“In fact, the author seems to make a very pointed argument that Hung Gar is in its essence not a technical system of physical movements, but is instead an expression of culture. He doubts the ability of anyone who was not born within the Chinese language and society to genuinely master the art, let alone teach it. In fact, one cannot help but escape the impression that for him the Chinese martial arts are “authentic” precisely because they emerge from (and ultimately reduce to) an expression of Chinese culture. Still, reading between the lines it seems that he felt that being immersed within his network of Kung Fu Brothers was enough to give him access to some of the inner aspects of the art, and make up for his own lack of deep cultural background.”
Tag: 729 nathan road
Hung Kuen stances: how to avoid the pollutions
Hung Kuen stances: a correct execution is the most important assumption for the serious student. In every martial art the forms are basically a symbolic (if not “metaphoric”) way to avoid the contaminations, aimed to keep and hand down the set as pure as possible. But every student should know that – albeit in a full respect of the tradition – a significant quantity of realism must be kept in the practice. Master Chan Hon Chung granted a great importance to this realism, that was part of his teaching starting from the stances, the actual pillars of the whole system. The old master always pushed us to keep realism in our practice of the forms, explaining that the Hung style is not about dancing or showing off, but it’s about fighting, for real.
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Tips for a pure “one finger bridge”
A few words about the “one finger bridge” and the “three extensions”. Back in the days in the Hon Chung Gymnasium in Hong Kong this gesture – so peculiar to Hung Kuen and a significant symbol in the Chinese secret societies tradition – was held in great consideration and trained with care.
Spazzatura marziale
L’altro giorno su uno dei vari gruppi dello stile Hung che si trovano su Facebook un sedicente “maestro di Hung Gar” ha postato questa foto. Sarà sicuramente un grande atleta e uno spaccamontagne, visto che insegna anche arti specifiche di combattimento, ma una cosa è certa: è tutto, tranne che un maestro (ma neppure un “istruttore”) di Hung Kuen.
Tit Sin Kuen: common errors
I had the honor to learn Tit Sin Kuen, the ultimate form of the Hung Kuen school, 30 years ago from master Chan Hon Chung, in his country house and to refine it with my elder brother Cheung Yee Keung. I kept a daily written trace of what I learned and spent a few hour asking question to master Chan with the help of my elder brother Chan Kwoon Kwok. In my old paper notebook I still have pages of pages of notes, memories, drawings, comments.
I Dodici Ponti dell’Hung Kuen: un po’ di chiarezza
Premessa. Fino a metà anni 2000 ben pochi in Europa avevano sentito parlare di Hung Kuen (letteralmente: il “pugno”, ovvero lo “stile” di Hung) detto anche Hung Gar, la famiglia di Hung (ma a me piace di più “Kuen”, perché per me “famiglia” è la scuola del mio maestro Chan Hon Chung, dove ho vissuto e imparato la disciplina). Poi, con l’esplosione di Internet, anche le arti marziali si sono aperte al mondo, su blog, video e oggi pagine Facebook. E’ comparso di tutto e di più, un diluvio di informazione con pessimo rapporto segnale/rumore, a causa del quale il lettore meno smaliziato rischia di bersi le sciocchezze che spesso tocca leggere.
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