http://chinesekungfuacademy.com/blog/kung-fu-fighting/
"How to become a successful and natural Kung Fu fighter?
Well, first of all, you have to put a fighting element in your in Kung Fu training otherwise it will only be a demonstration art. A lot of people conveniently forget this. Why do they? They like the demonstration arts so much, because A. they do not hurt themselves, and B. it makes them look good, look tough, and flexible. So they train a lot, and jump, and do the splits, and their kicking looks quite dynamic, but they don’t fight. Without the fighting their Kung Fu almost looks like a dance, and that is probably all it will ever be.
So to be good at Kung Fu you have to add a fighting element to the sport. Fighting in a skilful way that is of course, not just who is faster or stronger, or who can defeat the weak. Fighting is ‘entering into the defence zone of another person with a skilful technique that makes you unstoppable, and allows you to deliver a very beautiful and controlled hit to where you wanted to place it’. When people hear this they say ‘well, that’s nice, I would like to be able to do that’. So how can we do that? First of all it requires patience and dedication. But many people nowadays do not have that patience, they want everything immediately. The whole world is full of fast food and micro-waved meals. People want their Kung Fu like that. So they jump around and train to become flexible and agile. Then they step in the ring and want to fight. Of course it doesn’t work that way. Because they have not taken the time to train all that they have learned in the ‘fighting way’ they can’t use it when it counts.
If you just train the fluency of the movements without anyone stopping you it will look nice but is no good for fighting. Just because you know how to use the energy and have a rhythm does not mean that you can fight. Sometimes this gets worse. Because they still want to represent the art these people pretend to fight, but as they do not want to hurt one another, they put on the biggest boxing gloves that they can find. This makes their movements not natural, affects their sensitivity and can destroy all the detail of a beautiful technique.
In a real fight people always move, if you do not practice fighting in your Kung Fu then you will not be used to this and you will find that when you try to deliver a hit, the person has already moved from that position. You have to know how people react when you touch them, so that you can learn how to use their energy and return it to them in an effective hit. So you have to practice ‘fighting’ in the safe surroundings of your school with as many different partners as you can. Occasionally this can cause you some pain or injury, but without it you will only be learning a demonstration art.
So how can we become a more successful fighter?
First you must train your techniques and combinations so often that you become really familiar with them. This requires intensive regular training. All this training will allow you to capture the essence of the movements, which will enable you to internalize it. If you then continue to train after having done all of this, your hands will become so fluent that you almost look like a magician. All the skill will then come from ‘within’. It’s like playing the piano. First you have to learn the notes, then the compositions, and then you have to practice hard and long to become familiar with them and fluent in them. Then, and only then, after you have trained hard and long enough you can start to play from within and ‘your hands will flow like water’. You will be able to make the piano do whatever it is you want it to do, just through the magic of your fingers. Kung Fu is the same. When your hands become so familiar with every movement that you don’t have to think anymore, you will be able to manipulate every punch and hit that comes towards you and place your hits wherever you intended to deliver them. You will be able to hit however hard or soft as you planned to. But can you imagine how many years it will take for people to reach that level?"
2)
http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/maga...hp?article=131
"People have four different reasons for training in kungfu. Kungfu can be for looks. Some people train because they like the art. They just want to enjoy it. Some people train because they want the health - to help to circulate blood, (reduce) high blood pressure. Some train forms to make their confidence bigger and make themselves mentally better. The fourth reason is because they want to learn how to fight. They want to hit people and hurt people."
"Kungfu was originally created for people who want to learn how to fight. Unfortunately, these days martial arts has become more like a sport. A lot of kungfu schools utilize martial arts to become a moneymaker. We personally don't think that's right. You use kungfu for moneymaking, you have nice music and nice equipment, (but) it's not practical. Some of them ruin martial arts. Then some boxing guy says, 'Hey! Kungfu doesn't work!' Not me. However my school comes out, I do not what to have a ****ty student. My father looks my student as his grand student. He always tells me, 'You have a smaller circle, you can build up slowly. Better than having a bunch of ****ty people and coming out with students who really don't know anything.' They might know 20 forms, and a guy comes to attack them, they're going to fall, call 911."
"I think the worst thing about a lot of kungfu instructors is the day they start teaching is the day they stop training. In martial arts, you know and I know, if you don't train, you lose the breath. You lose the punching strength. You've got to keep it up. My dad still lifts weights four days a week and trains his students every day. I haven't stopped for years. Even now, I'm still teaching and training every single day. You can get older, you can train a little differently then young people with young bodies, but you've got to keep up yourself. I look at a lot of instructors and they are really out of shape. They tell people that it's a 'qigong belly.' No! That's a lie! That's too much beer and partying. There's no excuse if you do that for a living. For the rest of your life you cannot be out of shape. Keep yourself up. I look at my father at 63, he's still in pretty good shape for his age, apart from losing a little bit of hair." (laughs)
Today, Grandmaster Luo's Futshan school is still going strong. He still does seminars and has many students from different countries like Macao, Korea, Germany and France. He estimates that he has taught some 10,000 students over the years, not including his teaching for the army. For the past ten years, he has stayed out of the fighting ring. Now he serves as a judge and an organizer.
Young Master Luo's school is also beginning to produce Bak Mei and Dragon style fighters on American soil. His school is small yet hardcore. It is not open to everyone. Luo limits his classes to serious applicants only. Nor do his students compete in kungfu tournaments. Instead, he trains them to fight against the other styles like Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu, Kickboxing, Muay Thai and of course, street fighters. After teaching himself English, he is always quick to voice his opinion on today's martial world. "I hope I don't offend, but I'm just telling the truth. Sometimes I think that too humble becomes too ****y. Some people don't give opinions. They don't say this guy's good. They don't say this guy's bad. Basically they don't criticize anybody. That's really arrogant. It's always good to come out with opinions. I can back it up."
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Originally Posted by bawang
