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Daelomin
06-11-2001, 11:45 PM
I read a message posted by you where you seemed to know something about "real shaolin". I study in a school that teaches both modern wushu and traditional shaolin.... well so my sifu says,
im not so sure about the traditional shaolin part.
I suspect that the modern wushu has affected all the forms that we do...but i hope not. We do some "wushuised" forms, but there are forms that aren't modern wushu like.
I have read, analysed, asked questions and read some more trying to find some clues to what "real shaolin" style is like. You said something about shaolin moves being coiling and twisting, could you give some examples of this or expand this claim? I have read that really traditional shaolin has many simple linear techniques, kinda like karate. Has your sifu told anything else about traditional shaolin? By the way, what style do you study?

If anyone else have something about traditional shaolin please feel free to post something. Im grateful for anything.

kungfudork
06-12-2001, 05:58 PM
daelomin,
i will try to explain the difference as it was told and taught to me, but to just say it with words i think is gonna be difficult. ok, the biggest differences are the stances and the executions of punches/kicks( which i guess is everything). this is about the basics,not any particular form.
wushu stances are very open and low. for example gongbu(some call it bow/arrow stance)...in contemp wushu, your front bent leg is at 90 degree angle, so from the knee of the front leg to the foot of the back leg makes a straight line. the feet of this stance both point foreward at 45+ degrees....in traditional, gongbu isn't as low and the front foot doesn't turn more than 45 degrees. also the front knee is pulled inward( by this i mean as you stand in your stance you should squeeze the thighs of both legs toward each other, this makes the front knee cover the groin area from the front....this isn't the case in contemp wushu where the knee is open away from the groin)
punches....in contemp wushu you extend the punching arm completely straignt and hold it there. the chest is also open and expanded(very proudlike stance). for traditional when you start the punch the body is coiled up, the back is rounded, the punching hand originates from the center of the chest. as you execute the punch, it explodes like a rubberband, out to an extreme where the chest is expanded and the arm fully extended and then instantly the back rounds again and the arm is bent(relaxed).the arm and back are extended only at the moment of contact with the target and then it recoils.
kicks.....the main difference in the kicks is the knee. a front slap kick in contemp wushu has a straight knee the entire execution of the kick. the leg comes up straight and down straight. this kick in a traditional manner is executed with a bent knee, i would call it a snap kick, the leg comes up bent...the knee snaps straight to execute the kick and the slap, then it bends to come back down.
....now i know this is kind of hard to explain, and this is only the most basic concept on the differences, but if you understand this you can just see someones basics and see if it is contemp wushu, shaolin, or some other style. i hope this helps you a bit, i tried.
....for those who are wondering, i train shaolin kungfu with shaolin monk shi xinghao. i focus on the traditional basics and a few forms (chua yuan chuan, shao hong chuan,wu bu chuan), but sometimes i join the longfist class, because i enjoy the jumping around and acrobatic type stuff...but i found if i play it too much i start to mix the trad/contemp together, so i focus more on the traditional. the great thing about shi xinghao is that he makes sure we know the difference between the two and he lets you know if you are mixing the two(trust me..hahaha).
respect to all,
kungfu**** (dieter wagner)

Daelomin
06-12-2001, 09:30 PM
Thanks a lot for the info.
Thats very helpful.

Brad
06-13-2001, 12:17 AM
I have heard that alot of the modern longfist basics come from a traditional style(Cha Quan, I believe). Remember your basics will probably vary between styles and schools. Wushu basics aren't wrong, just different.

Also a slight corection in the slap kick. In contemp. wushu the leg has a slight bend(not noticable with silks or baggy pants) until the moment of impact. At least that's the way both of my last coaches taught it.