Beginning Kung Fu?

Question

I know that Kung-Fu is a traditional Chinese martial art and stuff, so please don't answer giving me a history lesson on Kung-Fu...

I want to learn a fast martial art that's fun to learn and good for self-defense as well as sport (somewhat...I don't care about sport as much), but mainly for self defense. I'm very interested in taking a martial arts class and I was thinking of TKD because I LOVE kicking (played soccer for 11 years) until I discovered a Kung-Fu school in my area and took it into consideration.

What do you cover in Kung-Fu? Do you work on kicking, punching, and grappling equally? What is the main focus of Kung-Fu fighting? I want to learn the art, mainly for a lot of the intimidating jumping/flipping/kicking moves.

Kung-Fu practicioners - What do you think of Kung-Fu?

Please don't bash on TKD I've read enough of it.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Well I take TKD and BJJ and if you seriously want my thoughts on Kung Fu, it is horrible for real self defense, but I bet it's fun to learn, and it doesn't have that much of a sport. You said mainly for self defense so I would definately advise you not to do that. Kung Fu is like kicking and punching with some weird moves and stances thrown in which are completely unpractical. I suggest BJJ because it's got sport and it's one of the best for self defense. TKD is also good and way better than kung fu.. search up TKD vs Kung Fu and you see the kung fu guys getting the **** kicked out of them every round they go with them. DO NOT DO KUNG FU!!

Answer 2

This will depend on which style of kung fu it is , because there are many of them and each one uses different attributes and approaches for combat. I recommend that if that school is one of those kung fu animal styles , you are going to be better off staying away from it since those types of moves dont tend to be realistical and effective for self defense or street situations , they are only good for forms and show. However , if it is a wing chun kung fu school , then that is a very good very fast kung fu style that its sole purpose is self defense and no flowery or pretty moves. So go check out the school first and see what they offer. This all will depend on your personal goals , kung fu will do you very good for physical fitness, flexiblity and strenght even if its one of those animal styles. Northern kung fu styles focus on more kicking and low stances , southern kung fu styles usually use more hand movements and higher stances.

Answer 3

do you want to be a serious martial artist or a movie martial artist.  the way you describe what you want out of kung fu, it sounds like you dont know much about martial arts or self defense.  if you want sport fighting that is ok on the street TKD would be great.  it gets you in great shape and can alow you to be confident.  no ground stuff though.

Answer 4

Unfortunately most of the people above don't know much about Kung Fu, there are many styles of Kung  Fu many mimicking animals and other things in nature. Kung Fu can be very good for self-defense if taught properly, most styles except sport wushu (which sort of does both) focus more on power than flashiness. The Main focus in most Kung Fu styles are to better one's self mentally and physically. While many styles of Kung Fu have some grappling, they don't focus on it as much as Jiu Jitsu or judo. Your also probably not going to find much sport in Kung Fu it's more self-defense based.

Answer 5

people who outright dissmiss kungfu unfortunately don't know much about martial arts. I suggest you look into Sanshou. It is a modern version of chinese martial arts. Cung Li (Sanshou fighter) fights in cage matches and recently beat Frank Shamrock by breaking his arm.  Also, look into shuai jiao. Its a form of chinese fast restling similar to judo.