Is Kung Fu suitable for me?

[TjD]

i think your best bet is to find the best teacher go around and check out the schools, see if you can sit in on a class. that way you know what your getting into

im sure the people here can point you towards some good schools in your area to look at as well

1. if you do wing chun, you wont have to worry about kicks for awhile especially not high ones

2. the mechanics of wing chun can be applied to all three - it depends on your teacher and what he wants to teach.

3. some schools have them, some dont

4. if you train and practice hard, you'll be able to handle yourself aptly in a street fight with a year or two of wing chun

5. depends on the schools you look at

6. as to completeness, with wing chun you can take it wherever you want to, but first you have to learn the rules before you can break them. it teaches you how to use your body in any situation. so i guess you could call it complete

[zacharias]

Thanks guys. I know now that no martial arts is "perfect", but I do also know that for my needs neither Aikido (of which I like the self-defense and grappling part a lot) nor Ninjutsu (which I am interested in the spiritual and historical part more than the other MA's) are as good as Kung Fu. Now I only need to find a school around here, and find out what style is the best for me (Wing Chun probably)

Oh and also, do I HAVE to wear such a funny classical Kung Fu clown costume?

EDIT: What I forgot to say is that I'm a little disappointed that there is no official belt/graduate system. I mean, i don't want to walk around with my black belt all the time to attract chicks, but still it'd be good to know what level of Kung Fu someone is at, right?

[Rorny Gracie]

If you want chicks belt colors dont matter to them. Monkey KungFu is the way to go.

[Kristoffer]

[Former castleva]

"Thanks guys. I know now that no martial arts is "perfect", but I do also know that for my needs neither Aikido (of which I like the self-defense and grappling part a lot) nor Ninjutsu (which I am interested in the spiritual and historical part more than the other MA's) are as good as Kung Fu. Now I only need to find a school around here, and find out what style is the best for me (Wing Chun probably)

These are just my minor sidenotes which I´d like to add here as a half-hearted answer:
-Aikido does strike (and even kick) at times,to follow up with grappling.
-Ninjutsu is a pretty "cloudy" art in a way,it is surrounded with much mysticism and probably some misleading reputation (Like when there was some sort of ninja boom in the eightee´s etc. movies,think about a guy with a black suit disappearing in a smoke explosion ) And as far as I know,some "bad" schools,but a bunch of good ones too,I think.
I´m no expert when it comes to that,but that´s how (with some others feel) You might want to check out www.martialtalk.com & www.e-budo.com if you wanna search further.
Oh and also, do I HAVE to wear such a funny classical Kung Fu clown costume? "

No! You can rent a legit clown costume from a right kind of a store.

"EDIT: What I forgot to say is that I'm a little disappointed that there is no official belt/graduate system. I mean, i don't want to walk around with my black belt all the time to attract chicks, but still it'd be good to know what level of Kung Fu someone is at, right?"

If your school does not happen to support belts,you will still do fine I believe.When you´ll get to know the surroundings and "who´s who" that should not be a problem at kwoon.
Belts can also be a major problem with some (most often they refer to oriental MA in the west) as they can turn tables against actual training.Not to say it would never be an issue for you,this is just one side of the coin.
As they say,belt is just keep your pants from falling.

[The Willow Sword]

on the east part of town i was able to find this school
its a hybrid school but it is a good one.

Dr. Wang hung Lo's school of Tak-e yo do.

great great system. i endorse it all the way.


MRTWS

[couch]

It's already been answered by a lot of people, but I wanted to take a crack at it...

Is Kung-Fu suitable for me?

The short answer for anyone: yes.

The reason I believe is that because Kung-Fu covers so many bases. For instance, Tai Chi is part of Kung-Fu and this piece of the art concentrates on health, chi development and self-defense.

Tai Chi usually moves at a slow pace.

Among the other "pieces" of Kung-Fu, you can find more hard styles, etc.

I try to never say that one style is better than another, as they all orginated from the same decent.

BUT...(isn't there always a BUT?)...with that last comment, remember where Kung-Fu fits in the picture:

India > China > Japan

So that's a prime reason I stay as close to the source of the water.

Good luck in your search. Do what feels right, and if you're not happy, nobody said you can't look elsewhere!!

Take Care,
couch

[David Jamieson]

...you can only find out by learning it, then doing it, then really learning it by doing it more.

peace

[small]

You need to start somewhere and do it for a little while before you even know what questions to ask.
Whoever you consider, do a thorough search on the lineage. There are many who teach that are big on ego, possibly even talented, but small on credentials. Find someone who has completed a style, not some toughie with big muscles and a pretty fast punch. I think that most styles of kung fu are hard to learn and also hard to teach.

Good luck in your search.