Quitting kungfu

[iron man]

Hey guys, im not trying to diss kungfu because im not but I have been training in martial arts for a long time and I think it is time I start competing. I have been in a few local tournaments and done quite well but now I want to start training to compete on a professional level. One day I would like to fight for something like K-1 or Pride, and if possible I would like to do that with kungfu. That seems to becoming less of a option now though, I just cant seem to find a teacher that has the fighting experience to teach something at that level.

I have trained with grandmaster pan before and I have to say he is an incredible teacher and I know that he could do it, but gm pan seems to have no interest in mma and I was only able to get one class a week.

I have contacted gm Liang and he seems to have many champion students. When I asked about how gm Liang would feel about one of his students competing in something like the UFC they seemed to have no problem. They seemed to be talking about san shou though and the problem with that is I was thinking of something more traditional like xingyi, bagua, or mantis.

Does anyone know of any very good fighting teachers that expressed interested in their students fighting in mma? I would be willing to move to train with a good teacher. Or do does anyone have any input on the subject? I know I could go to alote of good kungfu schools and train there but I want a teacher that makes it really worth it to learn kungfu otherwise why not just take the old bjj/ muay thai route.

[David Jamieson]

sounds like you have a lot of presupposition tied up in your decisions.

a good trainer is one thing, and you can train in pretty much anything so long as it focuses on what's required for the ruleset you want to fight under.

so what's it gonna be? K1? UFC? which one?

UFC requires that you train to the rule set, you can use any foundation, but you have to know your ranges i.e standup, ground, clinch and be proficient as you can be in the ranges.

K1 is easy. Go to a Kyokushinkai Karate Dojo. That is the focus of Kyokushin is to fight in K1.

Also, nothing against those masters you mentioned, but you don't have to be a fan boy of a big name to get decent training for an mma match. there are tons of places out there with qualified trainers who will help you achieve that goal. Kungfu or otherwise.

On the other hand, maybe you're just another troll in line with a million other trolls all trying to thrown a negative jab at Chinese Martial arts practice. If that is so, then oh well, you're late to the prom grasshopper, but don't worry, although you can't be first, you can always be next.

good luck and don't close doors before you get down the hall to them.

[bonetone]

Kung fu is hard training in what ever you do, it doesn't have to be chinese boxing, just learnt o fight in all ranges and be conditioned well, that is kung fu, even if you just call it mma.

[frye]

I like K-1 alote better because i love to strike, so that is more what i would lean towards. I know some k-1 fighters cross over and likewise with some pride fighters.

I have never been a fan of karate, there was this kid in my old highschool that was suppose to be this amazing world champion that everyone thought was some kind of superhuman fighter. Anyway one day he tried to fight me and i kicked his ass badly, he wasnt even good compared to some of the people i had been sparring with at the time.

bonetone, i know kungfu means to have high skill at something i usually refer to wushu as kungfu though because A. people i talk to dont know what wushu is and B. people who do know what it is think im talking about modern wushu

anyways thanks for the reply guys, and no im not a troll- whatever that is :confused:

[mantis108]

I think there is a member here (Shooter?) who is into MMA using Taijiquan training. He is Canadian base I believe. May be try contacting him. MMA is not purely about striking and neither is Kung Fu. There are 3 phases in MMA - Standup, Clinch and Ground. Most so-called TCMA especially the performing oriented schools have problems with clinching and ground aspect of fighting. I don't feel San Shou is the answer for TCMA but it's more or less a possitive step towards evening the odds of martial sports dominance reality. If you can find a school that seriously addresses these aspects you will have a behind view on whether you are ready for the MMA events.

Good luck in your search.

Regards

Mantis108

[g0pher]

It takes a long, long time to get good at kung fu. And, as someone else said, you don't have to find a Zen Master to get good training. These Zen Masters can be great but they might also be bad teachers you know? It's best to find someone you will get along with.

And why would you want to compete in Pride/UFC/K-1? I'm not sure about K-1, but aren't the rules for Pride and UFC more favorable for grapplers? I don't know about you, but I would much rather compete among my peers in Kung Fu and do some continuous sparring, and not be held down by some rule telling me I can't punch in a straight line, kick at the knees, or sweep my opponent... Again, that is if their rules stipulate that.

I don't know about their rules, but boy I have seen some stupid MMA competitions that had rules such as those. They should just call them wrestling competitions.

[Pork Chop]

Kyokushin was Mas Oyama's baby.
K-1 was born from the kyokushin crowd, but the focus of kyokushin is not K-1.
They have a lot of televised kyokushin events in japan; also called "full contact knockdown karate". It's bareknuckle (or small knuckle duster cotton pads) with no head punches, ony head kicks.
The rules of the event in Fighting Black Kings is along the same lines as a typical televised kyokushin event.
I used to watch it quite frequently when i lived in japan.
That being said, Andy Hug and K1s creator were both definitely of kyokushin origin.
Just making the point they're not the same thing.

[Liokault]

I know I could go to alote of good kungfu schools and train there but I want a teacher that makes it really worth it to learn kungfu otherwise why not just take the old bjj/ muay thai route.


Well why not go the bjj/MT route? Whats the point in trying to do what you want the hard way?

Why not do boxing as well? Why not go to the gym and do more weights?

If mma is what you want to do then do it and forget the crazy mindset that traps perfectly good people into backwards unrealistic crap that trys to sell its self as traditional.

Dont be a fool, take what you want from MA. If thats kung fu then fine. If its BJJ, then thats fine to, hell its even ok if its hippy tai chi as long as you see it for what it is and forget the hype.

[couch]

I like K-1 alote better because i love to strike, so that is more what i would lean towards. I know some k-1 fighters cross over and likewise with some pride fighters.

I have never been a fan of karate, there was this kid in my old highschool that was suppose to be this amazing world champion that everyone thought was some kind of superhuman fighter. Anyway one day he tried to fight me and i kicked his ass badly, he wasnt even good compared to some of the people i had been sparring with at the time.

bonetone, i know kungfu means to have high skill at something i usually refer to wushu as kungfu though because A. people i talk to dont know what wushu is and B. people who do know what it is think im talking about modern wushu

anyways thanks for the reply guys, and no im not a troll- whatever that is :confused:

Sidenote: just cause you beat some kid in highschool and he practised karate doesn't mean that all karate is horrible stuff. Just cause there's a white pimp on the corner pushing hoes doesn't mean all white people do it.

Find something that resonates with you and do it. You also talked about only being able to go to someone's school once per week. If I were training for the UFC, etc, I would eat, sleep, breathe training...not make excuses. It's a hard road to travel, but if you want it bad enough...it's yours. Do the research, start getting in the ring in your area.

So get off the net and go train! Ah, crap. Should take my own advice. ;)

Peace,
Kenton Sefcik

[ReignOfTerror]

http://shawscope.com/forum3/Downloads/KungFu_Audio_MP3s/3%20masters.mp3

http://shawscope.com/forum3/Downloads/KungFu_Audio_MP3s/challenge.mp3

http://shawscope.com/forum3/Downloads/KungFu_Audio_MP3s/Brave_Archer_Intro.mp3

http://shawscope.com/forum3/Downloads/KungFu_Audio_MP3s/flagofiron.mp3

http://shawscope.com/forum3/Downloads/KungFu_Audio_MP3s/Stroke_of_Death.mp3

http://shawscope.com/forum3/Downloads/KungFu_Audio_MP3s/Fist.mp3

[ReignOfTerror]

Well why not go the bjj/MT route? Whats the point in trying to do what you want the hard way?

Why not do boxing as well? Why not go to the gym and do more weights?

If mma is what you want to do then do it and forget the crazy mindset that traps perfectly good people into backwards unrealistic crap that trys to sell its self as traditional.

Dont be a fool, take what you want from MA. If thats kung fu then fine. If its BJJ, then thats fine to, hell its even ok if its hippy tai chi as long as you see it for what it is and forget the hype.

whats the point of lifting weights when there will always be someone bigger and stronger than you? some people have a genetic gift of strengh (plus they lift weights) that you will not match no matter how much weights you lift. Plus strengh shouldnt matter in martial arts, cause if your the strongest guy in the bar you dont need to train martial arts.


Sidenote: just cause you beat some kid in highschool and he practised karate doesn't mean that all karate is horrible stuff. Just cause there's a white pimp on the corner pushing hoes doesn't mean all white people do it.

Find something that resonates with you and do it. You also talked about only being able to go to someone's school once per week. If I were training for the UFC, etc, I would eat, sleep, breathe training...not make excuses. It's a hard road to travel, but if you want it bad enough...it's yours. Do the research, start getting in the ring in your area.

So get off the net and go train! Ah, crap. Should take my own advice. ;)

Peace,
Kenton Sefcik

actually the karate guy was white and the pimp wasnt.

[Liokault]

whats the point of lifting weights when there will always be someone bigger and stronger than you? some people have a genetic gift of strengh (plus they lift weights) that you will not match no matter how much weights you lift. Plus strengh shouldnt matter in martial arts, cause if your the strongest guy in the bar you dont need to train martial arts.


.

The point of lifting weights is not to be the strongest guy in the world ans so dominate the planet, its to maximise your advantages. Just be the strongest that you can be.

And your right, strength dont matter in martial arts, if your art is mostly wushu dancing. As soon as you put an active oponent into the mix then it matters. It may or may not be the deciding factor but it matters.

[SimonM]

If you are in Ontario and are looking to fuse MMA with Kung Fu you should look up Master Paul Chau in London, Ontario. He operates out of a Kwoon called Northern Black Dragon Martial Arts. His school has recently won a string of MMA and Jiu Jitsu medals at amateur events. These events are very new in Ontario which had a moratorium on Kick Boxing until recently but his gym is definately one to watch.


He is also my Sifu in Canada. :)

[GeneChing]

Too bad you're in Canada - Chris Heintzmann has been having success with Tai Chi modified for MMA/NHB, but he's based in NC. Our non-profit branch, The Tiger Claw Foundation (http://www.tigerclawfoundation.org/), is supporting a workshop by him here (SF Bay Area) later this month. Check out the link for more... :cool:

[David Jamieson]

Hey Simon.

I have a pal who is a sifu as well in that system based out of the same city and is also a student of Paul Chau's. Small world. Go figure!

G~ There's nothing wrong with Canada! lol, plenty of good fu instruction here and I would add that canadians in the UFC consistently win their matches and dominate!

as they say down there "booyah!" :D

[fa_jing]

and nobody seems to know that it comes from "Bulla" or "noise made by people" in Spanish.....

Thus the common greeting "Bulla aca Bulla aca Bulla aca" (Pronounced Booyaka ) meaning "Make some noise here" said in the Carribean by Spanish speakers

Factoid of the day

[SevenStar]

wow... you learn something new every day.


shooter is in canada - his school is called northern lights tai chi. His guys have dome some mma in ca.

[SifuAbel]

If you are in Ontario and are looking to fuse MMA with Kung Fu you should look up Master Paul Chau in London, Ontario. He operates out of a Kwoon called Northern Black Dragon Martial Arts. His school has recently won a string of MMA and Jiu Jitsu medals at amateur events. These events are very new in Ontario which had a moratorium on Kick Boxing until recently but his gym is definately one to watch.


He is also my Sifu in Canada. :)

We really do need to get a list together of those that have done the MMA thing. Its getting old to be asked what a question like this and not have a ready list available.

maybe make a new thread of it.

[iron man]

thanks for the replies guys, one day i might stop by master paul chau's school and see what it is like.I know Gary goodridge lives by me but he is sort of out of the way in a little town called barrie and so does that dragon ball guy carlos newton, but im not sure he even has a school.

does anyone train with gm Liang cause i like vancouver alote and I would love to move there?

Also does anyone know how to get a greencard,work visa,...where i can live and work in the US?

[SimonM]

Good one - he always recieves visitors interested in the school warmly. Hey, tell him Simon (in China) referred you to him! :D