Friday, September 24, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Twelve Long and Twelve Short
Hop Gar Kung Fu has twelve long and twelve short hands. Many people think that this sister art of white crane only has long hands. The short hands are particularly well suited for small spaces (hall ways/bathrooms/and the like) and close quarter in fighting. Like the rest of the system these inner hands are meant to destroy the opponent and not meant to "box" with them. Nerve striking and joint destruction are also a focus of these hands. To make these hands useful it is crucial to do the iron body training and mok yee pai training to make the bones hard, the skin tough, and the muscles,ligaments, and tendons strong enough so the practitioner does not get injured when using the techniques.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Hop Gar - Street Applicable
Lots of people don't think kung fu styles are valid anymore. This is patently false. People from our school have used Hop Gar in the street (police, bouncers, soldiers and civilians) and in the ring. The problem with most kung fu styles is that it takes a while to apply them effectively. This is no different from western boxing. When you start, you aren't the best and should not expect to be. If you see a beginning boxer fight, he will not be the best. He will try to apply what he knows and see what happens. The thing that is the difference is the amount of sparring that boxers typically do. Almost every workout for a boxer contains some sort of sparring. Generally, kung fu stylists do less of this or do it in a way that just does not make sense. This is why many of the schools have now gone to teaching Sanda as a system of fighting even though they may practice a perfectly valid form of kung fu already. Much of the difficulty lies in meeting out what is useful in kung fu through vast amounts of, often times, painful trial and error. Many people do not have the desire to go through what it takes to find what works in their art. This is fine if all you are looking for in your kung fu is a workout, but if you want to have a practical form of self defense and not have to learn Sanda (kick boxing with throws - you can look to the recent Fight Quest to see Sanda in Deng Feng China as taught by a couple of Shaolin schools) you have to go through the crucible. If not, you will not know how to use your art. Many people will also say that their art is too deadly to spar. To this I say RIDICULOUS! I have not met one yet. People need to sharpen themselves on other people to know the truth.
Sifu Leo Fong Lies in Black Belt Magazine
It is unfortunate that this is my first post, however, it must be done. In the latest issue of Black Belt Magazine Sifu Leo Fong was quoted as saying David Chin (My Sifu of 15 years) slipped out the back after having come to Leo Fong's school to challenge him. I asked Sifu
Chin what he thought of this. Sifu told me that he barely knew Leo growing up. He knew that he was a pastor or preacher or the like at a local church but that was about it. He did not know where his school was at the time and never went to challenge him. The story that he tells of the fight is not from his "eye witness" account as he admits he was not there. On the other hand, Sifu Chin was the referee. He called the fight a draw when Wong Jack Man fell back on a display case. At this point in the fight both Lee and Wong had been hit hence the fight was called a draw.
If Sifu Fong has any honor he will print a retraction. Since Sifu Fong is too old to fight, it would seem reasonable for one of his students to represent him in a challenge match. I guarantee we will not run as Sifu Fong lies about in his article. This level of libel is ridiculous and must be answered for. I will be putting something on Youtube soon.
Sifu Leo Fong should be ashamed.
Chin what he thought of this. Sifu told me that he barely knew Leo growing up. He knew that he was a pastor or preacher or the like at a local church but that was about it. He did not know where his school was at the time and never went to challenge him. The story that he tells of the fight is not from his "eye witness" account as he admits he was not there. On the other hand, Sifu Chin was the referee. He called the fight a draw when Wong Jack Man fell back on a display case. At this point in the fight both Lee and Wong had been hit hence the fight was called a draw.
If Sifu Fong has any honor he will print a retraction. Since Sifu Fong is too old to fight, it would seem reasonable for one of his students to represent him in a challenge match. I guarantee we will not run as Sifu Fong lies about in his article. This level of libel is ridiculous and must be answered for. I will be putting something on Youtube soon.
Sifu Leo Fong should be ashamed.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Welcome
Welcome to Tibetan Hop Gar Kung Fu blog site. This is the website for Sifu Chris Heintzman's Chapel Hill Kung Fu school. I will be getting the site up and running as soon as possible. In the mean time you can go to Grandmaster David Chin's website www.tibetanhopgar.com Enjoy
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