Intellectualising Martial Arts?

[Wing Woo Gar]

Just make sure that you keep in the back of your mind that it may be your lack of understanding as to why a technique doesn't work.

Good advice.

 

[Damien]

So after a few reworks I've finally released the guide. If anyone is interested, they can check it out here:

Shaolin Stance Guide — Kung Fit: Kung Fu and Fitness to stay Fit for Life

Download the Kung Fit guide for Shaolin's core stances. Learn how to do them properly and truly understand what a stance, is and what it is used for. Something for complete beginners and advanced practitioners.

www.kungfit.coach

Given that I was also discussing Yao Bu vs Gong Bu earlier in the thread and how it's more commonly preserved in village styles of Shaolin, here's my latest video about a form which makes heavy use of Yao Bu, called Lao Ben Chui. It's likely at least 500 years old, the sect that practice it having split from the temple that long ago, but the form having the same structure and poem as a temple form, Renshou Tong Bei Quan.

I liken it to Jiu Jitsu, because it has moves specifically intended for armoured fighting. Needless to say, it has a very different approach to Jiu Jitsu though! The name is sometimes translated as Old Stupid Fist....

Nonetheless it's a nice form

 

[GreenieMeanie]

That first one's a good point. Depending on how far back you go, if literacy weren't a thing in that culture, then yeah I guess the founders were illiterate. From what I understand/remember about 52 blocks, it actually was codified by what I'd consider scholarly people trying to turn the mesh of arts in jails into an actual art. And most likely they were literate considering the time period/location it was created.

I don’t think it’s been “archeologed”. In an interview with Nigel February, he stated he noticed similarities between Silat and what he was seeing in the street. It turned out that there had been a period of Malay immigration, and he didn’t think it was a coincidence that Malaysians showed up in advance of that evolution. Apparently, it also has roots in the endemic tribal warrior arts—a hybrid between shankology, silat, and African historical martial arts. The fact that accredited Silat and FMA practitioners were also impressed by it, points in that direction.