Shaolin Longfist Kung Fu Basic Sequences

Rating:
Summary: 3 kung fu videos and 5 extra classes on one DVD!
Review: Great! There's so much to learn from this DVD. The bonus material alone makes it worth the price. There are 4 classes with Dr. Yang included. In the first one he teaches the history of Shaolin Kung Fu, and explains how the greatest martial artists of the day were brought together in the early 1900's to preserve the arts of Shaolin Kung Fu after the temple was burned. Then there are classes where he explains the history and concept of each of these three basic sequences. There's also an extra YMAA stretching class before the first sequence.

The sequences themselves are amazing. Dr. Yang's teachers were very traditional, and the sequences are as close to their original form as you'll ever find. In fact, there's some archival footage of one of Dr. Yang's teachers practicing in Taiwan from the 60's. Nowadays, these sequences are often performed in a more dramatic, but less practical way, with no actual fighting capability. Usually, the martial applications are not understood or taught, but here there are over 70 primary and hidden fighting applications demonstrated.

I have read that when Dr. Yang took his YMAA team over to China to perform these sequences, they won the Gold, and the judges were shocked to see this old, authentic kung fu performed, instead of the usual flowery, modern Wushu that is so popular.

This will give anyone a solid foundation in Shaolin Kung Fu, and will help anyone that trains any style to understand the origin of their art.

Rating:
Summary: A valuable Long Fist reference
Review: The Long Fist is a northern chinese kung fu style, and Dr. Yang's presentation sets the standard. The Long Fist forms presented (Gung Li Chuan, Tan Tui, etc.) comprise a famous set of core forms from the Nanking Central Guoshu Institute from the 1920s (and represent a real authentic martial art designed by a committee :0 ). In general, Long Fist styles form the backbone of many systems of gongfu in China, and so it really deserves to be studied.

Included with each of the forms is basic training (drills that break down particular hard spots in the form into simple easy to understand movements) and applications. The large number of practical applications (including many Chin Na techniques) presented is simply amazing.

This is mainly a reference material, as Books and DVDs do not make good primary instructional material for martial arts, so plan on attending a seminar or finding a good local school to get the most from this DVD.