hi
jow ga has all the things that most kung fu styles have like form, lion dance, sparring etc.
and inside of jow ga, you have your fighters, your forms people, your "mac dojo" people, just like everybody else. what i am saying is, all styles have what you need to learn to fight on the street, the difference is, how you train and use the fighting techniques you have.
kyokushinkai and muay thai is known to be the styles of true fighters. but i know muay thai groups that cant fight, and i have even seen a kyokushinkai school that is exactly like a "karate for kids".
jow ga of the US comes from one place, chan man cheung's jow ga school in hong kong. dean chin is responsibile for 98% of jow ga in america, and he was a fighting man. richard chin (scott wong's sifu) is another teacher, and there is another one in the midwest i forgot his name. about richard chin, i feel like i can say this because the information comes from my own ears, that richard chin is not a recognized jow ga SIFU, i heard chan man cheung say this at dinner through a translator (sifu hon lee, my si hing). but that does not mean he does not know good martial arts. my opinion is not good because of the two guys i saw from his school, but that doesnt mean to much.
since you are in kansas, you will have to travel to study jow ga, but i dont know if you are wanting to study that bad. but jow ga is a good fighting style, or i would not teach it.
well to answer your question what makes jow ga different, is that we have a combination of southern and northern technique and forms. we are mostly a striking art, but we use many grabbing and pressure point techniques. if you would like to add to your kenpo, you will have to put a lot of time to really learn and develop your kung fu knowledge to be able to use it. if you are looking for short courses or video then i am sorry because most jow ga people will not offer it, and i dont recommend it anyway.
PS
my good friend ron wheeler has some video of form jow ga from ESPY-TV videos.
