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do u think kung fu is usefull in fights?i wanna learn a fighting style(striking) but a more wise one, more philosofic, allthough not less efective, and good in fights.what do u advice me?thank u

Well - there are a few forums here that focus on which MA is more effective in fighting - and the conclusion in many of those forums is that its all about the fighter not really the style & that you should pick a style that fits you - either physically & mentally. In terms of Striking, I know that Muay Thai (MT) is up there with Kyokushin Karate, as one of the most effective Striking Arts. MT is featured in many MMA competitions as opposed to Kung Fu - and I believe this to be due to the fact that MT focuses on conditioning, endurance and a lot of sparring.
With what little I know about Kung Fu - I think that Kung Fu schools usually dont offer much sparring - if you find one school that does - then thats the one you want.
In terms of which one is more of Way of Life - most people will argue that Kung Fu is more focused on this aspect (remember the series called Kung Fu with David Carradine?). And it may as well be easier to find a Kung Fu School that teaches the Zen part of it.

However, Muay Thai is not too far from this, since a few schools, even in the US also practice the Buddist part of Muay Thai training and even explain the various Muay Thai rituals (the Wai Kru dance being part of it).
Now, this type of MT school may be harder to find.

what style of Kung fu??? thier are perhaps 200 I could locate in the states, style wise. Some range from graceful flowing moves and other are based on brutal striking and counters.

James

Yes, Khazar - what style of Kung fu are looking to practice?
(I'm forwarding this question from Kensei - because I know very little about Kung-fu ).
And, you are looking for a Kung-fu school in Portugal right?

yes, im looking for it in lisbon.i dunno styles of kung fu, i just know the shaolin one, but almost nothing.i want something like 30%aikido (counters, joint locks, avoiding atacks,etc.) and 70% striking(pressure points, strikes in general).maybe 40%aikido part(i use "aikido" name because its that kind of things, allthough being strikes the main objective of the "aikido" techniques i´ll do) and 60% striking.do u know any stile somehow like this or any link where i can see the main styles?tks for all!

i´ve seen wing chun vids and it looks pretty neat. about the muay thai, i want to go to somethin a little bit diferent from the usual, and muay thai would be a great shock for my body, since i wont be able to do it in more advanced ages.i must first warn u that im still 13 years old, so still young psichologically (does this word exists?) but on the other hand, plenty of time to really learn it and maybe get a master if i enjoy it.i currently live in portugal, its my home-country but ive lived, and probably will live in china, and there i could get better lessons.i´ve also noticed JKD (Jeet Kune Do) wha can u say about it?first, JKD is what u want it to be right? if u want to do thos crazy TKD kicks, and thos joint locks from aikido, u say u do JKD right? or is it more lika, a instinct martial art? u get a good physycal condition, watch the moves of some MA, and say, "that looks deadly, going to train it next week". JKD would also be easy to train, since one of my partners in bjj is a JKD teacher (hes a lor more older than me, ofcourse).so what do u advice me?

JKD is good..

The Jonzz wrote:JKD is good..

JKD can be good, but it can also be a huge waste of time.

how do i make it good, and do i avoid it to be a huge waste of time?and how is JKD?there arent JKD techniques, right?how is the phylosofy of it, where do they learn the techniques?

problem is that their are far more fakes teaching JKD than true JKD instructors.

any way to see whos real and whos fake?and if i find a real JKD instructor, i should go for it right?but, are there JKD techniques? or is it like a miz of a lot of movements from different things?i´ve never understood very well what do u learn, if JKD, if moves from other MA, or somethin that look and are efective.wich is it?tks

I think I can elaborate on what Kensei is saying.
One of the problems with Jet Kune Do - is that Bruce Lee trained only a few (I think only 2) instructors before his death.
Before his death, Bruce Lee was very careful in ensuring that his students did not train others in Jet Kune Do. Bruce Lee designed a martial art based on many other martial arts - and this was the first "famous" MMA school. But the whole point of this school was to have a Martial Art that was extremely effective under any circumstance. Bruce Lee didn't even want this martial art to be called Jet Kune Do because he believed that putting a name on what he was teaching would confine people into believing that JKD was a specific doctrine. .

Pretty much - JKD was meant to be a free style mixed martial art - where the students mind was free to mold this martial art to whatever worked best for him.
Now, Jet Kune Do is being taught strictly as Jet Kune Do -
I have never taken JKD so I cant tell you that it is good or bad - but I have read that JKD was not supposed to be taught as JKD after Bruce Lee's death. This is one of the reasons why people who teach JKD are looked at with suspicion.

My recommendation is that you go for it - give it a try - and see if it works for you. Like many people have taught me (in this forum) what matters is the fighter - whatever fits you is what will work the best - perhaps this JKD - even if its not the original JKD - will work well for you!

Donavan is kind of right, B. Lee sifu taught many students. from actors to full time MA instructors. he produced only six or so real instructors, but like Ed Parker his style was evolving and living, so each instructor was taught a slightly different aspect of his art. Dan inansanto was taught one style while others like Taki Kumura were taught differently.

Problems came up when he died and so many fakes came out saying he taught them specificly different aspects. If you can find an instructor that is a student of a student and is not a fake that is fine, but remember you are getting an aspect of what Lee was teaching based on what others have added.

too messy, and it looks impossible to me that some1 that knwos real JKD would go teach it to this hole thats portugal :S.the only prob with muay thai, is that when i get like 30years old (allthough that will be in 16 years,lol) i wom´t be able to do it for competition, or for self-defence, and meanwhile, all my body will be tottaly broken...right or wrong?and theres anything that mixes aikido and muay thai, like not just Power vs Power, in a giht, i would like to also have a little bit of knowledge at my side.so, will MT crack all my body?will i be able to do it in 16 or 26 years, when i reach 30 or 40? and any MA that is no t just Power vs Power?its Power AND knowledge?tks for everything and soz for keep allways asking new questions .

I guess it depends on what type of fighter you want to be - and how hard you train. I can tell you that you need to know your limits when you engage in any type of training. While training Muay Thai I have experienced two types of medium degree injuries - one was a calf spasm which gave me a lot of pain for about 2 months. The other was is an elbow hyper extension (I missed the bag with a punch and extended my arm a little too much - this one kept me from training for 6 weeks.
If I had been stubborn and kept training while injured I could have ended up with more serious injuries - hence breaking my body.
Your body will tell you when you need to stop or slow down - and you better hear it if you want to last long.

Now - are you concerned that training will "break your body" - or that your fights will break your body?