Why did you want to learn Martial Arts?

[fluffy0000]

get over yourself , dude.
total sidewalk commando style

[koaku]

Yeah ,Tenchu is back loooooool

Haaaaaa, good to see you again...

[ivi0nk3y]

Seriously Tenchu, what are you some sortof authority on Martial arts or something? You seem to think that classic Kung Fu is the only Chinese martial art that exists but you don't even know how modern styles work.
As I said and which you conveniently chose to ignore (as is usual when it suits your purpose) I do Southen Style Mantis including Hun Gar, Chow Gar and Lau Gar along with San Shou kickboxing. If you were such an authority, you'd know what that meant.
A LOT of emphasis is given on protecting your head in all of these, as well as every other vital organ and bodypart. The rest of the body parts are hardened so they can take vast amounts of beatings and be fine. This is why my form of kung fu is called "steelwire" Mantis. Breathing is also obviously practiced so you are well versed when to breathe in and out in a fight.
If you think this is some sortof void system, then you don't know as much about martial arts as you think you do.

[ivi0nk3y]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

Well, I am the only one here who is makeing a liveing off of it and training full time, so yeah. But I am still going to be wrong about some things. Tell me if you think I am.

The only style there in which the head is constantly protected is San Shou. The rest have low gaurds and are mostly weapon forms. They only protect their head when the need arises. This is what I am talking about. One only has to google images the names of the styles to see what I mean. You'll get pics come up of guys with their hands around their waist and stuff. Even so, I dont just google for all my info, I do know what these styles are, but have never done any of them, but have met many who have. Most the Kung Fu I know is all Shaolin and Northern Quan. Dont misundertsnad me though. The styles are well fought through. That is the problem. Most of them are the collection of skills from several masters after their entire lifetime was spent mastering them. Thus, to become effective at the intended level you have to train as these masters did. Most styles of traditional Kung Fu will recomend 20 years of full time training before you can use the style at the intended speed and stop everything thrown. The shortest I know is Wing Chun, 7 full time years recomended. I believe if you spent these 20 years training and were sincere in training, you would surpass the levels of what I am calling more 'practical' such as Muay Thai and Kick Boxing forms. Your technique would become so complex and formidable that the simplicity of such Boxing styles would become their downfall and they would be easily crushed. Luckily for me there are only a few people in the world, mostly in China, who are bothering to spend their time doing just this. And most of em are monks, so I doubt they'd seek to fight me. Do you seriously study these styles of Chinese Kung Fu for the purpose of fighting, Ivon?

Dude my Mantis requires me to guard my head in almost all situations. All my limbs are trained for this purpose.
And yes I am practicing this Kung fu for the purpose of fighting. I am being trained hardcore and its gonna take around 10 years to become decent at this art, not even pro. So far i've done it for 2 years since i've graded without failing yet. When I said I was practicing Kung Fu I meant its the REAL stuff. There are only 2 of these schools in the whole of England and we are directly linked to the Shaolin temples in China. In another 2 years I will be travelling there for a while to see what extra stuff I can learn at that level.

[noodle]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

Most Kung Fu places I have seen dont spar. And the instructor thinks he is all hot shot when he has never actually been tested in any way (this was a western Kung Fu place, not Chinese).

Are you serious? That sounds really strange to me, cos when I done Karate when I was about 12, I always had to Spar against my sensei! The reason I always had to go against him is because after two weeks of doing Karate I was put in a competition in which I came second against about 5 other black belts! Somehow he thought that I was naturally tough/strong or whatever. Due to this, I was always Spar'in seriously against him and I was knocked out at least two times. *Note, after 3 weeks, I had to participate in the adult class due to me wanting to fight a lot. Unfortunately I had to stop all the sports i done due to a wrist injury that to this day is painful.

Frankly, I think I suck at martial arts, but I did have strength and speed (which apparently was a good reason for me to be in adult class). Anyway, the point is, we did spar'in both in kids class and adult class. More so in adult class where it was full out fighting between the other adults!

[ivi0nk3y]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

Okay dude, I am not your enemy. Most the mantis quan I am familiar with has stances that look most like this:



And breaking into movements doesn't really change the stance. I would far from call it protecting the head. Anyway, I go to China to learn more Kung Fu in May this year. I am going to go train at a full time academy, but am also looking forward to heading to Mount Wu Dang, The Forbidden Palace, and the Shaolin Temple - which is not far from where I am to study. Look, maybe I said it a bit wrong. I should clear it up; I dont think any Kung Fu I have seen yet is actually bad, infact, the techniques seem un matched. But it is a life time dedication in order to be effective at it. The advantage of doing something like Muay Thai or Kick Boxing, is your gaurds are always in place. It dont matter if you dont see something comeing coz it was too fast, if you stick to your drills you will be gaurded already. The fact is before a person can train their eyes to see things that are in some cases 4 times faster than a snake strike, and then move to block them, this takes a lot of training. Kung Fu is not something that can be effectively practiced as a part time thing. If you want to protect yourself in a argument at a local sport event that got out of hand or something, frankly, boxing is prob the best option. On the other hand, if you wish to master combat, I would suggest learn many styles from many countries, includeing Kung Fu. This is what I am doing. I am going to have the time to learn to use these moves at full pace, so it is okay for me. Tell me Ivon; do you ever spar, or in some way actually test your moves at full pace? Answer true, I really want to know the truth about what you are being taught. Most Kung Fu places I have seen dont spar. And the instructor thinks he is all hot shot when he has never actually been tested in any way (this was a western Kung Fu place, not Chinese).

Yes it is a lifetime thing. That is why any decent Kung Fu practice will teach you San Shou/Sanda along with everything else. This type of kickboxing is standard issue along with your more long term training. (Of which I have a 3 hour class today.)
That picture is not the only Kung Fu stance that I know. It looks like a "cat" stance to me cept the fingers are pointing. Southern Mantis has the eye of the elbows facing up with arms at a V shape, ready for a "stamping palm" motion, wrists limp or palms facing inwards depending on what you are going to do. There are many variations of stances.
Oh we also do Shaolin of course and hard Qi Gong exercises are a basic training requirement of Mantis as well.

ps. I thought I told you that we spar and condition ourselves all the time. Remember my story about the Muy Thai guys who told me about how they trained?

[ivi0nk3y]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

Here, these are some examples of about the level you need to be at before I believe Kung Fu starts to become effective in the field:





Any level below that and you are likely to get struck many times. But once you reach this level, your opponent will feel as though he is tangled in vines and stuck in the mud, and he will never know why, and you will feel free as the wind, I think. I hope to achieve that kind of level one day. But I have to focus on Muay Thai and kick boxing right now and make me a million so I can hire myself some Taoist monk to teach me some of this Mantis Quan in my own time. I am looking forward to feeling the movements go through my body....

To be honest, I feel free-er than when I did any other martial art. I have a long way to go but I already know how it will turn out.

[Hyakushi]

WTF!!! I can't believe this thread is still in play Hahahahaha I thought it was deleted and whats more shocking is Tenchu is back . I wonder did hell freeze over alredy hahaha just playing don't get your panies in a knot.

Tenchu even though I am a soldier I get paid to go around and learn different martial arts then to bring back here to which ever base I am stationed at. Even if I wasn't a soldier I would still be doing the same thing no one is really a top dog in this area. Sometimes people are just to ignorant to see that its not based on how big your balls are you just learn what you like doing. I don't really think any kind of martial arts can cancell another out a person can beat a weaker person thats given. Most people just take up martial arts as a hobby something to do in there spare time, I don't think they really use it the way we do <_<'.

[Rlondon3]

I'm very seriously considering opening a gong fu school in Osaka, but I'm not sure how gong fu is received among most people in Japan vs. Japanese arts. Any suggestions?

MySpace.com - 天罡武馆Tian Gang Gong Fu - 25 - Male - Dalian, Liaoning - www.myspace.com/da_nan_ren

[ivi0nk3y]

Originally Posted by Rlondon3

I'm very seriously considering opening a gong fu school in Osaka, but I'm not sure how gong fu is received among most people in Japan vs. Japanese arts. Any suggestions?

MySpace.com - 天罡武馆Tian Gang Gong Fu - 25 - Male - Dalian, Liaoning - www.myspace.com/da_nan_ren

Probably will be overlooked if there are traditional Japanese martial arts going on around you, until you get the respect and people recognise that you are better than the rest in some way or other.