Has anyone studied Quan Fa and know much about it?

[thechamp]

I'm interested in taking a weekly quanfa course in Taiwan. Has anyone on here done it? I don't really want to do too much of the kung fu qigong stuff....looking more for like a fitness type boxing class for fitness and a way of meeting Chinese people. wing chung etc look a little bit too serious for me

[thechamp]

Sort of looking for advice on whether you can learn kung fu without lots of the dogma that seems to be attached to some kung fu styles. I used to do karate but stopped because after a while I found all the drilling and sets a bit over the top

[AYRYZIGER]

Isn't Quan Fa what the Japanese call "Kempo"?

You choose yet another serious martial art there.

I would rather practice Wing Chun instead.

[renzhe]

I don't know what exactly is taught at that course, but quanfa is (used to be) simply an umbrella term for fighting arts in general, like kungfu, wugong, or wushu. It is possible that some sort of standardisation has taken place in China under the quanfa name (as it did with Wushu, which refers to a specific, standardised hybrid sport nowadays), but I haven't heard anything in that direction.

Do keep in mind that the Japanese word for quanfa is Kenpo/Kempo, and that there are standardised styles of Kenpo being taught in Japan and abroad, many are similar to Karate, but with a wider range of techniques. It is possible that this quanfa course teaches Japanese Kenpo.

If you don't like repetition and forms, you probably won't like many Chinese styles.

[Sam Reeves]

Kempo is more similar to Chinese gong fu (or at least the principles of some of the Chinese styles) in that is uses some circular movements, unlike Kara te (which used to be called 'China hand' as opposed to the now 'empty hand/kara te', before the Okinawans wanted to make it more appealing to the Japanese) which uses very basic linear movements (basic compared to the Chinese standards and principles).

Kempo is translated more usually as 'temple boxing'/shorin ji kempo', which recognizes its roots from Chinese gong fu and therefore, in theory, the Shaolin temple. Kempo is almost a bridge point between Chinese wu shu and so called 'Japanese' Kara te. Kempo is much better IMHO.

Like Mr.Ninja pointed out, quan fa is probably just an umbrella term, like the term wu shu has become. It could be anything really.

If you just want exercise you might as well do some 'Tae bo', or take a boxcercise class, and steer clear of the martial arts. Although fitness may be an element in some classes (although not all to be honest) it's not the focus necessarily.