anyone study 7*PM from book or Video tapes?

[thutn]

I want to learn 7*PM, I live in Illinois, but there are no school that's near, the closet PM school is about 1hr of driving. I quess I have to study from video tapes or books.

Any sugesstion in my way of studying 7*PM kung fu???

Any good 7*PM tapes or books out there??



Please help, I'm greatly appreciated!!!

[Xdr4g0nx]

it is not recomended for u to study for books or tapes unless u have an extensive background in that style. There are a lot of nuances(spl?) that one can only get from a good sifu.

[thutn]

but what if I want to learn, but no sifu around?

[Vash]

First, talk to the sifu out there. Tell him your situation. If you're able drive out there maybe once every two weeks, or even once a month, you could get in on some special classes maybe.

It's possible to gleam information from books and videos for someone with a workable knowledge and decent experience in martial arts, but it only serves to build bad habits in the untrained.

[bungda07]

You could learn from a video if you already had five or more years of PM training behind you. I drive about 1 hour to class. It's worth it. You have to have the hands on training. Like somebody said, once a week would help. You could practice until next class. Too many small details in Praying Mantis you won't get from a tape. Hope something works out for you. Might even be a senior student closer to you that can help out. Call the school.

Good Luck,

Steve M.

[Gargoyle again]

Thutn,

Are you experienced or proficient in another style, or are you new to martial arts and beginning from scratch?

I think videos can be extremely beneficial to learn from, assuming you already have several years of practice in a similar style, and can deduce the deeper applications in the movements beyond simply parroting the movements in the video. If you have already been studying a differnt PM style, then I think you could learn additional techniques quite well from videos.

If you are a beginner though, you will probably pick up more bad habits and mistakes than you would learn anything useful.

Why 7-star specifically?

And others are correct, a 1hr drive is easy if it means good training and instruction.

[thutn]

I have previous trainning of taek kwon do, tan soo do, and hap ki do, and knowing the basic of kung fu. I should say that I have a good fundamental on the martial art.


anyway, thanks for the advise guys!

[SevenStarPM]

hiya,
just thought I'd throw in my opinion..not that anyone asked of course...
First, I travel 45mins to my class. Over my 19 years of ma training if there is one thing I have learnt, it is that it is always worth travelling for a good teacher. An hour drive may seem a lot, but the wealth of knowledge a good sifu can impart is worth every mile. I only manage to train 3 times per week, but I don't even notice the miles now, I just use the travel time to arrange my head into the right frame for the training. Go over all the points I can, think of what I did last time etc etc.
Second. As I just said, I've trained for 19 years (although only 3 of those have been 7*mantis). 16 years doing Karate, jujutsu, boxing and kobudo (all at the same ryu). To be able to learn the mantis from books and videos, you need a very good basis in a very similar martial art. You will find that the arts you have trained in, especially TKD have a seemingly totally different energy system required. I am, to a certain degree, still trying to get out of the "bad" habits Karate trained into me, energy wise.
Personally, I don't think you can get the mantis "feel" from books and videos. It has to be experienced. And if you don't have that "feel" and body mechanics, you are not doing mantis...just a series of physical movements that have no meaning.
ok, I've gone on enough, but it is just my opinion. Personally, I'd bite the bullet and do the traveling.

Chris

[Brazil Mantis]

Mr. thutn,

since you told that want to learn PM, I am sure you will find a good way...

I have some students here in Brazil that travel for some days (2 until 5) twice a year for training. I believe most important element in this issue is how determined martial artist (in potencial) is?

I remember clearly when Lai Sifu told me when I looked for him in SF for the first time: will you come to training from Brazil? I told, yes Sr..

This is why I have this distante students from diferents areas of my country including Amazonia forest...

I personally do not believe in martial arts teaching from books or video.

Sincerely,

Brazil Mantis

[thutn]

I quess I have to find a Sifu then,
Anyone in here from Illinois that study 7*PM??


good days

[Xdr4g0nx]

here are three schools:
Chinese Martial Arts Association
401 Devonshire Rd.
Washington, Illinois 61571-1317
Head Instructor: Sifu Dwight Edwards
Contact #: 309-444-7473
Email: wangdaoren@aol.com

Song's Kung Fu Academy
4800 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60630
Head Instructor: Grandmaster Keychun Song
Contact #: 773-545-5945

Song's Kung Fu Academy
1827 Springer Dr.
Champaign, Illinois
Head Instructor: Grandmaster Keychun Song
Contact #: 217-352-5432

i found it at:
http://www.authentickungfu.com/seven_star/mantis_links.html

[Joe Mantis]

Anyone see the videos by Alex Co?
I saw his video on Tang Lang Chuen.
Any comments?

[thutn]

what volume did you get? 1st or 2nd?
I have the 2nd volume, it is great!

[oasis]

if mantis is about an hour away from you, then i'd really encourage you to try to find a way to train there as often as i can. i dont mean to just make a simple suggestion like that. specifically, figure out how often (if any) you might be able to go train with the teacher of that school. for example, you may only be able to go once or twice or month, or only once every other month.

then, in the meantime you can try to study 7 star at home. john funk has a pretty good series out that covers much of what is found in a typical mantis school. you can then see if you can work out an arrangement with your teacher to have him check your material (whenever you meet up with him) as learned from the funk videos, such as fixing your stances and taking you through applications. granted, you will probably have to work out a different payment plan for the semi-private instruction.

you can order john funk's videos directly through him (which allows you to send him videos of your performance for feedback) at http://www.mantiskungfu.com/HowtoLearn.htm
or u can get them cheaper at www.espytv.com

hope that helps, and best of luck!

[thutn]

7*PM from sifu JOnk Funk lineage, is it any different than sifu LEE KAM WING lineage?

How much different in forms? application? etc??

and did his video series really good? did sifu Jonk Funk knows this stuff>???

thank you for your helps!!!

[oasis]

if you check out the 7 star tree on http://www.geocities.com/mantiscave/frame.htm , you will see that LKW comes from CCM lineage while John Funk comes from WHF lineage. CCM and WHF were gung fu brothers (of the 8th generation).

john funk's videos are very well done. he shows a form at performance speed, then at a slower speed, and then he discusses and demonstrates the applications of individual moves on a student.

surely you will find subtle variations b/t different lineages, but the essence and pretty much the whole form will be the same. and applications are based on mantis concepts and principles, which transcend different lineages, so that should be the least of your concern right now! ;)

hope that helps you find mantis training. good luck!

[thutn]

Thank you so much for your help!. I assume that you are an expert in 7*PM right???. and i have a question i hope you could answer.

In 7* PM kung fu, their are so many hand forms and weapon forms. could you tell me specific which hand forms are consider inportant forms? or the main forms? or could you tell me specific of each forms their are, I know that each form contain somthing unique about the style right??

thank you so much!!!!

[Shaolin-Drunk]

Originally posted by oasis
if mantis is about an hour away from you, then i'd really encourage you to try to find a way to train there as often as i can. i dont mean to just make a simple suggestion like that. specifically, figure out how often (if any) you might be able to go train with the teacher of that school. for example, you may only be able to go once or twice or month, or only once every other month.

then, in the meantime you can try to study 7 star at home. john funk has a pretty good series out that covers much of what is found in a typical mantis school. you can then see if you can work out an arrangement with your teacher to have him check your material (whenever you meet up with him) as learned from the funk videos, such as fixing your stances and taking you through applications. granted, you will probably have to work out a different payment plan for the semi-private instruction.

you can order john funk's videos directly through him (which allows you to send him videos of your performance for feedback) at http://www.mantiskungfu.com/HowtoLearn.htm
or u can get them cheaper at www.espytv.com

hope that helps, and best of luck!

Check this out!!! (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3667241530&category=47348&sspagename=STRK%3AMESSE%3AIT&rd=1) I was browsing around and ran across this!! Hope this helps..

:cool:

Shaolin Drunk

[cha kuen]

THut,

No you shoudlnt learn from tapes. And since you had background in korean/japanese arts that kind of ..doesn't help you at all with kung fu, probalby makes things worse and you are MORE in need of a teacher when you start kung fu.

If you want to learn 7 star and there's no one around, tough luck. Find another teacher from another style. That is the only way.