by Joshua Peacock

Created on: November 11, 2009   Last Updated: November 13, 2009

There are literally hundreds and hundreds of styles of kung fu - or were, since many have become extinct or died out. Some were secret. Some a were quite well known. Below is are some of the more widely known in the world today:

1.) Wing Chun is widely considered the most popular and widely practiced style of gong fu. It is a fast, compact, straight forward southern fighting style that was designed by a woman so that people of all shapes and sizes could learn to defend themselves.

2.) Tai chi (or Taiji quan) is a powerful internal style of gong fu. Today, it is extremely popular all around the world as a healthy form of exercise. But, as some people forget, it is also a martial art, and can, if trained correctly, be used as a powerful system of self defense.

3.) Jun Fan gong fu (or Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do), created by the famous and legendary Bruce Lee, is often considered his style of gong fu, although, because of the outside influences, some do not. Either way, Bruce was an expert in chinese martial arts, and Wing Chun was the biggest contributor to this system, which is about as straight forward as one can get when it comes to fight. Th philosophy is often expressed as, "hit first, block later".

4.) Choi Lay Fut is a fast and elegant style, often seen as unorthodox by those who do not study. It consists of fast, wide swinging techniques powered from a strong stance and the waist, for a long range. Many practitioners of this style boast defeats over Muay Thai champions in China, something not easily attained. Bruce Lee remarked that Choi Lay Fut was the greatest style he had seen for dealing with multiple attackers at once.

5.) The animals styles have been made popular through fim, and are now popular for practice. Classically, there are five main shaolin styles: Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Leopard and Crane. They are practiced altogether as a single system, or they are sometime practiced as individual systems. Among these the most popular are the Tiger and Crane styles.

Other popular but lesser known styles include Bagua Zhang, H'sing-I quan, Hung Gar, Lau Gar, Baji quan, Eagle Claw, Shaolin Chin na, Shuai Jiao wrestling, Praying Mantis, Monkey kung fu, Drunken Boxing, Lohan boxing, or Arhat Boxing, and many more.

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