The Benefits of Hand Forms

Hand Forms are our most ancient training tool and were the most important part of martial art training in old China. They would prepare you for learning the techniques and help with everything from stances to physical training. They are the most important tool to developing solid stances and foot work along with proper strikes, kicks, breathing, and balance and there is nothing that teaches movement patterns in the same way. Form practice is and has always been the quickest way to advance in Kung Fu, in every way. It has also been the most neglected.

When the art we now call "San Soo" was brought over from China by Grandmaster Jimmy H. Woo, it underwent some changes to make it easier to learn for Westerners. Traditionally, San Soo forms were longer than the 26 move hand forms we do today. Grandmaster chose to break the original hand forms into smaller pieces to suit the Western audience. He also showed a way to combine our short hand forms together to recreate the original long hand form style of practice.

It is not known if combining hand forms together in this manner recreates the original long hand forms, but it was, and still is today, the way taught by Jimmy H. Woo to practice doing long hand forms. It is believed that the original long hand forms consisting of 102 total moves: 100 fighting movements and two salutes.

Recently, with the help of my teacher, Master Robert Phillips, I have developed a comprehensive and easy to learn method of teaching hand forms to those of you that are not enrolled in a Kung Fu school. I have put the training methods into two different eBooks. The standard eBook is set up move by move with easy to understand descriptions and images to help you learn quickly. The deluxe eBook contains everything that the standard version has plus video clips of each move to make learning even easier. We currently offer one hand form in these formats and will be adding more soon.

For more information on these eBooks, click here go to The Phillips School of Kung Fu San Soo Website.

Doing your hand forms regularly can develop both your inner and outer strengths and can be very meditative as well as providing the physical challenge to those who want complete balance, strength and power.