Iron rings are heavy metal rings used in martial arts for various training purposes. Metal rings have a long history of being used in Yau Kung Mun, Hung Gar, and other styles for weight training, to harden the muscle, skin, or bone, or strengthen the arms and fists.
Many different types of rings are available. The Chi Sau Ring is used for conditioning the body in many stances, and exercises. Four-inch-diameter (100 mm) Chi Sau Rings weigh 600 g; 5-inch-diameter (130 mm) iron rings weigh 800 g. Some iron rings are sold in sets, such as two small and two large rings. Some rings are made of other metals such as steel or brass, and rattan rings are also used for exercise.
Chinese forms training is done to improve the mind and body. To get the most out of your forms training, martial arts practitioner and writer Stefan Verstappen suggests that forms training be done with “brass or steel rings ...around the wrists and ankles to add weight during the performance of the form.” Verstappen states that “[s]pecial wrist and ankle weights can help in the development of muscles, and endurance. Light dumb bells can also be substituted." He warns that people doing training should "...be careful not to perform the movements too quickly since the weights tend to make you overextend your techniques which can cause injury to the joints.” Other ways of enhancing the value of forms training include training outdoors in varied conditions and using varying speeds. [1] Ying Ching Kuen and external forms of Yau Kung Mun are practised with iron rings to build strength, power, and endurance. [2]
The southern Chinese kung fu style of Hung Gar is "hard, strong style" that uses "rooted stances such as the horse stance (mabu)". Hung Gar practitioners use "...sand bags to strengthen grip, as well as iron rings in strengthening arms and tight fists." [3] Hung Gar is derived from the Shaolin Temple kung fu system developed during the Ching dynasty. Hung Gar training uses "...prolonged stance training and many isometric breathing exercises. To do fist training, students wear iron rings, weighing from 2-4 lbs on their arms. "The force of the student's strike causes the rings to slide down the arms smashing into the back of the hands, reminding the students to hold a "tight fist."" [4]
Hung Ga (洪家), Hung Kuen (洪拳), or Hung Ga Kuen (洪家拳) is a southern Chinese martial art belonging to the southern Shaolin styles. The hallmarks of Hung Ga are strong stances, notably the horse stance, or "si ping ma" (四平馬), and strong hand techniques, notably the bridge hand and the versatile tiger claw. Traditionally, students spent anywhere from several months to three years in stance training, often sitting only in horse stance from half an hour to several hours at a time, before learning any forms. Each form could then take a year or so to learn, with weapons learned last. In current times, this mode of instruction is generally considered impractical for students, who have other concerns beyond practicing kung fu. However, some instructors still follow traditional guidelines and make stance training the majority of their beginner training. Hung Ga is sometimes mischaracterized as solely external—that is, reliant on brute physical force rather than the cultivation of qi—even though the student advances progressively toward an internal focus.
Southern Praying Mantis is a Chinese martial art originating with the Hakka people. It is most closely associated with Hakka-origin styles such as Southern Dragon Kung Fu and Bak Mei.
In its broadest sense, Northern Shaolin is the external martial arts of Northern China, referring to those styles from the Northern Shaolin Monastery in Henan and specifically to the style practice by Gù Rǔzhāng, the Sōngshān Shí Lù Shàolínquán (嵩山十路少林拳) / Song Mountain Ten Road Shaolin Boxing.
Nanquan refers to a classification of Chinese martial arts that originated in Southern China.
In Chinese martial arts, there are fighting styles that are modeled after animals.
Master of Kung Fu was a comic book title published by Marvel Comics from 1974 to 1983.
Jow Ga kung fu is a form of Chinese martial art. It was founded by Jow Lung who was born in 1891, on the eleventh day of the third lunar month in Sa Fu Village of the Guangdong province, and died in 1919. His father was Jow Fong Hoy and his mother’s maiden name was Li. At the time of its inception, this particular style of kung fu was labeled as having the head of Hung Gar, the tail of Choy Gar and the patterns of the tiger and leopard, or simply Hung Tao Choy Mei. It was so labeled because the essential techniques incorporated the muscular and mighty movements of Hung Gar and the swift footwork and complex kicking of Choy Gar, making it a very effective form of self defense with emphasis on simultaneous attack and defense.
Hong Xiguan (1745–1825) was a Chinese martial artist who lived in the Qing dynasty. He was also an influential figure in the Southern Shaolin school of Chinese martial arts. His name is also alternatively romanised as Hung Hei-gun, Hung Hei-koon, Hung Hei-kwun, Hung Hsi-kuan, and similar renditions. He was believed to be the creator and founder of Hung Ga Kuen.
There are hundreds of different styles of Chinese martial arts, each with their own sets of techniques and ideas. The various movements in kung fu, most of which are imitations of the fighting styles of animals, are initiated from one to five basic foot positions: normal upright posture and the four stances called dragon, frog, horse riding, and snake.
Lam Sai-wing was a Hung Gar martial artist. He was a student of the Chinese martial artist, acupuncturer and folk hero of Cantonese ethnicity, Wong Fei-hung.
Mok Gar (莫家) is one of the five major family styles of Southern Chinese martial arts. It was developed by a Shaolin monk named Monk Mok Ta Shi (莫達士) as an inheritance of the Southern Shaolin Fist in Guangdong province in China.
The Li family of kung fu is one of the five family styles of Southern Chinese martial arts.
Yau Kung Mun 柔功門 is a Shaolin martial art.
Fut Ga Kuen or Buddhist Family Fist is a relatively modern Southern Shaolin style of Kung Fu devised primarily from the combination of Hung Ga Kuen 洪家 and Choy Gar 蔡家 Kuen. The style utilizes mostly punches, palm strikes and low kicks, further characterized by evasive footwork, circular blocks and using the opponent's force against them.
Choy Gar, also Caijia Quan, is a Chinese martial art deriving its name from the Cantonese-born founder, Choy Gau Lee (蔡九儀), and is one of the five main family styles of Kung Fu in Southern China. It was taught to him by a monk named Yi Guan. This style, founded in the 17th century, is a combination of rat and snake styles emphasizing on swift footwork and rapid strikes.
Hasayfu (下四虎) is the Cantonese term that translates to "Lower Four Counties" and has been applied to refer to a type of Hung Kuen kung fu style. This term is derived from the original term Ha Say Fu(下四府) pronounced similarly, but in the past referred to the four lower districts/Prefectures in Guangdong Province. The lower districts or Xia Si Fu referred to Gaozhou (高州府), Leizhou (雷州府), Qinzhou (钦州府) and Qiongzhou (琼州府). Gaozhou and Leizho refer to the modern areas of Zhanjiang (湛江) and Maoming (茂名) in Guangdong Province.
Choy Lee Fut is a Chinese martial art and wushu style, founded in 1836 by Chan Heung (陳享). Choy Li Fut was named to honor the Buddhist monk Choy Fook who taught him Choy Gar, and Li Yau-san (李友山) who taught him Li Gar, plus his uncle Chan Yuen-wu (陳遠護), who taught him Hung Kuen, and developed to honor the Buddha and the Shaolin roots of the system.
Chan Heung was the founder of the Choy Li Fut martial arts system.
Weng Chun Kung Fu is a Southern-style Chinese Martial Art.
Snake kung fu is a Shaolin boxing style, one of several Chinese martial arts known as "snake boxing" or "fanged snake style" that imitate the movements of snakes. Proponents claim that adopting the fluidity of snakes allows them to entwine with their opponents in defense and strike them from angles they would not expect in offense. Snake style is said to especially lend itself to applications with the Chinese straight sword. The snake is also one of the animals imitated in Yang-style tai chi, Baguazhang and Xingyiquan. The sinuous, fluid motion of the snake lends itself to the practical theory that underlies the "soft" martial arts.