I'm warning you... it's gonna be a long answer.
Kung fu is going really well! I am very happy I went with the style I choose (was pressured into taking because of my friend, who studied there), and the school I go to.
It is difficult to talk about Kung Fu in general terms. There is a HUGE variety of different styles.... they range from the very aesthetically beautiful to watch full of acrobatics, and dance like moves (like wu shu, which is the "official" Kung Fu of communist China... but it is a pretty useless style when it come to really fighting, as it is more closely related to Chinese Acrobatics, than a true fighting style ) to the ugly and more practical... like Hung Gar (I think that is a good example). My style is a really well rounded one that is geared toword the practical... it is also quite pretty, but very little acrobatics... and our kicks do not go above chest height.
So I will talk about the style I study. It is a 5 animal (elements) style's and I believe as well, it shares ancestry with Shoalin / White Crane / long fist techniques... It's origins are very old... but over a 1000 years it has been really influenced by a lot of different styles, and has evolved to the point iti is at now... I'll pm you the link to my school there are 2 articles about my school and my master, from Inside Kung Fu magazine... I just don't want to put it up for the rabble, although I think I have once already on this site... He can better explain the origins and the focus of what I study. If your at all interested.
ANYWAY..... Yes, I really feel confidant about potential "street fights"... We not only train for the one on one but for multiple attackers as well... Which is a nice touch... not that I am really well prepared for an attack... but I am getting there. My style is very complicated, and not easy to learn, it takes time.
A couple months ago, I was shoo-ing a homeless man away from a victim of violence vigile, he just wouldn't leave the crying people alone....He is nothing but a drunk pain, and as he was asking me "ohhh why do you look so aggravated (because of him, obviously), baby what can I do to help you", he starts rubbing my tricep... Before I could even finish my "If you really want to help me out, the first thing you can do is stop touching me", I noticed I had unconsciously adjusted myself into a in fight stance (although from his angle I know he did not know that I was "gaurded", it was a very innocent, and non threatening posture). Also, a catalog of moves had flipped through my head, at an instant... I didn't think about it, necessarily, It was like a flip book was just swished through my head... and I knew if he clamped down on my arm... it was gonna be monkey neck throw... which is an arm/elbow break, with a cross kick to the knee, back of the wrist to the chin/ jaw, grab the back of the neck pull neck down while bringing a hard knee to his chest. all this was in place before I finished my sentence... and not to mention the much simpler things I knew with no problem I could pull of, if that somehow back fired or he changed his position. NOt that it came to that... but there was no question to my readiness.
Other things of note when it comes to how confident on the street I feel... Kung Fu is a really dirty fight style... It's not clean, it's not really meant for a ring, so we don't think about landing punches for points or anything like that, we think about breaking bones, clawing out eyes/ tendons, ripping flesh, hitting people in the throat, and other soft spots, and grabbing and twisting off nads. . there is also less aggressive more defensive / deflective portions of our style... those that do come or are more directly influenced by the Crane systems. WHere force deflection, redirection, and the "annoy your opponent to death", parts of my style come from, very useful on opponents much larger than ones self.
The way we learn.... and conditioning.... We do forms a LOT of forms.... Forms are elongated expressions of the fight movements... It is a choreographed fight with multiple attackers who are not there. That is where the bulk of our daily class conditioning... takes place, but it is a mix of cardio, and flexibility, and agility work... but all choreographed. The conditioning is directly proportional to the work you put into it... We will never ever do sit ups or push ups (as a class that is), we really don't do even enough just straight kicking or punching drills, a lot of us complain about that (as we all suck, and those who don't know the rest of us do ; ) ) That is the most important thing we test on... From what I understand from talking to people who have studied a variety of martial arts, that is pretty indicative of a Chinese system, they are very form heavy... with the slogan "a good fighter has good form". Now we
form spar daily, where we go through a set pattern of attacks and replies. Depending on your partner it can be a conditioning work out. But if your trying to figure out the application then it is not giong to be.
Once a week (thursdays), it's fight night... That is an optional class it's free sparing, and that is purely just free for all fighting. that is our most seriously taxing night. No pads, no gear, no time limit, several fights just going on all around you at once. This is also where we get to really practice and try to figure out how to implament what we are learning. I have gotten f'ed up, from going to fight night. Not everybody attends, but honestly to learn my system, you need to do it all forms class, free spar, weapons, and spirit class (that you can just read about in the link... I have tried to explain it here and I talk about frequently in this journal, but yeah read the article, yes it is Nut Noodle, kookie pants stuff ...
weapons is difficult and fun, conditioning as well... I am learning the staff now, and will be for quite some time... But I am looking forward to, short double sticks, swords (single and double), spear, the Chinese (can't remember the name, you use it to cut the legs off of horses... mmmhmmm really useful in todays society, I know), knives... really looking forward to 3 section staff... just because it's bad ass to watch. few others...
Also I fight with my BF quite a lot, for fun... he grew up in west philly projects, he also spent years hanging out with and around although never belonging to outlaw bikers/ bike clubs.... Pagens, warlocks, outlaws, wheels of soul.... I must admit I have gotten a lot better at fighting him... the cries of those little feet, frequently emminate form the kitchen. I am also a good deal faster as my striking/blocking speed has increased (that is one of the things kung fu in general is known for, we are neither the hardest punchers or kickers... but we are the fastest), so I can effectively rush him, fast enought that he can only back up and ward off blows... If it was for real he would KILL me, quite effectively, but he would actually have to work at it...
So lighter on conditioning than what you do, harder to learn...
Did I answer your question?
<message edited by thehardway on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 3:29 PM>