Wong Kiew Kit’s Home Page
SHAOLIN WAHNAM VIDEO CLIPS
FREE SPARRING
Senior Students of Sifu Wong engaged in free sparring about 20 years ago
Shaolin Wahnam Video Clips to be downloaded
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Many people have the mis-conception that free sparring is absent in kungfu. In fact, free sparring, known as “san da” in Chinese, which literally means “miscellaneous fighting”, i.e. fighting without following a pre-arranged set of patterns, was a very important aspect of kungfu training in the past. But unlike present day practitioners who regard free sparring as the main way, sometimes the only way, to train combat application, in genuine, traditional kungfu, free sparring has never been used to teach fighting – it is used to test or confirm whether the practitioners can fight. Hence, it comes at the end, not at the beginning, of a long process of combat training. This category shows many video clips where Shaolin Wahnam members free spar using typical kungfu patterns. None of the movements have been pre-arranged.
Free Sparring in Finland using Kungfu Patterns
All kungfu styles in the past had their own sparring methodologies, but for various reasons most schools today have lost theirs. This is a fact, otherwise they would be using kungfu patterns for sparring instead of Kick-Boxing. Records both in pictures and in writing of how kungfu practitioners of various styles in the past used kungfu patterns to fight are still extant today. The video clips here show how we use our sparring methodology to prepare participants at the Finland Regional Shaolin Kungfu Course for free sparring after just three days of training.
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It is understandable if you don't believe this is possible, but participants including fresh beginners at the regional Shaolin Kungfu courses conducted by Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit at Switzerland, Andorra and Finland did that in August and September 2006. The explanations and series of video clips here may give you some indications if you also wish to use kungfu for sparring.
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Participants at the UK Summer Camp Shaolin Kungfu Course 2006 could effectively use kungfu techniques to spar after undergoing the course for only four days! They were not tired or panting for breath and they did not sustain any injury at all, indicating that they have been successful in practicing Shaolin Kungfu as an internal martial art. More significantly, instead of attempting to hurt or outdo their opponents, they helped them, as well as had much fun, indicating that they have been successful in practicing Shaolin Kungfu for spiritual cultivation, enabling them to be considerate even to opponents, and be calm and relaxed even in demanding situations.
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How many Taiji practitioners with more than four, or ten or twenty, years of experience you know who can have achieved the following, which are fundamental (meaning very important) skills in Taijiquan?
Enter Tao.
Generate an energy flow.
Develop internal force.
Flow with an opponent’s momentum and turn it back on him.
Use Taijquan patterns for sparring.
Be relaxed and calm yet powerful and fast in combat.
Spar for more than an hour without feeling tired or out of breath – and without sustaining any injury.
Yet, you have learnt and achieved all of the above in just four days!
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Free Sparring in Shaolin Wahnam more than 20 years ago
Free sparring is an essential aspect in kungfu training. It is never meant to teach students how to fight, but to confirm or test whether they can fight. The free sparring shown in this video clip was between Lek Poh and Kok San, two of Grandmaster Wong's students in Malaysia. The video was taken more than 20 years ago. None of the movements were pre-arranged. Notice that the patterns used by Shaolin Wahnam students now in sparring are similar to what were used more than 20 years ago.
The size of the video clip I s 761 kb.
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Recent Free Sparring at Shaolin Wahnam UK
Free sparring practice by students at Shaolin Wahanm UK. The two in the foreground are Tim (left) and Gary (right). The combatants attack with only hand strikes because they have not been sufficiently trained yet to use kicks, throws and grips. A basic tenet in Shaolin Wahnam is that in combat, apply what you have been well trained. All the students shown here have trained for about 10 months, and the techniques they use in the free sparring, where none of the movements are pre-arranged, are derived form our Shaolin Wahnam Combat Sequences 1-8. Their sparring is similar because they are at a similar level of development. As they progress they will have individual differences or preferences in their sparring as they widen or deepen their skills and techniques. Later we can see how this progression takes place as Emiko and Michael select techiques from their specialized kungfu sets for sparring.
The size of the video clip is 1920 kb.
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Free Sparring between Eugene and Anthony Series 1
This video clip, taken soon after they returned from the Special Shaolin Kungfu Course in Malaysia in 2002, shows Eugene and Anthony practice free sparring. None of the movements are pre-arranged. They can use typical kungfu techniques spontaneously because they have been systematically trained to do so. When an opponent executes a particular punch or kick, for example, the exponent does not have to think of which responses to make. He makes the responses spontaneously and correctly. In our school, Shaolin Wahnam, such combat skills and the relevant techniques are acquired through combat sequence training. Those who have completed Combat Sequences 1 to 12 would have noticed that the patterns Eugene and Anthony use are taken from these sequences.
The size of the video clip is 993 kb.
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Free Sparring between Eugene and Anthony Series 2
Most kungfu practitioners today cannot effectively use their kungfu techniques to spar or fight. Some kungfu practitioners may be formidable fighters but what they use are not typical kungfu patterns which they may perform beautifully in solo practice; they often use techniques from Taekwondo and Kickboxing. Then, how could Eugene and Anthony free spar using typical kungfu techniques and skills, as shown in this video clip, where all their movements are spontaneous. The answer is straight-forward. They have been systematically trained to do so. Anyone who has undergone systematic combat application using kungfu techniques and skills will also be able to do so. In kungfu history all kungfu practitioners in the past used their kungfu techniques and skills for fighting; they did not use Taekwondo, Kickboxing or freestyle. This video clip also shows two skillful thrust kicks executed by Eugene. Anthony is well trained too, or else he would be hit by these two thrust kicks. In real fights, despite their elegant appearance thrust kicks, like the ones by Eugene shown here, can be very destructive especially when kicked at the solar plexus.
The size of the video clip is 1100 kb.
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Free Sparring between Eugene and Anthony Series 3
Why did Eugene and Anthony use the patterns and stances they used in their free sparring? Why didn’t they use Boxing punches or Taekwondo kicks, or bounce about? This was because through centuries of actual fighting kungfu masters had discovered that certain ways of fighting were very effective, and they had evolved these effective ways of fighting into patterns and stances which have been passed down to us as an institutionalized art. Can we use these kungfu patterns against opponents who use other styles of fighting or who fight randomly without any styles? Of course, and it will be easier. If you can fight against an opponent who uses patterns and stances that are the result of evolution over many centuries of effective fighting, it will be easier to fight against another who fights randomly due to his ignorance of these accumulated advantages. Some basic kungfu techniques to counter Boxers’ punches and Muay Thai kicks, which random fighters often use, are shown here and here. Systematic training to apply more advanced kungfu techniques and skills in sparring are shown in other video clips
The size of the video clip is 1355 kb.
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Free Sparring with Partner of Another Style – Series 1
Can a practitioner of another kungfu style free spar using his style? Of course, if they have been trained to do so. It is only logical that a Praying Mantis exponent would free spar using Praying Mantis, a Choy-Li-Fatt exponent would use Choy-Li-Fatt, and a Taijiquan exponent would use Taijiquan. If they use Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Wrestling or freestyle fighting, then something is basically wrong. This video clip shows Anthony teaching his friend, Carlito, who practices another kungfu style, Northern Shaolin, to free spar using his style. None of the movements in the video are pre-arranged. It is understandable that the movements shown in the video clip are slow and hesitant because Carlito has just learnt the sparring methodology from Anthony recently. It is a credit to Carlito, as well as to Anthony’s teaching, that despite a relatively short time in such training, Carlito could use his kungfu forms reasonably well in free sparring. If he continues to practice sparring methodologically, as is shown here, he will be more combat efficient in a year than someone doing free sparring haphazardly in many years.
The size of the video clip is 674 kb.
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Free Sparring with Partner of Another Style – Series 2
Free sparring, if done correctly, can be both fun and educational, besides enabling us to test or confirm our combat efficiency. It should never be brutal and hurting, which unfortunately is the case with free sparring by many martial artists today. In the free sparring shown in this video clip, Anthony uses Southern Shaolin while his sparring partner, Carlito, uses Northern Shaolin. None of the movements are pre-arranged. Towards the end, Carlito uses a Shaolin technique known as "Angry Bull Charges at Fence", which is similar to the "shoot" technique Wrestling practitioners frequently use to grab an opponent’s legs to fell him backward. Anthony responds with a Shaolin pattern, "Yun Thian Tames Tiger" by retreating his front leg and simultaneously with his palm striking the attacker’s head, which could maim or kill an opponent, but of course in friendly free sparring it is just a gentle tap. Carlito is an inspiration for those who love their art enough to prevent it from debasing into a hybrid of third class kungfu and borrowed Karate or Kickboxing. Although he is not a member of Shaolin Wahnam, Carlito can apply sparring methods generously shared by Anthony, a Shaolin Wahnam instructor, to spar using his own Northern Shaolin Kungfu. For those who doubt whether kungfu can be used for fighting, it is illuminating to know that the kungfu style Carlito is using, i.e. Northern Shaolin, produced top class masters like Wang Zi Ping and Cai Long Yun who, as recently as 80 years ago, used typical Northern Shaolin skills and techniques to convincingly defeat challengers from other martial systems from many countries who specifically went to China to test whether kungfu was combat effective.
The size of the video clip is 939 kb.
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Free Sparring at Canterbury Shaolin Kungfu Class – Part 1
It is heartening to note that after four days of Shaolin Kungfu training at the England Summer Camp in July 2005, the participants can use typical Shaolin kungfu techniques for free sparring. This video was taken at random during the last day of the Shaolin Kungfu course. It is even more heartening to note that some of the participants to this course were fresh beginners. Hence, it is understandable that the force and speed shown in their sparring were not powerful or fast, but it is a credit to them that they could free spar using typical kungfu forms. They also used all the four categories of combat, namely striking, kicking, felling and gripping. None of their movements shown in this video clip were pre-arranged. Their example demonstrates that if one has a proper training method, he can apply kungfu forms for free sparring.
The size of the video clip is 2950 kb.
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Free Sparring at Canterbury Shaolin Kungfu Class – Part 2
Free sparring today, unfortunately, is quite brutal and aggressive, routinely resulting in the practitioners being injured. This is an irony because the very aim of practicing a martial art is to learn how to prevent oneself from being injured in combat, and free sparring is a standard mean to test how effectively he has practiced the martial art. Actually, if properly conducted, free sparring should be free from injury, and can be fun as well as a good mean to develop character. This video clip shows participants to the regional Shaolin Kungfu course held in England in July 2005 practicing free sparring. It is heartening to note that all of them could use kungfu patterns for free sparring, although some of the participants have not practiced Shaolin Kungfu before. More significant, there was much laughter and comradeship among the participants. Their attitude is not one of outdoing the other person but that of helping each other.
The size of the video clip is 4430 kb.
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Free Sparring at Canterbury Shaolin Kungfu Course – Part 3
This video clip shows a senior class of the Canterbury Shaolin Kungfu Course at the England Summer Camp in July 2005 engaged in free sparring. All the participants have some prior kungfu experience. All of them use typical kungfu techniques. None of the movements shown in the video clip are pre-arranged, and no one is hurt, which should be the case, as free sparring is meant to test or confirm combat efficiency. The techniques used here (Part 3) are similar to those used in a junior class shown Part 1 and Part 2, but skill level is higher. This video clip also shows Sifu Wong giving advice to some students for more effective sparring.
The size of the video clip is 3330 kb.
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Intensive Courses offered by Sifu Wong
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times 22nd March 2006