow Gar here in the states, the following is by no means my biased opinion of one sysyem over the other. For at the end of the day it's not really what you study, but how you study that counts.
My first meeting with Chu Gar was about 6 years ago through a friend of mine. He had studied in Chicago a few years before leaving. From his experiences he has been able to give me an insight into this system and help me to compare it to my own (Chow Gar). Se lets get started. What I noticed right away was the stance difference. The Chu Gar was much more closed with the toes of the right foot pointing almost perpendicular to the toes of the left. Basically the feet made almost at a 90 degree angle. The Chow Gar being much more open with the legs pointing in more of a forward direction. The steps that were taken were almost identicle, with the Chow Gar lifting the forward foot and knee not quite so far off the ground.
I also saw that while the I was taught to keep my torso mostly straight with shoulders dropped, my friend had been taught to completely bellow out his midsection making him almost appear to be some what hunched over. This he said was to help pack the hard chi down into the Dan Tien to better aid in explosive power. They would "suck in and then spit out" he would always say.
The arm postioning was mostly the same. Very mantis like with the hands outstretched awaiting for the person to come. "Beggars Hands" he called them, the same term used in Chow Gar.
The attiude was also very similiar. They move, you attack. Machine gun kung fu he called it. It was also very destructive focusing all of its strikes on Dim Mak points all over the body. The pheonix eye was used extensively just as in the Chow Gar. The kicks were kept low and often combined with hand techniques. And just like the Chow Gar, he like to get around the back so as to reach the vital spots with a wirlwind of strikes. Many things were very similiar such as short range strikes and hand positioning. However, one big difference that I noticed was the training exercises. There is an exercise in Chow Gar calle "Chy Sao" or grinding arm. It is used to help the practitioner develop "Gen" or shock power. This excersise was totally foreign to him and we could both only assume that it was a Chow Gar specialty. They instead prefered to do more sensivity traing. Both sticky hands and sticky legs. He never showed much of this out of respect for his teacher's wishes. We only dicussed the differnces. This is not to say that the Chow Gar does not have simliar excersices for sensitivity traing. It only means that things were a little different. It appears that while both systems are powerful, the Chow Gar spends more time with the power training aspect while the Chu Gar spent more time on sensitivity. This however is not to say that an individual could not in his or her own time concentrate contrary to this. It is merely that way that we were taught.
One last thing that stuck out in my mind was the lack of a particular technique called "Gow Choy". Gow Choy is a Chow Gar favorite and is extensivily trained. It is one of the more used and more powerfull techniques in the Chow Gar. It is a little like a Hammer Hand with a pheonix eye sticking out. Both my Chu Gar friend and I have found it to be a great technique which can be trained to an incredible degree. Over all it was apparent that these two systems had a lot in common. And yes, while some thhings may have differed like stance and what not, that is not to say that one is better than the other. Every person is entitled to do things the way that works best for them. Of course there were many more differences and similarities than I listed but that is to be expected. All that I can really say is that properly trained either of the two could be very effective in self deffence situaions.
And just one more thing before I go that I hope that all those who read this will understand. I know that ther is a lot of talk about who originated the system and who did this and who did that. I also know that having recently returned from my training in England that I am kind of the new mantis on the block. So let me just state this now so as not to have to repeat myslelf later on several times: I don't care who originated what way back when I was not even being close to being born. Please don't write or call to argue about history....it really doesn't matter. I am here to promote good Chow Gar in the states. And I am happy to have any practitioner of the martial arts regardless of familly style to be my friend, and not my enemy. All I care about is traing and passing along what has been so graciously given to me. I hope that if you're reading this you'd like to do the same. Time spent arguing is time lost on training the soul. And with that I wish you all good health and happy training. I hope that you have enjoyed my brief comparisson of my experience with Chow and Chu Gar.
I like to give thanks to my Master Paul Whitrod (U.K.) for having taught, and still teaching me, the Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis system.
http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/chowgar/chugar.html