question for tigerstyle

[Yung Apprentice]

I live in Las Vegas too. I was wondering what style you study(probably tiger...duh!!) and where do you study. Because I'm currently lookin at many schools here and would like to visit them, to see which school is best for me.

[Jaguar Wong]

He's pretty adept at the "eating Jaguar's overhand left", as well as "taking a good solid kick from Jaguar's lead left foot". Oh yeah, he does a little grappling too :o

Those are his primary styles, so don't let him tell you anything different. He'll probably give you some mess about his personal blend of crosstraining (involving Kung Fu strikes, and BJJ/Wrestling groudwork), but he's actually a qualified instructor in the two main styles listed above.

[Yung Apprentice]

What about you?

[Jaguar Wong]

Most of it is in my profile ;)
The stuff I couldn't fit includes some Southern Five Animals (mostly Crane and Dragon, but also a little Tiger, and Leopard...Not much Snake, though). And weapons...a lot of weapons (not really a lot :)).

[Tigerstyle]

Yung Apprentice,

As for what I study, I would say it's in my profile, but I've been out of practice for a while now, mostly because of time constraints. I don't mainly do any tiger kung fu, but I know a southern Tiger form, and my sifu says I do my kung fu with a "tiger spirit". That's where the name came from.

When I did practice, it was mainly in Northern Shaolin (longfist) and some Praying Mantis. Recently, before my "MA hiatus" I was really getting into BJJ/wrestling and grappling in general. I really wish I had done it sooner, because it feels very natural for me.

Don't get me wrong, I am not abandoning Shaolin for BJJ. I am "supplementing" what I am learning, because the Shaolin forms I am learning have many chin na and grappling applications in them that I was not able to see/use. By learning from a friend that does BJJ/Wrestling I was able to see and better apply many of the movements/applications in my forms. Before anyone tells me that true Shaolin is "complete" and doesn't require me to seek outside help, I may not be in one of the few "true" kung fu schools (5% or something), so I didn't have much grappling/groundwork emphasis in my style.

I'm not going to try and tell people what's better, just that for me I think I want to be primarily a grappler with some solid striking ability to back me up. Jaguar Wong wants to be a striker with solid grappling, and that's perfectly fine for him (except that his punches are weak :D . I "eat" that overhand left because it's soft like cotton candy :p )

[Yung Apprentice]

So where do/did both of you train at?(I know it's different places,but I mean here in town)

[Jaguar Wong]

Yung Apprentice. Actually we both used to study at the Lohan School of Shaolin. Now, like I mentioned earlier, it's more like hanging out, and sparring with the few brave souls that put the gloves on. (It's not like we're doing NHB, I mean c'mon, why are they afraid to spar? ;) ).

I don't want to speak for my bro (because my voice is much manlier, and I don't want people to think he's tougher than he really is), but I personally train on my own now. I still do some stuff with forms, and drills, but now with limited space, and time I do a lot of bag work, and stretching. I'm also learning some Chin Na, and in the future some Baguazhang from a friend. When we have time, my bro and I try to pick up some BJJ and wrestling from a friend of ours at the JSect academy.

I'm basically spending more time refining what I already know, since I haven't learned anything new in a while. I figured it's time well spent if I'm sharpening my skills. I know how crosstraining is frowned upon, but I personally feel that it's strengthened my skills overall. I'm trying to excell at one aspect (Northern Shaolin, expecially the kicks, and footwork to control distancing), and be prepared for the rest (although after doing some BJJ, I really got hooked and I am scrounging for all the BJJ, wrestling, Chin Na, and Shuai Chiao skills that I can get my paws on). I spar as much as possible, and that really helps to prepare me for different types of fighters, and I use a lot of what I learned in the school already to try and patch up the holes that my training didn't cover the first time around (I'm not talking about cross training on this part).

As for Tigerstyle. He spends hours a day, dropping his hands like Mark Coleman against Pete Williams while I pound his skull with left foot lead leg roundhouse kicks.