Kung Fu Books

Great book treating deep esoteric subjects.

The stories/Sage advices are simple and have a strong effect. I love it.

This is one of the first graphic novels I had ever read. The mangas are so cool but I've only read until the 5th one! Okay, I haven't read the mangas in about 5 or 6 years so I can't really remember what they're about. All I remember is Chinmi trys to get into a school/temple(I think) and he is required to go through multiple tests to get in. He is joined by many other peers and stuff happens=) really crappy description i know, but i know it's action-packed.

I bought this book to teach my kids some self-defense basics, and to give them a healthy form of practical exercise.

I haven't begun going through the book with them, but I read through a lot of it so I could be more adept at helping them with the topics.

I have taken some brief training in fencing, kara te, and more in akido. So, I am not totally unaware of the goals of such training.

What I saw so far in the book looked practical, it was nice to see some moves used from a position of being on the ground, i.e. in case you get knocked down by an attacker. It had some good tips for getting limber and building strength.

However, the cartoons and "storybook" approach in the some of the text are very dated and perhaps even useless as a way of entertaining a reader approaching teenage years (to whom I suspect this book is aiming) given the exposure to so much multi-media junk these days.

A more simple, and instructive format of image data would allow the book to be more timeless and applicable, while being less "entertaining".

Still, what I read of the stances, kicks, and so forth lead me to believe there were some good moves to be learned from applying this book. It is nice to find a book that gets to the point, for the most part, on such a topic and that allows me to teach my children.

My 21 month old daughter has never seen the movie, but she loves Po the panda. She got hooked to the phrase "hi ya!" and it was because of this book. She loves pushing the buttons and hearing the noises that come out. It's a great book for those who love Po!

Great product - very resistant (and you know kids can be good on stress testing) and fun.

I first became aware of this excellent series through Image Comics, so I was quite estatic when I heard that Comics One had licensed it after Image dropped the series. However, in contrast to the accurate translations and vivid colours of the Image edition, Comic One's version is disappointingly washed out, the transltion is awkward and stiff and the general effect is one of shabbiness.

However readers should not let these flaws prevent them from picking up one of the most exciting comic book series I have ever read. This is not for anyone particularly interested in story. Instead it seems to be aimed at anyone who has ever complained that there was too much talking and not enough action in comics nowadays. The action is fast, frequent, over-the-top and superbly drawn. In addition to this, the main character Tiger Yin a remarkably likeable and sympathetic character, which makes supporting him in his battles all the more worthwhile.
Mega Dragon & Tiger is a great introduction to the world of Hong Kong comics.

This book explains in detail the form of Shaolin. The secrets are really amazing. This book is great for the budding martial artist or just an interesting read. I was dumbfounded at the way these secrets of Shaolin were expressed. A must to get the Shaolin fumdementals known

Éste libro es muy simple en su forma y contenido pero muy sútil y delicado en el mensaje de fondo. Recomendable para quienes, han superado la etapa de aprender a pegar y regocijarse en la mera capacidad fisicamente técnica.

First of a two-volume series by Michael Staples on Northern Chinese Gung Fu. This is one of the rare Tibetan Lama styles of boxing contained in Hop Gar system. This book contains a lot of history and explains many of the popular legends of Kung fu, including the Legend of the Eighteen Buddhas (Arhants). Numerous pictures and drawings throughout.

Northern boxing tends to have bigger movements, not as compact as say, Wing Chun. There is good reason to believe this is related to the inclusion of Chin-na, or seizing and grappling techniques contained in the forms.

Instruction on footwork and stepping, Chinese Medicine, Chi, and a Tibeten Kung Fu form in Chapter 5 demonstrating the Lama Horse riding stance set. At the back of the book is a Glossary and an appendix explaining the ranking system in chinese kung fu. This book is followed by a second volume called Hop-Gar Kung Fu, by the same author.

I liked the book a lot and finished the book in one day. I liked the stories and it was a Short concise read. There were also insights into a few of the systems such as pictures of certain postures and applications of the varied lineages.
Although I liked the book I would not call it "Complete Wing Chun". The chapters were short and not comprehensive enough. Even though they chose a few of the major lineages, they did not go into as much detail as I would have liked. Maybe a little more detail on more of the principles and applications that set the lineages apart. I just wished that they had gone into more detail. Hopefully there will be more books on the individual lineages.

Don't be fooled by the bad reviews, this is a really great book and anyone interested in wing chun should get it

The title of the book should be Incomplete rather than Complete Wing Chun. The writing on the Yip Man chapter is based on the author's biased opinion rather than objective information. The authors gave three or four version of Wing Chun history which only shows their lack of academic research. Proprigating myths and legends without coming up with thesis will only add more confusions to the wing chun world.

This book differs from other Martial Arts books along the lines of "Technique, Application" etc. The book details different lineages of Wing Chun, there history, how they differ, etc. It is more of a book not to improve your fighting but rather to learn about how Wing Chun evolved so differently.

I remember seeing an article, I think by Jane Hallander, in a martial arts magazine more than a dozen years ago, with an intriguing account of a Wing Chun type style called pao fa lien. I thought it an exceptionally interesting article, and it certainly made me wonder what other forms of Wing Chun were still alive in China and its neighbouring countries. To most Westerners, Yip Man's style has become the standard when it comes to Wing Chun, and so it was fascinating to learn of the existence of other branches.
Not only is this a groundbreaking book, but it could be the start of a new genre in martial arts books. What we have here is a fine compilation of information about no less than eight styles of Wing Chun and briefer mention of half a dozen others. The authors themselves are from diverse backgrounds and styles of wing chun, and I can only applaud their vision and maturity in working together to present such a wide range of information to the martial arts public. Very briefly, they are Robert Chu, resident in California, a practitioner of Yip Man, Gu Lao, and Yuen Kay-San Wing Chun styles; Rene Ritchie, of Eastern Canada, a student of the Yuen Kay-San Wing Chun style; and Y. Wu who resides in Singapore and practices the Nanyang and Yip Man Wing Chun styles.

Since most readers are probably more familiar with the Yip Man style, I'd like to focus on the lesser known styles in this review. You'll be glad to know that pao fa lien is one of the eight styles featured in this fascinating volume, and it was the first one that I turned to when I inspected the book. We are told that the art is composed of 10 empty-hand sets, four wooden dummy sets, and over a half dozen weapon sets. The three trademark empty-hand sets of wing chun, siu nim tao (little idea), chum kiu (seeking bridge), and bui jee (darting fingers), make up the basic level of forms training. While the weapons sets focus on the familiar (at least to wing chun practitioners) long pole and double knives, there are also other weapons such as the 13 section whip, the scholar's sword, the trident, and the Kwan dao. It seems that there are two varieties of sticky hands practice within the various wing chun systems, one resembling more the pushing hands of tai chi rather than the "rolling" sticky hands that are more familiar to most of us, and the pao fa lien system uses the "tai chi" variety.

Among the other little known styles is Nanyang Wing Chun, which, we are told, includes the three typical sets of wing chun, the wooden dummy training, and the typical weapons: the pole and the double knives. In addition, it has a number of other empty hand sets, one of which seems to indicate some kind of relationship between Wing Chun and white eyebrow boxing (Pak Mei). A fascinating insight was the mention of the so-called "separate techniques." In the Gu Lao style, no use is made of forms.

The founder, Leung Jan, passed his style on in the form of a 40 point system. We are told on page 47, that "One should not simply look at the 40 points as techniques, but as to teach the fighting skills of wing chun. When the basics are mastered, a student can then do combinations and permutations of the techniques while moving left and right, with high or low stances, at high, middle, or low levels, to the front and back, and/or while advancing or adjusting the steps. Advanced practitioners can reach the level of being able to change and vary their movements with empty hands or the double knives."

I find this emphasis on perfecting single techniques absolutely fascinating, and it fits in with what Adam Hsu has to say about the importance of perfecting single techniques in his new book, The Sword Polisher's Record, where he asks: "Is it necessary to learn forms?" We are also told in the section on Yuen Kay-San Wing Chun, that some previously "separate" techniques have been formalized into training sets. It makes me think that this movement of techniques from single, separate techniques into sets is the norm, at least in Chinese boxing styles, and would seem to indicate that most styles start with a group of separate techniques which then gradually coalesce into a set or sets.

While this book is probably of most value to wing chun and jkd practitioners, I hope it will serve as a model of more comparative studies of the often amazing variety within a single system. Two related styles from Fukien, Emperor Fist, aka Grand Ancestor Fist, and Five Ancestors Fist, and on the Okinawan side, Uechi-ryu and Goju-ryu, are prime candidates for this kind of study. We need more books like this.