I have done rather basic studies into the a Hawaiian spin of Kung Fu called
Kajukenbo Tum Pai; all I needed was the basics, I got up my first belt in half the time of the other students and could have probably kept going. Only issue was that the school I was attending for said Martial Art was closed and our Grand Master Passed away recently; having only just reached the aforementioned rank. Good news was that he passed peacefully; in his sleep.
In any case, I am a very low belt; only being at Teen White (white with black stripe), but I was sparring easily with the yellows and greens; my good friend, whom is a Black Belt, was my most common sparring partner. During full sparring sessions (no letting up at all), him and I could go toe to toe, and I would at least be able to stand a chance. And something my Sifu (also one of the students' Uncle) noted as impressive was the fact of how difficult I was to sweep and my quick hop and sidestep dodges during sparring; apparently, I was damn good despite my newness to the art.
I listened to everything that happened in that school in regards to teaching (not hard, it was pretty small); and I managed to get down one of the Black Belt techniques to some extent. But beyond that, I would eavesdrop on every instruction given to every student; I absorbed a lot of combat knowledge by doing that. I used to get just a wee bit cocky back then, though; though that trait has gone completely, thank God. Cockiness can lead to complacence, if you ask me.
So, despite my low level of training, I learned quite a bit from attending said school and have developed my own manner of using the knowledge for self-defense. I've heard people shout insolent lies about how Martial Arts is always the same and ever easy to predict; this person was obviously overly confident in his knowledge of something he has never been a part of. The whole point of studying martial arts is to better your knowledge of self-defensive combat; many times I have been told in that class to never fight purely with the forms; as if you do, they will fail. I was told that I need to strike whenever I see a significant opening; such as striking the solar-plexus or placing a kick to the head. And I will admit to bragging about my kicking power; the reason I do is because my calf muscles have more than a one-and-a-half foot circumference; meaning I cannot even wrap a flexi-ruler or both of my hands around it; I kicked a sandbag more than four feet back, not even the Sifu could do that. o.o;
Later in the school, I asked my Sifu about the five animal arts, something I had known about for several years; apparently, he was trained in them. His chosen style was Dragon, and hell, after the studying into said style I had done, he showed it with aplomb. But, eventually he came up with the idea to test and see which animal art each student would fit best into if they were to pursue it. There were a few Tigers, one Leopard, and one other dragon. I don't think anyone got Crane. We all had to go up against the Sifu for a short sparring match for him to place his personal judgement of best fitting style; I was told I showed a bit of the Dragon style and a bit of Snake too. Firmly set on the ground, difficult to sweep, hard to hit sometimes, and prone to quick jabs that debilitate or fake out the opponent before going in for a significant strike, and I had a habit of standing at an angle.
Overall, Martial Arts proved both great exercise and great fun for me. I loved going, and I usually detest tiring myself out beyond belief.
Topic: kung fu? (Read 827 times)