Intensive study

[Sifu at Large]

I hope I am placing this in the correct category...

I read a truly awesome book called “Five Years, One Kata” by Bill Burgar. In the book, he tells of how he spent five years in the study of one kata, Gojushiho.

The premise of his study was that he had moved and training with his instructor was no longer a viable option, so he would be training alone. I felt that I could relate, as I lost my Sifu in ’97, and have not really trained under anyone since.

I was inspired by this book, and am giving serious consideration to making a similar study, but more in line with Mr. Burgar’s original plan of a one year intensive.

If you were to undertake a study of this nature, what would motivate you choice of forms?

As I think about it, I initially only considered Fu Hok (mostly because it is my favorite form). But I also kept thinking of GJFFK, as it holds so much that is fundamental to our system.

Recently, however, I also began to think of maybe an in depth study of a form that is important to many, but that I never cared much for – FIve Animals, Five Elements. Perhaps an intense study of the form may bring me to a better appreciation of it. And TSK is never far out of consideration, as it was always regarded as so important to my Sifu, and I really enjoy it.

What about a weapons form?

So there is a lot that I am considering before I begin.

The question I would like to pose is this;

Rather than asking what form you would choose, why would you choose a particular form? I think mostly I am looking to better define my goals before I begin. I would like outside opinions to help me do this.

My ultimate goal, obviously, is to better my Hung Gar. I think some discussion might help me to clear up some of the smaller goals, and help me know more about where to begin.

[PM]

hello Wallace,

interesting subject. although i believe that today's Hung Kyun is well rounded and complex system, i do not think it is necessary to have/train all to be a competent Hung Kyun fighter.

all of the pillar sets - gjffk- fhsyk - nyk- syk - tsk are system of its own, so it really does not matter which one you choose. i personally think that you can do very well even with some of the sets like mui fa kyun or arrow palm. (on the other hand, i do not think that Lau ga kyun or butterfly palm would be a good choice).

my personal choice would be fhsyk ("best of WFH") or syk ("best of LSW").

many of my sihings at Lam gwun like sap ying kyun, because it is kind of "everything-in-one-set": you have the dragon part (tsk, ie. the internal training), you have tiger and crane (fhsyk), you have leopard (CLF) and snake (with parts of gjffk and fhsyk), you have five elements (bread and butter fist striking techniques, both long and short bridge); the end is fhsyk again. makes sense to me.

anyway, i think that much more important than drilling a set of techniques (lin kyun) is

a) conditioning and strengthening (lin gung): stance training, three star hitting conditioning, heavy bag... you name it all.

b) progressive and methodical approach to the application drills, combat scenarios, "sparring" and free fighting

[Frank Bolte]

great toppic !

What always helps is teaching,if u a teacher at one point u always start with something...
in my case I teach mui fah first ,the form is quickly learned and actually doesnt carry much hung gar..I really started to realise how valuable teaching is when I started to teach gung gee..Been teaching ggffk since morethan 2 years,recently started teaching fu hok with the same effect..teaching forms to people is amazing,people are different,ask different questions,move different..many times it made me research more and more...so in a way teaching has a similar effect..everytime i teach ggffk its like i l learn the form again or i discover something new etc.

if I would do that study as in the book,I would choose ggffk and 8 diagram pole

[Sifu at Large]

[Asmo]

I'm not beyond FHSYK yet... But when I read your post I first thought of GGFFK. That set has so much, but it only surfaces when you practice it a lot. I'm sure if I would focus on it 100%, it would have so much more in stock for me.

I always think, if I would only be able to learn 1 form from Hung Kuen, it would be GGFFK. It has everything you need, and a lifetime of research will bring new discoveries you can keep working on.

Then I considered, if I were up to TSK I might have focussed on that set. I guess, once you know that set, you will practice that set every day anyway. So if there is one set at that stage you should focus on, it is TSK.

I do like FHSYK and the duality in the form. Also the more fighting oriented moves and combinations. But if I were to focus on a set and listen to what it has to tell me, personally I think GGFFK or TSK has more to say to the people willing to listen. But of course, I might be totally off here.

Focussing on a weapon. Hmmmmmm... In my eyes Hung Kuen is within the 4 pillars. They are far more fundamental in nature so you might loose more then you gain. Doing a pillar and a weapon form at the same time is different and actually sounds benefitting. You're working on the Hung Kuen fundamentals and adding a weapon that increases your ability to express ging. I do not know 8 diagram pole yet, but what I udnerstood of it its used also for that exact purpose.

So in all, a pillar (GGFFK or TSK, maybe SYK as Pavel's explanation) and 8 diagram sounds very good to me!

PS: I found that focusing on just a few exercises is generally the best thing you can do. Although I practiced all my armed and unarmed sets over the past 3/4 year I focused mainly on stancetraining (static horse and GGFFK slow), pushups (elbows touching the side), da saam sing, my 6 ging exercises, Fook Fu Kuen and the heart of Fu Hok. Doing just this really helped me improving just these few, which ultimately improved everything else. If I kept doing all just a little, I would know a little of a lot of things. In my personal experience this is one of the key's of practicing kungfu. But again, I might be totally off and think different in a few months, hihi.

[PM]

[Asmo]

[Sifu at Large]

I want to thank those of you who responded to this topic.

I have given this a lot of thought, and my one year project is going to be a three year project. The only thing the is certain right now is that this, year one, I am going to be giving myself over to an intensive training in GJFFK and Eight Trigram Staff.

When I say training or practice, I want to be clear that I am not talking about the performance of the forms. I will be using bagwork and partner training much more than simple performance for the sake of performance. I am not interested in training for the purposes of winning in a tournament. I want to be able to better use my Hung Gar.

Again, I thank you for your input, and ask one more thing – wish me luck.

[vaulander]

[TenTigers]

[banditshaw]

[Sifu at Large]

[Chunyat]

[PM]

[Frank Bolte]