TRADITIONAL SOUNDS

Hello all,

I'm wondering if there are any similarities between the various styles when it comes to making sounds. I think there was an article last year in Inside Kung Fu about the wide range of sounds used in Hung Gar. I am also under the impression that Chan Heung of ChoyLiFut created specific sounds to identify his art. Can anyone offer any info on this subject? What sounds do you use? And why?

Thanks in advance,
PHIL

Hello Phil-

Sounds are used for two different reasons to the best of my understanding.

The main reason being to teach one to exhale as they strike and thereby allowing for more energy to be released.
After a time in training with Shaolin Kung Fu the student is taught to do this by second nature and sounds are no longer included except in the instance as will come in the second reason.

Shaolin Kung Fu when done by an adept is done without making noises and the face should be expressionless yet not without emotion.

The second reason is to deal with internal work and Chi Kung.
certain sounds create harmonious vibrations within the meridian and therefor different sounds affect different organs and bowels and musculature and bone and so on.

Take for instance the exercise known as "six healing breaths" it is a nei kung exercise that was adopted from the indian prana veyda teachings.
where the sounds foo, shoo, whaa, ssss, whoo, and shee are used to focus meridian energy into specific organs.

In Black tiger style, an abrupt "Hai" sound is used when releasing force but after a time of training in the art, the sounds are removed and the set is done in silence although the power output and development is the same.

So, to train the breath, sounds are very useful because if the sound is right then so to is the breathing. If the sound is weak or hollow, this tells the instructor that the breathing needs more work before the set will bring benefit to the practitioner.

I hope this helps
Peace

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Kung Lek

Hi Phil,
If you are refering to the June 1998 issue of IKF article of the Five Tones by Yee's Hung Ga. I am the author of that particular article. I am happy to answer any question you might have.
peace

Dear Kung Lek,

Thanks for the thorough reply. I have an article by Mantak Chia somewhere around here on the Healing Sounds- thanks for the reminder. I'll dig it up.


Dear DF,

Yep. That sounds like the article, alright! What luck to run into you here!

I study Kung Fu San Soo which (as all forum readers know)is said by some to be related to ChoyLiFut, while others say it is not. What I find interesting is that the San Soo I have learned uses the sounds yak, wak, and dik for particular strikes, which I believe CLF uses as well. I'd like to think that this is evidence that SanSoo IS related to CLF, but first, I wanted to check with the forum to see if anyone else makes the same noises too. Are these generic Southern sounds?

If I recall your article correctly, the sounds of Hung Ga are NOT the same as CLF's. You also had a WIDE range of sounds for different functions- offense, defense, chi gung? I knew I should have bought that issue!
I'd sure welcome a quick refresher if you're up to it.

Thanks again,
PHIL

Hi Phil,
The Five Tones theory or the sound theory in HG is a combination of four areas of studies.The four areas are Chinese medicine, five tones of Chinese music, five elements of Chinese philosophies and Hung Ga body connections and techniques.
As you can see each one of this areas can be pretty complicated by itself. I don't want to take up too much space in this forum trying to explain the Hung Ga sounds or tones theory.
I think it is easier if I can address any specfic question one at a time.
The sounds "wow, dic,yak, but and hok" are for specfic techniques in CLF. In HG we have similar sounds as well. However as a student becomes more advance, we no longer correspond specfic sound for a particular move. In another words, the same movement might have different sounds. Which one to use is depends on the intend of the practitioner at that moment as long as the proper result is obtained.
I hope this brief response is satisfactory and I was able to answer your question. I am more than happy to discuss this topic further.
peace