Choy Lay Fut

[7starmantis]

I know we have at least a handful of CLF practitioners here on the boards. I would love to hear some more about this "style" as I know almost nothing about it. Basically I'm interested in knowing what makes the style unique, what kind of techniques it uses, what kind of training is used, why the different spellings and such. Just basic knowledge.....I'm curious.

7sm

 

[clfsean]

I know we have at least a handful of CLF practitioners here on the boards. I would love to hear some more about this "style" as I know almost nothing about it. Basically I'm interested in knowing what makes the style unique, what kind of techniques it uses, what kind of training is used, why the different spellings and such. Just basic knowledge.....I'm curious.

7sm

Hmm... I'll try. I'm going with short answers first that can be expanded on individually if needed.

What makes the style unique?? It's a southern long hand system that didn't give up shorthanded roots & techniques. It's battlefield tested, relatively new, easy to learn, only a few root sets & you've got the heart of the system. Weapons translate almost directly to hands & vice versa.

What kinds of techniques?? In my branch (Jeung Hung Sing)... 10 punches, 5 animals, 6 kicks, 8 horse stances. The heart of the system is push-pull. Of course there's more to it than that, but that's all for now...

What kind of training?? Basics, basics, basics, basics, basics... then two man drills with basics & then back to solo basics. Throw in a few sets here & there then eventually some san da training with the hing dai & life is golden.

Spelling differences?? Politics... dialects, differentiating schools, etc...

 

[j_m]

Interesting. I don't know much about CLF either. Do you have any clips of the basics, training methods, or any forms that might give a "decent" representation of the style? I've always heard it was a mix of northern and southern styles (hence the name) but I find the differences between northern and southern to be sketchy at best.And what exactly do you mean by "shorthand" and "longhand" ?



jm

 

[DarrenJew]

http://www.hunggarkungfu.com/choylifut.shtml

This site has a brief history of Choy Li Fut

 

[7starmantis]

What makes the style unique?? It's a southern long hand system that didn't give up shorthanded roots & techniques. It's battlefield tested, relatively new, easy to learn, only a few root sets & you've got the heart of the system. Weapons translate almost directly to hands & vice versa.

When you say relatively new, how new are we talking about?

The heart of the system is push-pull.

Could you explain that a bit more in depth?

This is very interesting! Thanks for the info.

7sm

 

[clfsean]

When you say relatively new, how new are we talking about?

1830's - ish... basically the end of the Qing Dynasty

Could you explain that a bit more in depth?

7sm

Push Pull... Yin Yang... when one arm goes one way, the other goes the opposite. Think of it this way... if you push me on my right shoulder & I don't resist, the right shoulder & hip move backwards & the left moves forward. That's the one of the driving principles of our branch. If one side moves one way, the other side is already moving to hit or block or both. It's as much my force & body as it is the opponents doing the damage. Mind you, that's not exclusive, but it is a central principle.

 

[clfsean]

http://www.hunggarkungfu.com/choylifut.shtml

This site has a brief history of Choy Li Fut

Yeah that's a version of it. Another is found at... hungsingatl.com or on our China main school site... hongshengguan.com

 

[clfsean]

Interesting. I don't know much about CLF either. Do you have any clips of the basics, training methods, or any forms that might give a "decent" representation of the style? I've always heard it was a mix of northern and southern styles (hence the name) but I find the differences between northern and southern to be sketchy at best.And what exactly do you mean by "shorthand" and "longhand" ?



jm

JM... actually we don't. We've got clips of a few sets up, but no training methods. You can see what's going on with the body on the outside, but without some of the "why" behind it, it may just appear like flailing about...

It's a mix of North & South (Nothern Legs, Southern Hands), but our branch has almost no kicks.

Short hand would be say Wing Chun, Bak Mei, Lung Ying, etc...

Long hand would be say Pek Kwar, My Jhang Law Horn, Bak Sil Lum, etc...

 

[7starmantis]

So how many sets or "forms" are there in the system or do you guys practice?

7sm

 

[Black Tiger Fist]

So how many sets or "forms" are there in the system or do you guys practice?

7sm

Buk Sing CLF has like three forms ,but thousands of techniques and applications they drill.

Chan family i hear has like 150 forms or so ,i'm not sure about Hung Sing CLF.

jeff

 

[clfsean]

Buk Sing CLF has like three forms ,but thousands of techniques and applications they drill.

Chan family i hear has like 150 forms or so ,i'm not sure about Hung Sing CLF.

jeff

What Jeff said is right.

Buk Sing has about 3(+/-) hand forms, some weapons & wooden dummy sets. I don't know for absolute sure though.

Chan Family has seems to have a blue billion of everything.

We have in Hung Sing between 2 schools (Futsan & Lau Bun) about 15 forms, plenty of weapons, a couple of dummy sets & 2 man sets. Specifically Lau Bun school we have 3 major hand sets, 2 minor sets about 15 weapons & 1 dummy. In the Futsan lineage, we have about 5 major sets, 2 or 3 minor sets, dunno for sure about the weapons or dummy sets since I've only seen a couple, but I've seen tons of different weapons in the racks in pictures of the school.

The majority of our sets are the same techniques over & over, put in different combinations & footwork to tie them altogether. Hung Sing & Buk Sing share a common lineage & so a lot of our ideas on drills & application work isn't that far off. Fewer sets, higher reps, and in depth study & drilling of techniquese & applications found in our sets.

 

[InvisibleFist]

Choy lay fut is characterized by wide whipping techniques. At speed, it looks incredible, there is a flurry of hand strikes from all directions.

I beleive that a lot of the Choy Li Fut techniques evolved by asking the question "How can I take a kicking technique, and apply it using the arms." For example, there is a forward chop, that is basically like a side kick, but iinstead of striking forward with the blade of the foot, it uses the blade of the hand. There is a devastating roundhouse punch that is basically a thai shin kick, but the point of impact is the forearm, not the shin.

There's a bunch of good videos here:

http://www.floridakungfu.com/kung_fu_videos.htm

 

[7starmantis]

Good videos, I really enjoyed them. I liked some of the san shou vids as well

7sm

 

[InvisibleFist]

Glad you enjoyed them...its a very good site. Looks like a good school.

 

[47MartialMan]

I have two questions:

One, per per its spelling and epytomology:
I thought was spelled Choy Leih Faht?

Two-is there a better, more detailed lineage chart?

 

[InvisibleFist]

There's a million different ways of romanizing Chinese. Makes it very difficult to websearch the style.

 

[clfsean]

Plus you have to take into account different dialects on the romanization as well. Toisan is different that Sun Wu is different than Hong Kong is different that Guangzhou is different than Sei Yap, etc...

Then on top of all that, some schools spell it a certain way to differentiate themselves from other schools so you have the political twist to it as well.

As long as it's in the ballpark on the "C","L","F", most people will recognize it & not sweat it.

 

[RHD]

I have a few brief things to say about CLF...

1) Experience has taught me that it sucks to get hit with a well thrown sow choy

2) I like the Buk Sing approach better, but all variations have the same elements as far as I can tell

3) It's wicked fast...and I give my respect to the CLf crowd that trains to apply it like they mean it

Mike

 

[InvisibleFist]

Mike:

Yeah, a sow choy (thats the roundhouse strike I was talking about earlier) is like getting hit by a stick. Actually a lot of CLF reminds me of Arnis, replacing sticks with forearms. Someday, somebody will combine the two, and have something really cool.

 

[Infrazael]

I have a few brief things to say about CLF...

1) Experience has taught me that it sucks to get hit with a well thrown sow choy

2) I like the Buk Sing approach better, but all variations have the same elements as far as I can tell

3) It's wicked fast...and I give my respect to the CLf crowd that trains to apply it like they mean it

Mike

How does the Buk Sing branch's Sao Choy differ from my Hung-Sing's???