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Archive for June, 2010

Chinese Kung Fu

Saturday, June 26th, 2010
sunshine02 asked:


In early time when man became skillful in hunting and warfare, they would change their moves for entertainment. They imitated various animal movements; hence there appeared monkey dance, bird dance and so on. There also appeared the dance with shield and battle, which was a martial dance and demonstrate the early relation between dance and fighting skill. And the soldiers at that time practiced a competitive wrestling-butting with horns, which had been taken as a training method.

During the Han Dynasty, unarmed combat contest became popular. Unarmed combat was a skill which was highly developed by the end of this period. This skill consists of many attack, defense, counter-attack and feints.

In the Han Dynasty, in the feast, many dance performance would be shown in the form of sword dance. During that time, kung fu was developed further. And the element of sport and dance is now becoming more apparent.

Kung fu is a general term that could refer to any of the various Chinese martial arts. Shaolin monks study, organize and systematized Chinese kung fu. Considering the origin of the Chinese kung fu, it is not strange for Shaolin Kung fu to include many animal styles such as Crane, Dragon, Monkey and Snake.

Actually, the West prefer using the term kung fu, which means skill and ability. But in China, Wushu is the favorable word to describe Chinese Martial Arts.

A western Jesuit Missionary named Pere Amoit firstly use the word kung fu. He got a chance to witness exercises and training regimen in China and then he called it "Cong Fou" in his personal journals. The term "Kuo-Shu", popular in China until about 1930, has since been popularized by the Taiwanese Government to refer to Chinese Martial Arts.



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Learn The Devastating Martial Arts That Made Bruce Lee Famous.

Saturday, June 19th, 2010
Yoshi Kundagawa asked:


In order to learn Wing Chun, it is important to understand the history behind it. There are many versions of how Wing Chun came into being. Some say it was started by Ng Mui, a Buddhist nun who developed it over 300 years ago in southern China and named it after her student, Yim Wing Chun. While others believe it was started by a Shoalin monk in the early to mid 1700s.

Wing Chun was almost unheard of anywhere else but China until 1950 when Grandmaster Yip Man began teaching in Hong Kong and his students grew in number. One on these students was the late Bruce Lee who became a master of the form and used Wing Chun as the basis for Jeet Kune Do or the Way of the Intercepting Fist, the style of martial arts he used in his ever popular movies. I can still remember being enthralled by “Fists of Fury” and “Enter the Dragon” with Bruce Lee using amazing skills of balance, graceful and agile movements and lightening fast strikes. His movies captivated a whole generation and encouraged many to study a martial art in one form or another.

I believe many women learn Wing Chun because of its simple form, relying on position, the use of energy and angles rather than size and power. With short explosive blows by the hand and very low kicks, people of small stature find learning Wing Chun a remarkable form of self-defense. You can be effective without any massive strength at all. You actually learn to use your attacker’s strength against them. When you learn Wing Chun, you will gain better balance and speed, you will learn about how to position your body and how to refine your movements to their best advantage, mostly getting in close to your attacker. In Wing Chun the principal of the closest point between two points is a straight line holds true. Wing Chun is generally used for defence rather than attack and when first developed strikes were meant to be fatal and pointed at areas such as the throat, eyes and stomach. Many countries have their elite military personal learn Wing Chun, not only for self-defense but also for the quiet execution of the movements in arm to arm combat.

It does not take long to learn Wing Chun, in fact it is quicker than most other forms and you can learn to defend yourself in a fairly shot period of time, but true of all martial arts you can practice it for the rest of your life. When you learn wing Chun you also gain health benefits as the meditative side of Wing Chun is a great stress reliever as Wing Chun is also about using your mind, learning to control impulses, relax into the movement and sense your balance, strength and power. As your fitness levels improve so to does your overall health.

Whether you learn Wing Chun for self-defense, sport or simply as an exercise and meditation tool it will be a valuable asset for the rest of your life.



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Martial Arts: Physical Techniques And Mental Discipline, Part 1

Friday, June 18th, 2010
Adrian Adams asked:


Martial Arts is the combination of physical techniques and mental discipline. It is used for self defense, body strengthening, relaxation, and even competition. Women often take martial arts classes to learn moves that will help them in the event of an attack. The moves of Martial Arts are designed for even a small woman to use them effectively.

The arms and legs are used in Martial Arts moves. Practicing them will help you get fit and strengthen your body. Doing these moves will also help relax your mind. There are many different types of martial arts including karate and tae kwon do. Karate involves various kicks and punches. The goal of karate is to defend rather than to hurt the other person. Tae kwon do is the most commonly used type of martial arts. The moves are very graceful and requires exceptional coordination.

The level of skill varies greatly in martial arts, from beginners to experts. Martial Arts competitions are very popular. In addition to karate and tae kwon do, kickboxing competitions are very popular as well.

Martial arts is a great sport for children of all ages to participate in. They will get fit, learn about self discipline, and have some basic skills for defending themselves. It can help with behavior issues too including a short attention span, following directions, and communication style.

There are many variations of the martial arts. It is important to identify the types of techniques and trainings that will be used in a class before you sign up. The instructor can help you determine if it is right for you. There are also martial arts videos you can purchase to use at home. This is a great way to pick up skills in the privacy of your home. It is also great for those with a hectic schedule.



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Martial Arts And Self Defense

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
sunshine03 asked:


There is a serious, even deadly problem in the world of martial arts and self defense.

Most people assume that if someone has their black belt or competes in martial arts competitions that they already know how to defend themselves, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Having a Black Belt in any martial art does not mean you’re ready to protect yourself in the real world.

Over the past three decades there have been a lot of changes in martial arts and self defense, but none as unfortunate and dangerous as right now. There’s always been the “my style of martial art is better than your martial art” debate, but the problem goes much deeper than that. The critical issue is not about what martial art or self defense system is best, it is how martial arts and combat sports are perceived as self defense.

Due to the increasing popularity of martial arts on TV, in movies, more and more people are becoming interested in the martial arts, but at the same time, more and more people becoming confused about the subject of self defense. Every form of traditional martial art and martial sport has their place. They both build character and get you in great shape, but can they save your life in an attempted rape or homicide?

The benefits of studying the martial arts are legendary. Traditional martial arts like Karate, Aikido, Kung fu and combat sports like Mixed Martial Arts, Judo, Wrestling, Tae Kwon Do, Thai Boxing, Boxing and Brazilian Jujitsu will all give you life long benefits and are worthy endeavors, but will they give you the self defense tools you need to survive an all out, knock down, drag-out street fight? Do you really have to spend years and countless dollars studying a martial art to learn only the essential, proven self defense?

There is no argument that martial arts and martial sports develop character and get you in shape, but when it comes to self defense, you’ll discover they fall drastically short under the stress of real combat.



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Three International Federations Of Tae Kwon Do

Friday, June 4th, 2010
sunshine asked:


Tae kwon do is a martial art and combat sport originating in Korea. It aims to achieve modesty, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit. Through devoted training one can gradually attain mental and physical fitness. By practicing and repeating each step to perfection, we become more patient.

Self-confidence is attained through the power of one’s body and the knowledge of how to use it at any place and in any situation. Sparring helps us build humility, courage, alertness, and accuracy and develops self-control. By doing patterns, we increase our flexibility, grace, balance and co-ordination.

Through discipline and interaction with others, we learn co-operation and mutual respect. Prejudices are not welcome and we soon learn that racial barriers only stand in the way of our training. Along with developing a healthier, leaner and more flexible body, we also increase endurance through a typical training regime. The health-related effects of training are numerous. Taekwondo has been under constant evolution for over several thousand years.

 However, it was not until the 1950s that Taekwondo was standardized and organized by Gen Choi Hong Hi and the sport was brought outside the Korean borders, at first to Vietnam and the US, and later to the rest of the world. Today, Taekwondo is organized in three international federations: the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), with headquarters in Seoul, Korea; the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), with headquarters in Austria; and the Global Taekwondo Federation (GTF) with headquarters in Korea.

Taekwondo has recently been declared an official Olympic sport with the first competitions held during the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000 WTF Tae kwon do is a full contact sport where it is allowed to kick to the head (throwing punches to the head are not allowed), it is not very dangerous to practice Tae kwon do. During competition, full protection is used to protect the competitors.

To avoid head injuries, a competitor is not allowed to participate in a competition for three months if one was knocked out by a kick to the head. If the same incident happens again after these three months, you’re not allowed to participate for half a year. Another K.O. to the head after this half year period results in a permanent exclusion of competitions. ITF Tae kwon do is so-called semi-contact. It is not allowed to attack the head with full force. However, it is allowed to throw punches to the head, by using the so-called "killing-blow", stop just an inch before the target.

To avoid injuries, ITF uses gloves at sparring-competition. Tae kwon do is known for its dramatic flying and spinning kicks. The player should learn the fundamentals of tae kwon do through choreographed sequences of combative moves, the breaking of boards or other materials, and two-person controlled sparring. They also receive instruction in principles such as courtesy, integrity, perseverance, and self-control.



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