Which MA should I take to combine it with Hung Gar?

[Skaw]

After lurking this forum for weeks I registered, so first of all: Hi

I started Hung Gar months ago and I love it. Not only the art, but the sifu, the atmosphere, the health improvement in my life ("Horse Stance" trainings healed my knee; no longer creaks ), etc.

Now I want to train another MA (while I keep doing Hung Gar), but I don't know which one to pick. So, keeping in mind I am doing Hung Gar and I am 31 with no injuries (at least, physically ), which one should I pick? The choices I have based on my area/schedule are:

- BJJ
- Choy Li Fut
- Judo
- Ju-Jutsu
- Karate
- Kick Boxing
- Muay Thai
- TKD

So...which one should be "blend" better with Hung Gar?

 

[kuniggety]

The only style you should be concerned with is ameridote.

That being said, it depends on what you're looking for. Do you want something that will help with your flexibility, augment it with more striking, or add grappling to the repertoire. Hung gar is already a hard striking style so my advice, if you want to be well rounded, would be to do BJJ, judo, or ju-jutsu (in that order).

 

[JowGaWolf]

After lurking this forum for weeks I registered, so first of all: Hi

I started Hung Gar months ago and I love it. Not only the art, but the sifu, the atmosphere, the health improvement in my life ("Horse Stance" trainings healed my knee; no longer creaks ), etc.

Now I want to train another MA (while I keep doing Hung Gar), but I don't know which one to pick. So, keeping in mind I am doing Hung Gar and I am 31 with no injuries (at least, physically ), which one should I pick? The choices I have based on my area/schedule are:

- BJJ
- Choy Li Fut
- Judo
- Ju-Jutsu
- Karate
- Kick Boxing
- Muay Thai
- TKD

So...which one should be "blend" better with Hung Gar?

Choy Li Fut would probably be a better blend. It'll allow you to move in out of your Hung Gar. I take Jow Ga Kung fu which has elements of Hung Gar, Choy Ga, see lineage in link.
Whatever you take, you want it to be a good fit with your Hung Gar so you can easily move in out out of it. Recently we had a BJJ guy come train with our school and his stance was good for BJJ but bad for Hung Gar type stances. I've seen Muay Thai and that seems like something that would work well with making your Hung Gar more mobile. (basically what happened with Jow Ga which combines Hung Gar with a faster moving system.) I wouldn't take TKD because that's just going to go against everything you learn in Hung Gar. I'm thinking Judo may be a good one which will will give you some throwing and grappling that should work well with Chin Na also from the competitions that I've seen they aren't as eager to get on the ground like BJJ and it's this thinking that would fit well with Hung Gar. Choy Li Fut may be good for adding faster footwork and it has hung gar like movements for some of the techniques which would mean you'll be able to learn it fairly quickly.

I wouldn't recommend Karate unless you can find a really good Karate school that cares more about the training than the belt and testing fees. I think you'll also get bored with Karate. There's so much more movement in Hung Gar that if you start karate it will be like you are standing still. If you like Hung Gar as much as you say that you do, then karate and TKD is just going to bore you to no end because you are used to all of the moving that's in hung gar.

 

[drop bear]

Do whatever. Dont blend. All the cool kids are just exploring different systems as an exercise to see what makes a martial art work.

So even if the systems dont match you gain more control of your body and mind by forcing it to expand out of its comfort zone.

 

[Flying Crane]

What has your sifu recommended, when you told him you would like to do this?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Depending on how serious you want to get into MA, I would suggest not crosstraining yet. Unless you're specifically doing MMA, I generally think it's better to have a couple years experience with your main MA before starting another one, especially if you want to study it seriously. Otherwise, depending on the art and the teacher, what you learn in both could go against each other in certain ways, and slow down your training in both arts.

That said, I wouldn't suggest that you look at other martial arts once you get a good grasp on hung gar, or if you want to look at other MA's to see if you would rather start with one of those. I just wouldn't start a second and practice both of them only a couple months after starting the first.

There are certain exclusions to this, like taekwondo and hapkido, or most MMA gyms. AFAIK, Hung Gar does not have another MA that naturally blends with it/is taught in conjunction, including the ones that you mentioned in your original post.

 

[clfsean]

After lurking this forum for weeks I registered, so first of all: Hi

I started Hung Gar months ago and I love it. Not only the art, but the sifu, the atmosphere, the health improvement in my life ("Horse Stance" trainings healed my knee; no longer creaks ), etc.

Now I want to train another MA (while I keep doing Hung Gar), but I don't know which one to pick. So, keeping in mind I am doing Hung Gar and I am 31 with no injuries (at least, physically ), which one should I pick? The choices I have based on my area/schedule are:

- BJJ
- Choy Li Fut
- Judo
- Ju-Jutsu
- Karate
- Kick Boxing
- Muay Thai
- TKD

So...which one should be "blend" better with Hung Gar?

None of them ... Until you "get" (I mean completely digest & understand) the Four Pillars, the 10 Killing Hands, 10 Bridging hands and years of practice with them, you really & truly shouldn't look at anything else.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I don't know your art, but I agree with clfsean.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I suppose the answer probably depends on why exactly you want to train a second art at the same time.

 

[yak sao]

In this era of MMA I know I am in the minority, but why train any other art? I don't train Hung Gar but I've seen enough of it to know that it is a formidable fighting system and can stand on its own merits.

Rather than be mediocre at two systems, become exceptional at one. Then as time goes on, you will encounter others along the way that you will be able to learn from as you apply your Hung Gar against what they do.

 

[clfsean]

None of them ... Until you "get" (I mean completely digest & understand) the Four Pillars, the 10 Killing Hands, 10 Bridging hands and years of practice with them, you really & truly shouldn't look at anything else.

Hmmm ... a funny ranking from the OP on dead bang serious advice. At least I see where you're at.

 

[Skaw]

Hi again. Thanks to all for the replies.

Sorry If I didn't explained myself clearly: I didn't want to say Hung Gar isn't a complete MA, quite the contrary. It's just I have time to spare and, instead of going to the gym, swimming pool or playing videogames I thought I could learn a second MA (besides training forms and conditioning on days off).

I plan to have HG as my "main" MA, but I thought I could learn something else and I don't want it to go against what I'm learning right now (as kempodisciple and JowGaWolf pointed), so I asked for advice here to see what more experienced people than me thinks.

PD: Sorry for the missclick clfsean, I meant to vote as 'Informative'.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Hi again. Thanks to all for the replies.

Sorry If I didn't explained myself clearly: I didn't want to say Hung Gar isn't a complete MA, quite the contrary. It's just I have time to spare and, instead of going to the gym, swimming pool or playing videogames I thought I could learn a second MA (besides training forms and conditioning on days off).

I plan to have HG as my "main" MA, but I thought I could learn something else and I don't want it to go against what I'm learning right now (as kempodisciple and JowGaWolf pointed), so I asked for advice here to see what more experienced people than me thinks.

PD: Sorry for the missclick clfsean, I meant to vote as 'Informative'.

So...there only so many Hung Gar classes offered per week and you would like to take more classes of some sort on the some of the remaining days rather than just drilling Hung Gar homework every day? Is that it?

How many days per week is the Hung Gar available?

 

[yak sao]

Hi again. Thanks to all for the replies.

Sorry If I didn't explained myself clearly: I didn't want to say Hung Gar isn't a complete MA, quite the contrary. It's just I have time to spare and, instead of going to the gym, swimming pool or playing videogames I thought I could learn a second MA (besides training forms and conditioning on days off).

Don't misunderstand me and think I'm some old stick in the mud. I totally get that you want to learn everything you can get your hands on.
I stick to my original answer though.
You only learn so much in class. To make what you are learning a part of you, it must be deeply ingrained. This isn't going to happen going to class, even multiple times per week. It happens outside of class, drilling the forms for hours on end, into the hundreds and eventually thousands of repetitions.

Those that do this stand apart from those who simply come to class. Train it like this for a year...at least, then if you feel you must cross train, then I would recommend that you give some sort of grappling a shot...judo would be my pick.
But again, Hung Gar, practiced correctly is enough for anyone to develop into a competent fighter.

 

[Skaw]

So...there only so many Hung Gar classes offered per week and you would like to take more classes of some sort on the some of the remaining days rather than just drilling Hung Gar homework every day? Is that it?

How many days per week is the Hung Gar available?

Replace the bold with also and you'll be right.

And I can train 3 days at a week (at most)

 

[Skaw]

Don't misunderstand me and think I'm some old stick in the mud. I totally get that you want to learn everything you can get your hands on.
I stick to my original answer though.
You only learn so much in class. To make what you are learning a part of you, it must be deeply ingrained. This isn't going to happen going to class, even multiple times per week. It happens outside of class, drilling the forms for hours on end, into the hundreds and eventually thousands of repetitions.

Those that do this stand apart from those who simply come to class. Train it like this for a year...at least, then if you feel you must cross train, then I would recommend that you give some sort of grappling a shot...judo would be my pick.
But again, Hung Gar, practiced correctly is enough for anyone to develop into a competent fighter.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm not willing to jump right now into a second MA. If I do it, it would be after (at least) one year, after I'm starting to feel confident with my style. And Judo is a good option, being a different MA that I can combine, but not mix with Hung Gar.

Thanks again.

 

[clfsean]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm not willing to jump right now into a second MA. If I do it, it would be after (at least) one year, after I'm starting to feel confident with my style. And Judo is a good option, being a different MA that I can combine, but not mix with Hung Gar.

Thanks again.

It's good that you're looking at a little time before doing something like that. But like I said, you need time & experience in it. This kinda illustrates what I was saying.

Everything judo would offer, is found in Hung Ga. Not exactly the same, not in the same quantity, not in the same manner but it's there. All TCMA's have four foundation pieces... Shuai (Throwing), Da (Striking), Ti (Kicking), Na (Controlling). How much of each piece is kinda dependent on the methods found with in the style & it's theories. However, they're all found, all practiced, all integrated to fit the method.

 

[JowGaWolf]

It's good that you're looking at a little time before doing something like that. But like I said, you need time & experience in it. This kinda illustrates what I was saying.

Everything judo would offer, is found in Hung Ga. Not exactly the same, not in the same quantity, not in the same manner but it's there. All TCMA's have four foundation pieces... Shuai (Throwing), Da (Striking), Ti (Kicking), Na (Controlling). How much of each piece is kinda dependent on the methods found with in the style & it's theories. However, they're all found, all practiced, all integrated to fit the method.

hopefully his school will cover the throwing and grappling aspects of the system. I

 

[Ironbear24]

Depending on how serious you want to get into MA, I would suggest not crosstraining yet. Unless you're specifically doing MMA, I generally think it's better to have a couple years experience with your main MA before starting another one, especially if you want to study it seriously. Otherwise, depending on the art and the teacher, what you learn in both could go against each other in certain ways, and slow down your training in both arts.

That said, I wouldn't suggest that you look at other martial arts once you get a good grasp on hung gar, or if you want to look at other MA's to see if you would rather start with one of those. I just wouldn't start a second and practice both of them only a couple months after starting the first.

There are certain exclusions to this, like taekwondo and hapkido, or most MMA gyms. AFAIK, Hung Gar does not have another MA that naturally blends with it/is taught in conjunction, including the ones that you mentioned in your original post.

I agree with this. Focus on bettering yourself in hung gar first and when you reach a high rank (not sure what the ranking system for it is) then proceed to other styles.

 

[Hanzou]

Bjj or Judo would be better options.

The lack of forms and the grappling focus won't confuse your Hun Ga training. Also the heavy emphasis on sparring within those styles will do you some good in the long run.