The core forms of Choy Lay Fut.

[The Xia]

Choy Lay Fut has over 50 hand forms if I'm not mistaken but what is the essence of the style? What forms should every true Choy Lay Fut man be solid in? Anotherwords, what sets are the pillars of Choy Lay Fut (like how Wong Fei Hung-Hung Gar has the four pillar forms)?

[CLFNole]

There is no definitive answer to this one. It will vary from sifu to sifu and line to line. Each school has a different amount of sets and their importance in each school might also vary. Therefore what might be considered a "core" set would also vary. Buk sing only has a few sets so they would all be considered core to them.

To me CLF has "core" techiques of which most would consider the 10 seeds. This is what is most important. and will be seen no matter the number of sets your school might have. This is why all branches are equal it is not about the number of sets you have but the understanding of the techniques that is important.

Sorry I couldn't answer you question.

[monk weed]

preach on brother nole, you are right on! however the sup gee kow da form is pretty standard. also sui muy fa. as far as weapons go that could be anybody's guess. train hard,know your "core" techniques and all will be good.

[The Xia]

Thanks for the answer. I found an interview where Sifu Dave Lacey says the most popular hand-forms in Choy Lay Fut are Sup Chi Kuen, Ping Kuen, Kou da, and Siu Mui Fa Kuen.
His exact words were,
"LACEY: The fist-set ’forms’ of Choy Lay Fut exceed any other style of Kung Fu, but vary according to the master of each kwoon; this is due to the fact that some masters have trained under the auspices of two or more Sifu and as such, they would include a larger variety of set forms in their training. the most popular empty-handed forms of Choy Lay Fut are:

Sup Chi Kuen
Ping Kuen
Kou da
Siu Mui Fa Kuen.
Altogether, Choy Lay Fut contains over fifty forms and contains single hand forms, two man forms, weapons forms, weapons versus weapons forms, several wooden dummy forms."
The above was taken from here. http://members-central.optushome.com.au/meanstreets/clf/clfsifu.htm
And what techniques are the 10 seeds? I'd assume Charp Chui would be one of them.

[The Xia]

train hard,know your "core" techniques and all will be good.
Great advice for any martial artist!

[CLFNole]

I didn't want to mention any specific names out of respect to all CLF players. Sifu Lacey as a buk sing man mentioned the 3 core buk sing sets, sup gee kuen, kow dah kuen and ping kuen. Other branches might have sup gee kow dah as mentioned by monk weed and most will also have ping kuen and sui moi fah, although the patterns vary from line to line.

[The Xia]

I hope I didn't touch upon a sensitive topic. I didn't want to stir up anything. Anyway, so the Buk Sing Kwoon has Sup Jee and Kau Dah as separate but some other schools combine it into one form?

[CLFNole]

I don't think it is really a sensitive topic. I am not an expert on the buk sing branch. It is possible that Tam Sam took sup gee kow dah and broke it into 2 sets as it is a long form. This would be a question for our buk sing brothers to chime in on as they would know the history better than me.

[The Xia]

That's cool then. I thought it might be because you said you didn't want to mention any names as respect for all CLF players. Anyway, I'll guess a Buk Sing rep will chime in soon. I imagine the title of this thread is pretty inviting for all CLF artists.

[Ben Gash]

Actually, through all the branches there's probably something like five or six hundred forms.
As mentioned before Sup Ji Kau Da and Ping Kuen are the forms that are typically common to each branch (or Sup Ji and Kau Da for Bak Sing), as these were sort of the "compulsory for graduation" forms in the past. It's not that they're particularly advanced forms, it's more their encyclopedic nature, as they contain multiple variations of the ten seeds, and they provide something of an endurance test.

[oasis]

Xia,

here's how my sifu breaks down the ten elements/seeds. http://www.ngfamilymartialarts.com/ten_elements.htm

as was said, the core forms of any line tend to contain the fundamentals in different combinations to train the flavor of clf. also, even some of the more commonly named sets actually vary from line to line although they may share the same name.

ng lun choi, a very basic form, for example, contains 7 of the 10 elements listed, and it teaches fundamentals and endurance. the form varies, however, from doc fai wong's line for example.

[The Xia]

Thanks for the information!

[jit fu]

The legs are ng lun ma & ng lun choi....the lungs are sup ji kau da & ping kuen...the heart is bok mo kuen.... at least in our group....:cool:

[lost lohan]

I usualy just read the forums, but from what little reading I've done, sui mui fa kuen should be on just about every ones list. My sifu says it contains all ten elements and ( atleast in my school) is more than enough to build up you wind.

[D-FENS]

I'd focus on Gwa Sao, Small Cross and Chung Kuen. Then drill the basic punching skills on a bag.

I would also do a buttload of standing meditation and nei gung.