Why do you do Kung Fu?

Discussion in 'Kung Fu' started by JohnTheDragon, Nov 16, 2015.

  1. JohnTheDragon

    JohnTheDragon New Member

    Time to get introspective.

    With the thousands of styles across the world, why was Kung Fu your choice of what to train in? For the long time practitioners, why do you still do it to this day? For my multiple discipline brothers and sisters, why did you switch to/ stop training Kung Fu?
     
  2. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    I do it because it is fun. :)
     
  3. JohnTheDragon

    JohnTheDragon New Member

    See, and that right there should be the basis of why we do anything. Because, we enjoy it. We like the way it makes us feel. Thank you, sir.
     
  4. The Iron Fist

    The Iron Fist Banned Banned

    I trained in kung fu because I appreciate the fighting arts and I wanted to see one from a purely Chinese perspective. What I found was certainly real good 'old world' kung fu, but also a lot of what else has built up around it: the culture, the sayings, the poetry and writings of various scholars (as well as some creative fiction!), and even the architecture and cultural trappings are of such rich historical value.

    Martial arts are really ingrained into Chinese culture in a way that only began in America in the last half century or so. It's hard to believe only a few generations back very few martial arts were known to the average US citizen, and today a whole world cultural exchange is going on (with China, with Brazil, with Japan, with Europe). I had already been studying China for a while before I learned some kung fu, but it helped put certain things into perspective. For instance, the familial nature of martial arts styles in China was an interesting topic of study, considering the importance of family structure and authority across the civilization. The martial arts handed down between generations was in some cases as important as other arts, education, religion and so forth. In a way learning some kung fu personalized this for me in a way that I hadn't thought of previously, and just as one example, how martial heroes are honored in family format is so much like how your actual ancestors are honored in the culture. A family may have a sun toi for deceased relatives, whereas a kung fu school may have a sun toi to honor their deceased 'martial family', which may or not include actual family members!

    Maybe an accurate way of expressing this would be to say that the family structure in China truly influenced the martial arts training so much so that the tradition is alive today, still seen in the various honorifics (si fu, si mo, and so on). I find that a very useful way of not only organizing a class, but showing respect to your classmates. 'Senior brother' is someone you should at least show respect to and follow. 'Junior brother' is someone you can do the same for, and so on. There is a real sense of camaraderie there.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2015
  5. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    For the same reason I studied other martial arts before it; combative effectiveness.

    It, like other martial arts, provides different tools. I find the methodology of Wing Chun in line with my goals and needs and I can integrate it with my previous training or use it on its own if I like.
     
  6. Loongying99

    Loongying99 New Member

    I train because I love it. I think its practical, its fun and I do it with my mate s
     
  7. Late for dinner

    Late for dinner Valued Member

    Just a heads up mate. Forum etiquette requires one to speak to the topic at hand before asking others for their opinions. Helps us to get to know your viewpoint and it's a good way to get the conversation going.

    Welcome to MAP!

    LFD
     
  8. Steel Accord

    Steel Accord Valued Member

    I switched to Kung Fu because it, or at least the school I go to, went beyond "self defense" and tried to immerse the students in an environment of peace and self-improvement.
     
  9. pecks

    pecks Valued Member

    I started cos I thought it was cool, and would provide some "spiritual" benefits. And I was a bit obsessed with Chinese (and Japanese) culture.

    That was years ago now. These days, I like the buzz of fitness and sparring. Probably not unique to Kung Fu at all.
     
  10. 1983Fox

    1983Fox New Member

    For the sheer joy of it. Oh and the weapons.
    Kung fu for me is everything. From slow moving meditation up to balls to wall intense weapons sparring sessions it has it all (to some degree), unless your school doesn't, in which case to like it for different reasons to me but I'm sure they are just as important for you.
     
  11. furinkazan

    furinkazan Valued Member

    A good question

    I initially got into kung fu because I wanted to see how my mostly japanese martial art background compared, and never really saw the arts as anything more than a big family that arent as seperate as many would have them believe. I tried a number of styles but nothing really struck me as a joy to learn.

    Nowadays I see my instructor in Bury for SiJiHao, though we do other stuff as well. I really enjoy the style and feel it contrasts my Goju Ryu and Karate quite nicely.

    I mostly train for the pleasure of challenging myself anyway, same with everything else I do that's not required to live/put food on the table
     
  12. BklynJames

    BklynJames Kung Fu New Jack

    That is a very good question. I was looking for something to compliment my first style of Martial art, Aikido. In Aikido there really isn't any kicking or punching so I decided to take something that does. Tried multiple Japanese styled Martial arts, like Karate and a few others. Then I switched it all up and went with a Chinese Martial art. At my age I was looking for something that was well rounded, effective, great work out, and close to home. A buddy of mine was training at this school for over twenty years and he pretty much knew his stuff. Ive been in Martial arts for over eighteen years, not all in Aikido thou. Im new to Kung Fu but did my research on the style im doing. Another thing I like about King Fu is the curriculum, there is a boatload of stuff to learn and it will and take a long time to learn.
    The conditioning is on par with a vigorous vinyasa flow (Yoga) class. Moving in and out of big stances stretches your right out and strengthens you up. Oh, I also do yoga to compliment my Kung Fu and it helps immensely(Stop Laughing, lol). It has made a huge difference since day one. Where I was asked to sit in dragon stance for a few minutes and was able to. The Sifu was impressed and said he was surprised I made it thru the class.. Im able to keep up with the young guys..
     
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2016
  13. YouKnowWho

    YouKnowWho Valued Member

    I trained in kung fu because it has

    1. partner drills to "develop" skill.
    2. sparing/wrestling to "test" skill.
    3. equipment training to "enhance" skill.
    4. solo drills to "polish" skill.
     
  14. raaeoh

    raaeoh never tell me the odds

    I don't kung fu. But I did stay at a holiday Inn.....

    Father in law was a crane guy (all I know) he always said he did it for the relaxation. My wife did it as a kid to kill people. Today she wishes she would have stuck with it.
     
  15. BklynJames

    BklynJames Kung Fu New Jack

    So fifth class and second forms class last night. Im about 30 moves into the first form, Gung Ji Fook Fu Kuen. I tell you I feel it all this morning. We spent just about two hours on it. Just tweaking what I knew and the new stuff I learned last night. Im liking the form as its totally different than what I'm use to when it comes to the usual forms I have learned thru my life. They were all japanese karate based forms.
     
  16. Louied11

    Louied11 New Member

    I was looking for the 'perfect' martial art for me to start building up some self-defence skills. Obviously most (if not all) martial arts have some form of self-defence application, so after taking a few things into consideration I decided Wing Chun would probably suit me best. These were my deciding factors:

    1. I'm ambidextrous
    2. I have been juggling for the last 20 years (so I have great hand co-ordination and speed)
    3. It is my first martial art a the not-so tender age of 26

    The above reasons were decisive for me as I believe all of them fit perfectly with Wing Chun. Can anyone think of something else that might be worth taking up at a later date (will be sticking with Wing Chun until at a more advanced level before playing the field as such)
     
  17. BklynJames

    BklynJames Kung Fu New Jack

    I just started doing Hung Ga two months ago and im really liking it. This is my first Chinese martial art. I have done Aikido, and karate for a long time. The thing that I really like about Hung Ga is the size of the curriculum. There is a large amount of stuff to learn and looking forward to learning it. No move is wasted in Hung Ga. When you think its just a move added in for fluff. Its not.
     
  18. The Iron Fist

    The Iron Fist Banned Banned

    In my opinion brother the Kuen sets are like a form of 'power dance' if you will, and extremely similar to the graceful but powerful movement boxers learn, similar to learning to shadow box in a way, but also with some endurance training exercises 'built in'. How to drop step and power punch, or throw uppercuts straight up the body, are all basic motions that are learned with grace and power in boxing and in Hung gar. These are powerful motions designed not so necessary to meet resistance (which is certainly important), but to break through it whenever possible. I watched a few Showtime and HBO rematches recently brother, being a lover of the sweet science, and nowhere else do I see so many Hung-gar type power moves than in a standard boxing match. Of course there are no kicks, and not a specific Kuen set Crane or Tiger position to be seen per se, but in my opinion the movements are very similar. They are primal in nature, the human animal in perfect form, attacking and defending. Applying force against someone is a fundamental element of Kung fu, without it the forms are probably pretty useless, no pun intended. It's easy to learn forms, anyone can learn a dozen formal dances in a matter of months. But to really learn to dance takes a lot of errors and stepping on toes and dropping your partner and falling on your butt. To develop real Kung fu in my opinion you need to hit things or at least push against them a whole lot to achieve, and the more grace under pressure, the better you will be, hence the important of suffering through (or maybe better put, learning to 'unlearn' the suffering of) difficult positions, similar to certain forms of Yoga.
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2016
  19. BklynJames

    BklynJames Kung Fu New Jack

    I agree with you 100% but I'm only a month in. So on top of practicing the little bit of gung gi,stances,punching and a few techniques. I don't know much else,yet. I'm sitting in the airport atm and my legs are shaking from the two hr forms class last night. It's awesome.. I feel like I squatted an elephant last night
     
  20. The Iron Fist

    The Iron Fist Banned Banned

    I try to always be mindful of my knees, and my lumbar area to make sure I don't injure myself. The muscles can take a lot more than the joints and other sensitive bits, and the training helps improve the whole package. By all means keep testing yourself just remember to learn to be mindful of your ligaments and tendons, your spinal alignment, your breathing and so on, which is really the hard part, not the physical, in my opinion. There is a fine line between pain and injury and so forth. The training is relatively safe, but you can sure hurt yourself, especially if you go try to sit in Ma Bo for 20 minutes but putting too much stress on your lower back, leading to lower back problems, and the knees are the same your Kim Yeung Ma needs to be good but not so hard on the knees that you damage them.

    You can learn to listen to your body, find its weaknesses especially in the endurance department, and work hard to remediate them somehow. Kung fu done right should be all about learning that basic process and applying it to whatever, be it an art, dance, or fighting. Learning to combine willpower, physical prowess, and endurance into any effort has infinite applications.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2016

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