# Hop Gar kung fu



## theletch1 (Jul 16, 2003)

A friend of mine told me the other day that he will be beginning the study of tai chi and hop gar kung fu under Sifu Chris Heinztman (sp).  Have any of you heard of this system or this particular instructor?  Thank you in advance for the information.


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## arnisador (Jul 16, 2003)

Yes, I have heard of hop gar. I don't know much about it though.


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## 7starmantis (Jul 18, 2003)

Isn't Hop Gar basically the crane system?
I don't know alot about it, but I have seen some practitioners of it before, looked very good. 
Do you know what system of Tai Chi he is goin to study, I know more about TC then Hop Gar.

7sm


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## theletch1 (Jul 19, 2003)

Not sure and I really don't think he knows to be honest about it.  He is the father of one of the kids at the aikido dojo that I study at.  He wanted to study Nihon Goshin Aikido at our dojo but got spooked when one of the guys in class blew a knee out doing a front roll (just landed wrong on an already damaged knee).  The sifu that he will be studying under is Sifu Heinman.  He tells me that the style is a tibetan style of kung-fu and that the tai-chi some how correlates to that style of kung fu.  The class is only once a week for an hour at $12.00 per class.  I have no reason to be concerned except this little feeling in my stomach.  Hopefully it is just what I had for dinner and nothing else.  I have a link somewhere to the site for the style.  http://www.tibetanhopgar.com/index.htm


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## mrhnau (Sep 14, 2005)

theletch1 said:
			
		

> A friend of mine told me the other day that he will be beginning the study of tai chi and hop gar kung fu under Sifu Chris Heinztman (sp). Have any of you heard of this system or this particular instructor? Thank you in advance for the information.


Did the questions ever get resolved? I'm looking into a group here practicing it, and am curious of others experience...


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## theletch1 (Sep 15, 2005)

No, my questions were never resolved.  About two months after I initially posted this thread he pulled his kid from the aikido school and disappeared.  Haven't seen or heard from him since.  Good luck if you decide to train with them.  Let us know how it goes.


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## Flying Crane (Sep 22, 2005)

Hop Gar is one of the branches that developed from the Tibetan martial art originally known as Lion's Roar.  According to legends, it was developed by a Tibetan Lama.  It was brought into Southern China where it became known as Lama Pai, or simply The Style of the Lamas.  One branch of it became known as Hop Gar, or the Syle of the Hero, as it was named after it's prominent practitioner who supposedly was a local fighter for the oppressed (I can't remember his name).  In the 1950s, Hop Gar branched again and became known as Bak Hok, or White Crane, but is the Tibetan White Crane to distinguish it from Fukien White Crane (ENTIRELY different system).  According to legend, the original Lion's Roar was developed when the meditating Lama witnessed a fight between a "mountain ape" and a crane.  Currently, I believe all three branches exist, Lama Pai, Bak Hok, and Hop Gar.  There are some differences, but essentially they are the same system.

It is a very long-range system, using a unique type of body torque to deliver extremely powerful hand-strikes, kind of like swinging a baseball bat, only it is your fist.  It has to be done with a tremendous amount of speed, since the long-range punches can leave you somewhat exposed.  The forms tend to be lengthy and very difficult since they move A LOT and take a lot of space, and you have to move FAST.  I practice the Tibetan White Crane, and enjoy it quite a bit.  It is probably also somewhat of a lesser-known art than others, with fewer qualified instructors.

Hope this helps, let me know if you would like more info.

Michael


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