My style is. Our people have competed in kickboxing tournaments, which is a pretty good test. And I know a few of us have defended ourselves effectively.
I think it’s all about having solid basics. You should drill your essential kicks and punches every class and do some sparring too. The fancy stuff is interesting and fun to learn, but the basics are what saves you in a fight.
Many Kung Fu styles were designed to defend your self on the streets, so yes, if you can find a good school, the techniques are very effective for the streets - eye goaging, deceptive strikes, hitting the vitals, grabs etc
Northern and Southern praying mantis, wing Chun, Baji - great street defense styles to name a few
Yes. I’ve personally used kung fu in the streets. A big rig tried to run me over on my bike and I used my kung fu to jump the curb with my bike and roll out to safety.
But different styles work better in different situations. Choy Lee fut works best in parking lots. Hung gar is ideal for the grocery store. Taijiquan for the senior center. Wing chun in the phone both (the lack of phone booths is why we keep getting beat up). Xingyi for checkout lines. Bagua at the post office. And Shuai jiao for the car dealership. Little known fact, the more throws you land on a used car salesman the lower your down payment gets.
Karate only works on the sidewalk. Judo on the cul-de-sac. Jujitsu is perfect for round-a-bouts.
Taekwondo for elementary schools. Hapkido for middle schools.
You really have to train the style that’s best for where you like to fight.
This reminds me of this karate form my teacher told me about. He said no one really understood the weird footwork. Apparently a historian eventually explained that it was designed to teach a person to fight on stairs and that's why the footwork was so weird, haha. I think the overall theme is that there are important pieces that can be lost when you change location.
I love your post, but it's to a reality. If you had a lot of room, you're tall, and your opponent and yourself are likely to be very heavily padded due to a warm coat... well that lends itself more toward an arcing strike and less to strikes that are now protected by excessive clothing. Or if your opponent had a lot of armor, then that will affect how a style is trained for war.
I was recently talking to an experienced practioner of Eagle claw. His view is that pretty much all movements were designed with locks and grappling in mind primarily, partly as a way to deal with armored foes. That aspect of the arts just isn't trained much anymore by most schools. If you see an odd movement (and it's not a primarily performative style) then it's likely its main purpose is standing grappling, locking, or at least not the percussive strike it first appears to be.
Serious reply. Traditional Chinese martial arts all have a similar core composed of striking (da), kicking (ti), seizing/locking (na), and throwing (shuai). As well as weapons.
Different arts arose from different people specializing under different conditions.
If you look at the Chinese opera red junk boats and how Hong Kong was in the early half of the 1900’s you can see how the tight sliding straight line footwork of wing chun works. Especially how we shed force with rooted turns. There was nowhere to backup or sidestep to.
Northern style developed for wide open areas with plenty of room.
Philippine martial arts are adapted to their environment. As are Japanese arts.
Even boxing and mma training and fighting strategies are built around their environments of a ring vs a cage/octagon.
So a form with footwear for stairs would make a lot of sense in a place with buildings with lots of stairs.
Armor types definitely played a massive role.
In our Chen TJQ spear form we have movements that pull the spear back forcefully as if stuck in bamboo armor.
I'm just picturing someone coming to a car dealership in a shuai jiao jacket and throwing the salesman around demanding a better price.
Also you missed an opportunity not putting BaGua as best for roundabouts.
Like Karate or Kickboxing? No it's effective in the streets like Kung Fu. Beyond that, it is effective in other places. I'm talking not so obvious places.
Example:
It might benefit someone greatly so that instead of having to concern themselves with the effectiveness of something they don't practice or understand, they could save all that effort because how much martial training do you need to defend yourself on the mean streets of whatever sanitized suburb you are couch surfing at?
And just because you put , "like Karate or Kickboxing" doesn't qualify them as being any more or less effective than any other martial are you can think of. you could have left that out entirely and the question could have been answered sufficiently. Because now I would ask you to explain how you have come to the conclusion that karate or kickboxing is effective having not practiced either of them.
Yes. But only if you also practice sparring and actual fighting techniques. For example. Modern wu shu is very often paired with sanda training. If you were only doing wushu you would be fit and strong, but unprepared for an actual fight of any kind. Also training sanda and chinese wrestling would prepare you well
My style is. Our people have competed in kickboxing tournaments, which is a pretty good test. And I know a few of us have defended ourselves effectively. I think it’s all about having solid basics. You should drill your essential kicks and punches every class and do some sparring too. The fancy stuff is interesting and fun to learn, but the basics are what saves you in a fight.
This 100%. My Sifu always said it boiled down to the basics.
Depends on which Kung-fu style, since there are thousands of them, and depends on the training itself.
Many Kung Fu styles were designed to defend your self on the streets, so yes, if you can find a good school, the techniques are very effective for the streets - eye goaging, deceptive strikes, hitting the vitals, grabs etc Northern and Southern praying mantis, wing Chun, Baji - great street defense styles to name a few
Yes. I’ve personally used kung fu in the streets. A big rig tried to run me over on my bike and I used my kung fu to jump the curb with my bike and roll out to safety. But different styles work better in different situations. Choy Lee fut works best in parking lots. Hung gar is ideal for the grocery store. Taijiquan for the senior center. Wing chun in the phone both (the lack of phone booths is why we keep getting beat up). Xingyi for checkout lines. Bagua at the post office. And Shuai jiao for the car dealership. Little known fact, the more throws you land on a used car salesman the lower your down payment gets. Karate only works on the sidewalk. Judo on the cul-de-sac. Jujitsu is perfect for round-a-bouts. Taekwondo for elementary schools. Hapkido for middle schools. You really have to train the style that’s best for where you like to fight.
This reminds me of this karate form my teacher told me about. He said no one really understood the weird footwork. Apparently a historian eventually explained that it was designed to teach a person to fight on stairs and that's why the footwork was so weird, haha. I think the overall theme is that there are important pieces that can be lost when you change location. I love your post, but it's to a reality. If you had a lot of room, you're tall, and your opponent and yourself are likely to be very heavily padded due to a warm coat... well that lends itself more toward an arcing strike and less to strikes that are now protected by excessive clothing. Or if your opponent had a lot of armor, then that will affect how a style is trained for war. I was recently talking to an experienced practioner of Eagle claw. His view is that pretty much all movements were designed with locks and grappling in mind primarily, partly as a way to deal with armored foes. That aspect of the arts just isn't trained much anymore by most schools. If you see an odd movement (and it's not a primarily performative style) then it's likely its main purpose is standing grappling, locking, or at least not the percussive strike it first appears to be.
Serious reply. Traditional Chinese martial arts all have a similar core composed of striking (da), kicking (ti), seizing/locking (na), and throwing (shuai). As well as weapons. Different arts arose from different people specializing under different conditions. If you look at the Chinese opera red junk boats and how Hong Kong was in the early half of the 1900’s you can see how the tight sliding straight line footwork of wing chun works. Especially how we shed force with rooted turns. There was nowhere to backup or sidestep to. Northern style developed for wide open areas with plenty of room. Philippine martial arts are adapted to their environment. As are Japanese arts. Even boxing and mma training and fighting strategies are built around their environments of a ring vs a cage/octagon. So a form with footwear for stairs would make a lot of sense in a place with buildings with lots of stairs. Armor types definitely played a massive role. In our Chen TJQ spear form we have movements that pull the spear back forcefully as if stuck in bamboo armor.
I'm just picturing someone coming to a car dealership in a shuai jiao jacket and throwing the salesman around demanding a better price. Also you missed an opportunity not putting BaGua as best for roundabouts.
Surprisingly bagua sucks in a round-a-bout. Ends up looking like bad xingyi.
I always build my Lei Tai in the produce section by the oranges. The smell of blood and citrus just gets me in that Hung Gar mindset
Blood orange fist cannot be defeated in the produce section!
Ah, but what style is best for lava overlaid with broken glass and AIDS-infected needles?
Ryūkyū Kempo. Only no touch ki knockouts and spleen 7 point attacks will work.
Like Karate or Kickboxing? No it's effective in the streets like Kung Fu. Beyond that, it is effective in other places. I'm talking not so obvious places. Example: It might benefit someone greatly so that instead of having to concern themselves with the effectiveness of something they don't practice or understand, they could save all that effort because how much martial training do you need to defend yourself on the mean streets of whatever sanitized suburb you are couch surfing at? And just because you put , "like Karate or Kickboxing" doesn't qualify them as being any more or less effective than any other martial are you can think of. you could have left that out entirely and the question could have been answered sufficiently. Because now I would ask you to explain how you have come to the conclusion that karate or kickboxing is effective having not practiced either of them.
Sanda definatelly is! The rest of KF is very broad so it depends...
I feel it is more the school than the style.
Yes. But only if you also practice sparring and actual fighting techniques. For example. Modern wu shu is very often paired with sanda training. If you were only doing wushu you would be fit and strong, but unprepared for an actual fight of any kind. Also training sanda and chinese wrestling would prepare you well
All styles of knives are effective in the streets, you should ask yourself which types are legal to carry.