Shou Shu - real or another made-up melange?

[norther practitioner]

Sigung- grand teacher... which I guess in manderine would be something like shigong

[CaptinPickAxe]

Is shoushu or whatever tied to shaolin-do? I saw a reference to Shifu Schaefer.

[BentMonk]

CPA - No, Shou Shu is NOT affiliated in any way w/SD. The last name is a coincidence. I can see a similarity as far as the "mysterious lost history" thing goes, but that's where the similarities end.

[CaptinPickAxe]

sorry for the confusion, but thanx for clearing that up, BM.

so is it a flaudlent style? or is it another case of selling something for what its not?

[BentMonk]

The history thing is seperate from the training. If you're learning good technique, proper body mechanics, and getting a good workout, then party on. If blatantly provable, undisputable history is a pre req for you, than SS or SD is not for you. Personally I see a few things I disagree on where SS techniques are concerned. Still, having been bashed also I'm not going to get silly over it. Rather you're training right next to a Shaolin monk, or spending hours in your garage throwing solid working combos on the heavy bag, you're going to get some benefits from the training time. It's all about what you want, and sometimes more about what you can find. On another personal oppinion note, I think that truth, honor, and loyalty are corner stones of MA training that should not be glossed over. I receive quality instruction where I'm at, so I'm staying. I hope it's the same for the SS guys. Peace & Happy Training.

[Shou Shu Blue]

you can stop by any one of the schools.

Dinuba, CA
Fresno, CA
Modesto, CA
Lodi, CA
Sacramento, CA
Stockton, CA
Burson, CA


Im sure i missed a couple but all the same just stop on by and see for yourself.

[CaptinPickAxe]

spending hours in your garage throwing solid working combos on the heavy bag, you're going to get some benefits from the training time

Yes, there are good things you can get out of training by yourself. But without proper instruction you could develop bad habits that can be hard to break when transitioning into a new martial art.
When I was @ SD, I developed a couple bad habits that I'm still trying to correct in Shuai Chiao. But I guess every style has conflicting aspects.

[badams8705]

Well I see it has been a while since anyone posted on this topic, but I wanted to put in my two cents anyway. I first entered a Moore 's studio back in late-1985 here in Sacramento. I had checked out a couple other styles but decided I liked what I saw there. I studied there for 2 years earning my green belt. I stopped going for a while as I got a divorce, remarried, blah, blah, blah. I went back in 1994 and studied about another year and then quit. I had brushed up my material and was almost ready to test for brown, but I had some back problems that were giving me grief. Anyway I wanted to weigh in on a couple of facts here as someone who studied the art for a few years but has no current tie to the school.

First of all, MA studios come and go, but Moore's in Sacramento opened their current location in 1984 or 1985. They are still there and operating today. That's about 20 years right there. Prior to the Sacramento location, they had a studio in a Sacramento suburb called Rancho Cordova. So they have been in Sacramento for a long time. Longevity in the market place is often a sign of a quality product. Not to mention their presence for even longer periods in some of the surrounding cities.

I can attest to the following facts:

1) We had a lot of people in Moore's who used what they learned in the studio to enable them to do their jobs. Police for City of Sacramento, Woodland and Galt; Sacramento County Sherrifs; prison guards and correctional officers from Folsom Prison and Vacaville State Prison/Mental Hospital. These people would have been toast if this was a bogus art, so I was always impressed by the Law Enforcement folks who chose to study Shou Shu. We also had a huge variety of other professions from illegal migrant farm workers, to semi pro base ball players and military personnel, to doctors and lawyers.

2) There were a number of people who had studied other arts who, after coming to our school, would say this was a better art for defending themselves than what they had previously studied.

3) I was lucky enough to be there when DaShifu Al Moore Sr. was still alive. He would come into the Sacramento school occasionally to teach. Or he would walk around during our camps and teach different groups. My god, he could cause you pain with barely a move. I vividly remember a demo, where he used me as the opponent, where he tapped me in the forhead with his finger. Not quickly or anything, but it felt as if I had been hit in the forehead with the rounded end of a steel pole. I felt a thin, intense line of pain from the surface of my forehead about half way into the inside of my head. My head hurt the rest of the day.
Every occasion I remember with him in which he was demoing a technique, it always felt like you were bring hit by steel. And the thing was, he was never moving very fast, he just knew how to use the art to maximum efficiency.

4) This is heresay, it was told to me when I first entered Moore's so I can'y vouch for it based on first hand experience, but supposedly for a couple of years when the school was in Rancho Cordova, there were some mercenaries training there. The Shun Shifu for the school at that time, was um .... very "physical".

5) Shou Shu is (or at least was) a very contact oriented MA. We practiced our material on each other, hour after hour, night after night. Full contact, but not full speed. Bruises were the norm, I think my favorite was the bruise then went from the top of my pelvic bone on my right side, up past my ribs, nearly to my armpit. It was very pretty Not only did this help fine tune our material, but we were hitting ourselves harder in class than we would likely be hit in a fight, so it was toughening us up.

Anyway, I dont want to do a novel, just wanted to add, what I hope most of you will consider couple facts about the legitmacy of the art.

Hi to all the former and current Shou Shu folks who have posted here.

[Brad]

2) There were a number of people who had studied other arts who, after coming to our school, would say this was a better art for defending themselves than what they had previously studied.

Kind of sad, but this was true of the fake kungfu school that I used to attend too

[Indestructible]

Yeah, listen to Brad. The real kung fu is in Ohio after all.

[Brad]

Yup

[omarthefish]

Originally posted by Indestructible
Yeah, listen to Brad. The real kung fu is in [Canton] Ohio after all.

[Brad]

and Columbus

[skull crusher]

Originally posted by Indestructible
Yeah, listen to Brad. The real kung fu is in Ohio after all.

So whats in Ohio?

[Indestructible]

Originally posted by skull crusher
So whats in Ohio?

Only people jealous of our beautiful California climite.