Lama-Hop Gar- white crane kungfu

[Shaolindynasty]

I'll first start by saying that I am considering training under Wai Lun Choi. I eventually want to learn his liu ho pa fa but I am thinking about begining my study with him in lama kungfu. I have been doing research on this style and find it very interesting. I was hoping there would be some people on this site who already practice this style of kungfu and could tell me alittle bit about their experience in that style. Pros, cons etc. How long does it take to learn? what are the main weapons(armed and unarmed)? I'd just like to get more information other than the general history etc.

[Former castleva]

White Crane is a great style which performs both striking,kicking with chin na.
There are different kinds of crane styles,I think there is one created by a woman and another one created by a man who understood this art after seeing a crane destroying a gorilla.
WWW has some recourses.
Dr.Yang Jwing Ming´s "Essence of White Crane" would not do bad either.

[PHILBERT]

The only thing I do know about it are the hands are like Mantis hands, it pecks, suppose to be like the beak. And they have HIGH kicks, and I mean HIGH. I've seen some White Crane practioner photos of guys lifting there legs above the head to do a kick.

[Shaolindynasty]

Yang practices Fujian Crane. The one i am talking about is different.

"I've seen some White Crane practioner photos of guys lifting there legs above the head to do a kick"

I've seen these pictures to, it's the right style I think.

White crane has 4 or 5 different branches. Tibetain white crane/Hop gar/Lama is the one I am interested in.

[HopGar]

here's some sites dude

www.hopgar.com - got all the history you could ask for Hop Gar, its my school

www.atlchai.org/yastudents/02karz/webdesignpage2.html this is my personal page

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/9358/tibetan.html this has got alot of about the history.. His information about my sifu, Ku Chi Wai being in San Francisco is not correct. Mind you this guy is also a bit of an arsehole (no I'm not scottish, just didnt want to use the real word.)

If ya got any question lemme know, and you can email me, just look in my profile for my email.


Peace

[Shaolindynasty]

Thanks!

[SevenStar]

Tibetan Chi Kung - Powerful, energy increasing forms. Descended from Tibetan Lama’s through the legendary Sing Lung Cheung Lo. Personal interview required. Four months. One session per week.
$350.00 per month.
$1,000.00 advance payment.

Iron Palm - Hand conditioning. Necessary for effective use of Hop Gar. Four months. One session per week.
$300.00 advance payment only. Includes bag and liniment.

King of Canton Staff - A legacy of Hop Gar Sigung, Ng Yim Ming. Training and instruction leading to form understanding and completion Four months. One session per week.
$100.00 per month, plus $30.00 staff.
$350.00 advance payment, includes staff.

What's up with these prices?

[Merryprankster]

No CRAP!

I was just thinking the same thing!!!

[HopGar]

The site is old and has not been updated. You learn that stuff while you are learning Hop Gar. The prices dont mean a **** thing.

[Yung Apprentice]

Able to kill a man in a single blow...............priceless!!!!!!!:D

[HopGar]

Ok so its biased to support our school....whatever. But seriously, do you have any idea how powerful Hop Gar is? Pretty **** powerful!

[fa_jing]

So, what's the deal with Choi's classes? Does one normally start in one style then move to another? Is there something for those who want ot study multiple styles? Any idea if they do contact sparring? Thought I might study some internal over there one day.
-FJ

[Paul]

I was at Wai Lun Choi's school for a short period of time (about 3 months) and if I moved back to Chicago that's probably where I would go to study kung fu.

Yes they do contact sparring and he has a few heavy bags set up.

You can learn what you want at his school, although the more classes you take the more expensive it gets. He doesn't make you start with any particular system.

Y'all should just go check it out.

[Shaolindynasty]

I haven't visited Choi's school yet but from what I saw on his site is that he let's you choose what style you want to learn. I am pretty sure they do plenty contact training considering Choi's background of fighting in the old southeast asia full contact tournaments and he also had to fight challenge matches when he opened his first school in china town in the 70's. I have heard his kungfu is of the highest quality but I won't know for sure until I visit him. this is his site www.liuhopafa.com

Guys lay off Hop gar. He was helping me out with info on the style. and killing with one blow is very possible with good training and knowledge of where to hit. i don't care about the prices cause I just wanted info, but those prices might be fair if you consider the local ecomomy of their area. Chicago's schools are high to me but standard for where they are.


Hop Gar- don't worry about them, they are probally looking for somthing to flame and got tired of mooney.

[Merryprankster]

Wow!

Sorry... I just thought the prices were outrageous. BJJ is considered expensive at $200+ for unlimited classes at Renzo's in NYC, and this guy's prices, when taken all together, seem to be about the same.

I know nothing of Hop Gar, so I'm not qualified to comment on whether it's good or not. I'll just take your word that it is and leave it at that.

Regards,

James

[crumble]

This is approximate, but the pricing at Choi's is about $70 for a class and $120 for >>>unlimited<<< classes. There is also a yearly fee -- or maybe it's a start-up cost -- of about $100. He let's you choose the class(es) you take.

By the way, he is cool with you observing classes. Mon and Tue is short-range, hand work. Weds and Thur is kicking, entering work. (So go Mon/Tue if you want to see the "style", there isn't much difference in long-range stuff.

I've >seen< some of the Lama class. Basically it uses whole body swinging movements to deliver very powerful moves. Choi seems to use internal stuff for breaking a guy down and the Lama moves for the kill. It's definately an external style, using more momentum and swinging power, rather than ground-path-exploding power. Big arm movements (but maybe that just when you are begginning). Very powerful.

Oh, by the way, Choi does do sparring and contact stuff, but he doesn't teach you an application and then say: SPAR! He knows that (with internal stuff, especially) you can't really learn in the ring. You can only fine tune.

Good luck!

-crumble

[Shaolindynasty]

Crumble- Do You study with Choi? If so, he teaches all the styles seperate right? I am looking to learn a new style most likely one of these three lama, Liu Ho Pa Fa or Bagua. I know he is most famous for his Liu Ho pa Fa but I am interested in the other 2.


"By the way, he is cool with you observing classes. Mon and Tue is short-range, hand work. Weds and Thur is kicking, entering work. (So go Mon/Tue if you want to see the "style", "

On his site he has a schedule set up where he teaches specific styles on certain days and times. What do you mean go mon'tue if I want to see the style?

I'd appreciate it if you could help me out. I live far away and would like to learn about his school as much as ossible before I actually visit.

[HopGar]

Sorry y'all I took that as a personal attack on my kung fu school and that is why I felt it necessary to defend myself like that. Mind you like paul and shaolin said, Hop Gar can be lethal and you can kill with one punch .

[Paul]

Mind you like paul and shaolin said, Hop Gar can be lethal and you can kill with one punch .

I didn't say that. I know absolutely nothing, nada, zilch about Hop Gar.

[HopGar]

Sorry Paul,
I misread that post. My bad.

[Yung Apprentice]

I made that comment. But I wasn't taking shots at Hop Gar. Haven't yall seen the mastercard commercials????BLAH BLAH,priceless.Jeez lighten up guys.

[HopGar]

Yeah, I've seen it. Hard to tell ppls intentions if ya know what I mean.

Peace Y'all

[Shaolindynasty]

Hey Hop Gar, I was hoping you could tell me a little about your experience in the art maybe let me in on some things about it that you don't normally see on websites and such. Ya know like personal stories, different abilities you learned, how the training progresses, etc.

[Yung Apprentice]

Yeah I know what you mean.:)

[crumble]

>Do You study with Choi?

Yes.

>If so, he teaches all the styles seperate right?

Yes.

>I am looking to learn a new style most likely one of these three lama, Liu Ho Pa Fa or Bagua. I know he is most famous for his Liu Ho pa Fa but I am interested in the other 2.

You should also consider his chi kung if you are a beginning or intermediate student. It's definately a martial chi kung, directly related to using the whole body techniques. Not a waste of time, but a short-cut for whole body harmony and power.

>What do you mean go mon'tue if I want to see the style?

On Weds/Thurs, we focus on moving from safe range to kicking range to closer. Heavy emphasis on kicking. At advanced levels, he says kicking isn't needed, but he wants his students comfortable with kickers. The kicking/long-range work that is taught is the same for all the classes (lama, tai chi, pakua, liu ho pa fa, etc.)

>I'd appreciate it if you could help me out. I live far away and would like to learn about his school as much as ossible before I actually visit.

No problem.

-crumble

[Shaolindynasty]

"You should also consider his chi kung if you are a beginning or intermediate student. It's definately a martial chi kung, directly related to using the whole body techniques. Not a waste of time, but a short-cut for whole body harmony and power."

Thanks for the advice! I have been practiceing a form of Shaolin longfist for about 5 years but I would be a beginner in his methods of practice so Ill check it out.

[HopGar]

"Hey Hop Gar, I was hoping you could tell me a little about your experience in the art maybe let me in on some things about it that you don't normally see on websites and such. Ya know like personal stories, different abilities you learned, how the training progresses, etc."

Since tibetan kung fu is so secretive and closed-door, people dont usually like ot post anything about the syles, like the forms and the punches. But if you join, there is a sh!tload of stuff to learn and its all thing you could use very easily.

I have only had to use Hop Gar once. This kid was talking trash and for some odd reason tried to punch me. Mind you this kid has had to deal with me comin THIS CLOSE to hurting him before (and by that I mean some 4-5 times). This time I didn't hold back and I used a pure Hop Gar style grab and takedown on him. The kid was too shocked to move.

Basically how the training in my school works is you learn the basic punches, then you progress to the rest of the basics. Then you learn in this order the forms: Chyrn Wye Kuen, Shaolin Lo Han Kuen, Sim Bo Dan Ji Kuen, Hop Gar Kuen. Some times you will learn Chyrn Wye Kuen before everything. You learn how all of these are practical as you learn the form. One you know all of the basics and the forms, then you learn weapons intermittently. Then we can really get to the meat which is the two man training and start trying to perfect everything. Really, because our school is run by a really hardcore traditional sifu, what we do is kind of dependent on how he's feeling and how everyone is feeling (lazy, not well, well, etc.)

One thing you do get out of Hop Gar aside for the kung fu is really strong shoulders and arms.

Thats all for now.
Peace