Is this kung fu??

Discussion in 'Kung Fu' started by icefield, Oct 22, 2013.

  1. icefield

    icefield Valued Member

    Id argue what you saw was shielding and clinch entry's not what most would call bridging as see in the majority of southern styles, and certainly NOT how it is trained in most schools
     
  2. Ben Gash CLF

    Ben Gash CLF Valued Member

    A rose by any other name and all that.
    The fact that people don't practice it that way doesnt make it incorrect. Look at the swathes of people teaching flakey applications for what are clearly wrestling movements.
     
  3. Renegade80

    Renegade80 Valued Member

    I second that.

    The coiling movement was the base rolling method from which my school practiced chisao. I found it much more natural than the Wing Chun method and just as effective for skill development.
     
  4. icefield

    icefield Valued Member

    in this clip you can see some of the long arm bridging work, and how they prefer if possible to evade rather than directly block, of course its just drilling and pair work not sparring but it should give you an example of what lama looks like
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmsr_5V62eU&list=UUzM41NpaR9QsIlyZUdYTjrA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmsr_5V62eU&list=UUzM41NpaR9QsIlyZUdYTjrA[/ame]

    As an aside you can see where hung gar got alot of its long arm stuff and foot work from in this clip IMHO
     
  5. Renegade80

    Renegade80 Valued Member

    Thanks, that's interesting stuff.

    I have to say though, the first video bore no relation to the second, which is sad because there's nothing inapplicable about the second vid.
     
  6. Theunsurewarrio

    Theunsurewarrio New Member

    Looks like someone trying to make kung fu or Chinese martial arts work for mma
     
  7. icefield

    icefield Valued Member

    Id say it did in terms of trying to us avoidance and countering rather than just blocking and trapping, a couple of the guys use nice head movement to avoid and set up shots or take downs
    I agree you didn’t see much long arm bridging and a much tighter guard and tighter punches thrown, but id argue that’s what happens when you are actually sparring and hitting each other as opposed to drilling, your guard naturally becomes higher and your punches much tighter., and its hard to angle off on an opponent who is moving and trying to do the same to you
    I’ve talked to Ross about this before and he says he teaches his guys to always throw their punches from a high guard and to not extend or drop the rear hand, that is for practise for beginners and he hates it as it breeds bad habits, he says his guys use lama punching mechanics and footwork in their fights and he also sees lama as a clinch and throwing art as much as it s a striking art and you can see that in his clip,

    Its also worth noting that he has trained guys that have won in sanda, golden gloves and MMA,

    One thing I would comment on is that see a lot of shielding in the first clip, which is found in most Chinese arts (its in the bakmei and CLF I do for example) and things which you only see briefly in forms can become used a lot in actual sparring, especially for beginners, and whilst Sim is the main aim of the art, it takes time to become good at slipping avoiding shots so its easier to teach a good close high guard first and go from there. You can see the more experienced guys are slipping and using head movement to avoid a lot of stuff
     
  8. Renegade80

    Renegade80 Valued Member

    I see what you are saying, and I don't disagree.

    I don't think a boxing guard is necessarily an automatic response to sparring, but it does fit with the principles you mentioned for this style. As I said when I first joined MAP, I understand guards as a function of the strategy of your art; in particular how much direct control you want to try and gain over the opponent and the way you use distancing to achieve that.

    My personal interpretation of the back swing was for clearing guards, pulling and hiding your next attack. Not something you'd use in every pinch vs a trained opponent, but still useful.
    That said there are not many such movements in the arts I practice so I don't claim to have any superior methods.
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2014
  9. lkfmdc

    lkfmdc New Member

    If you are looking for "bridge" you are looking at the wrong clips... we divide our training up quite a lot, hard to do everything all the time. The original clip is mostly "striking" (Ti and Da)... "bridge" applies to "clinching" Shuai....
     
  10. beknar

    beknar Valued Member

    Watched the OP's video. Liked the level of contact and protective equipment. We use similar equipment and pacing at my CLF school.
     
  11. Ben Gash CLF

    Ben Gash CLF Valued Member

    Hey Beknar, long time no see.
     
  12. beknar

    beknar Valued Member

    yo

    Been a while. Good to see you're still going strong and doing well.
     

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