Hi guys, I'm looking to take up a Martial Art for mainly self/street defense purposes - any experienced members of this forum have non biased and objective opinions on Hung Gar (Yee's)? If I commit to it for a couple of years, would it be of any benefit? Thanks!
Yee's Hung Ga is typically a good Kung Fu group. However an organised traditional martial art is probably not what you want if you're looking for a couple of year's training for self defence purposes.
Why not? I don't understand? you think I'd need at least 5 years? Or will they pressure to keep me in the group lol! (joke!)
Traditional martial arts are structured to be a lifelong journey. If you only want to train for 2 years you'll find it frustrating. Why do you only want to train for 2 years though?
Well, just enough for basic self defense....I've heard Hung Gar is pretty effctive outside of ring/competition but useless in the ring against bjj/mma etc.??
Neither of those statements is inherently true, it's a bit more complicated than that. What is basic self defence? 6 weeks could be all you need or a lifetime could not be enough.
It depends on what your specific goals are. At the minute you're goals have not been specific enough for us to advise you. It should also be borne in mind that the majority of self defence and probably the most important bits have nothing to do with combatives or martial arts.
You mean fighting ability is really dependent on the individual i.e. his will/mentality and his physical structure (height and muscles etc. ? Even someone without any formal training at all could be a formidable fighter beating black belts?
No, I mean 95 percent of self defence has nothing to do with fighting whatsoever. If you have to use physical force to defend yourself then things have already gone very wrong.
No reservations, just you haven't told us your geographical location so we don't know which specific school you mean.
I've heard good things about Yee's in Scotland. Kinda more on the traditional side but I've heard from someone who used to train there that they'll give you a hell of a workout and actually practice fighting (sparring), so it's not all theory.
If you've only got two years I'd find a decent boxing club,probably give you the best return on time invested.
Hey man former Yee's student here, did "a couple years". It was part of an independent study program I put together for a different purpose. Long story short I trained a relatively short time but acquired what is probably a nice overview of their system (enough to write a few paragraphs anyway ) I think I'm non-biased...not currently a Yee's student as I already mentioned in addition I am also a graduate student with an interest in ancient cultures and Hung gar class was a nice introduction into some of the myths and realities of traditional Chinese martial arts. In my opinion anyway. Where to begin? Hung gar is such a big art with so many years of history it's got what is essentially an enormous compendium of diverse fighting traditions: empty handed, weapons, strength training etc. It's kind of like one of the Russian Matryoshka dolls. Like many Chinese inventions it is a very layered system open in some places it seems to "alternative" interpretations...but with basic rules for fighting that quite frankly you will find in any MMA curriculum, underneath that a conceptual framework taught in bits and pieces of long Chinese forms, along with plenty of practicum work. We punched and kicked heavy bags, drilled with partners, sparred, but also practiced traditional forms of careful hand-conditioning kind of like "mini-heavybag work". For myself I learned a basic form and part of the advanced ones but not to the most advanced forms. Still, the basic sets teach basic punches and kicks, throws etc. you will find in most other arts, MMA etc. Most of the Hung gar guys I know spar and compete under San Shou rules. Hung gar is not one of those commonly toted kung fu types that is supposed to allow a little girl to kill a huge bandit, its more like the kind of kung fu that is associated with strongmen, duelists, revolutionaries, and even criminals. If I learned anything from my time at Yee's it was the kung fu has a very dark side to it compared to the movies. Yee's though is a very stand up, no-nonsense place. They will train you very hard and quite frankly I was ready to quit for the first couple of classes. It's not easy training, and the training is grueling from day one, almost literally the first ten minutes I was ready to say "uh, no thanks". But then when the strength comes you're like "ok, that wasn't so bad what's next". I was not in terrible shape when I started but I dropped twenty pounds fast. Yee's is a V E R Y traditional lineage by Chinese standards (as in very old and extremely wide in genealogy; it pre-dates the United States) so along with the basic training comes a lot of what is basically "support" material. There are some pseudo-historical Hung gar "history" lessons which do touch on some accurate history of China but also provide some great tall tales...however those tales are just as much a part of the history of Hung Gar in China as the techniques themselves. There is a relatively superficial, but decent exposure to Daoist/Buddhist practices like meditation, mindfulness, discipline, etc, a (common sense) diet/nutrition philosophy, exercise ideals, topical medicine brewing methods, injury management (ie splinting/setting). I didn't learn any of these by the way, this is what the "Sifu" level students do. Quite frankly I think it would take me 150 years to learn everything in the system, that's how big it seems. As far as its effectiveness against MMA/BJJ I think that it's a fine system of standup fighting and its protagonists have a reputation for being strong and able especially in the legs and trunk area and especially power punching. However I do not think that many Hung gar fighters work on ground fighting during their San Shou training...there are some exceptions of course and those types of guys do very well in competition if the competition includes BJJ-type elements. I can't answer any self defense questions as I don't know anything about self defense hey almost missed this it was in the Jeet Kune Do forum by accident? Are you into Jeet Kune Do as well?
Hey thanks for this overview! Nope, Not at all interested in JKD (I'm a Forum Newbie lol!). I'm definitely giving this a go! try it for a few months and see how I go lol!
No problem brother. I have a whole slew of cool Hung gar bookmarks so I went through them to find a good example of a Hung gar traditionalist who also is a modern competitor. This guy is one of my favorites. This video is just some free style form work he put together that shows the basic movements, but he's got a bunch of other wicked training clips and grappling competition footage. This is not the same exact Hung gar as Yee's will teach you, but it's very similar to some of what I learned. However I don't think this guy actually competes in the striking aspects, he basically studies Hung ga for the grappling. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze79WTtRF9Q"]HUNG GA BOXING -THE ART OF OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU IS STILL ALIVE & STRONG - YouTube[/ame] Here he is in action, Chinese jacket wrestling (shuai jiao) with crazier hair [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9hrUK-iTrs"]Lavell ShaoLin Marshall - YouTube[/ame]
My students have competed against the Scottish Yee's guys and they can certainly fight. If you're looking for a Kung Fu school then I'd definitely recommend them. However if you're in Edinburgh I'd suggest your goals might be better met at Rick Young's.
Iron Fist - why did you stop training? I intend to do it intensely for a couple of years and then to maintain it maybe just twice a week or something! That' should be enough?