Hung Gar: Tiger method by Kevin Wikse.

Kevin Wikse Hung Gar Tiger



Hung Gar is the last complete fighting style developed in Shaolin and the crystallization of Shaolin's doctrine: the fearless confrontation and subduing of evil. Tiger boxing methods and metaphysical principles align with the fire element first and metal second. Ferocity, power, and courage serve as the three virtues expressed by the wild Tiger, the heart and soul of Hung Gar Kung Fu.

Both the Tiger and the fire element are straightforward and explosive. The Tiger latches on and clings to its target like fire, devouring its host as fire on a log. The Tiger is heavy but sharp, like metal. The Tiger possesses a springy, mechanical pounce and maintains its durability while transitioning shape. As the ax head splits wood, so does the Tiger divide and separate another's power with unrelenting force.

Tiger martial applications are directed against the heart and will of an adversary. Much of the Tiger's tactics are swathing away an adversary's guard to deliver cruel, stiff shots straight to the chest and solar plexus. Disrupting the heart's functions and seizing up the lungs. From the author's experience, causing blunt force trauma to an adversary's chest, resulting in sudden heart arrhythmia and inability to breathe, ends a conflict very quickly.

Tiger training develops a uniquely rugged and focused person. Forging robust bones, thick muscles and tendons, and leg, back, and hand strength well beyond the majority. Adherence to grueling dynamic tension sets. Long durations spent in low stances and the manipulation of heavily weighted implements. The claws of the Tiger tear away any illusion of separation between mind, body, and spirit.

In Hung Gar, the Tiger's martial strategy is about entering, occupying, and controlling the adversary's space. The Spartans truly embodied the Tiger's tactics. You give them nothing but take from them everything. When they retreat, you follow carefully but confidently. Everything belonging to your adversary is a target of forfeiture. The Tiger tactic deprives the adversary of their balance, strength, game plan, health, and especially their sense of safety.

The doctrine of Shaolin is Buddhist. The Tiger shaped the Buddhist conception of what Christianity would call the devil. It was a fearsome and terrifying power that often went unseen until too late. The fear of being hunted by a Tiger encroached into Buddhist spiritual matters.
The Shaolin and the Hung Clan concluded that Tigers, physical or spiritual, natural or supernatural, would never disappear. So they embraced its spirit. 

Tigers, by nature, are hunters. Why not apply their qualities to hunting evil? The endeavors that have culminated in the creation of Hung Gar Kung Fu have proven so valid they echo loud and clear throughout the 21st century like a Tiger's roar.

-Kevin Wikse



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baguazhang: Yin Fu Fighting sets by Kevin Wikse.

Image
  The fighting sets of Yin Fu Style Baguazhnag, most notably the infamous "piercing palms," serve as a bridge for individuals with little to no prior combat experience to practice Yin Fu Baguazhang's martial strategies and health-building exercises, especially circle-walking, before the more specialized aspects of Yin style Baguazhang which generally required a student to have a solid foundation in martial arts to begin with.  Yin Fu Style Baguzhang's fighting sets are mainly separate from the art's esoteric I-Ching connections. These are fighting forms, and while the student does assume a "posture" or "body" such as Lion, Dragon (by far the most well known), Pheonix or even Bear, these postures, in this context, are stripped down in essence, purely transmitting kinetic chains of movement and acting as delivery systems for the martial payload.  That is not to say the advanced, esoteric methods of Yin Fun Baguazhang founded on the I-Ching are le
Read more

Baguazhang: The Eight Attack of the Bear by Kevin Wikse.

Image
The "Eight Attacks of the Bear" is an intermediate set of Vimana Varja Baguazhang, which develops full-body shocking and jarring effects through explosive short-power attacks, jamming, and sudden redirection of forces. Building off the unrelenting and primarily linear-based attacks of Lion's pure yang energy, the Eight Attacks of the Bear introduces attacks of heavy, sinking, and collapsing yin-style power paired with a yang mindset and attitude.  Bear expresses Gen, or the Mountain gua, of the I-Ching. The Eight Attacks of the Bear set teaches heavy-handed offense and defense methods. Bear seeks to concuss and rattle the attacker with careening shots from jagged upward and downward angles. Other tactics include jamming the opponent's attacks by aggressively occupying their space, projecting them backward with braced force as a bird crashes into a window, and a defense that redirects attacks but also sucks energy in, pulverizes it like a woodchipper.  The Eight Attac
Read more

Baguazhang: Directed Energy, First of Eight "Mothership" Palms by Kevin Wikse.

Image
  The "Directed Energy" turn-around is the "Single Palm" change of my Vimana Vajra Baguazhang's "Eight Mothership" palms foundational set. Exceptionally "yang" in nature, meaning aggressive and straight to the point, the Directed Energy turn-around features a triple palm strike employing the same hand, utilizing the three shapes most responsible for all the death, damage, and destruction palm strikes in human history. In addition to serving as a platform for launching the mind, body, and spirit into a weaponization process, Directed Energy turn-around teaches the practitioner how to direct their energy to a singular focus point, maintain it even while altering its trajectory, and toggle between right and left sides of the body. This training keeps the practitioner's mind and body active even when they appear static. The applications are great, and many not just for a martial artist but for anyone developing any practice were directing ene
Read more