Bungo Fu includes 14 different styles, many of them based on the fighting techniques of various animals, including the cobra, the
monkey,the scorpion, the eagle, the lion, and others. Sifu Thompson initially instructs students in one animal style, the Deer technique,
which is both a particularly effective form of self defense and a useful preparation for learning other styles. The Deer technique
includes 170 different movements, or combinations of blocks and counterattacks, but Sifu Thompson generally teaches only the first
30 movements to students before they progress to the knife technique, other animal styles and training with weapons such as the staff,
machete and fighting stick.
If you have visited other martial arts schools or classes, you will notice that our training techniques and teaching philosophy are quite different from most. Sifu Thompson believes that flexibility and balance are essential to being able to fight effectively. While many schools just a brief, prefunctory pre-workout stretch, we spend the first 20-30 minutes of each class peforming a demanding regimen of stretching and one-footed agility exercises, and as a result, even our novice students develop the ability to do things with their bodies that some black belts in other arts would find challenging.
Additionally, Sifu Thompson is a strong believer in the old Chinese dictum that fighting and forms are really the same thing, and not the separate activities that most martial arts schools have turned them into. Our forms aren't designed to look graceful in a Wushu tournament, but rather to develop precision at self-defense techniques, and our students are taught to practice them exactly the same way when they are practicing alone as they would when confronted by an opponent. Otherwise, what's the point of practicing them at all?
When our students eventually progress to free sparring, they actually use these same techniques to fight, instead of reverting to
the simplied handful of kickboxing moves that are often taught elsewhere. Kickboxing is fine for winning martial arts tournaments,
but in a real-life attack, there won't be any no-contact areas of the body or protective headgear and gloves, and the object will
be to escape with your life, not win a trophy. That is why our students learn fighting techniques--such as trapping and breaking an
attacker's arm or leg, spinning him and kneeing him in the kidneys, or taking him to the ground with a joint lock and kicking him
in the face--that would never be allowed even in the UFC. Bungo Fu is not a sport. That is why we continually impress upon our students
that their skills are only to be used as a last resort, and that even in such a situation, they must inflict no more harm than is
absolutely necessary to neutralize an opponent.
Another unique aspect of our program is the extent to which we train our students to better utilize their senses. We spend a lot of time practicing the coin meditation, an exercise in which they must close their eyes and pinpoint the location of multiple coins tossed around them. The object is to train their ears--and minds--to aurally scan their environment, and for them to be able to retain that information and utilize it. In a real-life situation, such powers of observation and memory may enable a Bungo Fu practitioner to detect and elude an attacker or attackers, without even having to actually fight.
How quickly a student progresses depends upon a variety of factors, including age, natural ability, and degree of motivation. A young,
physically gifted student may be able to reach theBlack Sash level (equivalent to a black belt in other martial arts) in three years
or less, while it might take an older or less naturally fit student much longer. We believe that each student has his or her own individual
strengths and challenges, and that everyone deserves the opportunity to learn at the pace best suited to him or her. Sifu Thompson
has instructed a wide range of students over the years, and prides himself on his ability to teach anyone who is motivated to learn,
including those with physical disabilities.