FREE SPARRING USING SHAOLIN SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES -- OVERVIEW
It is ironical that many kungfu practitioners today not only cannot use kungfu in free sparring, they even believe that it is not possible! It is shocking that some world known kungfu masters, whom the general public look up to as authority, cannot apply their kungfu for combat, and even have explicitly and publicly said that kungfu techniques cannot be used for sparring and fighting.
We are proud that everyone who has learnt kungfu, including Taijiquan of course, from us for longer than half a year can use kungfu for combat. This does not mean we are formidable fighters -- we still will be beaten if our opponents are more combat efficient.
The videos here show course participants in free sparring. As usual, these videos were taken impromptu, and are released without editing.
The participants could use kungfu techniques and combat sequences to spar spontaneously because they had been systematically trained. If someone attempts to free spar without prior combat training, he will inevitably spar haphazardly like children.
What is less obvious is that the combatants were physically and mentally relaxed, and they were not tired or panting for breath despite having trained vigorously for a few hours. They felt peaceful and happy, and some of them even had glimpses of Cosmic Reality. In other words, their kungfu training, including the free sparring shown in these video clips, contribute to their good health, vitality and spiritual development.
We can anticipate that some may ask the following questions.
- Why are there no hits connected?
- Is this type of sparring effective for actual fighting?
- The strikes seem to lack power. Can such strikes be decisive in a real fight?
- Will the kungfu practitioners be able to use their techniques if their opponents attack them in non-kungfu manner?
- Why are the combatants so relaxed? Will they be effective in fighting?
The following explanation will be helpful.
- Kungfu combat application today is of such a low level generally that many martial artists are hit many times in free sparring. Some people even think that to be hit a few times in free sparring is a norm, a form of punishment they have to endure. This is ridiculous. The very fact of learning kungfu, or any martial art, is to avoid being hit.
- If you are skilful in sparring, you will not be hit even once. This type of training which enables you to be free from being hit, is certainly effective for actual fighting.
- The strikes are actually powerful, though they may not be rough or strenuous, because the combatants use internal force. This is a mark of a superior art. Moreover, the combatants here can control their force. Thirdly, the attacks here are aimed at vital spots. A single strike is often decisive in a real fight.
- At first a kungfu practitioner needs to get used to different ways of attacks from opponents fighting in a non-kungfu manner. Once he has accomplished this, he will find it easier to fight such opponents. The participants here as well as in other kungfu courses found out this fact from their direct experience during their courses themselves. The underlying reason is that kungfu techniques developed directly from the most effective movements of actual fighting over many centuries. By not using these movements, that person denies himself of such combat advantages.
- Thinking that one needs to be tensed and aggressive in order to be combat efficient actually shows how badly both kungfu philosophy and application have deteriorated. If you are tensed and aggressive, not only you will be slower and less powerful, all your techniques and skills will be performed below your normal level. To be relaxed and calm is a pre-requisite for success in combat as well as in other aspects of life. If you practice an internal art, the more relaxed you are, the more powerful and faster you will be.
- Age, Sex and Size are Not Decisive Factors in Kungfu
- Exercising Control in Free Sparring
- Inconspicuous but Deadly Kicks
- Advantages of Using Proper Stances
- Power, Speed and Flexibility Gained from Using Stances
- Kungfu Sparring is not Only Beautiful but Also Fast and Effective
- Gripping with Tiger-Claw
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