Looking for advice on a SPM/Bak Mei club in Central Europe

[HansokuMate]

Hi everyone,

I'm mostly a judo person, but I decided a little bit ago it'd be fun to go back and relearn a striking art. During my beginning search for clubs around me, I stumbled across a Bak Mei/SPM school ( Výuka bojového umění | Bakmei.cz | Czechia | Lukas Slavicek HAKKA KUNG ) here in Prague, CZ a few weeks ago. And curiosity is killing this cat, as they say. How does this club's gungfu look to people with some training in it? I've got some experience with CMA (mostly shuai jiao and taiji from a couple of Dr. Brian Wu's old students when I was a young idiot in Chicago) and lots of experience with judo and western boxing, but I've never really studied any of other CMAs, especially the southern fists.

I'm also intrigued that they seem to spar and have more full-contact drills than the CMA clubs I knew did 15-20 years ago.

I'm not looking to start a lineage war or anything. Just looking to get some perspective on whether or not this school has something worth sinking the time and money into.

Alternately, if anyone has any recommended teachers for this area, I'd be all ears-- especially shuai jiao or other short-range arts.

 

[Flying Crane]

I cannot comment directly about the school or system, but I think it is worth exploring. Please let us know what you discover.

 

[clfsean]

Go try it. Jon Barbary in Paris is another Futsan Bak Mei practitioner as well. They're going to fight. It's what they do. Expect contact and a very physical environment.

 

[HansokuMate]

Go try it. Jon Barbary in Paris is another Futsan Bak Mei practitioner as well. They're going to fight. It's what they do. Expect contact and a very physical environment.

That's very reassuring to hear! I've seen good things written about Barbary, but as I said, I don't have a whole lot of experience with the CMA scene outside of the shuai jiao people (who have been great and very open) and the judo community in the US and Czech Republic, so it's hard for me to get a read on other styles.

I cannot comment directly about the school or system, but I think it is worth exploring. Please let us know what you discover.

I'm leaving for the US for the holidays, but I'll keep people posted how it goes when I get back. I'm looking forward to doing a bit more striking after years of grappling, so I'm tentatively very excited.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Hi everyone,

I'm mostly a judo person, but I decided a little bit ago it'd be fun to go back and relearn a striking art. During my beginning search for clubs around me, I stumbled across a Bak Mei/SPM school ( Výuka bojového umění | Bakmei.cz | Czechia | Lukas Slavicek HAKKA KUNG ) here in Prague, CZ a few weeks ago. And curiosity is killing this cat, as they say. How does this club's gungfu look to people with some training in it? I've got some experience with CMA (mostly shuai jiao and taiji from a couple of Dr. Brian Wu's old students when I was a young idiot in Chicago) and lots of experience with judo and western boxing, but I've never really studied any of other CMAs, especially the southern fists.

I'm also intrigued that they seem to spar and have more full-contact drills than the CMA clubs I knew did 15-20 years ago.

I'm not looking to start a lineage war or anything. Just looking to get some perspective on whether or not this school has something worth sinking the time and money into.

Alternately, if anyone has any recommended teachers for this area, I'd be all ears-- especially shuai jiao or other short-range arts.

Ju Ga Mantis???

If it's a real 朱家 school, and I was stuck in Prague, I would go there just to meet people.

There's no video on their website.

 

[Oily Dragon]

I stand corrected, but this not a great example of actual training, it's more of a homage to The Transporter that the school participated in.

The school instructor "Kung Fu Fanda" shows off some moves around 5m in.

Kung-fu fanda Lukáš Slavíček se ubrání drsné přesilovce | Blbej den | Stream

Zaútočit na řidiče taxi za jízdy se bezmála rovná sebevraždě. Přesto je dvojice provokatérů schopná tenhle kousek dotáhnout do konce. Jak si s tím "kung-fu fanda" Lukáš Slavíček poradí?

www.stream.cz

 

[HansokuMate]

I stand corrected, but this not a great example of actual training, it's more of a homage to The Transporter that the school participated in.

The school instructor "Kung Fu Fanda" shows off some moves around 5m in.

Kung-fu fanda Lukáš Slavíček se ubrání drsné přesilovce | Blbej den | Stream

Zaútočit na řidiče taxi za jízdy se bezmála rovná sebevraždě. Přesto je dvojice provokatérů schopná tenhle kousek dotáhnout do konce. Jak si s tím "kung-fu fanda" Lukáš Slavíček poradí?

www.stream.cz

Yeah, I haven't seen a lot of things on their webpage, but they've got a few videos up on Instagram and youtube. It looks like the instructor trained along side of Jonathan Barbary, which I find intriguing. (He also mentions studying a bit of shuai jiao which I'm always a fan of.)

There's also this interview in Czech (if you can read Czech, like me) the sifu did with the Practical Hung Kyun people here in Prague who have a good rep locally:

Interview s Lukášem Slavíčkem Sifu o tradičních čínských bojových a zdravotně-kondičních uměních - PHK

Cvičení tradičních bojových umění, zdraví, síla a kondice, kultura a plánovaná exkluzivní výuka Hakka stylů v ČR! Pavel Macek Sifu, Practical Hung Kyun (dále jen PM): Čaj, mohl by jsi se čtenářům představit a říci něco o své cestě k bojovým uměním? Lukáš Slavíček Sifu, Kai Seung Gym (dále jen...

practicalhungkyun.cz

I haven't heard back from them about training, but with the pandemic and my upcoming return to the States, I haven't really pushed the issue.

 

[Oily Dragon]

the Practical Hung Kyun people here in Prague who have a good rep locally:

That's a great school and endorsement.

From what I can tell instructor Lukas has a big mixed bag of styles, but all seem to be legit as far as lineage. Like the Practical Hung Kyun club, these groups tend to take the arts seriously, including the san shou, weight training, etc.

The instructor is also pretty fit. That's always a good sign they're up to at least par on their practice.

 

[HansokuMate]

That's a great school and endorsement.

From what I can tell instructor Lukas has a big mixed bag of styles, but all seem to be legit as far as lineage. Like the Practical Hung Kyun club, these groups tend to take the arts seriously, including the san shou, weight training, etc.

The instructor is also pretty fit. That's always a good sign they're up to at least par on their practice.

Vy jste taky pražák? If so, we should go get a beer when I get back

Yeah, Pavel Macek has quite the reputation, and lots of his students are beasts. I did some kettlebell training with a bunch of them a few years back to get ready for a few grappling tournaments and those guys are real serious about their conditioning. I think the PHK guys also help with the Hakka club's camps and things, so that is also promising. I like it when different styles encourage learning.

And I haven't really seen much of the SPM stuff at all, besides flashbacks to the SPM / Bak Mei lineage wars on the old kung fu message boards of the early 2000s. But, I'm intrigued because it seems like there's a lot I can use in both of these arts.

 

[HansokuMate]

Checking back in after a while to happily report that the Hakka Kung Fu group is both legit and incredibly fun to train with. The pandemic and work stuff kept me away for a bit, but I've been training with them for a bit now and it's a ton of useful things. Very different from what I'm used to from a judo/shuai jiao/boxing background, so it's taken some getting used to.

 

[geezer]

Checking back in after a while to happily report that the Hakka Kung Fu group is both legit and incredibly fun to train with. The pandemic and work stuff kept me away for a bit, but I've been training with them for a bit now and it's a ton of useful things. Very different from what I'm used to from a judo/shuai jiao/boxing background, so it's taken some getting used to.

Thanks for posting this update. Hakka Kung-fu is pretty hard to find around here. I always wanted to give it a go... thought it might add depth to my WC.

 

[HansokuMate]

Thanks for posting this update. Hakka Kung-fu is pretty hard to find around here. I always wanted to give it a go... thought it might add depth to my WC.

A lot of my fellow students are former WC guys from various different lineages/sublineages, and it's similar but vastly different from what they were saying. I'll see if I can get some more insight from them next class. Not that it really matters but the Hakka club here is Fatsan Bak Mei, but we have a few sets from the CLC-Hong Kong branch too.

 

[HansokuMate]

Update on the update: just had a pretty wonderful seminar with Jonathan Barbary going over forms and application and doing a lot of contact drills. Lots of really interesting stuff going on with the mechanics of power generation and the application of theory, for sure. Gonna spend a lot of time unpacking stuff over the holidays.

Regarding the WC/Bak Mei southern style differences: a big difference that my classmates mentioned (and which sifu Barbary brought up a few times) over the weekend was how both arts approach the centerline, Bak Mei seems to be more about moving the opponent off the centerline, whereas Wing Chun (according to my classmates, my personal experience here is rather limited) is about moving one's self off-centerline. I'm curious to know if that's something that holds true in other Bak Mei or Wing Chun lineages.

Also, man those forearm/hand conditioning drills are no joke. If anyone in Europe has a connection for good dit da jow, please please let me know!