Dal 7 febbraio 2001: incursioni e riflessioni di Alberto Biraghi, figlio di Milano, cittadino d'Europa.
La scuola cattolica la conosco bene. Sono ricordi di mezzo secolo fa, ma ancora vividi. Ricordi che fanno riaffiorare emozioni antiche di rabbia, frustrazione, paura, desiderio di vendetta, tutta roba che alla fine non può che sfociare nella violenza.
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Un “oi-tzuki” tirato a settembre 1971 segna l’inizio dei miei primi cinquant’anni marziali. La lezione di karate Shotokan dell’esordio ebbe luogo nella palestra Kenyukai di Milano, in un gruppo messo assieme dall’amico Vittorio, il quale “faceva karate” (per favore: “ká-rá-té”, non “karàte”, tipo Carate Brianza) da . . .
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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 . . .
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A significant number of Hung Kuen common errors appeared as a consequence of the social and cultural transformation of Hong Kong. Back in the last Century learning some good Chinese kungfu was straight forward: select a style (Hung Kuen, Tang Lang, Wing Chun, …) and . . .
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In my 47 years (ouch!) of constant practice, my perception of the martial arts evolved. But the trigger that launched the reflection that brought to these considerations was meeting Dorillo Rota, an awesome martialist of great human value, who has devoted his enormous experience to . . .
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Agter more than 44 years training the kung fu learned from master Chan Hon Chung, I still consider the traditional methods of teaching and training as the only way to preserve the conceptual nature of Hung Kuen and to understand its fundamental principles. Some considerations . . .
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This article considers the necessity of a conceptual approach to Hung Kuen forms execution to preserve the purity of the style as taught by master Chan Hon Chung in his gym at 729 Nathan Road. I studied with master Chan from 1977 until the shutdown . . .
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You can be European or Chinese, you may have been born 20 years ago or in 1945, you can call yourself a beginner or a “grandmaster”, but if your advanced position is unnaturally low, your hip is open and your back foot points out, you . . .
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I heard of a recent flame about “honour and respect” in Chinese martial arts that hit my Hung Kuen brother Che Kong Mak. According to what I understood, he has been criticized for posting a video of him teaching Hung Kuen kung fu to some . . .
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Again with this great Hung style performer. In the previous article I explained as this video confirms my theory of of a few movements added by my brother Cheung Yee Keung to Chan Hon Chung’s Tit Sin Kuen just before the first unicorn step. But . . .
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I found a YouTube channel with a few videos of a guy performing the Tit Sin Kuen and some other forms of the Hung Kuen style. His kung fu is 95% similar to the one that my master Chan Hon Chung taught in the late Seventies . . .
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E’ accaduto un evento eccezionale l’altro giorno, perché – almeno da quanto mi risulta – mio fratello maggiore Cheung Yee Keung non aveva mai dimostrato in pubblico il nostro “filo di ferro”. Lo ha fatto pochi giorni fa in occasione della serata di commemorazione del maestro Chan . . .
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In spite of some technical inaccuracies, the article “Exit the Dragon? Kung Fu, once central to Hong Kong life, is waning” (Charlotte Yang, The New York Times, August 22, 2016) describes the profound – not to say epochal – social, economical and cultural changes I . . .
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“This is a great fact that I am sharing now, for the benefit of whoever wants to get it: in our family’s Hung style breathing in never happens while contracting the muscles or even worse executing a technique. For this reason we do not breath in while . . .
Continua a leggere“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 . . .
Continua a leggereBack in the days – late Seventies to late Eighties – when I was spending most of my free time in Hong Kong to learn the Hung style from master Chan Hon Chung, there was no the “lineage” thing, nor there was the rivalry that . . .
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“Check out one of the best Hung Ga Kyun books I had pleasure to read in years (and download a free sample here). Hung Ga Story is a memoir of Alberto Biraghi and his martial arts journey. Alberto studied the traditional Hung Ga Kyun in Hong Kong with . . .
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