Beginner needs help

[Jables]

Hello all,

Not only am I new to the forums here, but I am also new to Kung Fu. I've been taking Hung Gar for about 3 months now and I enjoy it greatly, but I was wondering if there were any good books out there on Hung Gar that I might use to supplement my learning. Thanks all for any help you can offer.

Jables

[joedoe]

Best to train more with your sifu than to try and learn from a book.

[Tristan]

Joedoe

But reading some books might be very enjoyable!!

T.

[GreyMystik]

i agree with joe, your sifu by far will be your best learning source, but if it's history and other info you're looking for, it's probably not a bad idea to read up on some things...

while i can't recommend any specific books at this time, there are plenty of good websites that you can learn information from about Hung Gar. keep in mind alot of this stuff will be general info but nonetheless much of it is useful and interesting.

http://www.hungga.net

http://home.earthlink.net/~chiuchiling/

http://www.hungkuen.net/

http://www.geocities.com/hkhunggar/

http://www.yeeshungga.com/



another good forum that you may want to consider posting on is
http://www.forumco.com/hungkuennet/

good luck and train hard!

[tomcat]

Hi Jables,
You should ask your Sifu,what he recomends,as some lineages of Hung-Gar tend disagree.
I have found a good book on history,lineages,legends ,etc. It's title isTraditional Hung Gar Kung fu, by Sifu Jamal Al Bakkar. It's kind of pricy 75.00 +3.00 shipping the address is P.O box188854 ,Raleigh,N.C,27619 .
Or If you have started Gung-Gee (some schools teach it 1st) you might check out the book by Lam Sai Wing, but be sure to get a translation with it, Check out web at www.Quandaoman.com ? not sure about the spelling on that one .
Good luck with your training! P.S Quandaoman may also carry the book by Jamal.
Later,Tomcat

[Jables]

Thanks all for your input. I greatly appreciate it. And while I have no intention of straying from what sifu is teaching. I did want to have something that might clarify what he is saying.

[Ego_Extrodinaire]

Jable,

Good that you are enjoying Hung Gar. It is a beginner kung fu as it teaches you the basics of kick and punch. Don't stay for too long as northern styles will help you advance to higher levels which hung gar will not.

[GreyMystik]

with a name like " Ego_Extrodinaire" you know you can listen to what THIS guy says...

[Flattop Monk]

Hello Jables:

Bucksam Kong and Johnny Leong wrote Hung Gar Books. I would recommend spending your money on videos instead of books because Hung Gar forms are notoriously long. The first form usually taught- Gung Gee Fook Fu- (hope I spelled it right in english), is such a long form, and remembering it is not easy. Ditto for the Tiger and Crane form. (Both are awesome). A good video of the form you are learning can help you memorize the pattern. Perfecting the moves is another story. You can pick up a lot of Hung Gar forms on video from wle.com.

If you never saw "Master Killer" starring Gordon Liu, see it. It is about the Monk who taught Hung See Gwan.

Welcome to the Hung System!!

[TenTigers]

wouldn't it be great if Ego actually learned Hung-Ga? I think I'm gonna start posting trash about Liu Ho Pa Fa. I can also be an authority as I've never even seen it.

[Flattop Monk]

You got that right, TenTigers!! Iron Wire is about as high a level you can go. Besides Ego, I would much rather be able to knock someone flying than advance to "higher levels". By the way, how did you do in the 45 minute horse stance?

[Ego_Extrodinaire]

What a waste of time, holding a horse stance for 45 mins. in the old days, it was a form of punishment for coming late to class.

Back in the days when I trained, we aspire to great hights. the best kick is the tornnado kick which can knock down masses of advancing opponents.

A Hung Gar practitioner would just sit there and take the punches. like i said hund gar is beginner kung fu that leads on to becoming wu shu.

[GOLDEN ARMOR]

Ego,

If you think holding the horse is a waste of time than your a fool & u don't know sh!t about Hung Gar & other styles. You think that they don't make u hold your stances in your great northern styles, think again!

[Flattop Monk]

Ego:

The prolonged stance training is about leg strength- among a lot of other things. Use some common sense. We have 10 years of NHB fighting that proves guys who do flying kicks against a strong warrior either get knocked silly or get grounded and pounded.

There is other torture besides stance training.

It might seem silly to do fist or fingertip pushups untill most of the class is falling on their faces, or to do about 50 leg raises, then hold your feet 6 inches off the floor while the instructor jumps up and down on your stomach. But the idea is to be able to generate power, to have a strong body that can both inflict and take punishment. I have never knocked any style of fighting on this or any forum, but I am a man, not a ballet dancing b*tch. I prefer to kick low rather than high, hit hard, and slam hard. That is much more important than looking pretty doing useless flips, or high kicks that any capable fighter can grab you in mid-air and slam your head against the floor.

[HuangKaiVun]

Does anybody here other than myself want to fight Ego using Hung Gar?

Litigation aside (which is the ONLY thing that would save his sorry nonkungfu hide), kung fu needs to be put to the test.

I'd love to see what would happen if I put my EXTREMELY limited grasp of Hung Gar against Ego's voluminous kung fu self-styling. My money's on ME.

You want to talk the talk Ego, go ahead. I would love to see if you're as tough as you say you are.


Jables, I'd recommend Kwong Wing Lam's videos.

They allow you to see the stuff you're working on and allow you to get the order of the sets reasonably correct.

Also, check out Lam Tsai Wing's books and posters. Interesting stuff there. I'll also suggest Frank Yee's "Tang Fung" Hung Ga, of which TenTigers is a master of.

My advice for anybody studying any style is to PUT IT TO THE TEST. Get in a ring, try to USE your moves. See what works and what doesn't.

In my admittedly limited Hung Ga experience, Hung Ga's "Gung Gee Fook Fu Kuen" form has just about everything a person could need to survive a standup fighting encounter. When I use it, my Hung Kuen doesn't look exactly like the sets but uses the ideas and concepts.