Top 4 Deadliest Kung Fu Styles That Can Save Your Life

Which kung fu styles are deadly? How do we measure deadliness of kung fu?

A reminder for those of you pursuing “the deadliest kung fu” for fighting, however good you are, you will be done in by a gun in a second. Practice kung fu for the health and athletic benefits. Don’t fight, spread the love!

Definition of Deadly

There are hundreds, if not thousands of kung fu styles originating from China. Every kung fu practitioner could claim that his/her kung fu is the deadliest. There’s also a statement that kung-fu is just a tool and it all comes back to the users’ talent and the level they practice.

That would be very subjective. Are there any objective measurements? The word “deadly” should be the focus here. Not only self-defense but also deadlines. Even a teenager, knowing no kung fu could kill a human being if she/he hits in the right spots. Is there a better factor to determine how deadly one style of kung fu is?

I believe the “license to kill” is reserved for soldiers and such. They are not playing around. For soldiers at war, it is a situation of kill or be killed in any second. Thus, I will try to take the definition of “deadly kung fu” as:

1. Kung fu which is originated from China. We won’t talk about karate, taekwondo, or other good martial arts which are not originated from China.
2. Used by soldiers, military, police, or those with similar occupations.

Luckily, with those two (2) criteria, the list is quite small. It makes it easier for us to choose. Now, here are the kung fu styles that I’ve found so far. If you’ve found/know another kung fu style that meets the above two criteria, please inform me in the comment section.

In no particular order, the styles are:

Xing Yi Quan

Xíng Yì Quán / 形意拳 / Form Intention Fist. The original style of this kung fu is the spear technique used in ancient wars. Later on, the practitioners created a hand striking technique from it.

A condensed version of Xing Yi Quan was taught to Chinese officers at the Military Academy at Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War for close quarters combat. This included armed techniques such as bayonet and saber drills alongside unarmed techniques -- Wikipedia.

Wing Chun

I don’t think this kung fu needs further introduction. Made famous by the trilogy movies, “Ip Man,” this is also a “deadly” kung fu in the real world nowadays. Why? Because many police organizations are practicing it. They use Wing Chun mainly for its joint-lock effectiveness. It’s basically used to subdue, instead of kill. They are the police, not the soldiers. So, not exactly deadly, but comes close enough, imo. Example of usage by German SWAT team and Taiwanese Police.

Ba Ji Quan

Bā Jí Quán / 八極拳 / Eight Extremities Fist. This kung fu has lots of short energy bursts (fa jin) in the routines. This style is also famous for bringing lots of elbow usage compared to other types of kung fu. This style is considered as “the bodyguard style” because bodyguards of Pǔ Yí (last emperor of China), bodyguards of Mao Ze Dong, and bodyguards of Chiang Kai Shek, all used this type of kung fu. If bodyguards are confident enough to use this kung fu, the effectiveness of this should be confirmed, right?

San Shou/San Da

Sàn Shǒu / 散手 / Free Hand. In short, this is the Chinese version of full contact kickboxing. It is a branch of Wushu and has an international competition for it. As you can read from the Wikipedia link, the enhanced version of San Shuo is used by the Chinese military nowadays. So, it’s pretty badass. :D

Honorary mentions

Listed below are some styles that are not included in our criteria above, but are worth mentioning because of their effectiveness or popularity.

• Hung Ga / Hóng jiā quán / 洪家拳 / Hong Clan Style. Made famous by Huáng Fēi Hóng / 黃飛鴻 (9 July 1847 – 25 March 1924). Yes, he is a real human, not just some made up movie character.

• Mí Zōng Quán / 迷蹤拳 / Lost Track Fist. Made famous by Huo Yuan Jia / 霍元甲 (18 January 1868 – 9 August 1910). A practitioner of the martial art, Huo is considered a hero in China for defeating foreign fighters in highly publicised matches at a time when Chinese sovereignty was being eroded by foreign imperialism, concessions, and spheres of influence -- Wikipedia.

• Yang Style Tai Ji. Can you believe that? According to the Wikipedia link, it was a kung fu style taught to imperial guards in the 1850s. Apparently, ancient Tai Ji was truly a deadly martial art. However, with the China Cultural Revolution around the 1960s to 1970s, the fighting part training/technique of Tai Ji was lost to us. What we have now is the incomplete Tai Ji for health benefits, even with the Fa Jin exercise.

• Wushu, Shaolin kung fu, and Wu Dang kung fu are some of the most widely practiced kung fu styles around the world. We all know that speed is important in fighting. Both Wushu and Shaolin kung fu, if done correctly, could be said to be the fastest kung fu styles nowadays. Due to their wide acceptance, there can be no surprise that some military divisions or select individuals practiced these styles of kung fu for their self-defense. FYI: Here on Steemit, we have @janicehung, an international Wushu champion from the Philippines.

Those are the kung fu styles that I’ve known and researched for their effectiveness. Do you know another style not listed here? Please add it to the comments below. Also, don’t forget: don’t fight, spread the love!

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Don’t forget to follow and vote @lenadr. She proofread this article, and she makes awesome posts.

Image source. All Youtube videos are creative commons filtered.

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