Hello Everyone,

This video on youtube is a good example of how a standard lesson in Kung Fu San Soo is taught and how it doesn't provide a good base in realism when fighting an uncooperative opponent.

There are some comments on the video that criticize the training and are valid in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRm41ZelLgM&t=96s

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Hello Everyone,

The Kung Fu San Soo demonstration below looks really good. The instructor has a background in BJJ along with other martial arts besides Kung Fu San Soo. The demonstration of techniques is very fluid (instructor has better skill than the majority of KFSS teachers I've seen), but can it be concluded the execution of the same techniques would look that good and fluid in a real fight (ring, cage, or street)? Doubt it. It's a demonstration! That's it! It's meant to look good and most important it doesn't show what happens when facing an opponent that actually fights back!!!

Here is the KFSS video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p10TxH1H-5w

Here is the Sanda World Cup 2016 fights. San Da (San Shou) no doubt prepares a person to be physically and mentally prepared for a person who intends to knock your head off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7wDK_KnaQY

There's no logical reason to study a martial art like Kung Fu San Soo because there are fighting styles (mentioned on this blog) that are more effective, efficient, and practical! The majority of Kung Fu San Soo schools don't spar against each other in class. Remember, most of the time they do this type of training:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVmWv_Kxsls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4cIeR6eh4o

While real fighting styles like San Shou (Sanda) do this type of training (see below) to be physically and mentally prepared to fight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttLLMIWg7OA

Ask yourself, which training is more efficient, effective, and practical to be prepared for a fight? The Sanda sparring provides the best way to learn how to deal with emotions, breathing, technique, etc. I can't think of anything beneficial from the Kung Fu San Soo training. I stand by the statement that not all martial arts provide the same level of intense training in getting someone physically and mentally prepared to fight! Kung Fu San Soo just isn't on the same level as the fighting styles mentioned on this blog!

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Hello Everyone,

On the old blog I received emails from readers.  Here is one of them.  If you don't want me to post your email then just let me know!

I received this email from a reader of the blog. I told him I wouldn't reveal his real name so I will refer to him as "John."

I've reworded parts of his email due to the fact I don't want it to be possible to reveal his identity to the KFSS practitioners.

Anyway, the parts I didn't reword are italicized.

Hi,

Name's (John) and I've read all your posts. Geez, you've got a lot of time to write posts. Enjoyed all of them and I've actually trained at (one of the gym's I've stated is a real fighting gym).

I have a background in (a fighting style recommended on this blog) and Kung Fu San Soo. I think you have trained in Kung Fu San Soo because your posts describe what my training was like at (names a Kung Fu San Soo school).

(Story of his experience)

I understand your ideas and left Kung Fu San Soo for some of the exact reasons you describe on this blog (he gives the reasons, but I don't want to say because it might reveal who he is).

Take care,
(John)

This reader had a very interesting story on what made him leave the school. This blog truly is helping people.

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Hello Everyone,

During graduate school one of my favorite professors explained that the future of active investing (from the big financial institutions to the small employee hedge fund firms) would be in question with the constant competitiveness of extremely intelligent people seeking alpha while using electronic trading systems that are only getting smarter.

He gave me some recommendations on investing that I'll never forget. Anyway, I apply that model to choosing fighting styles.

The reason why I have recommended certain fighting styles (especially the striking styles) on this blog is because they meet these criteria:

1) Easy to learn (understand what's being taught)
2) Easy to use (put into action)
3) Easy to explain (teach others)
4) Detailed history of use in the ring and/or cage against non-cooperative opponent
5) Teaches importance of diet and physical fitness aspect
6) Doesn't take a long time to learn or "master" - For example, it takes about 10 years to become a black belt in BJJ, but less than two years of hard training in the art creates a talented grappler.
7) Less importance placed on rank or belts - Exceptions are BJJ and Judo. For example, there really is no ranking system in Sanda or Muay Thai or Western Boxing. The only schools that have ranks are doing it to appease Westerners! In Muay Thai, the only belts that matter are in the ring! I've said it before on this blog that there's an old saying in Muay Thai that "the belt is in the ring!"
8) Most important is the attitude of the teachers. In the fighting styles recommended on this blog the teachers will not hesitate to continue to train hard (not grow beer guts) and train with their students.

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Hello Everyone,

Another old post for the new blog!

I was talking to a new friend this Saturday at a party about Western Boxing because he use to train in it when he was a kid and into his late teens (his dad wanted him to carry on the family tradition). I told him my experience in martial arts and how I felt about certain fighting styles.

He has only trained in Western Boxing and watches it (orders it on PPV) and checks out Boxing news websites. He told me a variety of interesting stories that occurred at the boxing gym. Some were sad, good, and definitely entertaining. I really liked the stories he told of people from martial art styles that would come to the gym to learn how to box. He said most of the time many of these martial artists wouldn't stay because they couldn't handle the hard work and brutality of the "gym wars" that would take place during sparring. He said that at first he thought it would be just a few martial artists, but overtime it didn't surprise him to have martial artists join and eventually quite soon after. Some stayed though, but most left or stayed away from the hard sparring.

As I explained to him my position on good fighting styles he wanted to point out that the physical aspect of training is so crucial (in order to feel the raw emotion, pressure, intensity, and brutality) and without knowing what it feels like to get hit in the face (using boxing gloves is a good way to replicate it) a person will never know what it's like to deal with another human being in a fight.

This is why Kung Fu San Soo is not a good art for fighting in the street (besides the ring and/or cage) because there's no actual real physical contact between non-cooperative opponents. People train cooperatively with each other and no benefits come from that at all. The fighting styles recommended on this blog do it all the time, but Kung Fu San Soo doesn't which makes Kung Fu San Soo crap.

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Hello Everyone,

Another old post, but good one for the new blog!

The fighting styles I've recommended on this blog are written here.

Striking Styles:
South East Asian Boxing Styles: Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, and Tomoi

East Asian Boxing Styles: Sanda (San Shou), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, and Yaw Yan.

Western: Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Grappling Styles:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (self-defense type would be better than competition type), Wrestling
(Greco-Roman or Free Style), Sambo (also has a good striking component), Shuai Jiao, Judo, Pankration

Other:
Kali/Arnis/Escrima

I want to discuss the striking style for this post because that will prove my point.

Striking Styles:
South East Asian Boxing Styles: Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, and Tomoi

East Asian Boxing Styles: Sanda (San Shou), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, and Yaw Yan.

Western: Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Believe it or not, but these striking styles have much in common. For example, the East Asian Boxing styles (minus Yaw Yan because it comes from the Philippines and the P.I. is considered Southeast Asia) were developed after martial artists from those countries (particulary China and Japan) went to Thailand to fight Muay Thai fighters and were destroyed!

Dutch Kickboxing and Savate were developed after being exposed to Muay Thai too. Anyway, another common thing is that these striking styles do not have hundreds and hundreds of techniques! They have a few punches, kicks, along with variations of punches and kicks, other strikes, some stand up grappling/sweeps, etc. Generally, depending on how often you train, you can be taught the whole striking system in less than two years for one of these styles (and then it's up to you to develop your skill and physical fitness)!

Also, the reason I recommend these styles is that generally (not always) the teachers of these styles have real fighting experience against non-cooperative opponents (in the ring and/or cage too). So they know what will work and what won't work! I'm not saying that there aren't any Kung Fu San Soo teachers with no ring, cage, or street fighting experience, because I know there are (however, they're few and far between in the San Soo community), but it doesn't make sense to train under a KFSS person that has spent years learning hundreds of techniques and never knowing or not whether they will work against a non-cooperative opponent in the street, hasn't had any fight experience in the ring or cage under a tougher environment that consists of rules (I believe fighting with rules is a lot harder than fighting with no rules), and doesn't know what it feels like to spar and/or roll with non-cooperative people/training partners on a weekly basis!

I can tell you right now that the majority of Kung Fu San Soo teachers/masters have never sparred or haven't sparred an equal amount of time like an average practitioner does in boxing or Muay Thai! Period! There's no debating that point. We all know it's true! TO ALL KUNG FU SAN SOO PRACTITIONERS THAT ATTEND A KUNG FU SAN SOO SCHOOL RIGHT NOW, ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION..."when I go to the KFSS school are there 16 oz boxing gloves, shin pads, head gear, mouth guards, etc. being used by the teacher(s) or students?" If not, then get the hell out of that school ASAP!

Most importantly ask yourself this question:
"Have I ever seen my Kung Fu San Soo teacher spar or conduct his techniques against a non-cooperative person?" If your KFSS teacher doesn't spar then how the hell does he know the techniques would work? Just because your KFSS teacher says he does or has doesn't mean anything. The point is have you seen him in action?!? Also, the argument you can't strike the eyes, groin, knees, or throat of training partner is valid, but why does a person have to pay hundreds of dollars a year to learn that and keep on "play fighting" that scenario before the point is finally learned? FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, IT DOESN'T OR SHOULDN'T TAKE MORE THAN A WEEK TO LEARN THE TECHNIQUES AND UNDERSTAND THAT CONCEPT!

Questions or Comments?
JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Hello Everyone,

Another old post for the new blog!

I've made it known on this blog that my opinion is that fighting styles do matter! FIRST OFF I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR: I have never stated on this blog or anywhere else that the fighting styles I recommend would make a person unbeatable! There is no where on this blog that states that position. I have stated that the fighting styles I recommend are more practical, efficient, and effective than Kung Fu San Soo due to the fact my experience in Kung Fu San Soo showed me it didn't prepare me for a fight or for what I face in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, etc. Also, my personal research into martial arts/fighting styles helped me come to the conclusion and make up this list of recommended fighting styles.

Fighting styles matter in terms of getting a person ready to fight a non-cooperative opponent through teaching efficient, effective, and practical technique (attack), stance, movement, defense, physical fitness, mental preparation, and training (practicing against non-cooperative opponents), etc.

I've heard the argument made before that it's about a person's "heart and will" and not the fighting style that is the main thing that determines the outcome of a fight. I have to agree that a person's "heart and will" will help motivate a person to keep on going when the going gets tough (especially in the ring or cage or street fight), but there's some major things that are also needed to get the job done! I equate the importance of fighting styles to the importance of having the right college degrees for careers.

For example: Imagine a person goes to college, gets a degree in a non-medical field of study, and has the "heart and will" to want to perform surgical operations. The "heart and will" would help give motivation and spirit to perform medical operations, but what about not having the education and training to perform medical operations on a person that is in dire need. Ask yourself, do you have faith in a person who didn't go to medical school to operate on you or a loved one even though they look you in the eye and say "I have the heart and will to perform a successful surgical operation so let me operate. I know I didn't go to medical school, got a degree that has nothing to do with medicine and surgery, but I'm still trained except not trained to perform operations." See what's missing? Let's apply this to fighting styles. The fighting styles recommended on this blog:

Striking Styles:
South East Asian Boxing Styles: Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, and Tomoi
East Asian Boxing Styles: Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, and Yaw Yan.
Western: Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Grappling Styles:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (self-defense type would be better than competition type), Wrestling (Greco-Roman or Free Style), Sambo (also has a good striking component), Shuai Jiao, Judo, Pankration (striking too)

Other:
Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Provide and teach efficient, effective, and practical technique (attack), stance, movement, defense, physical fitness, mental preparation, and training (practicing against noncooperative opponents), etc. better than Kung Fu San Soo. Research the history and you'll see the success of these fighting styles over time. Picture a stock market graph just generally rising (winning fights) and rising over time even though occasionally it falls (loses
a fight once in a while) a little, but keeps on rising again. There's another argument made for the "heart and will and not the fighting style matters" crowd which is this: "People that have the desire to fight are going to go to to fighting styles (i.e. Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, etc) that have that environment, which explains why MMA is made up mostly of certain styles, but that doesn't mean those styles (i.e. Boxing, Muay Thai, etc) are better than others (i.e. Kung Fu San Soo)." Really? Seriously?

I've already posted an article about the history of Muay Thai facing Kung Fu styles and the Chinese Kung Fu martial artists losing badly (getting destroyed). However, there was Tan Guancheng, who was one of the Chinese Kung Fu martial artists to defeat a Muay Thai fighter, but the overall result was the Chinese didn't want to fight Muay Thai anymore and led to the Chinese government creating San Shou (now known as Sanda or San Da). Now there's matches of Sanda vs Muay Thai.

What about the history of the UFC and Pride FC and K-1? It's pretty obvious the "heart and will" fighters from certain styles couldn't hold ground, take ground, or if they were able to make a stand they changed training methods, etc. to blend in with the styles that worked (i.e. Andy Hug).

Can a person join a Kung Fu San Soo school and expect to punch hard and fast like a boxer, kick hard and fast like a Muay Thai fighter, grapple like BJJ practitioner, etc? We. All. Know. That. Answer.

Can a Kung Fu San Soo Master really look at his/her Kung Fu San Soo student (who has no experience in competition fighting like MMA/Kickboxing) and say "your fighting skill and technique is going to be (or is) equal to the practitioners of other fighting styles. The techniques I'm teaching you are no different than what is being taught in (i.e. Muay Thai, Shoot Boxing, Sambo, etc). As long as you have heart and will you'll do
well." I would seriously question that Kung Fu San Soo Master's knowledge and integrity and intelligence.

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Hello Everyone,

I just got done finishing roadwork and it made me think about the intensity of training felt in the gym. Can a Kung Fu San Soo master anywhere in the world say that the training at the school they teach is really intense? Do students sweat a gallon, face the threat of knockout in sparring, enter the gym with a happy go lucky attitude or determined and focused attitude when practicing technique.

I'm going to present a link to a trailer for a documentary series. Is there any Kung Fu San Soo Master that reads this blog that can say the training at their school replicates this intense emotion you see in the trailer. I doubt it! Anyway, here is the trailer. Watch, learn, understand, and realize not all martial arts can
provide the same equal amount of skills in self-defense and physical fitness and brotherhood!

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wotm2

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Hello Everyone,

If there are some reasons why people study the art of crap called Kung Fu San Soo it's for a variety of reasons. I believe these are some:

1) people aren't educated about the more effective and efficient martial arts mentioned on this blog.

2) people don't have access to the more efficient and effective martial arts mentioned on this blog.

3) parents enroll their children in KFSS for discipline and respect and confidence. Not necessarily to teach them real fighting. However, parents might want their children to study for self defense, but aren't educated on the martial arts to choose better ones.

4) KFSS costs cheaper. Anyone spending any money on San Soo is getting ripped off. However, if you're paying at least $80 a month you better be getting your head examined.

5) people are sold by the KFSS instructor it's a fighting art, but don't realize it's play fighting.

There are probably more reasons, however these are my top 5.

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima

Hello Everyone,

Here are some main points I want to get across.

1) Not all martial arts teach realistic fighting techniques *It's very easy to use a takedown, throw, or sweep on a person, but is that person being non-cooperative? A former MMA fighter told me a long time ago that MMA has shown what takedowns, throws, and sweeps really work on a non-cooperative person. MMA events, Sanshou events, etc are the best place to test the theories of the martial art techniques. Kung Fu San Soo is polluted with non-realistic techniques.

2) Not all martial arts teach physical fitness as a component *Anyone who makes the claim that physical fitness is not important to learn self-defense is lying to you. Run. Away. From. Them! The martial arts discussed on this blog emphasize physical fitness training besides technique training. There's no way a practitioner in Kung Fu San Soo burns the same amount of calories as a Boxer or a Muay Thai fighter in a training session.

3) Not all martial arts put their techniques to the test *I really don't think I need to write an explanation for this point. If you watch a Kung Fu San Soo Demo vs a Lethwei fight or a Sanda fight or an MMA fight you'll understand this point.

4) Not all martial arts have a successful history of fighting in real fight events *Kung Fu San Soo in fight events (MMA, international rules of kickboxing like K-1, etc) vs Dutch Kickboxing in the same events. Again, no one is rushing to the doors of San San schools looking to study the art to use in these events, because it's not a practical martial art.

5) The teachers/coaches/trainers are certainly not equal, hence, the martial art cannot be equal to another style *I cannot think of one Kung Fu San Soo Master/Sifu/instructor who can match any fight history record of Dutch Kickboxing coaches Henri Hooft, Cor Hemmers, etc. This is why I consider Dutch Kickboxing superior to Kung Fu San Soo any day, time, and place! There is a long history of great Dutch Kickboxers that I would bet would not have any problem destroying all the Kung Fu San Soo masters/Sifus/instructors in a ring or street fight!

These are some main points I want to get across and I wish I had the time to go deeper, but I have been busy training in more effective and efficient martial arts than the art of crap known as Kung Fu San Soo.

Questions or Comments?

JimmyHWoo2016@gmail.com

Recommended Fighting Styles:

Muay Thai, Muay Lao, Pradal Serey, Lethwei, Tomoi

Sanda (San Shou, San Da), Kyuk Too Ki, Shoot Boxing, Yaw Yan

Dutch Kickboxing, Savate, Western Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Pankration, Judo, Shuai Jiao, Kali/Arnis/Escrima