training for life

The Keeper of the Hung Sing School
Chan Cheong-Mo was the founder and chief instructor of the Sei Yup (four counties) Hung Sing School in Kong Moon City, which is now called Jiangmen. He learned Choy Li Fut from Chan Heung, the founder of Choy Li Fut kung fu, when he was a child. After Chan Heung died, he continued to study…

No Stance, No Art
A primary foundation of any martial art is the stance. Whether your style is from northern or southern China, is external or internal, stances are the basis for success. Although some believe agile footwork is more important than solid stances, if you train enough in all-around fighting, including wrestling, falling, and grappling techniques, you’ll find…

Who Is Your Teacher?
It is sometimes the habit of martial artists to attend a seminar and then claim the seminar instructor as their teacher, as if they’d studied with them for years. This is definitely not the traditional way to learn martial arts. Ultimately, the person who suffers the most is the person who attended the seminar and…

Quality, Not Quantity
Do you measure your martial art skill by the number of forms you know or the tournament trophies you won? I hope not. Because, if you do, you’re keeping yourself from ever reaching your top martial arts potential. It’s not how many sets you know, or how many people you’ve defeated at tournaments that makes…

Expert or Master?
It’s time to clear up some misunderstanding about skill levels in traditional kung fu systems—specifically the difference between expert and master. Japanese karate styles make this difference pretty obvious through belt rankings that award a master-level ranking and belt only after special requirements are met. Korean martial arts, such as Hapkido and Kuk Sool Won,…