Ch'uan Chang Do Kung Fu
The way of the the soft palm and the hard fist Kung Fu Style
Sifu Sijo Michael Crisp founded Ch'uan Chang Do Kung Style in Janurary 1975, having earned 8 black belts in various styles of Martial Arts including traditional Karate and Kung Fu styles. Before that he started out training in traditional boxing and wrestling styles.
Ch'uan Chang Do roughly translates to ''the way of thee soft palm and the hard fist'', at least that's what we were told! It is a modern mixture martial arts based mainly on Kung Fu styles but with large helpings of Karate, other Martial Arts and western boxing. It is not what some people nowadays call MMA (Mixed Martial Art). Kung Fu styles have their origins in Chinese Martial Arts and Karate Styles mostly come from Japan.
Ch'uan Chang Do uses English names and terms to avoid complicating learning martial arts with learning a foreign language.
The Ch'uan Chang Do association is based in Essex and Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. From its origins in the Sawbridgeworth and Harlow, the association grew over the years and now has several clubs in the surrounding area.
When should you start?
Start now, start next week whenever you can, you will be welcome. The first week is free so come and give it a try. Turn up to the weeks you can make it. Particularly for adults making every week is not practical so we do not expect it. Once you have started don't worry if you cannot make it one week come when you can make it. We want you to learn and to have fun.
Complete beginners or experienced martial artists from other styles are all welcome
Sparring is not compulsory for anyone, in fact very little is compulsory. Some students prefer just training and others prefer sparring we welcome everyone. Like everything in life you get out of it what you put in to it.
Gradings
In traditional Kung Fu styles you had a very simple system of Student, Instructor and Master based on years of progress. Legend had it that the either the first Westerners to learn Martial Arts got impatient to see their progress better defined and wanted to be measured, but history now tells us the Japenese army needed to be measure progress of its soldeir as they trained in Judo, so grades and belts were introduced.
The Seniors in our style follow the Judo Belt system of White for a beginner, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue and Brown, then Black Belt 1st Dan, 2nd Dan etc.. Senior Black Belts have to be at least 18 years old. For the Juniors an extra belt was introuduced White for a beginner, Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue and Brown, then Junior Black Belt at the age of 16.
We do not rush between our Grades, nor do we do Gradings at set times but do them when the student is ready and has had time to absorb what they are learning. The lower belts might take anything from 6 months to a couple of years depending on the students. Usually there is a point where things click into place and although the syllabus gets more complicated the Gradings become easier.
We encourage our Yellow belts to help the White belts and the Orange Belts to help both White and Yellow Belts and so on up the grades. This helps them learn their own syllabus better because they have to understand it well enough to explain it. By the time they reach Blue and Brown Belt they are considered an Assistant instructor and will have taken part of the class and eventually all of class under supervision making it less of a jump to being a Black Belt and full instructor.
For more information about Ch'uan Chang Do email info@chuanchangdo.co.uk
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