Wushu

[Tony]

After seeing Jet Li's films I really want to learn Wushu as he looks so awesome and his latest film Unleashed I am going to see again. There are no wires at all and everything he does looks more practical but still fun and entertaining to watch. I train in Shaolin LOng fist but we certainly don't do much of the flashy Wushu stuff. I feel I have been robbed of what could have been a great mastery of martial arts. In China Martial Arts are treated like how football (soccer) is here in England and academies are dedicated to producing students of the highest level eve though the training is very hard.

I wish we could have such places here with quality instructors to teach, and plus it would save me going to China, even though I would still like to go there one day! It would be a dream come true to study under a true Master. It seems like this only happens in the films but we'll see.

I look at books, videos, the internet to try and learn various skills that I want to have, i.e the butterfly kick, a 540, backflips, aerial cartwheels. These are some of the most basic techniques in Wushu. Maybe they are not all practical but it would be so great to learn all this. There are people in my class who fool around with basic stuff like kip ups and handstands (I still can't do a kip up and its really frustrating!!) If I knew of a local Wushu School I would join instantly but I am quite content training in my present style as I have been doing it for 6 years.

Does anyone here train in Wushu and can you give me any tips and advice about techniques and maybe local clubs in the UK?

 

[kenpochad]

Its hard to find a good instructor I am lucky I know many like master Li .
master li is probale one of the best if not the best wushu teacher in the U.S.
Check out his Bio.
Its to bad your not in Arizona.


http://www.masterli.com/jh-1.htm

 

[clfsean]

After seeing Jet Li's films I really want to learn Wushu as he looks so awesome and his latest film Unleashed I am going to see again. There are no wires at all and everything he does looks more practical but still fun and entertaining to watch. I train in Shaolin LOng fist but we certainly don't do much of the flashy Wushu stuff. I feel I have been robbed of what could have been a great mastery of martial arts. In China Martial Arts are treated like how football (soccer) is here in England and academies are dedicated to producing students of the highest level eve though the training is very hard.

Why do you feel you've been robbed? If you're actually doing Long Fist, then you're doing the part of the root of the modern performance wushu which lends itself to application than fluff. Looks & flash aren't everything.

Actually in China, martial artists are a small percentage of the population & only a few of that number get the all star treatment.

I wish we could have such places here with quality instructors to teach, and plus it would save me going to China, even though I would still like to go there one day! It would be a dream come true to study under a true Master. It seems like this only happens in the films but we'll see.

If you're looking for authentic CMA, it's there to be found if you're willing to look.

I look at books, videos, the internet to try and learn various skills that I want to have, i.e the butterfly kick, a 540, backflips, aerial cartwheels. These are some of the most basic techniques in Wushu. Maybe they are not all practical but it would be so great to learn all this. There are people in my class who fool around with basic stuff like kip ups and handstands (I still can't do a kip up and its really frustrating!!) If I knew of a local Wushu School I would join instantly but I am quite content training in my present style as I have been doing it for 6 years.

The basic techniques in modern wushu are punch, kick, step, sweep, toe kick, etc... Advanced jump skills aren't practiced until your basic ground skills are up to par & can be performed to the coach's liking.

Further, why are you bitching & moaning about doing something else when according to you, you're

quite content training in my present style as I have been doing it for 6 years.

 

[Flying Crane]

First, understand that Modern Wushu was developed by the Chinese Government in the 1950s, after the cultural revolution, as a performance art. It was based on the older fighting systems, but the fighting ability was removed from the focus, and instead athletic endeavor became important. While Modern Wushu is amazing as a performance art, it is in no way a fighting art. Some practitioners like Jet Li have recognized this and made an effort to re-capture the fighting usefulness of Wushu, but he is in the minority.

The Chinese government continuously develops new "performance" sets for wushu, and they really push the envelope. They come up with this crazy stuff that nobody can do without getting injured. Members of the Beijing Wushu Troup, arguably the world's best troup, all limp around with their ankles and wrists and knees taped due to the injuries they receive in their chosen art. My sifu trained with them in the 1980s, and his feet are completely flat and cause him a lot of pain due to the hard, ergonomically incorrect landings that they do when performing their crazy aerials.

My sifu teaches modern wushu, but his earlier training was in the traditional arts. I have made a choice to only learn the traditional arts from him, and he has certainly been willing to respect my feelings on this.

Personally, I think if you are training traditional Shaolin, as long as you are otherwise happy with your training, you should stay with it and not go to Modern Wushu.

Michael