Greetings from the Qingdao, the mystic land of Kung fu

[DragonzRage]

Hi kung fu peeps and all others. Awhile ago i posted to tell you guys that I was in Qingdao China teaching English, and that I had hooked up with a Sanda teacher in the PE department who agreed to teach me some Chinese Sanda. Well, I now have one more month before I head back to the states and I thought I'd share some experiences. Unfortunately, due to the lack of proper training equipment and a decent gym, I haven't been able to really "train" Sanda too extensively. The Sanda class here was more of a crash course of Sanda techniques and self defense for beginners and casual practitioners rather than a serious training program for fighters. But the coach (Wang Sifu) did take some extra effort to show me more stuff and discuss technique/theory with me which I am grateful for. Once the construction of this campus is complete, they will have a proper gym, and Wang Sifu hopes to have a competitive club going by then. He was disappointed to learn that I'd be back in the states by then, as he was hoping that i could fight for the club :D

Although I didn't get the chance to go into a serious competition, I did get the chance to meet different groups and do some informal matches perhaps along the lines of smokers in America. I also shared a lot of my knowledge (especially thai & grappling) which many students took an interest in. Anyway I have some insights and stories from my experiences here that I'll post later. But I actually have to go teach now so it'll have to wait. bye

[SPJ]

Cool.

Ba Ji, Liu He mantis and 7 star mantis are popular in Qing Dao. I think.

:D

[DragonzRage]

First thing I wanna talk about: Coach Wang and his techniques...

I don't know much about Coach Wang other than the fact that he's been doing MA all his life and that he used to have his own Sanda fighting gym either in Qingdao or somewhere nearby in Shandong province. He teaches Sanda not just for competition, but as a practical fighting/self defense method. I think the Sanda he teaches is mainly based on some style created by the military, but he has also implemented aspects from kung fu which he has found useful. He always makes it clear which techniques are for use in competition and which ones aren't. He's openly critical about many aspects of "traditional" kung fu though. His lessons have covered striking, throwing, Qin-na, and a little bit clinch fighting. I assume the throwing is based on shuai jiao. For the most part, it wasn't terribly new to me, as the throws basically share the same common principles to other styles of grappling. But it was useful to learn slightly different applications of those principles. Plus, it was good for me to drill and practice these things since throwing has never been my strong point. In terms of the striking aspect, it basically seems like crude kickboxing with a few kung fu-esque tricks thrown in (such as ridgehands, etc).
There's a heavy emphasis on long range stuff, such as quickly closing distance and quickly getting back out, sidekicks, etc. Definitely wasn't on the same level of toe to toe brawling capability as Muay thai/modern kickboxing. I found the boxing skills very lacking in particular, but thats not really the emphasis of Wang's style anyway.

Most of the students who took the class had little to no prior experience and training. However, there were a handful of guys who were already trained. A few of them had been studying with Wang for awhile. A few others had some other prior Sanda experience. The rest came from kung fu or TKD backgrounds. Actually I get the impression that TKD is much more popular than CMA around here. Anyway, I worked and sparred with some of these guys, and also with some Tai chi guys and other Sanda people. I probably spent at least half my time showing other people the stuff that I know. A lot of them really liked my kickboxing. They watched my demonstration of bjj/ground grappling with curiosity, although none of them seemed to like it too much. They were a bit close minded to the idea of ground fighting. Anyway, I'll write more about all this crap later.

[DragonzRage]

My experience with the Tai Chi guys...

Back in the States I've never really had too much exposure to Tai Chi guys who practice the art as a "martial art" rather than an artsy ****sy health hobby type thing. Anyway, I got the chance to meet some tai chi martial artists during my time here in China. In Qingdao I watched a few guys do tai chi sword sparring. They're very quick and they move around a lot. Their timing, footwork and reaction was impressive although the techniques that they apply seem a bit soft and flowery.

But more interesting was my experience with a tai chi competitor in beijing. I spent a few days in Beijing not too long before I came to Qingdao. A friend of my father who lives in Beijing is a disciple of some recently deceased tai chi sifu. He came to meet and greet me while I was in town. Knowing that I am an experienced martial artist, he brought along one of his tai chi brothers who was one of their teacher's top disciples, and also a push hands competition champion. He told me that this guy's skill was very high. He mentioned that the guy had fought a bigger and stronger opponent in a push hands match a little while ago and broke the guy's ribs. For the record, I don't know how true this is. I'm just taking his word for it. So anyway, using my limited and sucky ABC Mandarin speaking ability I discussed MA with the guys. The tone is friendly, but they kind of imply that the stuff that I do is lower level and less beneficial to internal health than Tai Chi. I mentally roll my eyes at that nonsense but I wanna be polite so I don't push the issue too much. After I've watched the competitor demonstrate some tai chi, my dad's friend suggests that I play fight with his buddy. He wants me to feel how tai chi is used. Well, I'm tired from travel, I haven't worked out for days, I'm still feeling the effects of the previous night's banquet, on top of which I don't have any sort of gear with me. But I guess they want me to light contact barehand spar. I'm not too fond of that kind of "sparring" and I'm wearing jeans and a collared shirt standing in a hotel meeting hall. So its not the right time or circumstances as far as I'm concerned. My dad's friend actually thinks I'm nervous and tells me, "Don't worry he won't hurt you." I actually chuckled a little bit at that, since it definitely wasn't what I was thinking about. Anyway, since he was so eager and insistent, I figure what the hell. At least this would show me what kind of techniques he tries to apply in a free moving situation.

So I moved around with the guy for a little while. Although he didn't leave me with the impression that tai chi is the most practical fighting method out there, I will give credit where its due. The guy did show an aspect of applicable skill. Although not all his techniques were great, he had strong energy in the clinch, pressure sensitivity, and short movement explosiveness. He's clearly not a judo guy or a wrestler, but for lack of a better term I'd say he had good grappler's energy. He knew how to play the pressure game pretty well. He almost threw me on my a$$ a few times. My practical opinion is that his strategy had holes in it, but there was definitely a physical ability there. Under certain circumstances, I don't doubt that the guy could use his skills effectively. That being said, if we'd been going hard I'm pretty confident that I would've taken him out decisively. Primarily being a kickboxer, I can't do much by slap fighting. If I'm not allowed to hit hard, I simply can't show much of my effectiveness. I saw holes in the guy's defense. If we had been fighting, he would've eaten some combos. But not wanting to pi$$ anyone off, I didn't even want to throw a moderate legkick, let alone punch him in the face. To be fair, he was holding back too. But when I train or compete, I'm always taking and dishing out real punishment. Lacking that training mentality and technical background, I doubt he could stand toe to toe with me. Perhaps he could've knocked me down with those slams and sweeps that he seemed to prefer. But I'd answer that by getting up and hitting him some more. Or if we both end up on the ground I could submit or GnP.

Anyway, that was my interesting close look into tai chi. When I have time i'll post some other experiences.

[SPJ]

Cool.

It is all in the distance.

When you are at arm length, we can exchange punches and kicks. Most of your MT comes out.

Tai Ji, Judo, Aikido, JJJ and Ba Ji etc have to be close or at least at elbow distance. They all have "tricks" with body contact. The fighting continues with throws, trips to fall, elbow, chest, back, elbow strikes (Kao), forearm to Peng, Knee in to force on your knee etc

BJJ you want to be close and get the opponent on the ground ASAP and do your stuff, arm bar and what not.

In other words, what are 'tricks" for close body contact and near range fighting from MT?

Or what is the standing up fighting strategy for BJJ?



:D

[SPJ]

I am generalizing too much.

Or many holes in the post.

Cheers.

:D

[Pork Chop]

Real MT has a pretty solid clinch game from my experience, and while they may not have a focus on shoots, pickups, throws, and slams; they do have a fair amount of sweeps, and if they catch you with an elbow or knee (either coming from a variety of angles), it's gonna hurt....a lot...

[SPJ]

Cool.

Agreed.

:cool:

[DragonzRage]

MT's clinch game is actually one of the strongest aspects of the art. IMO, its generally even more useful in a streetfight than the infamous thai roundhouse. My primary trainer's style emphasizes better boxing skills and combinations more than the clinch game. We know the clinch, and we definitely know how to use knees, but we just don't specialize in it as much as a more "traditional" thai gym would. Furthermore, I don't spend too much time training elbows nor have I ever been in any competition where elbow strikes were allowed. So in all honesty, my striking in the clinch is not up to the highest MT standards. Anyway, I did some light clinching with the tai chi guy and I even engaged him using some JKD trapping. I don't usually try to use the trapping stuff as I don't find it particularly useful in most circumstances. But since we were just lightly play fighting I figured I'd just have a little fun. Anyway, more China stories later.

[RAF]

Being in Qingdao, Shandong province, praying mantis is pretty decent stuff to pick up.

I would look up the Taiji Meihua praying mantis of Zhang WeiFu or the older brother of Sun De Yao (currently he is in the US), Sun De Long. Sun Do Long is also good friends with Zhang Wei Fu. I spent a little time with Sun De Long when he was in the States for a visit. He speaks no English but is a very distinguished, traditional teacher.

Sun De Long's number is: 86-0532-3830368

Zhang Wei Fu has a son named Mark. He is about 16 or 17 and speaks some English. You might be able to work out some deal to teach him English privately for some lessons.

His Chinese name is Zhang Maochang and you can get a clip of him here:

www.wutangcenter.com

http://www.wutangcenter.com/wt/index.html--->Trips----->2002 Qingdao Kung Fu Tournament, Middle of page (no direct link)

His son played in our tournament this past October and he has greatly advanced in the two years since the clip was filmed.

You have a great opportunity to learn some traditional praying mantis.

Good luck.

[SPJ]

Cool.

Excellent link.

:cool: