From Hung Gar Kung Fu to MMA: How My Movement and Body Changed
I was asked on Facebook: How did transferring from kung fu to MMA change your body and your movement? I gave it a thought and here is a list of what happened in the most recent 2 years.
I have been training karate and then kung fu my whole life. Some 6 years ago I started with MMA and eventually decided to aim for a professional career. Last year I moved to Thailand and so my training schedule has also changed a lot.
I don’t practice Hung Gar kung fu as much as I used to. It is OK because I believe everything comes in cycles, perhaps after my MMA career is over, I will shift my focus again. But kung fu definitely created a big part of the kind of fighter I am.
Here are what changes I noticed when I transferred from kung fu to MMA:
1. I recognize patterns in striking
We have some great minds of striking at the Bangtao Muay Thai and MMA gym. If you are coming from traditional martial arts, you may think that in combat sports striking there is only jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. Well, you are so wrong! The architecture of striking is rich, complicated, and full of angles, fakes, lengths, and many arm and body shapes that are exactly the same as in your traditional style.
I often watch a demonstration in class and I totally recognize the striking pattern, the movement, or the physics of what is being taught. It is like coming in a circle to the same finding, just from the other direction! I love this so much.
2. I lost weight and I am faster
You may not agree with me, but a big issue I have with my own love, Hung Gar kung fu, is that people move slowly. Yes, they show “power”, but it is rather “strength”. The movement is cut between always 2 movements, there is a break, and the transfer is often not fast either.
A lot of Hung Gar practitioners have the body shape of an Olympic lifter.
I lost maybe 5kg of weight in the past 4 years, gained a lot of muscles and for sure rebuild my body shape a bit. As I started to lift, my posture improved. As I started with speed work, my legs got slimmer and duh — faster. My agility is a totally different animal now. I am leaner and faster.
I was always a bit “different” because I spent a good amount of time on isolated movements in kung fu. But the standard is “running” through the forms, big volumes, more on the strength endurance side. Not many train the explosiveness and that is a big problem. Once I started fighting, it was absolutely necessary to gain this explosiveness.
3. I am finding pieces of grappling in my body's memory
It is a well-known secret that Hung Gar is full of grappling: holds, throws, and some joint attacks. Usually, it is not taught, or maybe just on the side, as something interesting to spice the class with. No wonder, Hung Gar is already a very huge system with hundreds of techniques, so these would not make the top list when it comes to practicing how to use the techniques. But once I started wrestling or training BJJ, my body remembered. Here and there, there was a fracture of some knowledge. Especially for the grips and hand fighting, which is one of Hung Gar’s domains!
These are just some of the things I have noticed, from the top of my mind. If you, like me, have an experience of crossing paths of various martial arts systems, share your list!
