Hi all, I see that ZT Fight Skool is now offering "freestyle kung fu" as well as its usual MMA fare: Freestyle Kung-Fu Wu Ji Chuan = Freestyle Kung Fu includes punching, kicking, elbows and knees, as well as, Chin Na (standing wrist/arm locks and restraints), throws and Chinese ground fighting. www.ztfightskool.com/timetable.htm Now, ZT is a serious place with good instructors and regular MMA successes, so this is no McDojo. What are your thoughts and comments ... ? Have you ever heard of Wu Ji Chuan? Edited to say I spotted two references to Wu Ji Chuan: www.angelfire.com/hero/wujichuanmalaysia www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=53853
Sa da? Ah ha! I hadn't realised San Da included ground fighting ... ? Though I've seen reference to Dog Style ground fighting in this White Crane club in Sussex: We have also combined Shia Chiao Chinese wrestling, Chin Na joint locking & Dog Style ground fighting to create a complete ground fighting system. http://whitecranemartialarts.co.uk/crane/?page_id=206
wu ji, i have been to that mans class, i trianed with them some time, but came to the same conclusions as the ones hinted at on bullshido. i only went to his class becasue i had heard he was a ninth dan and there are not many ninth dans . i was very dissapointed to find out that he was exagerating. They dont even have dans in chinese martial arts. I even tried to take them to court for a refund over this. I think that lying and making up a grading is a serious offence . He even made up an organisation in order to apear more genuine. The only reason he is teaching at ZT is because i was chasing them for a refund so they ran away from king alfreds. ive known the wu ji members for six years, and i know show personally. i thought he was rude and arrogant man ,very full of himself and nothing like what you might expect from someone who was accomplished at martial arts. most of his martial charisma comes from his physical streangth and not from his teqnique. i agree with the other writers that he told alot of tall tales and never proved any of it. there are some more serious allegations against show too. shows notion of freestyle is to be arrogant beyond belief and insist on being accepted by being threatening. my advice would be to stay very very well clear of freestyle kung fu ( wu ji ) i can tbelieve he is allowed to teach at ZT. i have cancelled my membership. Show does not even know what wu ji is... LOL
Found this [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAvowu2rAtw&feature=PlayList&p=74B6F565252549C7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2"]YouTube - K1 MMA Techniques - Seminar - WUJI SAN SHOU[/ame] Looks like my boring old traditional Kung Fu class. This is what's known as combat or military San Da, and is basically just applied Kung Fu. Half of the stuff shown in the vid wouldn't be that useful in an MMA fight, and some of it is strictly show stuff. I think the big problem though is there's already a traditional style called Wujichuan.
In proper Mandarin pinyin it should be Wujiquan. Here is a wikipedia entry about the state of wuji. It precedes the state of taiji in Taoist philosophy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy)
Lol @ pinyin. Seriously, I use it everyday to type Chinese (since I'm lazy and zhuyin looks hard) but that stuf is just weird. My girlfriend always has to explain the "X" in her name does not make her name Ksao or Zao or Chao or any other permutation X suggestion but that it is in fact close to Shao. Would it have killed them to make it Shyao? How about having Ju and Jyu? And seriously, what's with the "un" sounds. I don't even know how to explain to people how to read "Hun" or "Sun" or "Yun" to non Chinese speakers. And it's not internally consistent either. wtf Pinyin??? Pinyin is almost as confusing to me as Beijing accents. ARRRRR!
I'm not a Mandarin speaker so it is all new to me. Yes, why is "quan" pronounced "chuan" anyway? Did the pinyin compilers decide that "q" was more efficient than "ch"?
I think it's the sheer number of "ch" sounds in chinese. Anyway, this guy's Malay, so that explains his lack of Pinyin.
I think it is an older style of romanization prior to official pinyin. e.g. Taijiquan = Tai Chi Chuan. I do question the use of such philosophical ideas in CMAs. Yin/Yang I can appreciate - opposing actions and all that. Even Taiji at a push if it is simply about using and balancing yin and yang elements/techniques. But what the heck does wuji mean in the martial context?
In Pinyin, Quan and Chuan have different sounds. Quan might sound something like "Chyuen" and Chuan sounds like "Chuahn". Another example would be "qi" "chi", using 氣 (qi as in qigong or qi blast). Using the same tone (4th) for chi we get the word 斥, among others, which has a meaning related to scolding someone or something like that. The sound is different, too. Qi is pronounced a lot like "Chee" and Chi is pronounced something like "Cher" The same applies to some other of the other Pinyin initials: J and Zh, X and Sh. As for using Wuji in a martial arts context, my guess is as good as yours、except that it relates to a Chinese philosophical concept that is related to Taijiquan. Compare 太極拳 (Supreme Ultimate/Polar/Extreme/blahblahblah Boxing). Taiji, vastly simplified, has a meaning similar to the outermost limits of the world/universe. Tai means the Greatest (or too much ) and Ji means an extreme, the edge, a pole (like the north pole). 無極 Wuji by contrast means Without an Extreme, contrasting with Taiji. This is all involved in a super complicated branch of Chinese cosmology that I will not attempt to touch with a 30 foot rod. Basically, I guess, he's cribbing off Tai Chi
wu ji wu ji can mean inherrant sameness and its the outside of the tao symbol . atoms in cakes atoms in aeroplanes although there is different functions, applications etc both are made from atoms. without atoms neither would exist- the value of wu ji. wu ji style i think is about observing the similarities between things as apposed to the difference hot water/ cold water - that water is hot that water is cold tai qi abserver.. hot water/ cold water - that hot water is water that cold water is water. tai chi seeks to know difference wu ji seeks to know no difference human rights are an example of the similartiy overiding the difference - racial ,sexual predjudice etc. ve heard an american call wu ji chuan the non differenciating fist.
mantak chia refered to wu ji as a black hole. morhei ueshiba mentioned that using aikido one could absorb the oppnents very being rendering it defencless agianst you. black holes are attractive - LOL i think there is a connection between the power of wu ji = black hole and the esoteric skill of attracting an opponent or even controlling them because of he differecne between the experience of polar extremes ( tai chi ) and neautrality (wuji ) a person can be manipulated. this kind of tequnique is very similar to tonglen, tonglen is used as a form of martial mind control . its called - sen no sen- in ninjutsu. healing somones suffering is a way beating somone up ( paradox ) ie if they arnt suffering form anger why do they want to beat you up. the motivations gone. i think changing somones perceptions of difference to no diiference is what wuji chuan is about on a spiritual / martial level.
I think you guys have already covered it. It's a made up style and the dude didn't even take the time to come up with a name that hasn't been grabbed already. Wu Ji is a Taiji-like style taught in tandem with WuZuQuan in the UK, and possibly in other places?? This brings around the question: Why is it that this no name guy, with a made up style, has got guys fighting (and even winning) in low-tier MMA events, when very few TCMA schools are turning out people who've even got the juice to compete?
pure luck that he has such guys im afraid ... its a simple quetion of genetics my dear friend. peter davies had only been learning kung fu for a year when he won his bout. he is now a male model in hong kong , hes well built and was a adrenaline junkie of some sort, bmx's and stuff. of the long term students and advocates of wuji have made it in mma at all, ie jack brett only karim has, and he trained very hard for years to create a physical advantage. personally i detest wuji chuan , and i think show is a terrible teacher, he is so arrogant and rude. My friend, andrew higgins is professional rugby player, people thought he was going to play for england when he was 12, and they were nearly right . its more a question of petes own dedication and time spent practicing on his own and the level of athletisism coordination and health he had already than any thing to do with shows talent as a teacher , when he first came to class he was obviously fitter and more athletic than any of us ...and younger he doesnt smoke . show didnt turn out anything that didnt already exist . he spent years working on his six pack which earned him his place a a model in hong kong. some of the students at wu ji spend hours training each day to make up for show s inadequecies as a teacher. LOL
I found a detailed introduction to Wu Ji Chuan here: http://baike.baidu.com/view/937720.htm Too bad it's in Chinese only. Basically it tells the history, the formula, and the philosophy
also Show and his mates are obviously trying to cash in all things eastern from enlightenment to martial arts. He told a load of lies including that he was a ninth ' dan ' which is a japanese word. he is called agrand master on his webiste even though he only has about 4 regular students.
