hung gar guy on Discovery channel/ trapping hands

[jun_erh]

hanby is that his name? big black guy w/ spiked srmbands and wong fei hung t shirt (?) was on discovery channel anyone see it? He did the thing where you bend a steel rod against your throat. We've all seen stuff like that before I'm guessing, but the scientist guys were quite baffled

Also, I used to do Hung Gar and always find myself doing the "trapping hands" move. What is the application/ point of this? Wher is the trapping. just curius

[WanderingMonk]

Originally posted by jun_erh
hanby is that his name? big black guy w/ spiked srmbands and wong fei hung t shirt (?)

You mean Sifu Donald Hamby?

http://www.quandoman.com/home.htm

Too bad, I missed the show.

wm

[ZhouJiaQuan]

yep i saw it, good stuff, i was impressed when the doctor was impressed.
they figured out rebard(Sp?) would puncture the soft skin on the neck at 40 pounds of pressure, well sifu hamby spiked at 165 pounds of pressure and sustained 60 pounds.

good stuff....

[Fu-Pow]

I've met Sifu Hamby a couple of times. He is one big dude. Around 6'4" tall and built. He used to be boxer before discovering kung fu. Really nice guy. He used to be the sparring partner of my old Hung Ga Sifu.

As to the rebar thing I'm not sure. I'm always a bit skeptical about these kinds of "tricks."

[ZhouJiaQuan]

i tend to be skeptical as well about stuff like that. but they did it controlled, established what could puncture the skin, then sifu hamby went far beyond that limit.

i think sifu hamby was in some kwoon.com episodes as well

[ctoepker]

Sifu Hamby's kung fu is first rate and many in the Hung Gar community owe him a debt of gratitude for his work in the community and willingness to share information and connections. His knowledge, experience and promotion of Hung Gar have garnerd him much respect.

I have been more than lucky to find myself in his larger kung fu family.

Still, this same feat was performed on MTV's Road Rules as a challenge to the participants.

From http://www.mtv.com/onair/roadrules/s...de.jhtml?id=16
"Jeremy, Mary Beth and Dave are chosen as the instructors and must learn about old Polynesian rituals based on trust while the others wait and wonder about the mission. These rituals include "the challenge of steel. The "challenge of steel" involves bending a steel rod with their throat. Mary Beth goes first and while she's a bit nervous, she is able to bend the steel rod with the instructor and she is blown away by their amazing feat."

If you have Real Player, check out the video clips.

[ZhouJiaQuan]

the vids i have seen of sifu hamby have been very good.

but for the sake of argument, the steel in that mtv episdoe(good to see you keep up with mtv 'cause i dont haha) looked a little thin, as well they had there hands around the ends which could absord some force.
the discovery channel peeps 1st figuerd out what it takes to puncture the human skin in that area, which the skin broke at a peak of 40 pounds. sifu hamby reached a peak of 165 lbs and and a steady 60 lbs. dunno how he did it

i like hei gung, but i alot of demo's of it are tricks no doubt, the truth of it is not in demos but in fighting. imo anyways

now off to apply jow

[ctoepker]

...about my intentions!


I respect and admire Sifu Hamby's kung fu and promotional efforts. Nothing my feeble observations can say will detract from his long years of training and many accomplishments in Hung Gar.

His performance garners interest in kung fu and by wearing the Lam Sai Wing shirt he promotes his awesome Hung Gar heritage.
If only more people like him could get on TV!

So, also just for the sake of argument...

the steel in that mtv episdoe(good to see you keep up with mtv 'cause i dont haha) looked a little thin, as well they had there hands around the ends which could absord some force.
the discovery channel peeps 1st figuerd out what it takes to puncture the human skin in that area, which the skin broke at a peak of 40 pounds. sifu hamby reached a peak of 165 lbs and and a steady 60 lbs.

It stands to reason that an inexperienced 5-foot-something, 150lbs, 20-something kid would use thinner bars. As for their hands, that was to 'ensure' it stayed on the soft part, right? I have no doubt that Sifu Hamby applied over 165lbs, but I would like to ask Penn & Teller how its done. []

CT

[TenTigers]

Chi-Kung-shmee-gung, puncture-shmuncture! This is the oldest trick in the book, I've been doing this with spears, arrows, kitchen knives since I was 18. (picture me at 18, drunk and breaking yer mom's kitchen knife at a house party-what a maroon!)
The object of choice is placed on the throat-at the supersternal notch-the top of your sternum. The person applies DOWNWARD pressure at the other end and is simply bending the bar, or whathaveyou against it. You can also bend it upwards, but its a little trickier. Rebar is real strong and thick, but it was also a pretty long piece. Do it with a two foot length and push with your palm at the end-shove it foward. You will perform a trachiotomy (sp?) on the Master. No offense to anyone who does this trick,we all like to promote the martial arts, but don't tell me it's real.
Same goes with the bed of nails. Show me a guy who can lie down on just ONE nail, Then I'll be impressed. Sorry to burst yer bubbles.

[Eddie]

ten tigers is right. Its a pretty easy trick to do. There is a book on the market called the skills of the vagabond and behind the incredible... it expose some of these myths.

No doubt, it takes some skill, but that’s mostly all it does (like juggling).

I don’t know the sifu you are talking about, so no disrespect intended

[ZhouJiaQuan]

of course it is nothing mystical, i never said it was.

"it takes some skill"

hmm chi kung is skill no?

hei gung really isnt for show, my teacher always talks about the "tricks" behind demos souding like ten tigers(only in cantonese-english) and what not. but yet he still teachers chi kung. hmmm....

and thats all for me

have fun

[Eddie]

Off course, chi gung has its benefits, but tricks are tricks. See it for what it is. Your master doesn’t train chi gung to show of party tricks does he? Your master doesn’t train chi gung to show of party tricks does he?
I’m not knocking people who does kung fu tricks, but its nothing different to David Blain’s (dunno of it is the right spelling) tricks or just about any other circus act.

True show of chi gung isn’t in fancy party tricks.

[ZhouJiaQuan]

no party trick training here

see my post above

i like hei gung, but i alot of demo's of it are tricks no doubt, the truth of it is not in demos but in fighting.

see we agree after all

[Falcor]

I think that it takes a good deal of skill of pull of these tricks, lot's of practice and time and effort perfecting the skills of the trick, so that would be...kung fu?

Anyway, the real downside of such tricks is that for those who are uninitiated, i.e. the regular civies who do not do KF, that is ALL they associate chi kung with. They don't quite get the subtleties and think that if you do Chi Kung you become Neo.

Same reason why Wushu-fied Hollywood-fu is bad - leads to unrealistic expectations of fighting and martial arts.

[anton]

Originally posted by EmptyCup
I haven't seen somebody lie on ONE nail but I have seen:

- burning coal on a guys' tongue right in front of me without damaging

I think this has something to do with the heat transitivity of coal.