What CMA is right for me?

[Yang Style]

I've been a CMA enthusiast for quite sometime now and for the most part I genuinely love it's history and tradition. But, with so many styles out there. How do I find the right style for me? I have an idea of what I'm looking for: External style/ Yang Martial arts, Small weapon oriented [Dagger, Dart, Sling, Etc] with numerous weapons, agile and acrobatic, and Economic in movement. Can anyone be so kind as to recommend me a style that fits said characteristics or at least comes close?

[taai gihk yahn]

there's a guy on here, bawang, he's teaching a system known as Wombat Combat; I highly recommend his tuition...


srsly tho - personally, the most important, fundamental principle of gung fu is that ultimately, it needs to become your own; meaning that you need to just set foot on the path and start walking - of course, you can get ideas of what's what from others, but you need to do the "leg work";

so start with what's close to you, seeing as the logistics of location tend to trump most other requirements - u need a place u can get to w reasonable ease 2 - 3 x / week; w/that in mind, go check out what's in your area (where are u located?); try a class; talk to the instructor / seniors; keep you mind open but also be critical in your appraisal, listen to your gut as much as your head; if it's the right fit at the time, it'll make sense to you (hey, it took me 10 years as well as trying out over 10 different schools before I found the right teacher, but I've been with him for 15 yrs now - so it was worth the waiting and searching)

good luck

[David Jamieson]

wombat combat is the only partial art in the world that will have you fighting hard, destroying your enemies and growing a thick luxurious beard every 37 hours.

It is the street deadly and worth every monies you have.
especially because bawang is poar.
but he has a good "i kill you face™".
he'll teach that to you for 108 dollars.

once you develop "i kill you face™" you'll find that you received orders quicker from waitresses and people will not have to be asked twice to do anything, ever again.

It's startling really.

[SanHeChuan]

The one closest to you.

It doesn’t mater that there is hundreds of different Chinese martial arts styles, what maters is which styles are available to you in your local area, and of those styles available who teaches their style best.

What you are asking is just masturbation.

[Syn7]

Wombat Combat

im still laughing at the name...

:p;)

[Syn7]

wombat combat....partial art

you guysw are killing me... my abs are starting to hurt... :cool:

[bawang]

i learned it from a old maori warrior in the jungles of australia. unfortunately i cannot reveal who he is because of the evil australian government will persecute him.
by coincidence wombat combat looks like a mix of choy lee fut and wing chun/hung gar/kenpo, but has no relation to them whatsoever

[Syn7]

I've been a CMA enthusiast for quite sometime now and for the most part I genuinely love it's history and tradition. But, with so many styles out there. How do I find the right style for me? I have an idea of what I'm looking for: External style/ Yang Martial arts, Small weapon oriented [Dagger, Dart, Sling, Etc] with numerous weapons, agile and acrobatic, and Economic in movement. Can anyone be so kind as to recommend me a style that fits said characteristics or at least comes close?

honestly, imo, u have to just try out a school and see for yourself... take everything with a grain of salt... any legit teacher will give u a class or two for free... go do a few info sessions and freebies at the schools in ur hood and choose what seems best for you... if later on it seems to be a weak style then just move on.. trial and error... recomendations are tough because even the weakest styles have student testamonials giving godlike praise...

[taai gihk yahn]

im still laughing at the name...

:p;)

it was bawang's invention, not mine - credit where due and all that;

but don;t let his jocularity fool ya, he do kno a thang or twee...

[taai gihk yahn]

recomendations are tough because even the weakest styles have student testamonials giving godlike praise...
ya don't saaaay

mebbe u can give an example of a thread on the forum where that's the case...:D:D:D

[Syn7]

lol.... ummm, off the top of my head........................ :eek::rolleyes::D:cool::confused:

[bawang]

this is hard because this guy doesnt wanna learn fight. he wants "something else". thats ok thats expected. hes also prolly shy because hes scared to visit schools in person himself. otherwise he wouldnt be asking on the internet. thats ok too lots of ppl are like that.
he doesnt know kung fu but knows all those fancy words exdternal internal yang ying economy of movement.

i have to recommend wing chun or yang tai chi. u will love it. and thats not a sarcastic answer. if u learn other styles a person like u probably wont be happy.
it will be convenient because most wing chun will also teach yang style taichi. u will get to learn everything u have asked for in your post

this is hard because a lot of people want to find happiness and personal fufillment in kung fu. thats not possible.

[taai gihk yahn]

this is hard because this guy doesnt wanna learn fight. he wants "something else". thats ok thats expected. hes also prolly shy because hes scared to visit schools in person himself. otherwise he wouldnt be asking on the internet. thats ok too lots of ppl are like that.
he doesnt know kung fu but knows all those fancy words exdternal internal yang ying economy of movement.

i have to recommend wing chun or yang tai chi. u will love it. and thats not a sarcastic answer. if u learn other styles a person like u probably wont be happy.
it will be convenient because most wing chun will also teach yang style taichi. u will get to learn everything u have asked for in your post

if you keep taking all the hammers and hitting all the nails on the head, no one else is going to want to play internetz with u any more

[Yang Style]

Thanks for the recommendation.




i
this is hard because a lot of people want to find happiness and personal fufillment in kung fu. thats not possible. kung fu is bitter contemplation of your personal pain and suffering.

Assuming this is directed towards me, I just want to say that I'm interested in CMA as a hobby. That's really it, to be honest. I'm not looking for any deadly killer styles, spiritual enlightenment or something along those lines [no offense to anyone that is.]. I just like Kung Fu, and would like to try one. I assumed since this is a forum about Kung fu I could get the heads up on many diverse styles. If I assumed wrong, then my bad.

[bawang]

hy mang.

thats exactly why i recommend wing chun and yang tai chi to u. its great for hobbyists and thats what those styles are built on and cater to.

[Yang Style]

hy mang.

thats exactly why i recommend wing chun and yang tai chi to u. its great for hobbyists and thats what those styles are built on and cater to.

Ok, thanks for the recommendation. :)

[taai gihk yahn]

hy mang.

thats exactly why i recommend wing chun and yang tai chi to u. its great for hobbyists and thats what those styles are built on and cater to.

hey, does anyone know what happened to the wing chun forum? I just tried getting on their, and for some reason the whole thing seems to have just blinked out of existence (I'm afraid to go try the tai chi one now...) :D:D:D

[Syn7]

Thanks for the recommendation.



Assuming this is directed towards me, I just want to say that I'm interested in CMA as a hobby. That's really it, to be honest. I'm not looking for any deadly killer styles, spiritual enlightenment or something along those lines [no offense to anyone that is.]. I just like Kung Fu, and would like to try one. I assumed since this is a forum about Kung fu I could get the heads up on many diverse styles. If I assumed wrong, then my bad.

if you wanna learm a style but arent interested in fighting, spirituality etc. then what are you looking for??? neat forms to impress girls? maybe you should join an extreme tekken type of TKD class or something...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdWtNLkxg3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y1lqwvGcwk

or join a wushu team...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-1gSD2_nxI&feature=related

i dunno, im having trouble imagining what youre looking for and why...

what do you like more, scma or ncma? short or longfist? small weapons like tonfa and the like? not interested in spear staff sword???

[Syn7]

i recommend wing chun and yang tai chi to u. its great for hobbyists and thats what those styles are built on and cater to.


lol... ouch...

[bawang]

what? theres nothing wrong with that. money and success is all that matters. otherwise you wouldnt be teaching kung fu for money at all.

[Yang Style]

if you wanna learm a style but arent interested in fighting, spirituality etc. then what are you looking for??? neat forms to impress girls? maybe you should join an extreme tekken type of TKD class or something...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdWtNLkxg3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y1lqwvGcwk

or join a wushu team...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-1gSD2_nxI&feature=related

i dunno, im having trouble imagining what youre looking for and why...

I didn't say that I was uninterested in fighting, I would like to spar and take part in competitions. I just wanted to clarify to Bawang that I wasn't looking to Kung Fu as a tool for spiritual salvation or to make me happy or make me a tough mofo.




what do you like more, scma or ncma? short or longfist? small weapons like tonfa and the like? not interested in spear staff sword???

-SCMA
-Small weapons like say a knife or a sling.
-Short Fist

I would love to learn the staff, but it doesn't have to be a package deal. I'm willing to cross train into different staff oriented styles. Since, the staff is my favorite classical weapon.

[Dragonzbane76]

hey, does anyone know what happened to the wing chun forum? I just tried getting on their, and for some reason the whole thing seems to have just blinked out of existence (I'm afraid to go try the tai chi one now...)

it imploded from the very thought of wombat kung fu thai jitsu
True story...

[Syn7]

what? theres nothing wrong with that. money and success is all that matters. otherwise you wouldnt be teaching kung fu for money at all.

lol... thats not how i took that... im not a wingchun or taijiquan practitioner(well thats not true im learning yang 8 and 16 before and after class from the ancients in the back)... i took it as meaning theyve been watered down to cater to people who dont know any better lol... its sad but it happens alot...

[Syn7]

I didn't say that I was uninterested in fighting, I would like to spar and take part in competitions. I just wanted to clarify to Bawang that I wasn't looking to Kung Fu as a tool for spiritual salvation or to make me happy or make me a tough mofo.




-SCMA
-Small weapons like say a knife or a sling.
-Short Fist

I would love to learn the staff, but it doesn't have to be a package deal. I'm willing to cross train into different staff oriented styles. Since, the staff is my favorite classical weapon.

yeah, ive never actually seen any ciriculum that teaches any missile type weapons like slings or bows... im sure theyre out there but ive never seen it...

but... side note: archery is the S H I T !!! love it... and im pretty handy with a sling considering all i know is what i figured out as a kid with my lil leather patch with thin nylon rope on either side... i saw it on a movie and just had to make one and try it... i felt like a genius for making it work :D
its not as easy as it looks...

anyways, yeah, as far as the major styles are concerned, wingchun sounds like it may be right up ur alley... but there are billions of family styles out there, some good some bad... depends where your at i s'pose...

where do you live?

[No_Know]

One called Yang Style,


Wu Song Breaks Manacles form--(might be a little) acrobatic

White Eyebrow System (Bak Mei)--external actions, weapons

Monkey forms or systems--external, acrobatic

Pa Kua (Ba Gua) Eight trigrams (diagram) Palm/Fist--agile, external moves, daggers-small weapon (Judge's Pen).

No Kung-Fu style has what you put. At least not fighting styles my comprehend.

A lightness skills practitioner would use projectiles[from some Shaw Brothers Kung-Fu Film] But unless you do Snake, Cat and Crane what Kung-Fus purport Lightness.?. Running on...those are skill Kung-Fus. As would be projectile throwing. Dagger use might be added to Styles that have fast movements--a literal snake form or a Tai chi Ch'uan set (I think the moves are good for slashing and concealed blades-kept out or reverse it seems good.

I also think Hsing-I moves could-be a nice external for you.

No_Know

[Yang Style]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.




As would be projectile throwing. Dagger use might be added to Styles that have fast movements--a literal snake form or a Tai chi Ch'uan set (I think the moves are good for slashing and concealed blades-kept out or reverse it seems good.

Just to clarify, by light weapons I mean things like small daggers, short stick, and so fourth. Just something really small will do.


where do you live?

Tri-state area.

[David Jamieson]

wombat combat™ involves a lot of self stimulation and dry ejaculations.
seriously, it is teh most startling art available.

the i kill you face as you ejaculate is one of the highest levels of wombat combat™

it's really not for hobbiests at all. too dangerous. chi depletion and jing expulsion can be an arduous path. it's easy when you're young, but once you're over forty, about 30% of all practitioners need to use special medicines to continue the trainings.

true story.

[bawang]

i am hardcore mang. i train.im trong. like wombat.
i practice tai chi to this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SLytxsKZzo
thats how ahdcore i am

[Northwind]

Yang - You're obviously new to the forum.

Let me first say "Welcome", although it seems you've been welcomed via baptism by fire here.

People on net forums are sarcastic, rude, yadda yadda. Every now and then you'll come across some good info however. And even then - the person speaking helpfully sane advice, will the very next day say something like "aw go lick the eggs out of ur pampers n gibba me da moneezz"...

Anyway - as much as it sucks - you're going to have to get out there and do the hard work of leg-work yourself. You're in a good area that should have quite a bit to offer. Hop in and give all the ones a go that seem to strike a bit of your fancy.

It's all going to boil down to your asking yourself this at each and every place: "Will this place/teacher/environment/style/school/etc. give me what I am looking for?"

Whatever that may be - it's a personal choice. Best of luck to you.

[Syn7]

if i was going to take on another style i think id choose lungyi... we have a sister school and i like what ive seen... so far anyways...

[Northwind]

I have no clue about some of those more eclectic souther styles. What is lungyi? Dragon Intent?

[vatesi]

probably talking about xingyi, but just the dragon...

[SanHeChuan]

Yang Style,

If we told you the best style for you was... Zi Ran Men, would you move anywhere in the world to go and train it?

No, you wouldn't.

So, why not start by seeing what styles are actually available in your area?

Post those here, and then we can help you from there.

If you think too much about what you want, you're going to build it up in your head, you're never going to find exactly what you're looking for, so you'll never start training anything, and just live the rest of your life as some wannabe kung fu ***.

Train the best thing available.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I just want to say that I'm interested in CMA as a hobby

Take up stamp collection or even better, Porn collecting, you'll have more fun and burn more calories.

[TenTigers]

Yang Style,

If you think too much about what you want, you're going to build it up in your head, you're never going to find exactly what you're looking for, so you'll never start training anything, and just live the rest of your life as some wannabe kung fu ***.

Train the best thing available.
yes and no.
I researched into Hung-Ga, and found it suited all my needs-
I needed something that was going to develop and maximize my power. I was smaller than alot of my training partners in other styles that I studied, so I wanted a system that would make the most of my body, and Hung-Ga had the rep of being one of the most powerful styles.
I wanted a system that had roots in the Siu-Lum Temple...well according to legend anyway. At the time, we didn't know that most, if not all the stories were fictitious.
I wanted to learn the Five Animals
I wanted to learn weapons.
I wanted something that was brutally effective
and..It had to look freakin cool!


but, I already had over ten years in other systems...

[Dragonzbane76]

yes and no.
I researched into Hung-Ga, and found it suited all my needs-
I needed something that was going to develop and maximize my power. I was smaller than alot of my training partners in other styles that I studied, so I wanted a system that would make the most of my body, and Hung-Ga had the rep of being one of the most powerful styles.
I wanted a system that had roots in the Siu-Lum Temple...well according to legend anyway. At the time, we didn't know that most, if not all the stories were fictitious.
I wanted to learn the Five Animals
I wanted to learn weapons.
I wanted something that was brutally effective
and..It had to look freakin cool!


but, I already had over ten years in other systems...

you must be the exception to the rule because hell most people don't have the slightest idea what they want, or couldn't say because they have no experience in said things.

[SanHeChuan]

yes and no.
I researched into Hung-Ga, and found it suited all my needs-
I needed something that was going to develop and maximize my power. I was smaller than alot of my training partners in other styles that I studied, so I wanted a system that would make the most of my body, and Hung-Ga had the rep of being one of the most powerful styles.
I wanted a system that had roots in the Siu-Lum Temple...well according to legend anyway. At the time, we didn't know that most, if not all the stories were fictitious.
I wanted to learn the Five Animals
I wanted to learn weapons.
I wanted something that was brutally effective
and..It had to look freakin cool!


but, I already had over ten years in other systems...


...AND it was available to you. ;)

Did you move to get the training you wanted? How far?

I've moved citied to get at some good kung fu but that was after I'd already learned the value of MA in general. I'd also travel far for some good supplementary training, China even. But starting out I wouldn't have gone out of my way because I thought it might be cool to train with Pin Qing fu in Toronto or Kitchener or whatever.

[sanjuro_ronin]

...AND it was available to you. ;)

Did you move to get the training you wanted? How far?

I've moved citied to get at some good kung fu but that was after I'd already learned the value of MA in general. I'd also travel far for some good supplementary training, China even. But starting out I wouldn't have gone out of my way because I thought it might be cool to train with Pin Qing fu in Toronto or Kitchener or whatever.

Kitchener, not too far from my HK Sifu.

[Frost]

probably talking about xingyi, but just the dragon...

or maybe missspelling yungling.....we will never know

[David Jamieson]

or maybe missspelling yungling.....we will never know

You mean Lung Ying I'm sure. :p

[Syn7]

really, nobody knows what lung ying is???




rose li was saying people shouldnt pick up xingyi later in life, it should be started at a younger age or not at all... what do you guys think about that...???

[David Jamieson]

really, nobody knows what lung ying is???




rose li was saying people shouldnt pick up xingyi later in life, it should be started at a younger age or not at all... what do you guys think about that...???

I think everyone is entitled to their opinion. :p

I also think there are only 2 imperatives to cultivating your kung fu.

they are:

1) begin

2) continue

Doesn't matter when you start, but that will have a lot to do with what you are actually able to achieve physically mostly.

[Syn7]

I think everyone is entitled to their opinion. :p

I also think there are only 2 imperatives to cultivating your kung fu.

they are:

1) begin

2) continue

Doesn't matter when you start, but that will have a lot to do with what you are actually able to achieve physically mostly.


yeah but she was talking about xingyi specifically... she said if you are older when you start you should go for bagua, taichi or something... cant remember her reasons, i'll see if i can find the article...

[Northwind]

...snip...
1) begin
2) continue
...snip...

Best well-put I've seen yet...
And yet...I think every last one of us in these forums know how difficult doing 1 & 2 is! Whether it's martial arts, tcma, kung fu, a job, a date, dealing with an unruly customer, peeking around the corner, or just living - things can take some serious man-nuts just to live & go thru with it.

Again - kudos on your post - that is truth, and yet the crux.

[Yang Style]

After doing some searching I decided to settle on learning an animal kung fu. Thanks for the responses, once again. I really appreciate it.

[TenTigers]

After doing some searching I decided to settle on learning an animal kung fu. Thanks for the responses, once again. I really appreciate it.
um..an animal Kung-Fu?
Do us a favor. When you find a school you are interested in, post it here. There are quite a few people here with alot of experience and knowledge, and can check out their credibility.

[bawang]

i recommend praying mantis kung fu. you capture the spirit of the praying mantis. you mate with men, then eat them.

[Jimbo]

really, nobody knows what lung ying is???




rose li was saying people shouldnt pick up xingyi later in life, it should be started at a younger age or not at all... what do you guys think about that...???

I don't know about that. What is a younger age? Below 10? 20? 30? At what point does someone's age change from young to old? IMO it has more to do with your state of mind. I've heard that one of the top masters of Xingyi (was it Li Nengran?) didn't take it up until he was 37, although he had previous (Changquan?) training. There are people with no MA experience who took up arts like BJJ, CMA and TKD well into their 40s and 50s who have gone on to become quite good. Someone could argue that one has to start BJJ, CMA or TKD from very young, but nobody told those people.

The important thing should be receiving proper instruction, training hard, sticking to it, and actually having a love for what it is you're doing. Lacking any one of those things, even youth won't be of any use. The world is full of people who used to train this or that MA when they were 'young' but haven't trained in years or decades. Over the years, how much and how you train may change, but you can still remain dedicated to it if you really love what you're doing.