Northern Styles

[gummi]

Any experience with Temple of Five Tigers style?
Also wondering about forms called Fighting Dragon and Lung?

[Crushing Step]

Welcome gummi, congrats on your first post.

What prompted the question? Do you have someone who says they studied these styles, or is it a local school in your area?

[gummi]

Educating myself...expanding my knowledge base...curiosity...

'Yes' to both of your questions.

Are you familar with those forms and that style?

[TenTigers]

They sound pretty bogus, I mean, suspect..
Is there a link to the school that teaches this?

[gummi]

No, no link. It's super-secret-ancient-hidden-to-Western-eyes...
Small "boutique" class.
I just wondered if anyone had information about the forms. Are you saying there is no "Temple of Five Tigers" lineage/style/system?

[B-Rad]

Never heard of that particular group. Of course there are many offshoots of more mainstream systems given different names for various reasons. Obviously if someone is teaching this it exists, but there's no way to say exactly what it is without more info :-P "Lung" for example is just Chinese for "Dragon". So it's kind of weird to call a form "Fighting Dragon" in English, and then have another one just called "Lung".

[Crushing Step]

Your reply is what I expected.

Listen, if there is a super secret kung fu that is unknown to the west, then maybe you won't find out about it on the internet.

I have personally never heard of any of the styles you mentioned, and my google fu produces nothing. I won't say it's bunk without seeing it in person, however. It's not unheard of to have a family style.

But then again, it could be some guy who watches a lot of videos and made something up. We're not really going to get down to the bottom of this by name alone. I might respectfully ask for a syllabus of some kind. What are some names of exercises, drills, and forms? Take a class, see how you like it, and come back with that kind of info, and we may be able to make a more informed assessment.

[lkfmdc]

They sound pretty bogus

plus one (+1)

[gummi]

Thanks for the responses. It is a bit confusing and I'm trying to work my way through it respectfully.
Is there Northern-style Lung?

[gummi]

Here's the thing. It's okay, up to a point. I do not want to disrespect the school or the people.
But it's a little cultish, directed long-distance (from a looooong way away) by a single individual who will answer nothing that one would typically expect.
Basic conditioning routines are the same as any. Blocks and kicks look pretty standard, but not named. They could be karate. It's a little mixed up and I don't know enough about Kung Fu movements to be able to tell.
Forms are completely different with different names. If they're made up, they're still good and based on something. They came from somewhere.

What I can't figure out is where it came from and what it's based on.

I'm okay with taking it as it is. Even if it's unconventional, it delivers discipline, agility, form, develops memorization skills, etc., like any marital art. But I just don't know how much to commit to it. There's not a lot of options where I'm at - the way I see it is that something is better than nothing.

My biggest problem is that I don't like sneaky stuff. I don't like dishonesty. Adapting something is one thing - lying about it is another. That's where it reduces the value for me, my confidence in the school, and respect for the instructors.

[TenTigers]

"super-secret, hidden to western eyes?"
Let me hazard a guess...the Sifu is not Asian...am I right?

[gummi]

My mission was not so much to talk about the particular school, but to discuss styles. There are very few resources to go to in my area.

[gummi]

Right. Not Asian, ethnicity or nationality. American, but trained at the Shaolin Temple since childhood. Doesn't explain how he lives in America.

[lkfmdc]

Right. Not Asian, ethnicity or nationality. American, but trained at the Shaolin Temple since childhood. Doesn't explain how he lives in America.

the loud sound you are now hearing is called the bullshit detector...

[TenTigers]

"Y'all better roll up yer pants,
y'already soiled yer shoes"-meaning, and this is not a slight towards you, Gumni, because you are simply inquiring, but from the little bit you've given us, it sounds like completely made-up stuff trying to pass for Kung-Fu.
There are telltale signs;
1)super secret hidden to western eyes systems, taught by westerners
2) mixing dialects and languages, Manderin,Cantonese, Japanese, English
3)claims of being taught by Monks, raised in temples, taught by Jesus...
4) Hokey, trying way too hard to sound Chinese and authentic-type names of systems, such as Temple of Five Tigers Style, Ten Tig-oops...