I am studying Wu Shu and enjoying it alot, in fact i am loving. I will admit I orginally only started studying martial for the fitness aspect (and it kicking my butt into shape). I am also enjoy learning the historty of the art and the culture of China. so here is my question, my Sifu travels back to mainland China to study every 2-3 months so now and then there are 1-1/2 month gaps between classes. So what other martial art would compliment my Wu Shu study, mainly looking for something that will keep me in shape (yes I know I can do my Wu Shu at home and keep up, but I also like learning new things). Also out of curiousity what martial arts woudl conflict studying Wu Shu?
What would compliment it best depends on which style your doing and what they focus on. Generally I would say judo or jujitsu since most kung fu schools don't focus on the ground techniques and many lineages have lost it completely. You would gain some new variations on your shuai and na techniques and add a new demension with the ground game. Some styles of karate would conflict with your training becuase they're so hard and rigid.
Yeah a generic Wu Shu, we do also spend some time learning 24 movement Tai Chi, which I also like. I have looked in Jujitsu since that would be some grappling and different then what I am learning now. Like I said I love to learn and I am looking for a good workout.
If you are learning modern acrobatic wushu, then you probably do not care about whether a second art would complement wushu from a fighting standpoint. Then I would rather look at what kind of workout you are getting from your wushu and finding an art that emphasise the parts that are lacking. Most CMAs seem to emphasise on muscular endurance, so you might want to try something more cardiovascular. Boxing, kickboxing, savate, pehaps. If you are interested in fighting ability, then... Well, modern acrobatic wushu lacks power generation; like a car with no battery. You could possibly make it work if you add power generation, though (but you'll have to skip some more acrobatic movements). Taekwondo is probably one of the closest arts to modern wushu from which you could get power-generation. Of course, you could also learn a fighting art and make that seperate from your wushu, but I guess that would be what you consider "conflicting".
Erm, I dunno . . . . Take a hakka boxing art, and BJJ. Like me. I guess wushu is mostly striking, so take a grappling art if you want something to compliment it. It's kind of hard for me to give advice out to you because the paths we walk are so radically different.
if you mean compliment in terms of flows well with, then most chinese styles you can incorporate wushu into. if you mean compliment in terms of filling the gap, i again would go with a chinese style that focus' on actual combat. the dynamics will be comfortable and similar to the delivery system in modern wushu. i practice traditional shaolin, tiger crane, long fist, various weapons, and some modern contemporary wushu for the highy dynamic acrobatic influence it gives you. my focus is the 10 traditional shaolin sets. the long fist we learn is of wushu influence, yet we study the applications as well. tiger/crane is great for rending, pressure points, short compact in fighting, and chin na. weapons of course are weapons.
I'm guessing by "generic acrobatic wushu" you mean contemporary Longfist. Really, I think the best compliment to that would be a traditional Longfist style. Any traditional Chinese system, really. I have a good friend who went from Contemporary Wushu (Longfist) to Yin Style Baguazhang. I think his Longfist training helped him greatly. Also, does your wushu school do much San Shou? If so, a groundfighting style like Sambo or BJJ would compliment that tremendously. San Shou will not only give you good standup, but also good takedowns to allow you to work grappling.
I suggest trying these three and deciding which you like best, they all have radically different training methods from Wushu/Guoshu and so I would choose the one you like most: Thai boxing or western boxing Some traditional Chinese martial art (Choi Li Fu, Hong Jia, Xingyiquan, Yingzhua, etc.) Brazilian Jiujitsu They each have very different approaches and feels to them, very different to Wushu, especially if you're a frequent Wushu competitor. Try them out, choose the one that feels best to you. In the end, what's most important is that you have fun doing something, so pick the one that has training you most enjoy.
Thanks for all the input all. What about Japanese Jiu-Jitsu? Or there is a Bujikan Budo Taijitsu dojo right down the road?
Honestly, anything would do. Modern PRC wushu doesn't have much in common with others martial arts, so whatever you do will probably be just fine. It's very interesting that you have called the Budo Taijutsu class by its real name; most non-practitionners just call it ninjutsu. Both it and the Japanese Jujitsu class will probably have much in common; as a large portion of Bujikan is derived from jujitsu. I suggest you check them out both, then come back tell us your impressions. Good luck
Well I just remember the first day of Kung Fu with my daughter I accidentally called it Karate (she is 6 and I was so use to her call her karate to all her firends) that I said it in front of the Sifu. He gave me this look and said "This isn't Karate it IS KUNG FU". I learned not to make that mistake so after studying up on Bujikan Budo Taijitsu, I learned to refer it to that rather then ninjitsu since that is only a part of ninjitsu. I have visited two Bujikan dojo's, one I was very impressed with the instrctor. As the class was going on he would teach the history of moves and strikes. Explaining how they originated. I like learning that. Thanks all for the advice, especially since I am newbie the boards here. I found a Jiu-Jitsu dojo I am gonna see if I can find time to visit. I will let you all know how it goes.
