Hung Gar kung fu, also known as the five animal five elements style of kung fu is one of the most popular Chinese Martial Arts derived from the Southern Shaolin Kung Fu.
Hung Gar is known for its direct powerful striking techniques using both external and internal force. All five animals, dragon, tiger, leopard, crane and snake have a special quality.
The Dragon cultivates your spirit and develop your internal energy. It uses the Earth element, which is firm and
loose, hard and soft simultaneously. Just think of the firmness of the mountain and the looseness of the soil. It is strong and
decisive.
The Tiger will strengthen your bones and help to develop your natural strength. The tiger's spirit is like Fire - it
explodes, has no fear or hesitations while it intimidates others.
The movements of the Leopard concentrate on the development of strength, speed and agility. It uses the strength of Metal - uses body
momentum to generate power, like an axe coming down on you.
The graceful movements of the Crane will develop your balance and flexibility, and harmonize your hands and your feet. The crane uses
simultaneous blocks and strikes and are the shortest arm movements in Hung Gar. The Crane is compared to the Wood
element. Wood gives you the idea of balance - it is neither too hard nor soft which gives it a unique strength. Tranquility and
awareness are some of the virtues of the crane.
The movements of the Snake will develop your speed and accuracy. The Snake's energy flows through its body, which remains supple. The
snake appears to be soft yet strong, flexible yet firm - until the moment it strikes. The snake uses the Water
element. It changes with the environment, hard like ice in the cold and soft in its liquid form when it is warm. Like the dragon it has
a duality of hard and soft but unlike the dragon, the snake is more flowing with the environment. Like water, the snake uses a series
of battering blows similar to the pounding of ocean waves upon the shores.
Learn the Northern Shaolin Kung Fu - Mizongyi Lohan
Most of you may have already watched the movie Fearless, where Jet Li plays the part of Huo Yuanjia. Huo Yuanjia practiced My Jhong Law Horn also known as Mizong Luohan which means ' Lost Track Skill '. It is an external style, with distinct internal influences. It draws on many aspects of the external Northern Shaolin Long Fist style, and the internal styles T'ai Chi Ch'uan , Pa Kua Chang and Hsing I Ch'uan, with which it is often taught in modern times. It is characterized by deceptive hand movements, intricate footwork, varied kicks, and high leaps. In execution, the style changes very quickly. continue reading...
Flexibility in Northern Shaolin styles is a guiding principle. An increased emphasis on mobility often comes at the price of power, but Mizong compensates for this by providing a means for the dynamic generation of power. Mizong's unique fa jing (discharging of force) comes from the combination of the internal corkscrew power and the external snapping power of Shaolin Long Fist. The result is the efficient generation of force through the dynamic motion of multiple elements of the body, the mastery of which gives a Mizong practitioner the capability of generating force quickly and flexibly from any distance.
Learn the Secret Art of DIM MAK - Old Yang Style Tai Chi
This is the original Martial / Healing system as taught by founder Yang Lu-ch’an, not the all slow moving soft style of Yang Cheng-fu. The Old Yang Style Tai Chi has real martial qualities for street defence utilizing both punches and kicks, Fa-jing (explosiveness) and Dim-Mak (death point striking); The Old Yang Style incorporates explosive energetic parts within the slow forms (slow movements) giving it a balance of Yin and Yang, hard and soft, as opposed to the all slow moving soft forms that can make you become too Yin; in simple terms, too soft and therefore unhealthy because there's no balance. The Old Yang style has fully explosive fighting Pauchui form, Push Hands, Che Sau, Da-Lu, Weapons forms etc, all in the Old Yang way of Practice.
