Well I feel like an idiot.

[Ironbear24]

So I been taking this class for a while now and I thought it was kenpo. Although this "kenpo" seemed very different from what I was taught before.

I mentioned the term kenpo and Sifu looked at me kind of silly and asked "why do you always talk about kenpo ?" I replied "because that is what we are being taught here right?" He looked at me like, no. This is Shou Shu. I said oh, I guess I saw the wrong website then and thought this was that place.

From there everyone was laughing at me, but I laughed to, and then I told him "you know, that's ok, because it seems I accidentally found something else that is awesome."

I have confidence in this style. However I cannot lie and say that I am disappointed I had not been continuing my kenpo training. I will someday in the future complete it, but for now I wish to give Shou Shu a chance.

What do you guys know of this style? To me it feels like kenpo, but a little different, it feels more "Chinese" than kenpo did, I know kenpo is a Japanese art but it did come from white crane kung fu and has lots of Chinese Influence.

Anyway, what I am asking is, I didn't pay for ******** did I?

 

[Flying Crane]

What is your Kenpo lineage? if it's a Chow/Parker derived, it is not from white crane. If the term is used in referenced to the Okinawan methods, there is Fujian white crane influence. Be aware there are at least a couple different white crane methods that's are not related.

 

[Ironbear24]

Ed Parker kenpo.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I don't suppose the name of the system ought to matter... you were happy with it when you thought it was Kenpo, and, as they say, a rose by any other name...

 

[JowGaWolf]

Ha ha ha.. I always wondered why you say Kempo and Sifu all the time in the same sentence. lol. This is the first time that I've heard of it. Totally stumped on this one. I watched 3 different videos of this stuff and all 3 look different.

 

[Ironbear24]

Ha ha ha.. I always wondered why you say Kempo and Sifu all the time in the same sentence. lol. This is the first time that I've heard of it. Totally stumped on this one. I watched 3 different videos of this stuff and all 3 look different.

Is that a bad or a good thing?

 

[JowGaWolf]

Is that a bad or a good thing?

I don't know.
I didn't like what I saw in this form. It looked as if it has a Filipino martial art named Mongoose in it. The feet were too close when launching and returning some of the kicks. And there were just a lot of hand movements that I didn't like. Sort of like when I watch Mongoose practitioners go through their forms.

The other videos I saw looked more like a Chinese martial art or more like a karate style art. Each school was different. It seems they have been around for a while so my guess is that it's possible a school will lean more to one influence than the other.

The only real way to have an idea if you are learning useless stuff is to see techniques from your school or to see a kata /form from that you have learned. If your school does kata.

the good news is that none of the drills looked like McDojo stuff. Some of the application for a legit technique seem questionable, like Right technique wrong application of it. But other than that, I'm thinking your school is probably different from the others I saw.

 

[Ironbear24]

Well it's a lot of wrist locks and leverage techniques. Lots of low kicks and centerline punches and strikes.

 

[Ironbear24]

What confuses me though is what type of art it is? Chinese or Japanese? Why do we wear gi's and have belts?

 

[Touch Of Death]

Ed Parker kenpo.

Everything is kenpo. You were just being taught by a guy that didn't understand the term.

 

[Buka]

You're not alone, Ironbear, I've been doing Tai-chi for a couple months now, I have no idea what style of Tai-chi. I'm sure I heard it at the outset, and Xue hooked me up and I know he told me. (Thanks again, Xue) but I don't really care. I just love doing it.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

What confuses me though is what type of art it is? Chinese or Japanese? Why do we wear gi's and have belts?

This isn't Bullshido, so I won't say anything about Shou Shu. I will say that I did some Googling and what I saw was not encouraging. I am no expert, don't take this personally or seriously. You need to do your own due diligence on this one.

 

[JR 137]

What confuses me though is what type of art it is? Chinese or Japanese? Why do we wear gi's and have belts?

It's the type of art that helps you beat down idiots without getting carried away who rip their shirts off, tell you MA is worthless, and swing at you at a friend's party.

Need more?

 

[Kenpoguy123]

If you trained in American kenpo surely you'd have noticed this place wasnt the same when they didnt do the techniques like delayed sword, alternating maces, five swords etc and the forms completely different

 

[dancingalone]

So I been taking this class for a while now and I thought it was kenpo. Although this "kenpo" seemed very different from what I was taught before.

I mentioned the term kenpo and Sifu looked at me kind of silly and asked "why do you always talk about kenpo ?" I replied "because that is what we are being taught here right?" He looked at me like, no. This is Shou Shu. I said oh, I guess I saw the wrong website then and thought this was that place.

From there everyone was laughing at me, but I laughed to, and then I told him "you know, that's ok, because it seems I accidentally found something else that is awesome."

I have confidence in this style. However I cannot lie and say that I am disappointed I had not been continuing my kenpo training. I will someday in the future complete it, but for now I wish to give Shou Shu a chance.

What do you guys know of this style? To me it feels like kenpo, but a little different, it feels more "Chinese" than kenpo did, I know kenpo is a Japanese art but it did come from white crane kung fu and has lots of Chinese Influence.

Anyway, what I am asking is, I didn't pay for ******** did I?

You are training in kenpo. The guy that originally came up with Shou Sou (whatever creation myths are floating around today) was a student in Tracy kenpo back in the sixties or so. From what I gather, some colorful tales about the founder training with Chinese monks and and being the whatever generation successor of Some Cool Temple and such made its way into the style's history.

This is a very common problem in martial arts where some school heads felt the need to embellish on the truth to give themselves legitimacy and a competitive edge over other arts and schools. It's happened in Shaolin-do, in Hwarang-do, and a few other kenpo styles including Shou Shu.

This doesn't mean the training you are receiving is bad. If you enjoy the classes and find value in them, great.

 

[zzj]

What confuses me though is what type of art it is? Chinese or Japanese? Why do we wear gi's and have belts?

I hope I'm not violating any terms here, this is just my opinion: the name shou shu in itself is rather clunky (as in, it is not something a native Chinese speaker would have come up with), when directly translated to Chinese it would mean animal/beast method/skill. Read the supposed history of the style, but my own conclusion is that it is very much a made up style that incorporates stylistic elements taken from different Chinese animal styles. Unfortunately, it mixes Japanese conventions with Chinese elements in a way that dilutes any sense of authenticity that it claims in its history.

 

[Ironbear24]

This isn't Bullshido, so I won't say anything about Shou Shu. I will say that I did some Googling and what I saw was not encouraging. I am no expert, don't take this personally or seriously. You need to do your own due diligence on this one.

PM me.

 

[Ironbear24]

If you trained in American kenpo surely you'd have noticed this place wasnt the same when they didnt do the techniques like delayed sword, alternating maces, five swords etc and the forms completely different

Well there was delayed sword or deflecting hammer or anything like that, but the stances are the same and many of the principals are the similar.

This is why I just figured it was a different style of kenpo.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Shou shu, from what I can tell, is not Chinese per say...

Albert F. Moore, Sr., formally known as Da Shifu Moore, was the founder (Sijo) and Grandmaster of Shou Shu Kung Fu in the United States. Al Moore, Sr., studied the martial arts beginning at age thirteen with the Chin family in the San Francisco bay area.

After many years of study, he eventually received a degree in engineering and served in the United States Navy (Pacific campaign) during World War II. To further his martial arts training, he was sponsored by the Chin family and studied kung fu in China in the city of Tianjin. In addition to the fighting aspects of kung fu, he also was taught Tui Na. Upon returning to the US, he eventually studied other martial arts including Parker Kempo, Jujitsu, and Shuai Shu. After some time in teaching martial arts, in particular Kenpo, and only teaching Shou Shu to those kenpo black belts who had achieved 4th Dan, he started the Moore's Shou Shu Martial Arts schools which solely taught principles of Shou Shu Kung Fu. For over forty years, Da Shifu Al Moore, Sr., his brothers (Ralph and Vern Moore), and his son Jung Moon Al Moore, II, taught and preserved Shou Shu kung fu. In 2001, Al Moore, Sr., died in California.

Prior to his death, Da Shifu Moore, Sr., returned to China in 1992 with his son to visit the school (Quan) where he studied Shou Shu.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Yeah, from what I can tell, it's a modern American art using a grab bag of Chinese and Japanese cultural trappings and Chinese terminology and probably some bogus history. Nothing too unusual about that, honestly. I watched some videos on YouTube. Not my cup of tea, but I have seen worse out there.