Best Kungfu in Town
mit Kopf, Hand und Herz
January 22, 2018 | Katharina EisenringLocations:
SUN WU Gongfu School Zurich
Oliver Hasler
Zweierstrasse 106 (c/o Budokan)
CH-8003 Zurich
SUN WU Gongfu School Basel
Patrick Jeannotat
In der Ziegelhöfen 20 (Neubad)
4054 Basel
SUN WU Gongfu School Oberwil
Judith Jeannotat
c/o Mudo Coaching
Mühlemattstrasse 13
4104 Oberwil
HEALTH, BALANCE, SAFETY
Taijiquan / Sanda - Chinese kickboxing / Wing Chun Kuen
The SUN WU Gongfu School Zurich was founded in 2017 from the NING MUI Gong Fu School Zurich, which has been based in Zurich Wiedikon for 20 years.
Sun Wu is the full name of a Chinese general who was also a Daoist philosopher. Most people know him by his honorary title 'Sunzi' - Master Sun. His classic book 'The Art of War' not only sheds light on conflicts in the context of war, but also gives us a deeper understanding of conflicts in everyday life, communication, business and many other areas of application:
"Every fight avoided is a fight won!"
Through martial arts, we develop the ability to recognize ourselves and thus gain knowledge of others and the circumstances around us. The term "gongfu" refers to this ability, this skill, which is why such practices are considered knowledge teachings in Asia. The training content and methods are therefore directly related to our everyday lives and their applicability there. Of course, men/women do not have to see it this way from the outset or even aspire to it. In our schools, everyone can simply enjoy the physical activity.
Mental freshness
Feel balanced, powerful and focused. The basis for optimum performance and well-being!
Fitness
Feel a marked improvement in your fitness. The basis for a better quality of life!
Self-defense
Experience a new sense of security thanks to efficient self-defense techniques!
Personality development and martial arts
GONGFU (KUNG FU)
Gongfu (Chinese, skill; also known as Kung Fu, Kuoshu or Wushu) is the common generic term for all Chinese martial arts. Its origins date back to the Yao period, around 2,800 years before our era.
Note: Budo is the umbrella term for all Japanese styles, such as Aikido, Iaido, Judo, Ju Jutsu, Karate, Kendo, Kyudo etc.
Graduations
Gongfu involves the physical and mental confrontation with oneself. First, the body is trained and movements are coordinated - the basis for efficient self-defense. Later, practitioners will inevitably deal with the more advanced aspects of gongfu, such as its philosophy. The energies and forces generated by fixed, given movement sequences (forms) and partner exercises are not only used purely physically, but also serve meditation, targeted healing techniques and the strengthening of confidence.
Each gongfu style includes the following three training aspects:
The aim of the training is to unite these three areas to achieve physical and mental harmony - "finding your own center".
The training is based on the Chinese teachings of the five elements:: Wood (forms) - Fire (techniques) - Earth (emotional training) - Metal (increasing resistance) - Water (meditation).
YONGCHUNQUAN/WING CHUN CHUAN
In Yongchunquan/Wing Chun Chuan (Chinese, Singing Spring Fist), as with Yiquan, a similar attempt was made to shed unnecessary baggage. It is possible that the Shaolin tradition [1] with its rich teaching content led to a situation where streamlining the excessive number of forms and techniques became essential in order to give the actual content of Gongfu in martial arts the right weight again.
Yongchunquan/Wing Chun Chuan is one of over 500 different styles of Gongfu. Thanks to its logically structured directness, Yongchunquan/Wing Chun Chuan is used for efficient self-defense. The style was developed around 1760 during the Qing dynasty [2] by the nun Ng Mui in the legendary Shaolin monastery. Yongchunquan/Wing Chun Chuan was considered a secret doctrine by the monks who had practiced the "hard" Shaolin styles [3] for 15 years.
Yongchunquan/Wing Chun Chuan increases the efficiency of the practitioners by incorporating the following revolutionary aspects:
Yongchunquan/Wing Chun Chuan is not about practicing strength against strength (the stronger one wins). Through targeted exercises, you learn to use your opponent's strength to counter-attack at the same time, i.e. to protect your weak points and hit those of your opponent at the same time. Reflexes are also improved considerably. As everything is based more on skill and tactics than on strength, it is also possible for a physically inferior person to successfully defend themselves against a much stronger one. This style is therefore particularly suitable for women and children.
Video of Yip Man's Xiaoniantou/Siu Lim Tao
The eight main exercise groups are a model that favors personal development. The insights arise from the experiences gained through striking and defending. The exchange of blows is not an end in itself, but an analogy for a far-reaching learning process. Of course, this always takes place in such a way that the man/woman is challenged but not overwhelmed. If you train seriously enough [4], the path to the top is open to everyone.
1. Xiaoniantou/Siu Lim Tao (small idea). Standing exercises which consolidate the basic structure through their movements. First ideas (concepts) of evasion and simultaneous counterattack.
2. Xunqiao/Chum Kiu (Bridge Search). The concepts developed in the previous exercise group are additionally implemented with step techniques.
3. Biaoken/Bju Tse (finger stabs). Through the stability developed, the opposing concept of direct attack can now be implemented, i.e. the internal force can also be gradually brought to a point.
4. Murenzhuang/Mok Jan Chong (wooden puppet). All the previous concepts become one and your own resistance is massively increased. The aim is to be able to release power at will, at any time and in any direction.
5. Liudian-Bangun/Lok Dim Bun Guan (long stick). By further strengthening the basic structure, every technique becomes significantly more effective. The long pole also forms the basis of all pole weapons (point-guided). Tactical considerations are specifically trained.
6. Bazhandao/Pa Cham Dao ??? (short swords). The basic structure is optimized down to the tips of the fingers and toes. The short swords also form the basis of all cutting weapons (circular). Strategic considerations are specifically encouraged.
7 Chishou/Chi Sao (sticking hands). In these partner exercises, the student's own level of knowledge is tested in a limited way. In these exercises, pressure is applied to each other with contact on the arms and/or legs, followed later by striking and defensive techniques. First with one arm or one leg while standing, later with both arms or both legs and finally with steps.
8. Sanshou (free hands, free fighting). The same as the previous exercise, but now the focus is not on practicing but on "real" fighting. Preliminary stages of this are, for example, competitions with rules and protective equipment that limit the possibilities (Qingda, Sanda, Leitai). Ultimately, there are no rules. You can't sugarcoat a punch that hurts.
YIQUAN (DACHENGQUAN)
Yiquan (chin., spirit fist), based on traditional gongfu styles and inspired by western influences [1], managed to create a grid of the most efficient techniques and, what is truly remarkable, consistently emphasize the efficiency of the various forces as a central theme.
Yiquan is exclusively about the quality of the various forces. First and foremost, it is about consistently working on inner strength in order to develop total body strength. This quality can also be integrated into any other teaching system [2].
As an analogy: if I want to use a small, almost empty battery as a source of energy for performance, it doesn't make much sense. For health (Yangsheng) and martial (Jiji) benefits, Yiquan first fully charges the existing battery and then tries to replace or supplement it with one or more larger batteries. The most important exercise group is therefore Zhanzhuang.
The key to the right quality lies not in the purely technical implementation of an exercise, nor merely in the quantity of physical repetitions, but in the various mental imagination exercises that go hand in hand with the physical execution. Over time, these become several ideas that are visualized simultaneously and superimposed. Below are the main exercise groups in Yiquan, which were significantly supplemented and elaborated by Yao Zongxun.
Video of Yao Zongxun's Health Dance (Jianwu)
The seven exercise groups are not a model according to which one must train. Rather, it is a representation of the ideal state that arises when a man/woman has trained seriously enough [3] and the time is ripe for the corresponding level.
1. Zhanzhuang (Standing like a pole). Various positions, mainly standing. This first strengthens the structure of the postural muscles and then works on overall internal strength.
2. Shili (Trying strength). The inner strength developed in the previous exercise group is brought into a limited movement with the hands, arms and weight shifts.
3. Mocabu (rubbing step). Like the second, but with additional step sequences, which are predetermined at the beginning and then free.
4. shisheng (trying clay). On the basis of natural [4] breathing, the internal and external contraction of the body is produced during a sound. Later, the audible sound is omitted. Integrated into the previous exercises, the next one is already noticeable.
5 Fali (Emerging Power). All exercise groups in a nutshell. Of course, there are also individual exercises that have a beneficial effect. The aim is to be able to release force at will, at any time and in any direction.
6. Tuishou (pushing, feeling hands). In this partner exercise, your own level of knowledge is tested in a limited form. This involves exerting pressure on each other with contact on the arms or hands until one side can no longer hold out. First with one arm while standing, later with both arms and finally with steps.
7. Sanshou (free hands, free fight). The same as the previous exercise, but now with punches and kicks. Preliminary stages of this are, for example, competitions with rules and protective equipment that limit the possibilities (Qingda, Sanda, Leitai). Ultimately, there are no rules. You can't sugarcoat a punch that hurts.
ZHANGBEISHU (DEFENSE)
Zhangbeishu (Chinese, long-arm art) was designed with the following objective in mind:
This training shows how men/women can defend themselves efficiently with existing means such as umbrellas, handbags, etc.
In the simulated self-defense situations, Eskrima sticks or the bo staff are used, among other things.
Video of self-defense with weapons
Meditation
QIGONG AND MENTAL TRAINING
Qigong (Chinese, It includes a variety of practices, such as exercises to support the body's own healing powers, moving exercises such as baduanjin (Chinese for eight threads of brocade) as well as still standing and breathing exercises. In combination with mental training, these have a relaxing effect and increase concentration and performance. Working with Qi (Chinese, life energy) visibly improves physical and mental well-being and increases personal balance.
Qigong can also be a preparation for higher forms of meditation.
See Yiquan (Yangsheng)
Video of the Qigong Baduanjin exercises
YIQUAN (YANGSHENG) AND CHAN
Yiquan (Chinese, mind fist) and Chan ? (chin., meditation) are further tools for experiencing one's own being and realizing it according to one's possibilities.
Combined with styles such as Yongchunquan/Wing Chun Chuan, this creates a symbiosis that can contribute to raising the "normal" level of healing and martial arts in terms of health benefits, for example. The associated cognitive process promotes ethical values and brings about an examination of philosophy.
More about Yiquan
Video of Yao Zongxun's health dance (Jianwu)
"Let myself drift through wind, through water and through time, but above all through our society. Whatever I encounter, I accept, only to drop it again as soon as possible. If the inevitable is near, I smile calmly in the face of it. - That's the only way it "is"... Without a beginning. Without end."
Applied philosophy
ZHANGBEISHU (PHILOSOPHY)
The use of the bow is a teaching path on which the bow and arrow are aids (path of the bow, Chinese shejian).
The aim of the practical teaching is that the practitioner, weapon and target become one through the concentration of mental and physical forces.
Video of an archery competition
The handling of the sword is a teaching path on which the sword serves as an aid (Way of the Sword, Chinese Jianshu).
"He who masters the sword recognizes himself - only he who recognizes himself can also recognize others."
Video of a sword fight
INDIVIDUAL TOP COURSES
For example, would you like to make your company philosophy tangible with Shejian (archery),
give your management and employees the opportunity to use Yongchunquan/Wing Chun Chuan (Kung Fu) to put your tensions into practice in a meaningful way, or help you to mentally master even the most difficult situations with Qigong (meditation)?
We offer you an individual, customized and professional solution.
SUN WU SHOW TEAM
We can offer you a show for the following areas
You can book us for the following events
mit Kopf, Hand und Herz
January 22, 2018 | Katharina Eisenring