Green Dragon Studios

[lkfmdc]

only GD knows the "real stuff"... the rest is just "sport bak mei"

[Shaolinlueb]

i liked thier southern mantis. at least it was prettier then what is out there now for southern mantis

[lkfmdc]

it was prettier then what is out there now

oh, for sure, pretty is what you need to look for in a CMA

[Royal Dragon]

i liked thier southern mantis. at least it was prettier then what is out there now for southern mantis

Reply]
What Southern mantis? I heard them talk about it in the clip, but I never saw any. I kept waiting to see some, but there is none on that clip. They just talk about it.

[Mas Judt]

Based on the tapes I've seen of other stuff, it seems unlikely that they could perform S. Mantis - the mechanics are very different from how the GD guys move.

[IronWeasel]

Here are some Bok Mei clips that are very good. Although there are always differences from school to school, all these school embodie certain principles, and you'll admit, they all resemble each other pretty closely.


These are just a few, you can find plenty on youtube.

Thanks for the info. It's nice change of pace to see some thoughtful commentary (video in this case) instead of the usual drive by bashing.

Ironweasel

[IronWeasel]

Response to Iron Weasal:

where did I learn Bak mei?

I learned Bak Mei Wu Dip Sau from 'Uncle' Jack Moy in schaumberg IL. Never finished the system, but worked South Mantis (Chu Gar) with another student of his (Who is an exceptional Hakka style teacher). I don't see myself as a Bak Mei expert - but I know the basics of the method, and have encountered multiple other schools such as Sifu Zhang in San Francisco. Oh, and watched plenty at demos I took part in.

The Green Dragon Bak Mei exhibits none of the characteristics of the style as it is practiced by any legitimate Bak Mei school.

It is as much Bak Mei Pai as Mcdonalds is Haute Cuisine.

If you don't like to hear that, just demonstrate your Bak Mei at a legite school, but be careful, as these guys do fight at the drop of a hat.

Well it's nice to hear an opinion from an actual student of the style, instead of six MMA guys.

Thanks,

Ironweasel

[IronWeasel]

Now in true GD practice, I expect them to toss insults at my teacher telling me they did not know anything...

And there's the drive by...

[lkfmdc]

Well it's nice to hear an opinion from an actual student of the style, instead of six MMA guys.

me - my sifu - chan seung dik - cheung lai chung

but I'm just a MMA guy

[Shaolinlueb]

oh, for sure, pretty is what you need to look for in a CMA

duh!!! who cares about the effectiveness, not like anyone actually knows how to train applications these days. as long as my arms flale around in circles.

[Mas Judt]

No drive by. One the tools from ohio kept writing snotty letters to IKf, and when they could not win with logic or facts, they resort to 'my teacher knows your teacher. His only claim to fame is big library of books' or some such cr@p. THAT stupidity was caused by cries of 'racism' on the part of the Chinese teachers not recognizing the greatness of the GD & GC.

Well, watching the GD tapes, I'm prety sure 'racism' was the least of the things inhibiting thier 'recognition.'

[iron tiger]

The Green Dragon stuff is all arms, and disconnected

Hmmm. Not taught that way at all, in fact they are constantly correcting students who are "all arms" (often due to a boxing background, eg) or lacking coordination among body parts (esp. not using the legs). I wonder if there's just a difference in perceiving what's going on in the varying performance examples; I don't see "all arms" and "disconnectedness" at all in the GD tapes.

In fact, I don't really see those traits in most schools' performances. It's a lack of power coupled with a perceived (and experiential when doing drills with some of their students) lack of comprehension of the combat principles.

Anyway, maybe my goals were just different than the typical prospect when I started off. The upshot was, it quickly became clear that the common, "mainstream" kung fu schools' approaches were NOT going to help me achieve those goals. Green Dragon's methods did/are still doing it.

Caveats: As I already said in a previous post, GD tapes are probably not the best for absolute beginners. It's hard learning off tape. But they themselves pointed this out (tape? one of Allen's IKF articles?) at some point. And they do (or at least would at one time) recommend schools in one's area who in their opinion follow the same training philosophies & philosophies.

2. Again, monster strength/power programs like Stone Warrior or even the Iron Buddha strength set are very hard to do for people who haven't accustomed themselves to knowing how to apply, and sustain, proper tension for the duration of the daily performance on these things. If you have an interest in giving these things an honest shot, take this into account and don't be afraid to gradually orient yourself into them with less demanding things like the Snake Turns Over or the No Lick Kuen, which will still give you good results while setting you up for the much more challenging things that are out there.

Nice chatting here with some of you guys, and good luck with your own training goals.

(bow out)

[Royal Dragon]

Hmmm. Not taught that way at all, in fact they are constantly correcting students who are "all arms" (often due to a boxing background, eg) or lacking coordination among body parts (esp. not using the legs). I wonder if there's just a difference in perceiving what's going on in the varying performance examples; I don't see "all arms" and "disconnectedness" at all in the GD tapes

Reply]
Oh dear lord......

The seniors are the ones doing the tapes, they are some of the most disjointed, unconnected "All Arms" *Performers* I have ever seen. They are as bad as OYD.

If they got actual corrections in thier form, structure, and mechanics, the *Seniors* who are demonstraiting on these tapes would show it..and they clearly don't...

2. Again, monster strength/power programs like Stone Warrior or even the Iron Buddha strength set are very hard to do for people who haven't accustomed themselves to knowing how to apply, and sustain, proper tension for the duration of the daily performance on these things.

Reply]
That is why most people lift weights. You get better "Monster" strength results with only 20-30 minutes of work, 3 X a week...

If you add 20 minutes of a dynamic tension set like SanZhen to the end of your 20 minutes of weights, you get the body hardening too...with 40 minutes of work 3X a week...

Now you can use all that extra time to work skills....or God forbid...some fundementals...

[MonkeyKingUSA]

Iron Tiger,
Though I either know or at least have met all the principle players in the Akron area, I have never had the opportunity to meet Sifu Allen. I hope someday to have that opportunity.
The only videos I have seen from the Green Dragon group were the Eight Immortals and Northern Monkey videos that I borrowed from one of my students. Since I have no expertise in the Eight Immortal sets I have little frame of reference for comparison. However, the Northern Monkey set, though very different from the Monkey sets our group practices, was nicely done. The applications were excellent and similar to how we interpret Monkey boxing. I don't know what my student paid for the video, but I thought it was put together well. Several camera angles of the sets, and easy to understand applications made for a nice viewing experience.
Richard A. Tolson

[lkfmdc]

in fact they are constantly correcting students who are "all arms" (often due to a boxing background, eg)

you don't know much about western boxing, do you?