Bare Forms of Kung Fu

Johnlogic121 · Orange Belt

Certain people have low motivation to train for years in a martial art but still require some rudimentary defense. This begs the question, how do you train someone in just a couple of workouts to be as good as they can possibly be as a martial artist when they might only refresh those skills you teach them on their own periodically? Bare Forms of Kung Fu attempt to answer this need. Bare forms are limited sets of movements, possibly less than five moves, which people can learn and use for effective self-defense against other people who either lack training or who have some passing skill in other Bare Forms. "Gorilla-Puma" Style is one of the strongest Bare Forms. The Gorilla movements are basic footwork and front kicks to the groin. The Puma movements are palm heel strikes to the heart with the right hand and palm heel strikes to the right side of the chest with the left hand. There is a throw which consists of hitting the heart with the right hand, hitting the right side of the chest to unbalance the body, and then hitting both sides of the chest at once with the hands to push the opponent over backwards. The throw is supposed to symbolize the pouncing action of the Puma, in which the two forepaws land separately and the two rear paws land together. I knew a man who said that he had proficiency in this exact Bare Form and from my previous knowledge I could recognize what he was talking about. An even briefer Bare From is literally "Bear Form" - the single move is a step forward with a inward horizontally sweeping palm strike to the ear. This single move is very damaging, and for an older person or someone who only attends one workout, it can be a lifesaver. Has anyone in the forum heard of any other Bare Forms, and what are they?
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First Grandmaster - Montgomery Style Karate; 12 year Practitioner - Bujinkan Style Ninjutsu; Isshinryu, Judo, Mang Chaun Kung Fu, Kempo

NightOwl · KF Sempai

seeing how gorillas only live in Africa, and pumas are native to the Americas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puma), a native Chinese wouldn't have been making either a Puma or Gorilla form. Also, a google search for 'bare forms' + search terms such as 'kung fu' and 'martial arts' led to no results. If you could please show any links or video, I would be very interested in it. Also, I couldn't find the Chinese style listed under your name as 'Mang Chuan'. It shows up neither on wikipedia's 100+ kung fu style list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_martial_arts) nor on a google search.
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Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.

~Theodore Roosevelt

cross · Black Belt

If you want to teach someone to defend themselves in a short period of time, I dont think forms training is where you will find the best results.

Your limited time would be much more productively spent learning about conflict de-escalation, signs of aggression, pre fight posturing, pre emptive strikes, legal implications, dealing with police interviews, your rights in terms of defending yourself, dealing with post traumatic stress, the possibility of revenge attacks etc. All of which can be taught on a basic level in a relatively short period of time.

Rather than looking at how animals use their bodies to fight and catch prey etc, isnt it far more logical to look at what we have at our disposal and focus on human conflict?

Johnlogic121 · Orange Belt

I don't think that the rarity of Gorillas and Pumas in China is a problem with their use in the inspiration of various animal styles. I didn't make up the concepts. The man I met who was skilled in Gorilla and Puma was a good fighter, even though his moves were limited. Lions are rare in China, except in zoos, but the Lion dance is incredibly popular and the Lion footwork is used in one of the dominant Mantis styles as the footwork model. There are hundreds of animal styles, if not thousands, as the creaturesof nature have been very inspirational to Chinese martial arts. Dragons and Unicorns are exceedingly rare in China, but those mythical styes are well known, as though those creatures existed.
Mang Chaun is somewhat rare. One translation of the name is "Blue Ship." My instructor had legitimate training and one of my fellow students was legally blind, yet learned to defend himself well. China has a population of 1.3 billion people, so there are more than a thousand styles of Kung Fu, which makes for a different style for every group of a million people. It is not surprising that Wikipedia doesn't list everything. I don't think Wikipedia lists Montgomery Style Karate, either, even though MSK has many, many students.
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First Grandmaster - Montgomery Style Karate; 12 year Practitioner - Bujinkan Style Ninjutsu; Isshinryu, Judo, Mang Chaun Kung Fu, Kempo

bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

battousai16 · Black Belt

The bottom line is, you ask the question: "How do you train someone in just a couple of workouts to be as good as they can possibly be as a martial artist when they might only refresh those skills you teach them on their own periodically?"
The answer is: you don't. I don't care how good a teacher you are, or how good your style is; without a dedicated student willing to practice properly, one can't possibly be "as good as they can possibly be as a martial artist". Regardless of dubious unicorn or gorilla styles.
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"I hear you can kill 200 men and play a mean six string at the same time..."-Six String Samurai

ying&yang · Purple Belt

Ive herd of some bare forms , mostly they have to do with some type of animal and the way that, that animal moves. For example the monkey and snake ones are most common , and also there has been some use with a tiger.
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I think that there is no 1 style , and that to truly become a great martial artist and person you must take information from where ever you can.

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