Ditangquan

I noticed that there are no Ditangquan threads, so I made one right now. I have found this video showing some Ditangquan techniques: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyALXsAyc0A"]Chinese Ground Fighting Ditang Quan 地趟拳 - YouTube[/ame]
Some of these look a lot like Capoeira takedowns, just by the way.

Does anybody here have some experience with this style? If I recall correctly it is pretty rare. Any schools or acknowledged instructors in Europe?

Oh, and if anybody knows any sources from which I could see more of these techniques, I would be very grateful.

 

It's unclear whether Ditangquan exists in and of itself. The name has become famous from sport wushu where in the 70s it was felt that drunken and monkey were not good representations of the Chinese people so for international tours those performers had to create a new routine that used their skills.
Ditang forms are not uncommon in traditional systems, and of course Dishuquan is named after it's ground skills (also known as dog boxing).
There's a Dishuquan school in Eastbourne.

 

Is this it?: http://www.whitecranefightingarts.com/clubs/

 

Yes

 

I know the instructor who teaches in Teddington. Nice guy seems sound and knowledgeable. I invited him to meet and cross hands but somehow he never found the time. If you can get to a session and have a go it could be rewarding.

http://www.whitecranefightingarts.com/clubs/

 

I don't really have time to search for Dishuquan instructors, so I decided to buy a manual in order to get a grasp of some techniques on my own. I cannot decide which one though, so please tell me which of those 3 would be the best choice:
by Chen Zhi Fan here: http://www.plumpub.com/sales/chinese/chinbks_trad5.htm
by Chu Xian Cai here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0870409247#
or by Ding Xiao Se here: http://www.plumpub.com/sales/chinese/chinbks_trad5.htm

Or maybe I should get more than one?

 

Can you read Chinese characters? Because only one of them is in English.

 

Nevermind, I omitted something important as usual.
So, now that there is only one choice left, is it worth getting the book which I linked to amazon?

And just out of curiosity, are the other 2 Chinese books good?

 

I don't know, I can't read Chinese.

The old Chinese Martial Arts series was pretty decent for what they cost, which was typically very little. There's no way I would pay the best part of £50 for it.
You can get historical and style information for free here
http://taipinginstitute.com/menu-styles/jn/dishu-quan
and you can likely find as much technical content as is in the book on Youtube.

 

I guess you are right, thanks a lot.