Introduction

Besides the modern Kung Fu created for competition by the Physical Education Communities of China, there are still over 100 traditional Kung Fu styles that are popular today. To choose a Kung Fu style you like is not hard. The individual styles have their own unique specialties and characteristics to have survived this long and still be popular. In the past the martial arts concentrated on offensive and defensive combat, the emphasis being on combat. In the modern world the emphasis has changed to health and overall physical well being. Martial Arts can be performed fast, slow, hard, yielding, some styles are external (use muscular strength) training, some are internal (inner force) training, some styles are based on hand techniques and some on kicking. Others are offensive and some are defensive. Then there are those based solely on physical and mental well being.

If you wish to learn a Martial Art for whatever reason - be it for self-defence or personal growth - and you choose a style that is not suitable to you the benefits will not be as great then if you were to practice a style that suits you physically and mentally. Every Martial Art has their own strengths and unique characteristics. To reach the level of master takes many years of dedicated study and as such you should have a clear idea of what it is that you wish to gain from you Martial Arts before you make that choice.

Pak Mei Kung Fu is an internal style, with eight basic techniques. The emphasis being on power, speed, accuracy and aggression and also going beyond your bodies normal boundaries and calling upon this skill when it is required. The techniques need the practitioner to be soft and relaxed, while co-ordinating the entire body. When you see a target, your mind conceives the appropriate response in techniques and with the power generated from your hips combined with the speed and accuracy you can go beyond your normal human limitations. every technique in Pak Mei must have speed, accuracy and the six points of power. A firm balance is the foundation for all techniques, to be done correctly, an old Chinese proverb states, ' Firmness starts at the roots'. The combination of the hips and legs working in unison is very important.

First you focus your power and after executing your technique you relax. By training in the continual contraction from a complete relaxed to tense and then tense to relaxed, the mind, body and joints come to accept this as being natural. When done correctly your energy is not wasted and you are developing your physical well-being. Pak Mei Kung Fu is performed naturally. There is no physical exaggeration and because of this it is a great outlet for built up physical and mental energies, such as stress and it is also good for keeping a fit healthy body and mind.

By training hard your mind and body will be faster, stronger and more efficient. Pak Mei Kung Fu is an internal, advanced style, easy to understand but harder to master. You need time to study and understand, otherwise the internal style will become an external style.