Crab Kung Fu

[Nolerama]

You know there's at least one person out there who has eaten every single animal that represents the kung fu styles. Freaky people.



A number of people have asked about it on AllExperts.com
For example...
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Kung-Fu-2254/Crab-Style-Kung-Fu.htm

Shaolin.com acknowledges it...
http://www.shaolin.com/crab_kungfu.aspx

Midway Games, the makers of MK give information on it being a deceased form.

There's enough pointing to its existence to keep anyone from knowing for a fact that it was made up. Why would Midway take the efforts to put over a dozen actual styles into the game accurately, while adding bonus content with information on each individual style, and just throw in a fake one they made up themselves and lie about it? Doesn't add up.

I can totally see why someone would be interested in how crabs fight and apply their pinch. We know they hurt...a lot. They're always ready to defend themselves. When you get close enough to one, they even take a stance, lifting their pincers and opening them, while getting ready to move.

Maybe I'm the only one that can see someone trying to form a style based on a crab's movements and defensive nature.

Okay... jibes at diet aside...

Sorry, but the facts look shaky. And a video game is fiction. And the Youtube flick showed that crabs, while feisty, can get stepped on by a large foot.

This is what I'm getting from this discussion:

A: "Is there a crab kung fu style?"

B: "Um... no... But I did hear once a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that there might have been a crab style... But even then it was a dead art."

A: "Well, that stinks. I saw crab style in a video game..."

B: "Oh! CRAB STYLE!... I remember NOW! It's actually a part of MY style. There's like 200 moves and awesomeness ensues with that style. Why didn't you SAY it was CRAB STYLE!?"

A: "But you just said it was a dead art...."

B: "It's been a long day, kid... Let me teach you the ways of the crab."

A: "Oh BOY! You BETCHA!"

B: "That'll be eleventy-billion dollars."

A: "SWEET! Cash or check?"

B: "Cash... sweet, green cash... (hehehehe)"


Maybe I'm wrong, but in my insincerity about the Quest to find the Art That Is Crab, there is some truth.

If you look long enough and hard enough, you will find what you're looking for. In this case, probably in the form of a con artist.

Tell you what: Why don't you study the crab, and make your own style? If there are people that exist that know Crab, they'll come out of the woodwork to meet you. Maybe Sanchez will award you with a shrimp chip.

However, if you do take my advice, please don't pick fights with Lobster-style fighters. Those guys (and gals) fight till they're burger.

 

[Xue Sheng]

At this point I am inclined to beleive that crab kung fu is as real as Kaio-ken.

 

[Zeno]

And the Youtube flick showed that crabs, while feisty, can get stepped on by a large foot.

As can a praying mantis. As can a snake. Humans can pretty much dominate any of the kung fu animals in a number of ways. Should we question their authenticity based solely on the fact that we're bigger than them? There isn't a single animal on this earth that we can't destroy irreverisibly.

And sure, video games are fiction, but the styles they incorporated into the games are NOT. And no, they didn't make this style up for a video game. Someone posted this video earlier on...

This apparently was released in 1978. Looks to be about right. MK: DA, which features Crab Kung Fu as a style (about identical to what is shown in that video), was released in 2002. Looks like someone beat the Doc to the Flux-Capacitor.

This is what I'm getting from this discussion:

A: "Is there a crab kung fu style?"

B: "Um... no... But I did hear once a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that there might have been a crab style... But even then it was a dead art."

A: "Well, that stinks. I saw crab style in a video game..."

B: "Oh! CRAB STYLE!... I remember NOW! It's actually a part of MY style. There's like 200 moves and awesomeness ensues with that style. Why didn't you SAY it was CRAB STYLE!?"

A: "But you just said it was a dead art...."

B: "It's been a long day, kid... Let me teach you the ways of the crab."

A: "Oh BOY! You BETCHA!"

B: "That'll be eleventy-billion dollars."

A: "SWEET! Cash or check?"

B: "Cash... sweet, green cash... (hehehehe)"

I'm sorry, but I don't see how that has any resemblance to what we're discussing here. Especially towards the end there.

Tell you what: Why don't you study the crab, and make your own style? If there are people that exist that know Crab, they'll come out of the woodwork to meet you. Maybe Sanchez will award you with a shrimp chip.

We could only hope.

 

[Nolerama]

As can a praying mantis. As can a snake. Humans can pretty much dominate any of the kung fu animals in a number of ways. Should we question their authenticity based solely on the fact that we're bigger than them? There isn't a single animal on this earth that we can't destroy irreverisibly.

And sure, video games are fiction, but the styles they incorporated into the games are NOT. And no, they didn't make this style up for a video game. Someone posted this video earlier on...

This apparently was released in 1978. Looks to be about right. MK: DA, which features Crab Kung Fu as a style (about identical to what is shown in that video), was released in 2002. Looks like someone beat the Doc to the Flux-Capacitor.



I'm sorry, but I don't see how that has any resemblance to what we're discussing here. Especially towards the end there.



We could only hope.

*sigh* I joked on the black crab vid. I'm sorry if it offended you in that way.

I guess I get heated when I think about martial artists getting conned by phonies. We've all seen variations of the "Rex Kwon Do" business model, but then there are the true fakers out there, who've operated completely on hearsay and through VERY questionable "sources." Then they take the gullible out for a ride.

I hope you now get the dialog I've written in the previous post, and understand that there are dangers in terms of business practice and "authenticity." I hate saying this, but BE AN INFORMED CONSUMER. There are lots of folks out there ready to make a quick buck.

And my mockery of this Mortal Kombat style exists only to show that there is some hilarity in the pursuit of this "Higher Power" that is Crab Style where the real power is in you to make something out of nothing and ultimately MAKING IT WORK, and WORK WELL.

Study crabs. Lean their movements. If they're applicable to the bipeds most of us are, then see how functional they are when you test metal to metal (or in this case carapace to carapace/scale/feather/fur/fist/etc.).

Pinch someone in a real fight and see if it works. Or work on it if it doesn't.

I'm not knocking you or a potential way of fighting. I am knocking the way you are going about searching for a style you found on a video game (Kung Fu flicks and hearsay aside), and to a point, Youtube vids should be regarded with a good amount of skepticism until you are able to pull off those techniques yourself.

Isn't it logical to be aware of your surroundings (as a martial artist or self defense-savvy individual), including the information around you?

 

[Steel Tiger]

A Shaw Brothers classic. Enjoy!

Shaolin Challenges Ninja. What a movie! Gordon Liu at his best.

I think, though, that the Crab style in the movie is pure cinema invention. Could it be that the guys who designed Mortal Kombat were inspired by a classic Shaw Brothers film rather than a real, living style? What's more the ninja guy lost, so you'd be better off with Crane style.

If there ever was a real Crab style it is as XS pointed out.

The thing is an animal style does not have to look or move like the animal it is named for. Some are quite blatant, some are not. Eagle, for instance, is not a very bird looking style. The name derives from an inspiration for a gripping technique. What about Dragon? We have no idea how a Dragon would move so someone came up with something inspired by the concept of a Dragon. For that matter, what about Dog boxing? If anything looked less like a dog then I have yet to see it.

I can completely understand someone looking at a crab and being inspired to develop a powerful gripping method, but I seriously doubt anyone would emulate crab walking.

You know there could be some retconning going on here.

 

[Xue Sheng]

OK I will admit it... I have been hiding the truth.... I did I really see crab kung fu (done by an actually crab) once in a friend's house and it was not very effective at all

My friend and his wife were from Guangzhou and they had purchased some live crab for dinner. One of the crabs escaped and ended up in a drawer holding on to a spatula for a weapon. However chop stick kung fu proved to be superior and a quick grab and a flip easily defeated crab fu and cleaver fu ended the match rather quickly

True story

 

[Archangel M]

I think it has moves that mimic furiously scratching at ones crotch.

I saw a Mortal Kombat character shoot lightning bolts out of his eyes too. Where can I learn that?

 

[Zeno]

I guess I get heated when I think about martial artists getting conned by phonies. We've all seen variations of the "Rex Kwon Do" business model, but then there are the true fakers out there, who've operated completely on hearsay and through VERY questionable "sources." Then they take the gullible out for a ride.

The fact of the matter here is that I posted this to hopefully find more information on Crab Kung Fu. While no one has submitted anything that could be considered evidence of it being a true system, no one has debunked its existence either. I ask Kung Fu wise members if they happen to know anything about it, and what mostly comes up are people saying Crab Kung Fu must be fake. Why? Well...uh...because crabs taste good and aren't good fighters. Compared to who? Humans, apparently. But then again, I could squash a praying mantis without a single thought. Oh well.

I wanted more information on the style known as Crab Kung Fu. If Shaolin.com mentions it, I doubt I'm the only one out there thinking that it COULD have existed, no matter how short lived it may have been. I can't say I know for a fact, because I don't. I'm not being conned by anyone, and I surely don't consider myself gullible. I just figured when I played the game that Crab was real, because all the others were. I didn't just believe it totally there...I did some research. Research told me it was a dead style...I come here seeking someone who may know something about it...but that's not how it turns out. I've received more recipes on how to eat crab than actual evidence proving either side's point.

And I'd like to be the first to say Rex Kwon Do MUST be effective. Have you seen that guy's pants? Serious business, that.

There are lots of folks out there ready to make a quick buck.

There certainly are. I'll agree completely there. That's why I've been so choosy with my martial arts experience.

the real power is in you to make something out of nothing and ultimately MAKING IT WORK, and WORK WELL.

People have been doing that for a long time. Some are more successful at it than others. But agreed.

I am knocking the way you are going about searching for a style you found on a video game

I wouldn't have searched for it, had the game not included around a dozen or so other REAL styles. I can't stress this point enough. I had never heard of crab kung fu, so I did a little net surfing to see if I could find more. What I found is that it was a deceased style. Hmmm...maybe someone at one of the internet's largest martial arts message boards would know something about it. Whoops. My mistake.

Isn't it logical to be aware of your surroundings (as a martial artist or self defense-savvy individual), including the information around you?

Yes. Isn't it logical, as a martial artist or self defense-savvy individual, to gather said information around you in the most truthful form possible?

Sorry, but the fact that crabs are served best with butter isn't proving your point, and surely isn't helping anyone on their quest for knowledge. We all know crabs are great with butter. Want to know another fun fact? So is lobster.

I think, though, that the Crab style in the movie is pure cinema invention. Could it be that the guys who designed Mortal Kombat were inspired by a classic Shaw Brothers film rather than a real, living style?

Very well could be. I can totally see that. What I can't see is how a classic Shaw Brothers film would've completely fooled Shaolin.com so badly. Maybe Shaolin.com is a fraud. I've requested more information from them, actually. We'll see how it turns out.

I can completely understand someone looking at a crab and being inspired to develop a powerful gripping method

That's how I see it. Strengthen the index and thumb enough over time, and you could have yourself a very "Kung Fu" grip, able to cut off circulation or tweak the nerves. Imagine strengthening all the fingers to that point and using them all as a pincer. That would suck to be victimized by that.

but I seriously doubt anyone would emulate crab walking.

You just can't be too sure. Could have its benefits. I bet enough people seriously doubt standing on one foot in a fight is effective. But it sure can be, can't it?

You know there could be some retconning going on here.

Definitely.

Xue Sheng, thank you for your honesty. I'm going to record your account in my notebook. If you can remember any detailed moves the crab may have performed, it would help me greatly. I'm hoping to develop/revive Crab Kung Fu myself.

I saw a Mortal Kombat character shoot lightning bolts out of his eyes too. Where can I learn that?

I'm not too sure, but I know there are places you can learn the styles they put into the game, such as Kenpo, Karate, TKD, Muay Thai, Mizong, Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun, Judo, Mantis, Snake, Crane, Escrima, Tang Soo Do, Jujutsu, Nanquan, Hung Gar, Hapkido, Shotokan, Dragon, Ninjutsu, Sambo, San Shou, Tai Chi, Shuai Jiao, Sumo, Wrestling, Tong Bei Quan, and more.

 

[Formosa Neijia]

Anyone know anything about it really? I've done some searching online, and I know it's a dead art now, but does anyone know anything really in depth about it? It's always interested me.

More garbage. When are people going to stop getting their information from stupid video games and get there butts on a training mat?

Stop mentally masturbating about fantasy BS and try training for real for a change. Threads like this bring down the quality of the site.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Xue Sheng, thank you for your honesty. I'm going to record your account in my notebook. If you can remember any detailed moves the crab may have performed, it would help me greatly. I'm hoping to develop/revive Crab Kung Fu myself.

Climb out of the pot

Scuttle across the counter

Skillfully avoid falling into sink (that bit was rather impressive)

Flip into an open drawer

Grab Spatula

Oh and I forgot this before, grab a chop stick with the other claw

Get grabbed by chopsticks

Get lower and root and fend off first chopstick attack

At second chopstick attack grab one of the attacking chopsticks (Big Mistake)

Get flipped out of drawer on to counter

And well the rest gets rather nasty; Cleaver Fu is rather unforgiving and rarely gives second chances

 

[Zeno]

Stop mentally masturbating about fantasy BS and try training for real for a change. Threads like this bring down the quality of the site.

You mean...discussions? No, I believe, in my experience of moderating forums, that it's posts like THAT which bring down the quality of a site.

Climb out of the pot

Scuttle across the counter

Skillfully avoid falling into sink (that bit was rather impressive)

Flip into an open drawer

Grab Spatula

Oh and I forgot this before, grab a chop stick with the other claw

Get grabbed by chopsticks

Get lower and root and fend off first chopstick attack

At second chopstick attack grab one of the attacking chopsticks (Big Mistake)

Get flipped out of drawer on to counter

And well the rest gets rather nasty; Cleaver Fu is rather unforgiving and rarely gives second chances

Your victory is an inspiration to us all. There is no doubt.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Your victory is an inspiration to us all. There is no doubt.

It was not my victory I was a mere observer(and dinner guest) it was my friend's Wife's victory... but then she was an ex member of the Chinese opera from Guangzhou so she did have some skills

 

[Zeno]

It was not my victory I was a mere observer(and dinner guest) it was my friend's Wife's victory... but then she was an ex member of the Chinese opera from Guangzhou so she did have some skills

How fortunate simply to be an observer. I'd say she must have had previous training of some sort, crabs being severely volatile.

Sometimes humor is just the thing to set things straight.

 

[LanJie]

As far I have been able to find through my print sources and Internet searches there is no available information on a Crab Kung Fu Style.

In my early training in Shaolin Kenpo we used a twisting grabbing strike to the throat that resembles the Northern Eagle Claw strike. It was called a Crab Strike.

I thought that it was possible that the traditional Hawaiian martial art called Lua had some Crab inspired movements but I did not find any.
Lua
http://www.olohe.com/

This is the closest reference I could come to that has a technique that involves sea creatures.

In the Kaihewalu Lua system, there are many empty– and open–handed techniques. Below is a list of just a few of the many open–handed weapon techniques based on both land and sea creatures, and are also used while in motion, as animal (Holoholona) forms:

• Heel / Palm of the Hand = Pea (Bear)
• Eight Fingers (reversed) = He'e (Squid)
• Fingers (claw) = Põpoki (Cat)
• Wrist Bone = Mahimahi (Dolphin)
• Forearm = 'Io (Hawk)
• Both Arms Wrapped with Hands Together = Pulelehua (Butterfly)
• Knee, Shin Bone, Ankle, Ball or Heel of Foot = Pua'a (Pig)

http://www.olohe.com/history.html

I have seen in contemporary Wushu monks perform a Wushu set based on the Scorpion.
http://www.kungfu-taichi.com/servlet/kungfoo/Action/Resource/ResourceKey/1386

I am not saying that Crab Kung Fu does not exist but that I cannot find any documentation on the subject.

For a long time a read rumors on the Internet of a Southern Eagle Claw style of Kung fu and I thought that the stories were unlikely. Then I found I good article and video performances on the style.

Golden Eagle Claw Information
http://www.chinesemartialarts.eu/Golden_Eagle_Style_Kungfu.html

Golden Eagle Claw Video

There is a small amount of evidence of a rare style of kung fu called fish fist or fist gate fist. It is supposed to be based on the movements that fishermen used in casting out their nets.

FISH STYLE: YUMENQUAN OR LIUJIAYI. Legend has it, that in Hubei Province there were six Wushu companions that were inspired by observing swimming fish and fishermen casting their nets. This style has many similar characteristics to Taijiquan (Shou 480).
"This style is also known as Fish Gate Fist . This a popular style of long fist in Hubei province. According to one legend, six warriors escaped the fall o the Ming dynasty to hide out in a river gorge in Huebei. There they observed the constant interaction of fish and fishermen, especially the way in which fishermen cast their nets. They incorporated these movements into a fighting style, and since there were six warriors, this style is also known as yue Men Liu Jia Li (fish gate six men art). (p.44)

Shou-Yu, Liang, and Wu Wen-Ching Kung Fu Elements Wushu Training
and Martial Arts Application Manual.
Rhode Island: The Way of the Dragon Publishing, 2001. (P. 480)

Burr, Martha, and Gene Ching, “From Shaolin Temple to Bruce Lee”.
Kung Fu Wushu~Qigong. (January 2001). (p.44)


The evidence for some of these rare styles is hard to find.

Crab Kung Fu may exist but I can not find it yet.

Good Luck.
Regards,
Steve

 

[Zeno]

Steve, thank you for that post. I appreciate your efforts to find information on the subject.

I'm thinking that if it did exist, it was incredibly short lived. But it's a sure thing that some "crab-like" attacks have been integrated into certain arts. Maybe it began with an art that never got a chance to fully evolve?

I'll keep my search going as well.

 

[Steel Tiger]

I've just had a good long poke around at Shaolin.com and all I can come up with is be careful of the information posted there. They seem more interested in ranking styles than anything else. It is a teach by internet thing and I don't think that's so good.


Having said that, lets get back to Crab gongfu. I am surprised that Lua has nothing crabby in it. If any art was going to then it would have been that one. Maybe the crab just wasn't cool enough.

A Crab style? Sure why not, afterall there are duck, scorpion, and even toad styles. However, what we are seeing in Shaolin Challenges Ninja or Mortal Kombat is a fiction. It is not effective in so many way its frightening. Whatever Crab style may have looked like, I feel confident that it didn't look like that.

If you really want to find something of the Crab style that seems to have existed and died out I would suggest going to those arts that lay claim to the legacy - one of the many schools of Eagle, or Hung Gar, or White Eyebrow, preferably all three. It is then a case of building for yourself because it looks like there are no written materials on the style anymore, if there ever were any.

 

[Zeno]

If you really want to find something of the Crab style that seems to have existed and died out I would suggest going to those arts that lay claim to the legacy - one of the many schools of Eagle, or Hung Gar, or White Eyebrow, preferably all three.

What I'm currently doing is looking for numerous sources to request information from. I'll do my best to contact some form of authority for those styles. Hopefully I get something back.

For those who underestimate crabs...why not take a look at this?

Cue the blood-curdling shriek.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

...Midway Games, the makers of MK give information on it being a deceased form.

There's enough pointing to its existence to keep anyone from knowing for a fact that it was made up. Why would Midway take the efforts to put over a dozen actual styles into the game accurately, while adding bonus content with information on each individual style, and just throw in a fake one they made up themselves and lie about it? Doesn't add up.....

Because it's a game, it's good marketing and again it's a GAME! There are no Jedi and yet there is a fighting style for the Jedi that was created for the movies based on Kendo, and a little movie kung fu mixed into it for the movies that came after Return of the Jedi.

Fights are choreagraphed for movies ALL THE TIME. Avatar has four styles that are noted, Fire Bending, Air Bending, Water Bending ad Earth Bending. The styles don't exist but you can see them being performed by the characters.

Let's not forget the 80's movie "Gymkata". Then again, I wish I could forget it.

 

[Steel Tiger]

Let's not forget the 80's movie "Gymkata". Then again, I wish I could forget it.

I was hoping no one would mention Gymkata.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Let's not forget the 80's movie "Gymkata". Then again, I wish I could forget it.

Oh no you didn't..... oh yes you did:disgust:.... Oh WHY did you have to bring that up.. now I won't sleep or eat for a week... :uhyeah: