In Search Of The Best Shaolin Kung Fu Martial Art In The World?
Defining the best Shaolin Kung Fu is a tough question
, considering the high quality of this martial art. I mean, people don't teach it just to make money, they teach it for passion and love of art. Still, we should be able to focus in on how to isolate the best gung fu.
First, even though 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 claim they are descended from the Shaolin Temple, but there is no real proof that can be verified. Still, people accept certain martial arts styles as the real deal when it comes to these claims. Thus we end up with three specific martial arts which have good lineage, and present such high quality of Shaolin technique that they can be looked to as a possible answer to our question.
There are two types of Praying Mantis styles, the north and the south, and these can further be broken down into styles. The main feature of this style is the hooking and clawing movements, which enable one to keep an opponent trapped long enough to dispatch him. This is a strong contender, 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.
A very strong martial art, but lacking some of the close in work of the previous arts mentioned, is Hung Gar. Hung Gar is very simliar to Choy Li Fut and Fut Ga, and other arts, and it is considered the quintessential shaolin style in China. For all it's strength, however, it does have certain weaknesses, the main one being that the techniques don't always relate to real life situations.
Now, of the three arts, I believe Praying Mantis Gung Fu may have an edge. However, this is a personal opinion, and one should really study all three arts and concentrate on the points which are of most personal benefit. Really, in the final analysis, the best Shaolin Kung fu is going to be that art which has been personalized, and which fits the the mind and structure of the practitioner studying it.
In Search Of The Best Shaolin Kung Fu Martial Art In The World?
By: Al Case
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