Customer Reviews

Kung Fu Elements: Wushu Training and Martial Arts Application Manual

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've done martial arts for a few years now (Hapkido, Shaolin Kung Fu), and I can honestly say that this book is worth every penny. It's packed full from beginning to end with training techniques and applications -- everything from warming up and stretching every joint to stance training and putting power and better root into all of your moves. While the applications are pretty much all Sanshou (which is a little like long fist, and a lot like kickboxing), they're still very practical applications to learn. The more advanced qigung training techniques are enough to keep one striving for many years to come, and the appendices have a wealth of general information about weapons, forms, styles, and training. All in all, a wonderful book for the price.

As a student of Wushu for the last six months this book seems to be a much needed textbook. Foundation building and stronger kicks are covered here along with Free form fighting and joint locks. Also some more "exotic" things are covered like Iron Arm and Leg Training and Dim Mak are covered.

A well written book that covers both Internal and External components of Wushu

After reading through this book I was completely impressed on how much there was to learn. The authors take two approaches, the external and internal. It goes over methods for training Iron Palm, and others, but to do the internal training outlined here the reader needs the book titled "Qigong Empowerment" by the same authors. There is so much to learn, get it and start practicing as soon as possible.

If you're looking for drills and ideas to strengthen your foundation in Chinese Martial Arts, this is a great all-around book. I've been studying CMA for over 10 years and I still found this book to be refreshing. It's all about the basics and ways to strengthen the basics. It's those types of drills that, if you practice them diligently, will give you that edge in competition. At the higher levels, it's the little things that matter

I have studied only Japanese styles in a formal setting so far (karate and aikido) and wanted to have some additional practice and influence to help blend my style. I believe the book is intended for a refresher and additional practice for veterans of the style but it works nicely if you already have had some martial arts experience. It gives aspects of style, good stretching exercises, kung fu attainment training techniques and of course free fighting applications. Though you cant substitute reading the "applications" section for formal, hands on experience. I would recomend this book as a resourse for any martial artist wishing to expand their base of knowlege and help blend their style. Peace

I have bought the book and taken Shaolin Kung Fu with Master Wen-Ching Wu. His class is great and the book is a great tool for understanding and practicing at home.

This volume is nothing but great. It covers all the things you'll need for your wushu training and is crammed with loads of extra information about styles, people, weapons and more.

I especially like the fact that it stresses jibengong, the fundamental excercises of wushu, and not taolu (form). The sanda applications are well explained and covers a lot of ground. A little bit more fighting strategy and tactics would be a good thing though. The explanations and presentation of neigong, the internal martial arts, are also very good. I think that neigong and qigong have to be felt and describing them in words is an impossible task that nobody ever will be able to do well, but Shou Yu Liang does a good job none the less. The glossary in the end is very impressive indeed. It has a LOT of entries of which many are illustrated. Very well.

My only real criticism of the work is that I don't think it covers wushu history well enough. It's too much of a runthrough and dosen't really give any in-depth information. It is a subject that is very dear to me so I guess I'm biased on that point. Also their explanation of the character wu (as in wushu)is not satisfactory. There are generally two mainstream theories in linguistic circles of the original meaning of the word (the most popular by far is Berhard Karlgrens) none of which is the one presented in this volume.

However, that is only a tiny complaint and it dosen't alter the fact that this is a very impressive book. It truly IS the best book on wushu in English. I live and train traditional wushu in Beijing and have trained for some 8-9 years. I am of the opinion that wushu cannot be learned from a book, no matter how good it is, but it can definitely help you improve and clarify things for you. This book is a very good reference, especially for beginners, but also for the advanced student. It offers a lot of information and is WELL worth the price.

I train with Master Wen-Ching Wu, the second listed author, and i have trained a little with Grandmaster Liang, and I have not been able to find any books that surpass the ones that they have written. Together they have an incredibly vast knowledge of martial arts and Qigong and share it quite willingly in their fantastic books.

A must have book, invaluable to anyone who needs a tool for learning the basic of wushu.

As a martial artist who has trained in both Japanese (Karate/Judo) and Chinese styles (Shaolin Choy li fut and taiji) I refer to this frequently to refresh my training knowledge. My only beef with it is that it is kind of lacking on some aspects of martial arts such as chi development and training tools. The only other aspect that annoys me is how it refers to martial art styles such as Choy Li Fut in a weird romanization of translation such as calling this style Cao Li Fun when nobody except for a Cantonese speaker would ever call it this name. BUT with that said overall I highly recommend it as an excellent supplement to your serious wushu training.