I would like to know how long it would take to become proficient in Ving Tsun?teach Ving Tsun Kung Fu if?
407639
As you say, it depends on a number of factors. Assuming you are of average skill and intellect and that your Sifu is a skilled teacher, and you stick to the 2 hours of training a day every day schedule, there are a few benchmarks we can estimate for you. \n\nWing Chun was designed to be a combat art that teaches a person how to defend themselves. So, keeping the above assumption in mind, here are my estimates for you.\n\nYou will be a reasonably skilled combatant able to hold your own in most common one on one situations within 6 months. \n\nWithin a year, you will be able to handle yourself against most opponents that today would scare the tar out of you.\n\nWithin 2 years, you should know the first two form inside out and backwards and ready to start on the third form Biu Jee and about 1/3 to 1/2 way through the Muk Jong techniques. You should have a pretty good grasp of the philosophical aspects of the art as well as al of the basic combat principles.\n\nBy the end of the third year, you should have a very strong understanding of the basics. Your Chi Sao should be very impressive. You should be working on Blindfolded Chi Sao almost exclusively. Your should be mastering the advanced combat principles by now.\n\nYear 4 should be about fine-tuning your forms, Chi Sao and Muk Jong techniques. At this pint, you should be ready to open your own club under the direct guidance of your Sifu.  Some schools have different rules for this, but usually by the end of 4 years of training, most people who push themselves are ready for this responsibility. \n\nI hope this helps.
613677
Chi Kung is an internal form of martial art closely related to Tai Chi and Xing Yi. Depending on your area, you may find somebody who can teach you, but they are few and far between. Some resources you could find on www.budoseek.net or else in some magazines which could offer training videos, but if you were to find an actual school, that would be remarkable. Good luck!
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This may help - http://www.martialartsresource.com/DA/ma_sites.html\n\nGood luck!
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The name of the school won't always reveal what martial art a school teaches or the number of styles they offer. Asking what kind of martial art someone teaches is not a stupid question. There is a styles directory on www.martialartssites.com that will describe many different styles of martial arts to you. www. wikipedia.com is also good.\n\nHere's an old answer of mine that might help:\n\nHere's what I would do:\n\n\n1. Get a sheet of paper and write down exactly what kinds of benefits you wish to obtain from studying karate/martial arts. It's a good idea to know exactly what you want to achieve.\n\n2. Go to www.smartpages.com and look up MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTION in you city and state. It will tell you what martial arts are taught in your area and where the schools are located.\n\n3. Once you know what martial arts are offered in your area look up their definitions on the net. Note the similarities and differences between each. A good place to do that is www.wikipedia.com.\n\n4. Visit the schools in your area. Ask for a free class. Make sure you find a Master Instructor who is overseen by a larger governing body.For example: Many Tae Kwon Do schools belong to the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. Verify your instructor's credentials.\n\n\nSome Martial Arts:\n\nTae Kwon Do and Karate will provide you with a great cardiovascular workout. They will also tone you. For the best results go to class around 4-5 days per week and at least 20-30 minutes a day at home to practice your moves.\nKoei Kan and Isshin Ryu are two good styles of karate. You can also look up Kenpo.\n\nKrav Maga, an Israeli style of self defense, is a superb physical workout. Around 4-5 days of Krav with transform your body. I've watched it happen. Fair warning! The workouts are intense! Take a look at Jennifer Lopez in the movie Enough. She's doing Karv Maga.
528314
Buy a book. You can learn it at home. Probably takes about 2 months, if youre interested.
364227
I started studying Yamamorri Ryu when I was 4. (Black Belt Level - 15 years studying)\nThis are includes: Hand-to-hand combat (Tai-jutsu) \n                                    Sword Skills (Ken-jutsu & iai-jutsu)\n                                    Staff Skil;s (Bo-jutsi & Jo-Jutsu)\n                                    And other basic Japanese military arts.\nWhen I was 16 I started Lung-Feng Chuan Kung Fu. (Instructor Level - 10 years studying)\nWhen I was 20, I started Tea Kwon Do. (Black Belt Level 5 years studying)\nWhen I was 24 I started Wing Chun Kung Fu. (Assistant Instructor Level)\nWhen I was 30 I started Taijiquan\nAt 34 I started Xingyiquan \n\nWhat's next, I have NO IDEA!
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I Would consider other styles as well Tai chi and sho lin. But I would sit in on a few classes first and make sure of two things. One that the class is scaled down in difficulty a doesn't go for much more than an hour. And two that the class is ONLY taught by a patient blackbelt. Often classes for beginners are given to those who are not instructors and lack teaching experience of any kind. Also talking to parents of other students wouldn't hurt. But is he personally ready, that is hard to say for sure, but it might be good to stay for the first few classes and watch. Some do great scaled down classes for kids.
1177264
I'm mostly interested in Wing Chun Kung Fu, a martial  art developed by a chinese nun during the Ching Dynasty which is very practical and became popular in America after it was discovered that it was the original martial art that Bruce Lee studied before he left China. I haven't really seen any documentaries on this art except for being briefly mentioned in a documentary or two. Also,  there isn't really much info that I've seen on filipino martial arts. They are masters of weapons and knife fighting and it is said that if you train in weapons before you train in unarmed combat, you will posess extreme skill in any martial art. Probably because it takes so much more conditioning to avoid a blow from a weapon than from a fist or a foot. They have arts dedicated to weapons fighting such as Escrima, Kali, and Espada y Daga.
519606
That's Kung Fu training.  Thousands of punches.  Anyone who takes any form of kung fu and many other martial arts will have to practice their punches as often as possible.  The more punches the better you will be.
540842
I definitely don't think it's too late. I think Brad Imes who was in season 2 of the ultimate fighter....he had only done MMA for like a year before he ended up on that show and ended up fighting in UFC. I'm not sure how old he is but I would be surprised if he is younger than 25. It is possible for you to train in MMA and compete but I think it mostly depends on you. Are you a quick learner? It takes some people many years before they become proficient in their martial art and then you have some freaks of nature who pick up things in a year or less. I have a friend like that. He trained in BJJ somewhere between 6-12 months and he got his blue belt, which I think is not bad for someone who never trained in martial arts. Anyways, if this is something you wanna do, I would recommend a few things. First of all, find a really good instructor. This is important. If you can't communicate and ask questions and if the instructor isn't able to clearly explain what he's teaching you in a simple way, you will waste your time and money. So do your research on the instructors that are available to you. My next piece of advice is you should train as much as possible. Do you work full time? Married? Got kids? You may want to think about whether or not time will allow you to commit to training as much as you need to. Most people will say that you should train atleast 3 times a week. If you can train more than that, that's even better but make sure you don't get burned out. Don't train too hard to the point that you don't feel like going the next day. Also in training, you should build up your cardio too and do exercises that use your body weight. This is what Bruce Lee did as well as many other great martial artists. Dieting is also important, maybe equally important as training. Once you got the perfect instructor and the perfect training schedule and diet, you should eventually look into competing in some small scale MMA tournaments so that you can get the experience. You may want to consult with your instructor and decide on when it is the right time for you to start competing. I think if you pay a lot of attention to all of these factors that I have suggested, you will definitely be in a good position to break into the fight scene. Of course, I don't claim to be an expert, but what I know is what I have observed other MMA fighters doing. Good luck to you! Although I personally train for street fighting and may never fight in something like the UFC or Pride, I love to watch those things and I get excited when I meet people who have an interest competing.
351439
to learn? I've been in gymnastics for about 3 years, and I have mine perfectly. On average, it took about 2-3 months for me to master it. But it depends on the person. My best friend has been doing gymnastics for about a year now, and she can't do it. Are u naturally pretty limber, i was so that explains why i got it so fast. If not it might take a while. \nNow, if u meant to actually perform a split, about .3 seconds. lol
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I've got 32 years experience in a southern Chinese style of kung fu - (a five family system of Tsoi-Li-Ho-Fut-Hung ga) and hold a Master's rank.  This is a fighting style, not show or artsy style of kung fu.\n\nAs you said, there are hundreds of Chinese styles and some are mere showiness, with little, if any, actual fighting prowess.  However, there are also many which are devastating fighting arts.  They are brutal, direct, and deadly.  It depends on the style as well as the teacher and the student.  The best fighting art in the world is useless if the teacher can't teach it or the student refuses to do what is necessary to make the art effective -  i.e, train, work correctly, and not namby-pamby about as if the name of the art itself was like some magical talisman which protects against all comers.\n\nI have seen some outstanding Northern Shaolin style fighters! and I do NOT use the term fighter loosely.  These people were world class fighters by anyone's definition, anywhere.  I've also seen some who were so caught up in useless idiocies that all an actual fighter could do was to laugh at their sheer lunacy.\n\nThe sad thing is that many schools, not only Chinese, but Japanese, Korean, Thai, etc., in the country have degenerated into sort of McDojo's - run to get as many people thru as quickly as possible with as little skill as could possibly be imparted.\n\nThere are also some absolutely top FIGHTING schools in almost all of the arts (I'm not one who believes all styles are equally worthwhile - some are simply for show or sport ) but I am one who firmly believes that if someone in a good fighting style doesn't train well, doesn't take it seriously, doesn't fight full out when it's necessary - then that someone will be creamed by someone who's trained in an inferior art, but who took it very seriously.\n\nSo to try to answer you question a bit more directly - I think kung fu (again remembering that we're talking about hundreds of styles when we use this term) can be one of the most effective fighting arts on the planet.  It can also be one of the biggest jokes, depending on which art and which student we're discussing.  \n\nIf you are looking at any particular art for yourself, the best thing to do is to visit the school  Don't make your decision based on one day.  Visit a few times.  See how the people interact with the instructor and with each other.  If they don't even seem like they like each other or are obnoxiously cocky - run, don't walk, to the exit.  Are you required to sign a contract or do they go month to month and want you there because you want to learn?  (Both have their advocates, I'm a definite no-contract kind of guy).  Do they charge you to test? Or is the testing part of what they do because they are supposed to help you learn?  All of these are things you should find out and evaluate for yourself.\n\nIf you want a fighting art for self defense, find out how much time is actually put into that.  How much into form work.  How much into weapons skill.  If you are looking for competition, then find a school which specializes in that - not necessarily stuff that's actually effective on the street - but stuff that wows the judge and the audience.  So, basically, find what you want and go with it.
401260
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_martial_arts should help.
788741
Sweetie, you can alway work on simple techniques by polish them up. I've been doing Muay Thai for three and half years, I use to be a training partner for a female K-1 fighter and a couple amateur champion back in Las Vegas. Now I train at different gym. Even with all those experiences, I still watch videos of fighters to studies their techniques. I watch how they pose their body before strikes, how they plant wieight on their feet, how they have their hands when strike, and the list goes on. Here's a couple videos of techniques that you can watch and try learn from on your own time:\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmQzrn_d4J4&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWTELOTO_NQ&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWlrGnwmCIQ&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBI0jTfI1H4&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMrzplkaSLY&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT6Pa4eg10k&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kmPhYGEqIo&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kmPhYGEqIo&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83AEG4wtyRA&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-kYbWI19uY&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtR9hGFsDWg&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWku2e6ZZUo&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h4KDpH5wYQ&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlkUlA96g2Y&mode=related&search=\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMSPU87mm2s&mode=related&search=\n\n\nNow here's a link to lot of videos of couple fighters I like to studies:\n\nbuakaw (known for his ridicilously fast kicks and excellent clinch game):\nhttp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=buakaw&search=Search\n\nSamkor (feared for his powerful kick, that's why I like to study his kicks):\nhttp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Samkor&search=Search\n\nRamon Dekker (famous dutch fighter known for knock Thais out with hands):\nhttp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ramon+Dekker&search=Search\n\nAlso if you want to look up some more fighters you can look up on www.youtube.com by type in their name, here's some:\n\nAnuwat - famous Thai fighter know for his powerful punches\n\nMasato- famous K-1 Max fighter known for his excellent combo\n\nSakmongkol- one of most feared and respected Muay Thai fighter of 1990 to 2000\n\nRemeber when you watch fighter, try study how they set their technique up, how they counter, how they move, how they evade or block, and more. Also try copy their combos and shadow box it or test it on bag or during sparring. You can learn amazingly LOT from watching other fighters.\n\nAlso here's a great forum that you can visit that will help you out a lot: www.k-1fans.com/forum
179026
I once met a monk who trained himself to stay awake for 3 weeks, but he technique was different than what you are asking. He was using meditation to change consciousness instead of sleep, but he could stay awake for 3 weeks. It was a very painful training to get there though.
716200
Quicksilver8676: \n\nBEST ANSWER!! Totally agree with every word. I've studied martial arts for over ten years. I teach self defence mixing Taekwondo and Ju Jitsu techniques. Cross training is the way to go but knowlege snf training in ANY martial art will be useful in a REAL situation.\n\nHood_12: \n\nDumbest guy you'll ever meet. Every post he makes is negative about TKD as he was screwed over by his instructor/school. It does happen sometimes. Most people notice they are been taken for a ride after a couple of lessons. Not this moron tho. Took him five years LOL
382446
I've been a student of combat arts for 22 years now...and I've taken some seriously, and played w/ a bunch of others over the years.\n\nMy two favorites have been Muay Thai simply if anything just for the exercise alone...as well as the conditioning.\n\nFor a striking art alone, it's solid...definitely trains you to take a hit and get over fear.\n\nBut for an all around art that uses everything (chokes, locks, throws, striking, evasion, weapons of all types, and a great combat mentality) my favorite overall has been Bujinkan Taijutsu. I've been studying this art for the last 6 years, and out of everything...it's flat out the most comprehensive art I've ever seen as it focuses on universally applicable principles over set "by the book only" techniques that are too limited both in mentality, and application.\n\nNot to mention, there's a lifetime of material to learn...so unlike Tae Kwon Do for example where you can learn the entire system back to front in 2 years...Taijutsu never gets old as there are always new things to see and experiment with.