The Truth About Traditional Martial Arts - PART 1- Kung Fu Report

[@vbywrde]

This is exactly right. I've trained in Wudan for 15 years, and I know exactly what you're talking about. We train weapons with equal emphasis on empty hands. But the question of "does this work?" is something that comes to my mind frequently. We can't train in weapons with real pressure because we don't want to hurt our classmates. The tendency is to always hold back, and if you get close to moving fast, you still are worried you're going to hit your opponent and injure them. But the fact is, we don't live in ancient times, and sword fighting, spear fighting, double elbow knife fighting, and so on, simply isn't something we typically rely on for our survival. 500 years ago, and further back into antiquity, it was exactly the opposite. So we are not trained in modern times to fight the way our ancestors trained to fight. I suspect that the methods they used to train for sword fighting included the distinct possibility of injury to training partners, and they had ways to train, and discover the actual skills required through that kind of training. The proof is in the pudding. The ancients lived and died by their weapons skills. We simply do not. We have guns. So aside from the cultural changes in China after the Chin dynasty, even if that had not happened, we have a new reality brought to us by the existence of guns. Small, fast, lethal at range. These weapons pretty much eliminate the usefulness of traditional weapons in the field. You can't pit a swordsman, even a great one, against someone with a gun. And so, swordsmanship as a skill has lost its primary purpose as a self defense skill. Thus, even if we're lucky and find someone who can teach traditional martial arts, it is incredibly rare to find anyone who can teach it in a living way, not, as you say, a dead way. If you can't hone your skill with combat level practice then you're not practicing a living martial art. I agree completely with this. I'm curious... you seem like you have worked out how to practice traditional martial arts with real energy and combat intent. Have you been able to do the same with weapons such as sword? Anyway, thank you very much for the video. This was very thoughtful and informative.

[@trondyne3513]

When ppl say TMA don't work.. they normally mean anything that isn't so called functional. Muay Thai, Boxing, wrestling, Sanda, bjj, Judo or combative arts that fight as part of their training are known to work...and do NOT use unrealistic drills or forms as the main staple of training...

[@rtt1961]

He makes numerous important points.

[@liamcage7208]

Interesting discussion. I've been practicing for over 40 years in multiple disciplines and a master of one. A master I had decades ago once said, "Anyone can break an arm once they know how, the true mastery of your art is to control and subdue your attacker instead". Despite the apparent hundreds of techniques in reality there is really only so many ways to punch, kick, knee, elbow, arm bar and wristlock, etc.. The same technique can be lethal force or to subdue.

[@A.SimonsensKanal]

Everything you're showing from about minute 10 is hundred percent Xing Yi fighting style - "running over. overwhelming the enemy like running through tall grass" like. Love it. From an enthusiastic Xing Yi practitioner with much appreciation!

[@mattwoolford6305]

My Taichi teacher for many years was an / is a practitioner of Yufei Wushu ( Gungfu ). Awesome power . Chi cultivation. 👍

[@mattwoolford6305]

Xing Yi....a formidable art . Just witnessing a true practitioner of this is something to behold. The cultivation of Chi . 👍👏👏👏

[@jesseyoung7855]

I've gone through a similar thought process. I also started my "training" by reading a lot of the philosophy. That's helped me think about what is the objective, what's the best way, most efficient, and what is morally and ethically the right thing to do. A lot of times I think the ego comes into play when the individual knows they are limited. If I've trained with the sole purpose of incapacitating my opponent, I'll be much more efficient at subduing them.

[@alswedgin9274]

Once again, i am amazed by your points of view; i don't think i will ever stop learning from you: no matter how hard i train or how many principles you bring! The next lesson is always waiting.. #Respect

[@michealpuckett8856]

I agree. I've said the same , many who are critical of TMA not working has no understanding of the full strength of techniques and movements.

[@aura-pprenti2301]

So much interesting. I've been looking for that type of explanation for long - thank you very much subscribed

[@williambreazeal387]

The emergence of traditional empty handed arts really took off in the late Ming. Empty handed practice started being seen as a good form of physical culture. It was adopted by several Ming generals. The most famous treatise was by Qi Jiguang, but the introduction of empty handed practice into military training was done by earlier Ming generals. The following systems are just some of the ones codified by the Ming generals: Bafanquan, Tan Tui, Huaquan, Taizu Changquan, Hongquan (Liu Bu Jia). These latter two formed the technique basis for Song Shaolin.

[@davechesser9062]

And what most people don't realize is that Qi Ji-guang abandoned that approach when he updated his famous book a few years later. The chapter on empty-handed practice got taken out because he considered it insufficient for his needs.

[@felixt1470]

Can either one of you quote your source? Tks.

[@davechesser9062]

@@felixt1470 here you go kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnupiZ16ftt6q68

[@williambreazeal387]

@@felixt1470 Gyves, “An English Translation of General Qi Jiguang's” "Quanjing Jieyao Pian"”, Shahar, “The Shaolin Monastery”

[@jazz8386]

Sifu Adam thank you for your enlightenment.

[@williambreazeal387]

For sparring with weapons, this was present in the Guoshuguans and ad such probably persisted into the late 30’s and possibly even early 40’s. The Ma family continued this tradition and experimented with a range of protective gear and sparring modified weaponry to increase the realism in weapon sparring. This persists to this day in the Ma lineages. I know they developed gear and rule sets for at least Jian and Miao Dao. I would imagine something similar was at least attempted for spear and Dao given how well liked these weapons were by Ma Yingtu and Ma Fengtu. As an aside, the Ma family started a Bruce Lee research group (they admired Lee’s skills and attainments and were interested in his training methods and martial philosophy) as one of their efforts and also met with Muhammad Ali (Ma Xianda).

[@adam28171]

Really interesting views as always. Would be interested learning more about the Chi Na material. And Adam’s opinion on pre war Chinese empty hand styles. I believe the pre war arts of empty hand were meant to Disable, maim or kill but seems the martial arts taught for the last 75 years have lost this and become for discipline, fitness and sport. Hence why peoples view of TMA’s not being effective anymore. What are Adam’s views on this topic?

[@eileenfabri5497]

Excellently explained! I'm also Hakka fist. Again, Excellent! Tony out. Peace.

[@edwardhenne3204]

As usual I enjoyed your video. To share a little anecdote connected to the video - I was training and teaching in a bagua school and there was a young man training with us. In this bagua school you are being taught how to control and fight multiple opponents. However, BJJ came to our town and he quit us and began training BJJ. After a time training he was jumped by two guys in a park. He took one to the ground while the other attacked him kicking him in his head. He ended up in the hospital with brain damage. The moral of the story is "people are good at what they do". BJJ is a great mono e mono art, but on the street with one or more opponents it's not effective. Likewise, many Chinese martial arts do not have ground fighting because they were battlefield arts. So the idea is if you go down there's a good chance you're done - someone is going to stab you. We did have dit dong sets in my northern mantis system. But dit dong only teaches you how to attack on the ground and get up to continue in the battle. So, a lot of Chinese arts have to be adjusted for UFC types of contests.

[@wutan_nj]

Agreed 💯

[@RobertAgarHutton]

Thanks - Looking forward to part 2.

[@LeadingIndicator]

VERY RESPECTABLE, AND ON POINT. THANKS FOR THIS HIGH-QUALITY UPLOAD. BEST WISHES TO YOU FOR 2023. 🧸

[@JKDVIPER]

11:23 I like it. My only reservation is, the way you have Chris enter isn’t much like a real street fight? Because most people swing wide looping shots and they tackle. Nobody sticks his arm out to meet with your bridging arm. But I’m not saying it’s wrong. Just thinking that, maybe it’s way more realistic to have Chris do a random action. 💥💯

[@michaelharris6153]

Can’t wait til part 2. Very insightful

[@9usuck0]

I just had a 3 week argument on KZbin about someone saying kung fu doesn't work. I proved his point wrong in like 5 back and forths. But his ego was too fragile to let it go so I just kept replying to waste his time. I do enjoy the salt from someone who is upset that he was wrong and couldn't let it go.

[@farkinarkin5099]

LOL. You are too patient. I don't even bother with people like that. Thanks, though.

[@9usuck0]

@@farkinarkin5099 It is less about having patients and more closer to enjoying the amount of butt hurt from them. I enjoy making people angry that they have their egos challenged. Because their anger is so easily fixed by just looking into why the think that and doing just a little research into. Just asking themselves "Do I actually know anything I'm saying? No, could he be right?".

[@mattwoolford6305]

An awesome video . Made absolute sense to me . Thankyou for the thorough explanation and demonstration of . 👏👏👏

[@curtisweber5257]

I must admit I thought your 1st few videos I saw were sped up, I don't have that delusion anymore! You are so incredibly fast Adam. Do you have speed training tips? Can someone train to become as fast as you?

[@DarinWaugh2x]

Great video, thanks Adam!

[@Jusangen]

Really enjoyed this one. And really interesting about the shaping of Chinese martial arts by outside forces. Appreciated you mentioning FMA too. Seems very similar to how you move and from my experience of it, I think they would agree in a lot of points! Take care and keep it up!

[@AjaychinuShah]

WUSHU is invented by Computer Science not ''' Outside ''' Forces '!

[@danielwhyte9172]

Great explanation and beautiful technique. Adam is the real deal

[@christianboddum8783]

So much sense here, love it!

[@asarheruamenra7227]

Nice perspective Sifu.

[@Tanglangfa]

The problem isn’t TMA. The problem is only training the prefrontal cortex, aka the thinking brain, meaning forms and sparring. In a real fight, not a bar fight, but a guy trying to murder you, the amygdala takes over and you’ve either trained properly and it comes out or you don’t and you freeze. There’s no in between. This is why the military trains by screaming at you from day 1. You have to learn correct responses to fight or flight and that starts with not locking up. Sadly, that means becoming used to traumatic experiences. Most 99.9% of instructors aren’t willing to do that or even know how bc lawsuits are a thing.

[@HappyCommando92494]

Mars is the Roman god of war, but yeah Aries is his Greek counterpart vice/versa. And it makes perfect sense for martial to be derived from it. I always find that fascinating.

[@alsindtube]

Great explanations, thanks!

[@stevejuszczak9402]

Happy Holidays Master Chan

[@KungFuTweety1]

Well said! Bravo!

[@ianweir2115]

devastating... but I was I was taught,, DO NOT ENGAGE> unless you have to. and you better understand what that is. "By learning how to fight, we learn how NOT to fight." What that means is this isn't for a trophy , no rules, just survival. Your opponent will never be the same again. I found that my Ego went away, and humility was left. which took most of my fear away. Its a Great art.

[@thesheepstationcook8266]

It started in Ancient Greece - Pankration - it was taken to Asia by Alexander the Great - it was associated with Buddhism which is a Greco-Indian Religion and Bodhidharma a Greek

[@OldBadger1]

Exactly why I gave up Kung Fu (10years) And went to a combination of Kali,Combatives and Wrestling. The real world.

[@johntay3831]

Bruce Lee learned traditional arts but never conforms on a single idea. Martial arts techniques must adapt according to the person you are fighting with. If you see champion kickboxers and boxers, most of them don’t have a fixed style, they go with the flow.

[@benconforzi5696]

3:01 unless you live in the Baki Hanma universe. Then you go to war empty handed. Against armed enemy soldiers And some how managed to win that war. While suffering no Casualties on your end. Manga Author Keisuke Itagaki logic not mine.

[@_Pauper_]

i notice a positive trend of teachers bulking up their TMA less cosplay more thumping.

[@entubadao]

This was so valuable. Thanks, sifu Chan.

[@XialoreMiaoCiao]

Loge from Italy! 1rst time I saw a wushu kid multiple jumps and land without any energy in it shocked me, I am natural athletic as a cow but somehow talented for feel as chi as living pain 😂and wing chun's principles baji-filled I learned when I was a kid and defense tactic bec9me " wu shin" fight that let me risked for me to go in jail at16yo

[@cornellcoleman3765]

What do you think of Lok Yiu Wing Chun?

[@djs7734]

I love how you think you can put someone on the floor by gently pushing them over. Here I am wasting years learning throws in judo when I cold have won every judo competition I ever entered with the 'gently push them over' technique.

[@Sixth-Venom]

Add modern and traditional kicks, and all traditional styles become a lot scarier!

[@williambreazeal387]

Other than the Ming generals, there was a second influx of empty handed systems into China that took place around the mid to late 1600s. These were animal systems (ex. crane, snake, tiger, leopard). These entered in along the Silk Road and were first recorded as being practiced in Gansu. These systems resemble the old Hindu fighting arts (pre Gatka) practiced from around the 700s to the mid 1800s in India.

[@williambreazeal387]

The suppression of martial arts in China was highly non uniform. For example, in Beijing the practice was not suppressed and in Xi’an, the practice flourished. The biggest atrocities tended to take place in the countryside. In the Chen Taijiquan lineage, during the great famine, most of the masters left Chen village and Zhaobao. Many settled in Xi’an. The Da Jia lineage went to Beijing. It’s only when they tried to return to their villages that they were persecuted. Even in Chen village the enforcement wasn’t top down. The governor of that are wanted to restore Taiji to the village and managed to convince two of the Da Jia masters to return. The persecution in that case was at the hands of the local militia. Eventually they overrode the governor and persecuted Taiji practitioners in the area for over a decade.

[@ytb460]

In Beijing they had to change how they practiced and do it for health. Some were sent into the outskirts and could continue in their small house in the middle of nowhere. Wangxiangzhai, famous student of binghi had to do health practice then was made homeless and ended up hiding in a students house in Tianjin.

[@williambreazeal387]

@@ytb460 Persecution was so uneven you have to look at individual circumstances. You can have two practitioners in the same general lineage in the same community being treated radically differently.

[@AjaychinuShah]

History, 13.8 B YEARS, amongst our JR., Abstinence and reverse or backward potentiation, has been ALWAYS controversial. Similar BOW AND ARROW with its (naught) ELASTIC Energy later FORCE.

[@Shiresgammai]

The vast majority of "traditional" martial arts were created in the 19th century. There are very few genuinely old martial arts.

[@houseofkungfu2543]

I've actually been waiting for this topic. But Adam what about arts llike Hakka fist where the moves are very lethal in essence

[@deker0954]

It's all exercise. Boxing is about fighting. Guns are about killing.

[@charlesdacosta2446]

What you call traditional, i would call ancient, and what we have today are traditional, and the modern stuff (like wushu and sanda) - what is being developed today (the modern stuff) are specialization or they are trying to go back to what was traditional martial arts, e.g., karate ( China hands) before its adaption by the Japanese budo..association. Traditional martial arts were complete fighting systems that were used in dueling and bloodsport. Meaning they have allready left the military. The ancient martial arts were used by the military before the avent of guns.

[@benjaminbecker8508]

Poor Chris

[@JasonLaveKnotts]

Nice mouse stepping in the opening clip.

[@jimskiuk305]

You sound a lot like a kung fu al pacino with your vocal man 🤌🙌👏

[@tombouie]

Thks but traditional martial arts tries to transcend the exclusive focus on fighting/crippling/killing/etc. Of course some do it well & some suck at it ;). For example most of modern technology originates from endless war (ex: nuke mutually assured destruction aka MAD). However only in last half century have global economics started to trump our obsession with endless wars/conflicts. Yeaps there's much better things to do than focusing-on endlessly killing each other. Oh, I'm an old retired soldier and done wing chun do under DeMile's lineage, a pre-war style of okinawan jitsu, & endless tai chi. Really I should have ended-up dead many times over or with a broken mind/body (ex: there are a billion-ways to quickly/slowly become crippled/die ;). By some miracle endless peaceful martial arts has kept me alive/well and I'll probably live pass a hundred. For ex: I've found if you're fighting, you & your opponent are already losers (& just don't know it yet) and you both are just fighting about who'll get the bragging-rights. Only fight if cornered (so make it efficient/quick). Ironically, the best way to never get cornered is endless peaceful martial arts.

[@batmonkey]

Beautiful comment, thank you

[@clouddragon8673]

Agreed, very good comment

[@TheGoldenWildcat]

Rather than what ‘traditional martial arts’ should be called for what its common name is, it should be recalled as ‘conservative martial arts’.

[@wtplushg]

Xin or qin dynasty

[@fredricclack7137]

Kung Fu OVER Wu Shu! ☯️

[@bobocacco]

Scott Rodell at Great River Taoist Centre teaches Chinese Swordsmanship from the Michuan Yang style Tai Chi tradition. Sparring with wooden swords is an essential aspect of his training.

[@AjaychinuShah]

Kung FU great for Military apps when surrounded ... see Star Wars and Chinese Monk just drops half the Storm Troopers, later dies sadly.

[@mikehunt9884]

modern wushu, like the compulsory forms from the competitions, is actually a modern martial art. and its even more useless than traditional martial art like hung kuen, or even norther styles like xing yi, bajiquan or ba gua. If you know anything about the history of chinese martial arts, you would know that all these compulsory modern wushu forms are bastardized versions of traditional forms, just so they can claim that their modern wushu has historical relevancy. But they took out all of the "martial" part, then it just becomes a dance. Or maybe you want to learn how to do pretty butterfly kicks and flips so you can be the next jet li.. Now, as far as does it work in real combat or not, its debatable, personally i think theres always a place for traditional martial art, just for health benefits alone, but its also about learning about chinese culture. But modern wushu? nah.

[@U.W.Y.H.L.]

What about the “internal” aspect of martial arts and it being explained by professionals as the highest state of achievement? Do you(Adam Chan) know or utilize this internal power, and if so why don’t you ever even mention it at all opposed to those who demonstrate this ultimate ability;that being all they talk of?🤔🤷🏻😉p.s. I doubt it, but even if you possibly respond to this message stating you don’t use what people call “internal” martial arts, could you please at least consider making a video with someone who does know it and thus demonstrating the differences and finally being one or the first Sifu’s to totally set their egos aside in light of the greater good of humanity to learn the truth?🙀🤦🏻‍♂️🙄/👌✌️🤲☝️😇

[@blockmasterscott]

The argument about traditional martial arts vs modern up to date martial arts is stupid. For example, no one fights with muskets anymore, but people still enjoy studying muskets. And even though a musket doesn’t have the stopping power of a 21st century weapon, I still would not want to get shot with one.

[@bilbobaggins4403]

Shouldn't we listen to people who actually fight

[@1ばかぶた]

I am sorry to say but your form in using kung fu striking techniques arent good at all. I bet you cant use any fajin

[@spookyninja4098]

This is not an accurate lesson because the attacker is freezing on the one punch to allow a response = Lets see this with a boxer attacker throwing 6 punches in a row. This is why Boxing is so dangerous to traditional martial arts.

[@LeviathanLee]

Ambidextrous Learned the Filipino styles which had combat related grappling and breaks and was used in modern warfare. Wrestling Bao Ding Chinese Grappling Boxed golden gloves 40 years of total combat training with real fights under my belt. Everything I've involved myself in has been used in modern warfare. Boxing uses less than half the available strikes in reality. Literally considers those strike angles dirty. Completely overrated based solely on Western influence. Western influence that had to beat smaller opponents in order to gain the position you mentioned. This is historically accurate btw and why you see this even in movies as a default setting. Folks just ignore that boxing had to change from gentlemen boxing to the modern version. Because they ran into the South East Asian styles that countered the whole larger Westerners beating smaller guys and acting like boxing is superior crap they used on the Chinese. Just my opinion based on history and my own experiences as an ambidextrous fighter whose encountered big mouths who think boxing is king while having just one side.

[@nelsonkyip]

This is not wing chun and unrelated to wing chun, don't mislead others. It's just basic self-defense techniques.

[@bowlineobama]

Sifu, Chan, your demo is not realistic. No one is going to stand like a dummy and let you execute all these slapping techniques. I used to teach Wing Chun and Taiji, and boxing. I am retired now. I have seen these demos all over the KZbin channels and they are all the same, dummies standing and letting teachers show off how fast they are. Let's see if all these techniques really work with real boxes or real Thai Boxers. Good boxers have good footwork, timing' and speed and they are moving and changing angles. Believe me, pak sau does not work in real situation, like trying to catch a fly with your hand. Boxer's jabs are hard to catch and defend. Even boxers can't totally avoid fast jabs. All boxers get hit by fast jabs, at one time or another, even Ali,

[@mistermindahenziandalasnus3754]

All those techniques done with a knife, substituted by that marker, would work. I know this from training it.

[@emilianosintarias7337]

Do you know that Muay Thai champs and also boxers have been among this sifu's students?

[@VlogTrungTran]

Thanks Sifu Chan!