My Eskrima instructor is a constant source of inspiration for improving my Ving Tsun. How does that work? Well to begin with, he is a heck of a martial artist, fighter and coach. So when he shows me how to make a movement in Eskrima more efficient and effective, it usually helps me make my VT/WT/WC more effective as well. It also helps that his system, though it may at first glance appear very different from VT/WT/WC, still shares a lot of the same concepts. Efficiency, economy, forward pressure directed through your opponent's center, and so forth. Today's little gem: Anything you do, even "soft" checks and parries should hurt. And when this guy demos techniques, they do! Not only does pain damage your opponent, but it distracts and makes him stiffen up so that he is more vulnerable to what follows. Every class brings up something like that and focuses my mind on what should have been obvious, but was getting overlooked. Unlike my old Chinese sifu, I think looking at combat through the lenses of different styles can be hugely helpful. Nothing new... just sayin'. Any thoughts?
WC and escrima can go hand in hand..I always find that stopping one to do the other during a training session always does a world of good. Escrima allows you to take a step back and analyse your wc techniques. Also, when self defence really matters, a couple of sticks will dominate any knife, nuchucka etc. What a perfect weapon in todays society! Looks harmless - you could have a couple of pieces of dowel in your home or car without a single question from a police officer. For me escrima is up there with wc
The topic is an interesting one as almost with anything the body does... variety to some extent keeps it guessing and makes it stronger. It might not be all that far off for your time in martial arts to do the same. You can open yourself to a wider range of movement or realize just how different your movement is from other styles. Variety is a good thing if for no other reason than to show you alternatives or differing perspectives in movement and thought.
My MMA instructor constantly surprises me during classes where he shows us a drill to work on in pairs and there's a dawning realisation that I already know the technique from a kung fu form. For example, please bear with me as I attempt to clumsily describe the move, there is a 'tipping' motion that we were taught in MMA, where after a shoot for a double leg takedown, you 'tip' your opponent 'squeezing, your arms in opposite directions and also using your shoulders to 'help' your opponent to the ground. The hand movement was very reminiscent of the opening technique of a form we have called 'Bak Mo'. Love it.
interesting topic! i believe that many things in our lives can further our Kung-fu, not reffering just to other arts either. i used to work as a pizza chef, i would always arrive early so that i could be the one to beat out all of the dough, which came in the shape of a hard ball and needed to be flattened out nice and thin.....great conditioning for palm strikes! as they say kung-fu = reward over time for hard work and effort, the carpenter has kungfu, the painter, the farmer. with the right viewpoint anything can further our arts.... i believe anyway, maybe a bit too philosophical? my apologies if i misunderstood the question!
I transitioned some years ago from noticing how martial art 'a' was different from martial art 'b' to noticing how it was similar - It's not rocket science All martial arts that we use are based on using the human body (which is a 'constant' as it were) to 'thump' the other person whilst minimising the amount of thumping that we have to take in return So when you do anything, it adds to your overall knowledge base and as long as you have an open and enquiring mind and are interested in finding the links and similarities and useful overlaps between styles - you will
The sauce i use is tomato. By banging the bottom of the bottle i condition the palm of the hand and improve short range power generation......
Many of the historical guys cross-trained (following proper conduct). Oddly enough, it wasn't until I did a choreographed 2-man Hung Gar training & some crap TKD sparring - actually taught me great lessons in timing & range and helped not only tempo/rhythm in sets, but really improved my skill in crossing hands at an early age. Even though I'm teaching BSL, I'm taking classes in other styles at the same time & I'm constantly learning new things - not just unique to those styles - but overarching principles as well as new takes on old movements, etc.
Everyone I know in my style who cross trains in different arts claims it helps. I just figured since it's our own body doing it, of course we're going to find similarities and look for things to help. It gives us a fresh perspective from how others view fighting and training, and can only help imo. I'd be interested to know what other things people do to improve their kung fu, whether it's cross training, weight training, strength and conditioning, hell even dancing, pilates or yoga?? Anything else?
My post was about how good escrima was..obviously not picked up on there..imagine you have a psycho knocking on your back door..would you take 2 sticks or a kitchen knife? Id take the sticks..hehe
But the problem is most people here have no idea about sticks and how useful they can be..Im kinda getting to the point of giving up regarding influencing anyone..and really caring in general. Just to recap...my thoughts on the matter are...hands are better than feet, two hands are better than one, a single stick can beat a knife and two sticks can beat pretty much anything except a firearm
I really liked my time studying eskrima and may go back to it in the future. What I did learn has really helped me with my wing chun training and opened my eyes to the real threat that knives can be.
Once youve studies escrima or arnis or kali..whatever you want to call it (and I apologise to anyone where Ive got the names wrong)...I dont think you can go back. For me escrima taught me how to move back from wing chun and how to use sticks..Its the only style I personally think compares to WC in terms of quality. One thing I wonder is why all cops have a tonfa style stick..
They don't And I will take blades over sticks any day - as will most FMA people! *edit* - I still like sticks though - just you can do more with blades
Ok so ..do you honeslty get to spar wit those blades much? How is it you get to do 'so much more' with blades than sticks...I always thought it was the other way around..for me its rotate the stcks as if they were blades...not the other way round..
Most FMA People have a normal understanding that if they use blades they run into trouble..if the dont they are ok...what a bunch of morons..
Using other sources to enhance your kung fu? Is that like out sourcing? How does that work? You just phone up a guy in India, he asks you some questions, puts you on hold for 5 hours and then transfers your call to another department and they tell you to call back on thursday because office hours are over. Then you phone back, are put on hold again, only for 3 hours this time, and when they finally do pick up, they take you through the process of enhancing your kung fu in an alarmingly short amount of time.
