Any good Kung Fu academy in Dublin?

abarrouil · 15-01-2014 11:32pm #1

Does anyone know if there are any good kung fu academy in Dublin?

Niall Keane · 15-01-2014 11:39pm

any ICBA member Kung Fu club has demonstrated its effectiveness in competition - sanshou, which is the modern version of traditional "Lei Tai" which was always the benchmark!

http://www.sanshouireland.ie/

https://www.facebook.com/icbasanshouireland

The ICBA is the National Governing body for wushu (kung fu) in Ireland, a member of the EWUF / IWUF the ONLY IOC recognised body.

What part of Dublin are you in?

Michael O Leary · 16-01-2014 7:38am

abarrouil wrote: »

Does anyone know if there are any good kung fu academy in Dublin?

Hi Abarrouil,

We are in Blanchardstown. Come down and see if what we offer is what you are looking for.

Regards,

Michael
www.wingtsun-blanchardstown.ie

Staire2014 · 18-01-2014 7:59pm

Try contacting Kurt Scott. Dragon style (Lung Ying), however be aware that this is tough, lots of body conditioning as well as fitness, forms and sparring. https://www.facebook.com/Dragonstylekungfudublin

Doug Cartel · 18-01-2014 9:44pm

There seems to be a few kung fu places in Dublin that mix up their Daoist styles and Shaolin Buddhist styles, what's the deal with that? Is this common worldwide?

Niall Keane · 19-01-2014 1:58am

Its a good litmus test to seperate the bulsh1t made up mcdojo from a genuine lineage.
Worldwide of course - unscrupulous profiteers are everywhere!

Staire2014 · 19-01-2014 1:07pm

Doug Cartel wrote: »

There seems to be a few kung fu places in Dublin that mix up their Daoist styles and Shaolin Buddhist styles, what's the deal with that? Is this common worldwide?

Not the most qualified person to answer, however my conversations with a few Chinese people give me the impression that the Chinese are a bit confused themselves; unlike Europeans who had wars over whether one can go to heaven if one confesses his/her sins or whether one must have grace, etc. The Chinese seem to take a bit of what is good from all philosophies and work on that. So, a club could have Buddhist images or Daoist images.

However, the club I referred to earlier has only the Daoist statues. The main one being Kwan Gung who is the Chinese God of War. He was a general in the era known as The War of the Three Kingdoms. and was deified afterwards (similar to the Romans deifying Julius Caesar?). He is the manifestation of noble courage and integrity.

The other issue mentioned is separating the real Kung Fu schools from the money makers. Unfortunately, even real Kung Fu schools with long histories traceable back to the Shaolin temples can have the money makers involved. It is too easy to set up a club in a sports centre, do a few punches and kicks and take the money. It is easy to do the same with your own club, with a statue and paintings giving the impression that this is real, when it is only better marketing. There is a resurgence of real Kung Fu schools, no longer waffling on about Chi, but showing it in action. While I will recommend Kurt's club, I must clarify that this does not mean that the others listed above my post are not good, my understanding is that they are very good. It is a personal choice.

The first thing a new student should look at is the instructors. If it's a real Kung Fu school, then the instructors should be healthy looking, not fat men, and you need to know that they can do what they say. Too many talk the talk. Kurt's facebook page links to the club website. Watch the videos of training, you will see he walks the walk.

Secondly, especially in Kung Fu schools, is the Lion Dancing teams; this is a great money maker and the money should be going to pay the rates, buy equipment etc. but in some clubs the "Sifu" keeps the money (as it's his full time job and other excuses). If the club is doing nothing but Lion Dancing or Dragon Dancing, then it is a Lion Dancing school, not a Kung Fu school. Check the club out on YouTube before you join.

The third thing you should do is listen; all students will be corrected (no one does this stuff perfectly), but listen to the attitude towards each other. If a person is put down, get out of there, if the person is given positive feedback then it is real. Too many clubs exist to make the "Sifu" seem important, he gets people willing to learn, breaks their self confidence and making them think that the only way they will be strong is if they stay with him.

Doug Cartel · 19-01-2014 1:28pm

Staire2014 wrote: »

Not the most qualified person to answer, however my conversations with a few Chinese people give me the impression that the Chinese are a bit confused themselves; unlike Europeans who had wars over whether one can go to heaven if one confesses his/her sins or whether one must have grace, etc. The Chinese seem to take a bit of what is good from all philosophies and work on that. So, a club could have Buddhist images or Daoist images.

I am aware that Taoism and Buddhism have a complicated relationship. I'm not really talking about the religions themselves. I'm talking about the martial arts that come from the two backgrounds. As far as I can see, the styles are quite different, and there seems to be a few places that either have a bit of a mix, or teach a style that I would associate with one background while tipping their hats to the other background.

There also seems to be MULTIPLE places that are doing this. I'm not singling anyone out. Now, most of my knowledge of kung-fu admittedly comes from Shaw Brothers films, so really I' trying to figure out what the deal is.

Michael O Leary · 19-01-2014 3:23pm

Interesting topic so far. Traditionally Wing Tsun was influenced by China's three ways. Taoism, Buddhism and Confucian. Taoism influenced the overall principles and fighting strategies, Buddhism the amount of hard work and "suffering" required to achieve competence and it is Confucian in the relationships between teachers and students.

Doug Cartel · 19-01-2014 5:00pm

What branch of WC are you?

Most of them would claim to be Shaolin. I don't think I've ever heard of any claiming Taoist connections.

Niall Keane · 19-01-2014 10:34pm

Not black and white but.....

Internal (originating in China) Daoist, usually "soft" (jujitsu comes from two Chen brothers who moved to Nagasaki in 1600's and means "soft art", they suidied "nei jia chuan - internal family boxing)
These arts usually have a focus on grappling and counter fighting - setting up the opponent so as the classic line states: "he starts first but I arrive first".
Nei Jia Chuan said to be founded by "Chang San Feng" (hermit of the three peaks) on Wudang Shan.
Main arts today - Tai Chi Chuan (tijiquan) supreme ultimate fist - supreme ultimate is the name of the Yin-Yang symbol, so it means Yin-Yang Boxing, Xing Yi Chuan / Shen Yi Chuan - means form intent boxing or spirit intent boxing, Ba Gua Zhang (8 trigram palm) thats the 8 x three lines (broken = yin, unbroken = yang) that surround the Tai Chi symbol.

Daoist arts will have forms and training methods that contain daoist references.

External (originating outside of china) Buddism (from India) shaolin being the central art(s) (red fist, cannon punch, tiger- crane, 5 ancestors, wibg chun.... Etc etc.

Buddist arts will have plenty of buddist references in their training methods.

China as a whole venerates ancestors in a confucian manner so many cermonies such as "bai shi" to become a "desciple" and hierarchial family like structures exist in all kung fu.

When you see stuff like "shaolin tai chi" you should be wary!!! Clearly its bull, and the people dont even know that much about what they profess to teach that they cannot recognise the ludicrous oxymoron in their name!

smacl · 20-01-2014 9:22am

Doug Cartel wrote: »

There also seems to be MULTIPLE places that are doing this. I'm not singling anyone out. Now, most of my knowledge of kung-fu admittedly comes from Shaw Brothers films, so really I' trying to figure out what the deal is.

From what I've seen it is common enough for many external kung fu schools to also teach some tai chi, as many kung fu students and instructors will take an interest in it in addition to their own style, much the same way as you often see Karate people taking up Aikido.

To my mind, this is not a great idea, as the two styles often aren't that compatible, and the tai chi ends up being a watered down relaxation exercise rather than a martial art. Many Chinese martial arts already have a large syllabus, where practising more than one can be counter productive. While you commonly see shaolin schools also teaching some tai chi, I've yet to see a school that primarily teaches tai chi as a martial art also teach some shaolin.

As for taoism and buddhism, most of my God fearing Catholic educated Hong Kong Chinese friends also drop by the buddhist temple every now and again, will have a shrine to the kitchen god by the oven, and be well verse in the tao te ching.

Michael O Leary · 20-01-2014 10:13pm

Doug Cartel wrote: »

What branch of WC are you?

Most of them would claim to be Shaolin. I don't think I've ever heard of any claiming Taoist connections.

We are part of the International Wing Tsun Association headed by Leung Ting. He was a student of Yip Man as are most of the well known Wing Tsun/Chun teachers in the world.

Chinese philosophy does not play an overt part in Wing Tsun. Traditionally the art is said to come from the Shaolin temple however there are very little written records on Wing Tsun. As far as I have read, the furthest we can go back with certainty is to Leung Jan who was Yip Man's Si-Gung. (His teachers teacher) One of the reasons for this may have been that it was a hidden art practised by secret societies dedicated to the overthrow of the Manchu governement.

So the legend says Wing Tsun comes from the Shaolin temple however it is possible that someone in the mid 1800s came up with that story to give Wing Tsun a good linage. So Wing Tsun has Buddhist connections coming from this linage.

I mentioned that there is little written history on Wing Tsun however there was a rich oral tradition full of Wing Tsun mottos/principles, etc. These were carved onto blocks by Moy Yat, another student of Yip Man who was an artist. This means that the most important ones were preserved. Some of the most important of these mottos such as "Do not collide with a strong opponent" and "Hand comes, detain; hand goes, follow; hand lost, thrust forward;" are felt to have a Taoist influence.

30rock · 22-01-2014 4:14pm

Hi,

All not as well established as some of the other Gung Fu schools already mentioned we have two class a week focusing on Jun Fan Gung Fu and Jeet Kune Do. You can find us on facebook/JKDDublin

James

Sifu Kurt · 29-09-2014 2:40pm

Just joined boards, so apologies for late reply on this thread. Thank you to the guy that recommended my Dragonstyle school ( Sifu Scott)...more importantly I agree with most of the comments on this thread regarding confusion around kungfu schools. In my opinion this is done deliberately to extort cash from students under false claims. There is no such thing as Shaolin Tai Chi as tai chi has it's principles set in Taoist beliefs the ying and yang ( hard & soft)...but the term Shaolin sells and so conmen will quite happily use the term to turn a buck. Furthermore a lot of the styles of kungfu have an external and internal element to them...my own style Dragon has both so if you need to practice Tai Chi or Qigong whatever then you most likely don't understand the internal elements of your own style. This is the problem, most practitioners of kungfu in Ireland have limited knowledge and so miss out on the internal practices. As for the conmen whatever sells will be incorporated into the sales pitch...I have even heard the term Tibetan Shaolin Kungfu..lol..this is totally ridiculous but in their eyes clever marketing. So research well who you train with make sure they have a genuine background and understand their art. Always question - if it's waffle you'll spot it. Regarding the religious stuff...kungfu altars are to honour the ancestors ( past masters of the lineage) nothing more. Religious beliefs are a choice not part of joining a Kungfu school.