the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

this is Episode 3 of our ongoing Martial Secrets series - this time with Sifu Stephen Choe of Penang Chu Ka system

also includes basics on the Tsui Pa striking board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO_Sf1tTXrk

Interesting... What I know from the Bak Mei and other arts that use the phoenix eye fist is that it’s used for striking cavities and not against hard parts of the body. Conditioning the phonix eye fist seems unnecessary and a bit off.

Very interesting thank you. However does it not frustrate anybody else that material that is clearly instructional comes with a don’t try this at home warning? Surely try at your own risk warning would be more appropriate to cover any legal liability otherwise it is totally contradictory.

People teach themselves all kinds of things that are arguably more dangerous than martial arts, for example I taught myself to surf and rock climb. Of course there will always be some injuries through accident or misadventure but I think on the whole viewers/readers could be given a bit more credit. Especially given that for most their training wont go as far as a full contact fighting.

Hi Northern Mantis, yes you are probably right, I decided to put a 'find a teacher' thing at the end but its just a legal thing.

Bao, Chu Ka hits both cavities and harder areas, the conditioning is within reason and doesn't deform the hand, the Tusi Pa is as much for accuracy and is not stone.

GM Lee Siong Pheow could hit through those old condensed milk cans, and his hands were fine apparently. The medicine is a part of it and Qigong etc.

The Bak Mei , Chow Gar and Shaolin I know from HK, Taiwan and se Asia did conditioning of this hand formation, some extreme , some mild.

retreats108 wrote:Bao, Chu Ka hits both cavities and harder areas, the conditioning is within reason and doesn't deform the hand, the Tusi Pa is as much for accuracy and is not stone.

I am not concerned about damage or deformation. Regardless if it’s damaging or not, it still feels unnecessary. Why not just use different hand formations for different targets. Time and effort is precious is something that you can use to build more important skills. Most people today don’t have a lot of time to kill.

Bao wrote:

retreats108 wrote:Bao, Chu Ka hits both cavities and harder areas, the conditioning is within reason and doesn't deform the hand, the Tusi Pa is as much for accuracy and is not stone.

I am not concerned about damage or deformation. Regardless if it’s damaging or not, it still feels unnecessary. Why not just use different hand formations for different targets. Time and effort is precious is something that you can use to build more important skills. Most people today don’t have a lot of time to kill.

In my younger days I was kind of a fanatic for practice. For some reason i used to hit or more correctly tap with a Phoenix eye fist whatever hard object as lampposts for example when I passed them by, of course discreetly so I would not look too crazy

The reason you condition it is in the heat of combat you don't always hit what you aim for
The only question I have is what are his little pads made of
This is much better than most of the stuff I have seen in this series
Except for maybe the Indian stick guy

I am not concerned about damage or deformation. Regardless if it’s damaging or not, it still feels unnecessary. Why not just use different hand formations for different targets. Time and effort is precious is something that you can use to build more important skills. Most people today don’t have a lot of time to kill.

If fighting ability is the only goal i would suggest there are plenty of less specialised opportunities out there for those without the time to spend.

If the aquisition of specialist skills like this is of interest, or the maintenance of the Chu Ka Tradition, then how much time people have or not is irrelevant... someone wants the skill, or the system, someone has to train the skill and make the time IMO.

Alex had trained Chu Ka when i met him, but i am sure he would agree not to the level of the masters he presents here, and his pheonix eye fist was an extrmely effective and painful tool.

FWIW, one of my SPM seniors referred to phoenix eye strikes as summer hitting. That as soon as you put a massive coat on and several layers underneath, the benefits of striking with the phoenix eye to the body goes out the window.

If you want to properly learn about such training, Gary Hearfield is your man:




That's his site:

http://www.warriorbodybuddhamind.com/wbbm/instructors/