Saturday 12 June 2010

蔡李佛 Choy Li Fut - a Southern style with a Northern flavour


at 0:28 and 0:32 = Mantis influence! All armswings, uppercuts, twist and turns = Long Fist influences ;)

Cai Li Fo (Mandarin) or Choy Li Fut (Cantonese), both written 蔡李佛, is a system of Chinese martial arts founded in 1836 by Chan Heung (陳享). Choy Li Fut was named to honor the Buddhist monk Choy Fook 蔡褔 (Cai Fu) who taught him Choy Gar, Li Yau-San 李友山 who taught him Li Gar, and his uncle Chan Yuen-Wu 陳遠護 who taught him Fut Gar, to honor the Buddha after which the art was named.

The system combines the martial arts techniques from various Northern and Southern Chinese kung-fu systems; the powerful arm and hand techniques from the Shaolin animal forms from the South, combined with the extended, circular movements, twisting body, and agile footwork that characterizes Northern China's martial arts. It is considered an external style, combining soft and hard techniques as well as incorporating a wide range of weapons as part of its curriculum. Choy Li Fut is an effective self defense system particularly noted for defense against multiple attackers. It contains a wide variety of techniques, including long and short range punches, kicks, sweeps and take downs, pressure point attacks, joint locks, and grappling. According to Bruce Lee:

Choy Li Fut is the most effective (traditional) system that I've seen for fighting more than one person. [It] is one of the most difficult styles to attack and defend against. Choy Li Fut is the only style [of kung fu] that traveled to Thailand to fight the Thai boxers and hadn't lost.


From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cai_Li_Fo

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