return to kung fu

I stopped going to classes when I started college. I practice on my own but its not the same. Now I have the opportunity to go to a club for free, but have gotten in the habit of not practicing Kung Fu.

No excuses not to get started again!

I commited myself to recover my health after the heart operation and finally started to practice again.
Changed the style from ton lon chuan to north shaolin also.
Feelin’ good!

In fact, I didn’t gave up. I was prohibited by cardiologist. You see, I’ve endured a heart surgery early this year and there are some things I just can’t do no more. Smoking, for once. And kung-fu.
Blimey!

I was just looking at entries under “learn Kung Fu” and I saw a few things that caught my eye… 1) One person said, “people who want to learn how to beat someone up should be shot” and 2) Another said…”I trained longfist kung fu for four years. To be honest, it was one of my least favorite of the martial arts that I trained… There wasn’t enough contact – it wasn’t something I felt I could use in a fight, as we didn’t do enough sparring and fight training”.
1) The first person was absolutely right. Kung Fu and any REAL martial art is exactly that… art. No one should be learning with the intent of hurting anyone. My Sifu always told me, “I hope you’ll never have to use what I’m teaching you. If you do, it should only be if you or your family’s lives are in danger.” He also told me that I won’t feel that I need to fight because of the confidence I gained. He was right.
2) I think one thing that should be understood is that saying “Kung Fu” is almost as general as saying “Martial Arts”. There are so many different styles. I have seen some styles of Kung Fu that look so incredibly different from what I’ve learned. If he felt there wasn’t enough application, it might not only have been the style of Kung Fu but the style of teaching. Our Sifu had us spar often. He also often came at us almost completely unexpected to keep us ready, aware and prepared for anything.

I used to study Gung Fu (Muk Gar Chun Fa) in California but then I moved back to Hawaii. My Sifu set me up with another Sifu over here but our schedules just never matched up. I loved every second of it and wish I could have continued. I will find a way!

Spent almost a year training, had more fun than most anything i had done in a long time. was constantly complimented on how easy i made it all looked and how quickly i picked up on everything. moved away, can’t find a sifu or style combination worth my time in my new area.

I used to play handball. Paulista Federation, the whole nine yards. Then my knee became jelly.
Kung fu appeared when I was already thorugh with the treatment (and 10Kg fatter). Boy, I started going 2 times a week and when I had to stop (moved, my money wasn’t enough) I was like, practicing 7 hours a week.
Last year I had my knee fixed (cirurgic procedure) and I’ll sure go back to kung fu as soon as my md says I can.

I stopped training Kung fu here in São Paulo about 3 years ago. I practiced for about 10 months and, without any doubts, that was the healthiest time of my life.

I really enjoyed doing all the katas. And the exercising was just great!

But I fear that it isn’t for me. As soon as the sifu decided that we were ready to start fighting practices something snapped in my head: “hey, wait a second… I never wanted to learn how to beat someone! I just wanted the exercise!”.

A week or so later I left the classes.

But I really miss the Katas and the exercise.

Does anyone know about a strictly-katas style of kung fu? Anyone? I thought so… :)