Searching For The Best Shaolin Kung Fu Martial Art Is A Difficult Task!

Considering the high quality of the art, which is the best Shaolin Kung Fu is a tough question. I mean, people don’t teach it just to make greenbacks, they teach it solely because they love the art. Still, there are ways to define the best gung fu.

First, even thought they be interesting, we can usually dismiss such arts as Lohan Quan. The reason for this is because they are a different kind of kung fu. Wushu is actually a martial art that has been largely developed by the communist government of China, and one does not feel like learning something which has politically correct overtones, and from which the self defense techniques have been removed.

So we stay with the old styles of Chinese Gung Fu, the versions that leaked out of China before the great cultural revolution. These were the arts passed down through the generations, given from family member to family member to develop a true martial arts lineage. These are the Kung Fu styles in which the fires of true self defense techniques were flamed fanatically.

Many of these old Gung Fu schools claim they are descended from the Shaolin Temple, but there is actually no real proof of the claims. Still, people accept certain martial arts styles as being the real goods when it comes to these claims. Thus we end up with three martial arts which have good lineage, and are of such high quality of Shaolin technique that they can be looked to as a possible answer to the best kung fu.

There are two distinct Praying Mantis kung fu schools, the north and the south, and these can further be broken down into specific styles. The main feature of Praying Mantis (Tong Long) is the hooking and clawing movements, which enable a fighter to keep an opponent immobilized long enough to flatten him. This is a good answer to our question, but tends to be a bit specialized.

There are also many styles of Ving Tsun Gung Fu, which is the art made famous by Bruce Lee (the Little Dragon), and which features the close in strategy of the Sticky Hands exercise. Sticky Hands (Chi Sau) has one of the best methods for creating ‘closed eye’ intuition. It does have several problems, however, such as immobile stances, workability concentrated in on specific ranges, and that type of thing.

The strongest kung fu, but lacking some of the close in work of the previous arts mentioned, is Hung Gar. Hung Gar is also taught as Choy Li Fut, Fut Ga, and so on, and it is considered the quintessential shaolin martial art in China. For all it’s strength, however, it does have certain stylistic problems, as the techniques don’t always relate to real life situations.

Now, of the three arts, I believe Praying Mantis may be the strongest. However, this is a personal opinion, and one should really study all three and focus on the points which are of most personal benefit. Really, in the final analysis, the best Shaolin Kung fu is going to be that kung fu which has been personalized, and which fits the person studying it the best.

For an interesting take on what can be achieved with Shaolin Gung Fu, click on over to Monster Martial Arts and take a look at the Shaolin Butterfly. 2

Sewing The Legs Of Calves On In Gung Fu

We were sitting in the dojo after class, engaged in a generalized sort of BS session, and one of the guys, Ron, started telling us about when he was young and growing up on a farm. Yeah, I had to get up at 4 in the morning and go chase the calves, they’d wander off, get in mudholes, that sort of thing. The worst was when they’d get tangled up in the barbed wire, they’d get a leg wrapped up, the leg would die, and we’d have to amputate it and sew it back on. If we weren’t fast enough, the calf would die.

One of the other fellows at this BS session, Mike, leaned forward and said, “Really?” Nobody said anything, and Ron went on with his story, telling about the details of sewing a calves leg back on. Suddenly, Mike got it, he looked sheepish, and we all started laughing.

Interestingly, Ron then told us of how he had been had. His father told him to go pick up a calf every day on his shoulders. As the calf grew older and heavier, Ron would grow stronger.

Another story, recorded in one of the earlier kung fu books I read, was that you dug a hole a foot deep, and practiced jumping into and out of the hole. Each day you shovel out more dirt, and after a few years you would be able to jump six feet down and up. This was the way tolearn Light Kung Fu.

Interestingly, the history of athleticism in America is rich with tales, or even methods, such as these. People strap weights on their legs, and increase the weights every month. Then you can run faster, and have a higher and more powerful kick.

And, athleticism itself is a study in this fashion of thought. We practice running faster and longer every day. We want to be able to run our best; is this not the same as the kung fu legends, be it of a more common and ordinary way of thought?

But the fact is, these legends are probably a good thing. Legends inspire us, and, who knows, maybe there is a bit of truth to be gleaned. After all, have you ever tried lifting a calf every day until he was a bull?

Have you ever jumped in and out of a hole a thousand times a day for a year or two? How do you know training methods like these won’t make you stronger and faster? Have you ever used used Shaolin Kung fu to put the legs back on a calf?

Al Case has forty++ years in the martial arts. If you want to get strong and fast using Ancient Technologies that have been proven to work, pick up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

The Fighting Methods Of The Five Animals Of Shaolin Kung Fu

The Martial Arts, and this includes Shaolin kung fu, are passed on through unique patterns of movement. They are, at heart, a mythology created to represent a unique methodology. They are the science of an ancient time, passed down to us by dance.

Thus, to understand the martial arts, we must ask ourselves what martial science were the ancients trying to pass along. Science is science, however, and I think you will find that the real reasons for the five animals are quite logical. Also, you will find that there is a distinct combat strategy behind the animals.

The tiger is an aggressive animal, and he is always on the attack. Claws and teeth, he drags down his opponent and tears him apart. Thus, the direction of the Tiger is forward, and all he does is attack.

The Crane is a lighter animal, giving way as he manipulates and uses legs. He does not run, but rather and deflects the attack to set up his kicks. He does not charge, but fights on the edge of a circle, never letting that circle collapse.

The Snake coils and twists and allows the attacker to get close. The artful deflections of the crane become full blown traps and locks under the trickery of the snake. Thus, the snake gives way without giving way, and the enemy falls into trickiness and deception.

There is some argument whether the fifth animal is a leopard or monkey, and I opt for the monkey. Whichever animal you choose as the best representation of Shaolin Kung Fu, the attribute of the animal is tricky footwork and the ability to acrobat and gyrate out of the fight. Thus, the Monkey (leopard) has the ability to extract himself from the fight and reset the whole thing to whatever animal characteristic he is strongest at.

The fifth animal is the dragon, and this is an imaginary animal which represents all the strengths of the other four Kung Fu animals. The dragon is the embodiment of understanding and employing all animals so that they work as a smooth and embracive strategy. Run, manipulate, trick or flee, the dragon can do anything, smoothly and with perfect timing.

The five animals found in Shaolin Kung Fu represent geometry of motion in space, and a distinct selection of distance of combat. Practice each animal until you have mastered the abilities of that animal, then blend them all together. This is the always winning strategy for combat as developed by the Five Animals of Shaolin Kung Fu.

Al Case has studied Shaolin Kung Fu for 32 years. You can find out about his unique methods of teaching at Monster Martial Arts. Be sure you pick up his free ebook.

How to Learn Real Kung Fu in a Couple of Months!

Interesting idea, eh? Sounds like one of those old Kung Fu movies, but is it possible? Could it be true that you actually have unlimited potential, and could learn a complete Kung Fu system within a couple of months?

The mind is unlimited, you know, and that means that you are unlimited. The trick of course, is to figure out a Kung Fu program that downloads into your mind with perfect sense and ease. The trick is to find a software program that really works, and that is actually designed to match your mind.

Most Martial Arts take an inordinate amount of time to learn, and there is a reason for this. Actually, there are quite a number of reasons. They all have to do with missing data, incorrect data, illogical data, and those assorted reasons that crashes a computer.

First, you must realize that the martial arts are taught using ancient oral learning methods. They are taught by the use of songs and poetry. This is incredibly inefficient, and there is no telling how much data has been lost over the last few thousand years.

Second thing to understand, you must realize that the martial arts are communicated by ‘monkey see monkey do.’ This is mimicry, which is the basic and easiest form of communication on the planet. It works, but does not allow for the interchange of ideas, which makes it totally inadequate for teaching Kung fu, Karate, Aikido, or any art you may wish to mention.

Third, you must realize that the martial arts are taught by having students memorize random strings of data. Memorization is totally inadequate, and often has nothing to do with learning. A tape recorder can’t think, it’s as simple as that.

So to learn a complete kung fu system, or to fix any martial art you might know, you must alter how you learn the martial arts, you must change the training methods you commonly employ. You should have mimicry and memorization, but the material of the martial arts has to reordered so that it makes sense. This is difficult to do, for people have been enraptured, and totally sold on the idea, that the old ways of learning should not be changed.

The human mind, you see, is a perfect computer, but it is prone to ‘garbage in garbage out.’ You don’t have to fix your mind to learn more, you just have to fix the programs that go into it. Doesn’t matter what Martial Arts you know, doesn’t even matter if you don’t know the martial arts, you can learn a kung fu system, or any martial art, within a couple of months, all you have to do is change your method of training.

Al Case offers aligned Martial Arts Programs that insert into the mind naturally. He has over 4O years experience and writes for the magazines. Pick up a free ebook about his programs at Monster Martial Arts.

Why Shaolin Kung Fu Will Never Be a Submarine!

To understand why Shaolin Kung Fu can never hope to be a submarine you must understand what a submarine is. A submarine is an underwater boat designed to travel through a specific liquid substance. Because of this limiting environment all submarines have to be the same shape.

The reason for this is solely because of the physics of the matter. The submarine is designed in a specific sharkish shape because that is the best shape for traveling at speed through liquids like water. Any other shape would cause the submarine to be harder to handle, or cause it to travel in a manner that is not conducive to survival in combat.

If the sub travels at a lesser rate of speed, it can be shot by enemy subs. If it has a different design it cannot maneuver quickly enough to defend itself. This is all related to the field of combat and combat functions.

Shaolin Kung Fu is taught by patterns, and the patterns are designed to travel through a different substance than that of a submarine. The Shaolin forms are designed to help a student travel through air, and with an eye to the effects of gravity. But such considerations do not hold back the Master of Shaolin, but rather unlimit him.

The patterns, you see, are designed around the construction of the body, and the body can react to air and gravity in many different ways. The body of the Shaolin Master is trained to act other than a human body. The body of the Shaolin Master can take on the aspects of a Monkey, or a Crane, or any other animal.

Thus, the limiting nature of the environment is changed by the body that is traveling through it. And the body traveling through that environment is changed by the considerations of the being who is using the body. And, the person operating the body can change how he uses it at will.

A submarine can never change, and if you built a submarine in a different shape, the submarine would not work. But Shaolin monks are built to assume a variety of shapes. The key is the mind.

The ability to change shape, to shift the way one moves, is possible through enhanced intelligence. To learn how to use the body in a variety of ways enhances the intelligence. It may have taken great intelligence to make a submarine, but a submarine can’t do Shaolin kung fu, and will never be a Shaolin Master.

Al Case has analyzed shaolin more than more than 4O+ years. You can read about his sometimes bizarre but Always Unique Theories of Kung Fu by picking up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

Real Karate Does Not Look Like Karate!

This concept, that working Karate does not resemble the Karate that people are taught in schools, is actually true throughout the martial arts. Shaolin done in combat does not look like wu shu taught in the kwoon. Forms Kung fu doesn\’t resemble fighting kung fu, and so on.

The reason for this is that there is nice to look at, and then there is functional. A fellow teaches, or learns a martial art, and the instructor gives him something that looks good. Once one starts applying real world potentials to the technique, however, the technique must sometimes change to work.

Take a look at the traditional kung fu back stance. The stance is so bent on the back leg that the ankle is unable to support the weight of most attacks. Thus, one must change the shape of the posture in order to really make it work.

Or, take a look at the basic middle block in Karate. It swings sideways, and there is no real weight behind it. The correct way to do this block is to shoot it out from the tan tien, which would put structure behind the move.

The examples I have just given you, incidentally, represent the reasons why many classical arts fall apart in the Mixed Martial Arts ring. The artists have been trained to look good, and not to make it work. To make something like Karate work in the MMA, or the UFC, one is going to have to change the whole structure of the thing.

Changing the structure of a martial art is not bad, if it makes the art work. Unfortunately, many teachers will scream, and one has to wonder why this is. After all, the fact that an art now works should be proof and satisfaction all in one.

I suppose what is at the heart of some teacher\’s inability to change is the love of the mystery. What is happening in their minds is that they don\’t understand what they are doing, but they have become convinced that if they just keep doing what they are doing, they will, eventually, understand it. Thus, they become blind to change, to what works, and, sadly, the potential of the true art.

The good news is that most martial artists I have encountered are not so blind. I show them basic matrixing principles, for instance, and they embrace the change. Thus, hold to the old only so long as it works, change to the new when the old fails, and watch the True Martial Arts explode across the face of this planet.

Al has forty++ years experience and his website is Monster Martial Arts. Go there and pick up a free book on Matrixing, Find Out if Matrixing is for you.