| | | "The only three that seemed the least bit interesting are Shaolin Kung-fu, Wing Chun Kung-fu, and Kenpo"
Shaolin Kungfu:
Shaolin is the new Clean in the martial community... all of a sudden every teacher, Kungfu to Tae Kwon Do has some Shaolin factor involved... Be careful of this... ask for some background on where what your teacher know & is teaching... then research it.
It's a great workout, for mind, body, spirit. Pleanty of weapons to learn about from the basic staff... to some crazy whip chains & rope darts... this of course depends on the teacher, and it may be some time before you've got a weapon in hand...
Beware of a belt system, Shaolin Kungfu doesn't really have one. Traditionall you'll be taught a Form that may take you some time to learn... with-in that form will be the applications that the teacher may or may not extract and teach you.. each movement has a purpose.
Wing Chun:
Wing Chun is a personal favorate of mine. I've train it of & on for many years... it's the art I can speak most personally about. Made Famous by Bruce Lee who pretty much got his Kungfu Intro with that art. Of the arts you mentioned WC is known for it's simplicity, with only about 3-4 open hand sets and 2-3 weapon sets... it's generally believed that one can learn the most the quickest with this art. It's emphasis is on geomitry of the body and ease of movement... this art can be fought in an elevator or stairway. If you can imagine Shaolins Long fisted High kicks Wing Chun as much more about in-fighting... Getting VERY close to your opponent relying on the geomatry of your movement to prevent hir from fighting effectively while you can essentially control the situation. The forms learned are deceptively simeple, with minimal footwork at first. The priority here is in learning the proper angles... Once learned it will change how you fight or even think about fighting forever... Again there's No real belt system as there are so few sets in the whole system.
1st) will give you basics on posture, blocks, strikes... almost everything in the art it in the 1st set. lots of defence
2nd) will give you expanded footwork and movement... how to be agressive.
3rd) Wooden Dummy training... will harden your limbs, teach you about power.
4th plus) weapons & nasty stuff... many students will not be taught beyond this point if they aren't serious.
Kenpo:
Generally viewed as an americanised fusion of Karate with Kungfu elements. From what I've seen, it will devote lots of time towards the basics of strikes, stances, blocks, etc... beginners will look like they are learning Karate... as they advance the Kungfu aspects will appear...
Of course these are major generalisations... and i would suggest you spend a bit of time with each school... ask lots of questions, from the teachers & students... Keep us posted. |
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