World Of Swords

Considering the high quality of the art, which is the best Shaolin Kung Fu is a tough question. I mean, people don't teach it just to make greenbacks, they teach it solely because they love the art. Still, there are ways to define the best gung fu.

First, even thought they be interesting, we can usually dismiss such arts as Lohan Quan. The reason for this is because they are a different kind of kung fu. Wushu is actually a martial art that has been largely developed by the communist government of China, and one does not feel like learning something which has politically correct overtones, and from which the self defense techniques have been removed.

So we stay with the old styles of Chinese Gung Fu, the versions that leaked out of China before the great cultural revolution. These were the arts passed down through the generations, given from family member to family member to develop a true martial arts lineage. These are the Kung Fu styles in which the fires of true self defense techniques were flamed fanatically.

Many of these old Gung Fu schools trace their lineage to the Shaolin Temple, but there is no real proof that can be verified. Still, people accept certain martial arts styles as legitimate when it comes to these claims. Thus we end up with three specific martial arts which can claim good lineage, and present such high quality of Shaolin technique that they can be considered as a possible answer to our question.

There are two distinct Praying Mantis kung fu schools, the north and the south, and these can further be broken down into specific styles. The main feature of Praying Mantis (Tong Long) is the hooking and clawing movements, which enable a fighter to keep an opponent immobilized long enough to flatten him. This is a good answer to our question, but tends to be a bit specialized.

There are also many styles of Ving Tsun Gung Fu, which is the art made famous by Bruce Lee (the Little Dragon), and which features the close in strategy of the Sticky Hands exercise. Sticky Hands (Chi Sau) has one of the best methods for creating 'closed eye' intuition. It does have several problems, however, such as immobile stances, workability concentrated in on specific ranges, and that type of thing.

The strongest kung fu, but lacking some of the close in work of the previous arts mentioned, is Hung Gar. Hung Gar is also taught as Choy Li Fut, Fut Ga, and so on, and it is considered the quintessential shaolin martial art in China. For all it's strength, however, it does have certain stylistic problems, as the techniques don't always relate to real life situations.

Now, of the three arts, I believe Praying Mantis Gung Fu may have the upper hand. However, this is a personal opinion, and one should really study all three arts and concentrate on the points which interest one the most. Really, in the final analysis, the best Shaolin Kung fu is going to be that art which has been made personal, and which fits the the mind and frame of the student.

For an interesting look at what can be done with Shaolin Kung Fu, click on over to Monster Martial Arts and take a look at the Shaolin Butterfly. 2

Tags: true self defense

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