Martial Arts Styles - Update: Started Training

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: amcdonald
My school does not have a class. The teacher teaches, while everyone who isn't in a lesson spars. Often between sessions the sifu comes and spars everyone fighting. whoever is highest ranked outside runs the show. 3,4,5 minute rounds.

As for the full-contact questions, I never said full-contact, I said getting knocked silly. In a streetfight your attacker isn't going to stop after a 'point' is delivered, and this is a misconception amongst most schools. Continuous aggresive fighting trains you to cope with an enemy who isn't 'satisfied'. There are those that train full-contact with my sifu, but I would like keep my nose in its current position. I've been knee'd in the crotch, kicked back 10 feet, dealt internal blows, and dealt 5 or 6 knock-out blows before I started falling to the ground, all of which left no external proof of injury. The bruises I'm referring to are dealt by fellow students who aren't controlled.

I was reading on before posting, and you just added to what I was going to say anyway...
As far as sparring goes, NEW students should *NOT* be freely sparring *UNTIL* they learn some control. I'd say at least 3 to 6 months. Most students want to start sparring on day 1, thus instructors out for the money give them what they want. This only leads to unnecessary injuries. I personally drove 2 more advanced students to the emergency room due to injuries caused by poor technique. (one was somehow kicked in the hand, drove a finger into his hand - like getting a finger jammed, except 2 bones of his finger where driven completely in - Instructor was very upset, said "THIS is why I tell you to have a tight fist." I agree with amc that continuous aggressive fighting trains you well, but that type of training shouldn't be done until later.

Incidentally, to answer the original question: Tae Kwon Do (I took a North Korean style), principle attack is with the foot. (meaning, I could kick most people's a$$es with my hands tied behind my back). I used to hate some of the kicking drills... a really thick cushion that you'd hold, and your partner would have to kick you across the gym. You were not allowed to give him an inch, he literally had to use the brute force of his kicks to move you across the gym. Then, you'd switch and kick him across the gym, using as many different kicks as possible. And, if the instructor wasn't satisfied that you were resisting as well as you could, or kicking as well as you could, he'd show you what he meant... and that meant despite 12 inches of padding, bruises. (not to mention the brief flight through the air)

And, lastly, concerning which styles are best, in my opinion, Tae Kwon Do allows the most success early on, but later, the other styles are superior to TKD.

 

[Packy]

STAY AWAY from
Juko Kai and Yellow Bamboo.

 

[WhiteKnight]

^
Updated

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: WhiteKnight
I'm looking for a compreshensive guide to different martial arts styles. I used google, but what I am looking for is a brief but desciptive run down of the different styles, and I was unable to find that. Primarily, I am interested in information on Wing Chun, Kung Fu, Soo Bahk Do, and Shotokahn Karate. Any martial artsy ATers out there?

Update:I started going to the Wing Chun practices last week. The instructor is Sifu Julian Sawyer, and he studied under William Cheung. It seems pretty good so far, we've learned most of the Shil Lum Tao as well as the basic punches and some blocks and such. For some reason it just doesn't seem as satisfying as Tae Kwon Do was when I did it in high school. I guess maybe it's because we haven't been hitting pads or anything yet, but I don't know. I guess it seems like it's a bit to early for me to pass judgement, but I plan on continuing for now. Also, can anyone shed some light on the controversy concerning William Cheung?

Glad to know that you're in training . . . anyhoo, in regards to the whole William Cheung debacle, well, there's a few.

- He claimed that he was the 'only' TRUE student of Grandmaster Yip Man - that Si-jo Yip Man taught William Cheung the full system, and NO ONE ELSE. It is factual that Si-jo wasn't a particularly agreeable teacher - it's hard to believe that he'd go out of his way to teach only him, among all the other direct students of Si-jo, in the middle of the night even though Si-jo didn't like to teach people period, like he claims.

- (I'm guessing you're thinking about THIS one) In the mid-80's, William Cheung put out an ad in a martial arts magazine that he'll take on any challengers - anywhere, anyplace, anytime. Well, unfortunately for him, a young person by the name of Emin Boztepe, a student of Si-Kung Leung Ting (WingTsun) at the time, took on his challenge. While William Cheung was doing a seminar in Germany, Sifu Emin walked in, took out the magazine, and challenged him. There's video footage of this, actually - Sifu Emin beat the crap out of William Cheung as far as I can tell. Now, the controversy comes when William Cheung claims that he actually won - the video footage is grainy and shaky at best - while Sifu Emin's side claims that William Cheung was easily defeated. But the main point is, with all the other crap William Cheung's been sprouting, it's hard to believe him - and especially the fact that he calims that only his style of Wing Chun is authentic leads other other schools of Wing Chun (Wing Tsun, Buddha Hands Wing Chun, etc.) to disbelieve William Cheung.

A few years ago, there's been a breakup between Si-Kung Leung Ting and Sifu Emin, but that's whole another story.