Originally Posted by
panthermantis
I don't see any southern praying mantis...
There's some interesting training here, on a scale of 1 to 10 of sparring it would be down at the little end, as anybody can observe, its kinda the kung fu equivalent of point sparring or touch sparring, but I can see some SPM.
The first two clips appear to be the 'coach' letting the others attack him until he decides he's had enough. The last clip seems to be a bit more of a test, but there is so little aggression.
Thing is, with this kind of play, you focus on the subset that works under those circumstances, thus almost no trapping, no real speed (it leads to the heavier contact they are avoiding in a 'gentlemanly' manner.
Its difficult to open it up into that "one combination that finishes" style of fighting that these hakka styles are know for. I think only the coach had the skill for that anyway, so, chalk it up to teaching 'ring craft' as opposed to sparring. IMHO.
These are slow styles to learn, everything is done in baby steps.
There are some clips like this of Pak Mei sparring, Sifu Luo and Coconis. Westerners, and a bit more aggressive but less technical, an interesting comparison.
Guangzhou Pak Mei Kung Fu School, Sydney Australia,
Sifu Leung, Yuk Seng
Established 1989, Glebe Australia