Gongfu Revival

[Minghequan]

This arises from another thread.

What do we need to do to revive Gongfu and will this revival start in China proper of arise from the West.

[RenDaHai]

A fighting method revolves around its footwork.

Often people describe a Kung Fu technique as being useless without any understanding of its footwork. If you try to use a Kung Fu technique with boxing footwork then that will not be harmonious.

Many techniques are specific to their footwork and sometimes specific to destroy other types of footwork. Traditional techniques and footwork work on the interplay of advance and retreat, an aspect that is missing from the way many people spar.

If you want to revive old Kung fu rather than hybrid it with western MA, you must first revive its footwork. This is difficult to understand unless you spar weapons. On sparring sabre vs. spear for example the traditional footwork becomes essential.

So if you could revive traditional weapons sparring as a sport, then traditional kung fu hand to hand sparring could follow because people would have a good enough grasp and practice of the footwork.

If you like to use western boxing footwork, then it is more effective to use western boxing techniques.

[-N-]

On sparring sabre vs. spear for example the traditional footwork becomes essential.

Daggers against spear

[YouKnowWho]

A fighting method revolves around its footwork.

Is footwork truly that important in striking art? I don't think so. When your fist meets your opponent's face and knock him down, whether your leading foot is in his front door, or in his side door, it won't make much difference.

If you want to sweep your opponent's leg, where you will land your rooting foot will decide whether your sweep leg can reach to your opponent's leg or not.

[Vicius]

Why everybody wants to revive something? If something is dead anything you do to bring it back will result in a new thing, diferent from the original, and it purpose, thus revival can never be achieved.

What I'm going to say are just my thoughts, traditional chinese fighting styles are not sport, not for competition, as I see it they are streetfighting styles, forms are just a good looking way to study the style, the techiques and to pass the knowledge, but ass you learn techniques as the puristic movements they are in the forms, they are presented to you as theory, and for aplying them you must adecuate to the moment, so mutate the form to fit the circumstances. in other words deform the form.

The proper way to use them is without rules, when fighting for your live, in the ring you can only prove limited movements and techniques, and if you use them for lets say MMA, you will select the proper techniques and application according to the rules, so I think you will probably will end up fighting like a MMA striker, not exactly but close. That´s what I think.

[YouKnowWho]

We will need to find the treasure in the TCMA instead. The following groin kick, face punch combo is very combat effective. If we use it as the building block and extend it into more depth (such as what if your opponent blocks your punch), we can come up some excellent combo sequences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNlPktNreXM

[-N-]

Is footwork truly that important in striking art? I don't think so. When your fist meets your opponent's face and knock him down, whether your leading foot is in his front door, or in his side door, it won't make much difference.

If you want to sweep your opponent's leg, where you will land your rooting foot will decide whether your sweep leg can reach to your opponent's leg or not.

In striking art, you still need footwork to close in, to get out, and to position.

Foot position is important for kicking, not just for sweeps.

If your striking art uses leg control, then footwork and foot position is important for that too.

[RenDaHai]

Is footwork truly that important in striking art? I don't think so. When your fist meets your opponent's face and knock him down, whether your leading foot is in his front door, or in his side door, it won't make much difference.
.

Yes. It doesn't matter once you get the hit but how do you get there? Often in Sanda say, people make small movements. They dodge the opponents attack by the smallest possible margin. This helps them counter. But in my experience in reality people make MUCH larger movements. The stakes are higher than a match, when they dodge a punch they don't do it by an inch, they do it by a mile. People don't stand up to a punch like boxers, they go with it and their head moves far.

Longfist for example often uses a full retreating stance, this is a very large movement. When people make large evasions it becomes necessary to do things like step through with a strike sometimes. Changing the base footwork, many other techniques need to change with it, and many things become important which previously were not.

[MightyB]

What do we need to do to revive Gongfu?

practice kung fu

[MightyB]

Use a List

Spirit first, technique second.

Do not think that kung fu training is only in the kwoon.

It will take your entire life to learn kung fu; there is no limit.

Put your everyday living into kung fu and you will find subtle secrets.

Kung fu is like boiling water. If you do not heat it constantly, it will cool.

Do not think that you have to win, think rather that you do not have to lose.

Beginners must master low stance and posture, natural body positions are for the advanced.

Practicing a form is one thing, engaging in a real fight is another.

[lkfmdc]

CMA functions fine as health, meditation, culture and even physical education

Currently it does not function well as "fighting"

Maybe it is a bias of some of us, to want it to be about "fighting" again....

But clearly there have been significant changes in the community and the way the arts are addressed, conceptualized and trained

[bawang]

CMA functions fine as health, meditation, culture and even physical education

Currently it does not function well as "fighting"

Maybe it is a bias of some of us, to want it to be about "fighting" again....

But clearly there have been significant changes in the community and the way the arts are addressed, conceptualized and trained

CMA currently functions as a fantasy to control and dominate another person

CMA advertises itself as "one weird trick to defeat big strong scary man". you don't have to train hard become warrior and transcend yourself. just do this one weird trick and defeat the big bully.

[lkfmdc]

CMA currently functions as a fantasy to control and dominate another person

CMA advertises itself as "one weird trick to defeat big strong scary man". you don't have to train hard become warrior and transcend yourself. just do this one weird trick and defeat the big bully.

Most TMA are built on this myth, but CMA is much worse, and produces less skilled people, the question is WHY?

[Jimbo]

CMA currently functions as a fantasy to control and dominate another person

CMA advertises itself as "one weird trick to defeat big strong scary man". you don't have to train hard become warrior and transcend yourself. just do this one weird trick and defeat the big bully.

When Asian MA, such as Jujitsu/Judo were first brought to the West (openly), that was the gimmick, most likely thought up by the Westerners themselves who started teaching. They were "self-defense tricks with which a small, weak man or woman could easily subdue a violent brute with little effort". That was part of an upper-class Victorian-era mindset which sought the novelty in various 'new' things, such as occultism/seances; Eastern philosophies/religions; various 'health tonics', etc.

[Golden Arms]

This arises from another thread.

What do we need to do to revive Gongfu and will this revival start in China proper of arise from the West.

A good first step would be to stop practicing and teaching fake or made up chop suey kung fu. Those of us that have spent real time with actual teachers from legitimate lineages can spot the made up and ineffectual stuff right away.

Personally I am so tired of all the fakes and dishonesty that I don't tend to describe what I practice as kung fu, but instead as Chinese Boxing to distance myself from the rest.