Cuong Nhu
Encyclopedia
Ngo Dong
O Sensei Ngo Đong is chiefly known as the founder and grandmaster of the international school of Cuong Nhu Oriental Martial Arts. Having served as a college president in South Vietnam before the fall of Saigon in 1975, he spent time in a re-education camp until escaping in a small boat...
(O'Sensei) in 1965 in Hue, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. The Cuong Nhu Oriental Martial Arts Association (CNOMAA) is a federally recognized non-profit educational organization. Cuong Nhu is a martial art that blends elements of Shotokan, Wing Chun
Wing Chun
Wing Chun , also romanised as Ving Tsun or Wing Tsun, ; ; is a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self-defense utilizing both striking and grappling while specializing in close-range combat.The alternative characters 永春 "eternal spring" are also...
, Judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
, Aikido
Aikido
is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...
, T'ai chi ch'uan, Vovinam
Vovinam
Vovinam is a Vietnamese martial art.Vovinam is practiced with and without weapons. It is based on the principle of between hard and soft. It includes training of the body as well as the mind. It uses force and reaction of the opponent. Vovinam also includes hand, elbow, kicks, escape- and levering...
, and Boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. It is this blending of hard and soft styles from which Cuong Nhu derives its name, which is Vietnamese for Hard (Cuong) / Soft (Nhu).
The first Cuong Nhu dojo
Dojo
A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...
in the United States was opened in 1971 in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, where Ngo Dong achieved his Ph. D in Entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
. The headquarters of the style was originally relocated to Gainesville Florida in 1977, following a daring escape from Vietnam by Ngo Dong and his family. The Cuong Nhu World headquarters is now permanently located in Jacksonville Florida; locally known as the Mandarin Martial Arts Center.
The current head of style for Cuong Nhu is Grandmaster Quynh Ngo.
Curriculum
Students at beginning levels of Cuong Nhu first concentrate on learning hard style Shotokan karateKarate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
and Wing Chun techniques such as blocking and kicking, along with basic mat skills such as rolling, falling, takedowns and applications. Emphasis is given to the "loading" of techniques, and to turning the loads/transitions into 3-dimensional defense/attacks.
As students' techniques evolve to more advanced levels, softer style techniques (Judo, Aikido and T'ai chi) and Boxing are introduced along with throws and take-downs. Personal safety and self defense are important keynotes in Cuong Nhu training. An advanced student of Cuong Nhu will practice applications of self defense that involve engaging, controlling, and finishing multiple attackers at all levels and at any age or ability. The nature of the attack will determine the level of response from a Cuong Nhu practitioner.
Cuong Nhu's Kyu
Kyu
is a Japanese term used in martial arts, chadō, ikebana, go, shogi such as Japanese traditional culture, and academic tests and in other similar activities to designate various grades or levels or class of proficiency or experience...
rank Kata
Kata
is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general....
consist of four basic forms along with Pinan Katas one through five, Tension Kata, Jutte, Enpi, and Chinte
Chinte
Chinte is a kata practiced in Shotokan karate. It is a very old kata originating from China. Its mixture of standard movements and rarely seen techniques, vestiges of ancient forms, give this kata a special appeal...
. Kyu rank weapon katas include original tambo
Tambo (weapon)
The tambo, in Japanese , is a short staff weapon used in Okinawa and feudal Japan. Today the tambo is used by various martial arts schools.-Description:...
(short staff) katas one through three and original bo
Bo (weapon)
A bō or kon , is a long staff weapon used in Okinawa and feudal Japan. Bō are typically around long and are now used in Japanese martial arts, in particular bōjutsu...
(long staff) katas one through three. At blackbelt, Cuong Nhu includes higher levels of original hard style empty hand katas, original soft style empty hand katas Nhu 1, Nhu 2, and Lotus, as well as the study of more advanced weapons, including but not limited to bo, tambo, double tambo, tonfa
Tonfa
The tonfa , also known as tong fa or tuifa, is an Okinawan weapon. It is a stick with a handle, and is about 15-20 inches long. It was traditionally made from red oak and wielded in pairs...
, sai
Sai (weapon)
The sai is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon. The basic form of the weapon is that of a pointed, dagger-shaped metal truncheon, with two curved prongs called yoku projecting from the handle...
,and spear
Spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...
.
Ranking System
All Cuong Nhu students start as a white belt learning hard-style shotokanShotokan
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...
and wing chun
Wing Chun
Wing Chun , also romanised as Ving Tsun or Wing Tsun, ; ; is a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self-defense utilizing both striking and grappling while specializing in close-range combat.The alternative characters 永春 "eternal spring" are also...
. As they move up, they begin to earn green stripes. Between belts, students earn two stripes in the color of the next rank. After white green belt, students are promoted to green belt. As a green belt they are introduced to more soft-style martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
and weapons. At the brown belt level, they are expected to be active in assistant teaching. Advanced Kyu ranks earn two black stripes, then a black belt. In addition to the martial arts requirements, all Cuong Nhu black belts must have teaching experience and become certified in CPR and first aid.
For children in training, students start at white belt, then earn two yellow stripes. After yellow is purple, then blue, then green and it continues on.
People who have earned a black belt have gone through all the kyu ranks and have earned the title of sensei
Sensei
' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...
. Cuong Nhu is unique in that its black belt does not come with the rank of Shodan. Shodan is awarded after the new black belt learns the first Soft Style Kata Nhu 1, understands basic soft style principles/applications (Bunkai) and shows a consistency of teaching beyond the time they were awarded their black belt. The Dan ranks are the same as traditional ranks, Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yondan. Each Dan rank is represented by a red stripe on the black belt, one for Shodan and up to four for Yondan.
The rank of Godan (5th Degree) is represented by a horizontally red and black belt. Rokudon (6th Degree Master), Shichidan (7th Degree), Hachidan (8th Degree) and Kudan (9th Degree) are all unique belts designed specifically for Cuong Nhu by the late Master Mary Davis-Cates.
Kata
As white belts students start with hard-style shotokanShotokan
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...
. Students learn the first four beginning Katas, (Taikyoku) and a kata called 'machine gun' that emphasizes a rapid volley of hard strikes. As they get green stripes, they learn the first three Pinans. Once a green belt, students learn Pinan four. Once they have one brown stripe, they learn Pinan five. At two brown stripes, they learn Jutte for their brown belt test. For their black stripes they have to learn Enpi and Chinte
Chinte
Chinte is a kata practiced in Shotokan karate. It is a very old kata originating from China. Its mixture of standard movements and rarely seen techniques, vestiges of ancient forms, give this kata a special appeal...
. Dan ranks have the choices between Tiger, Monkey, Snake, Serpent, Crane, Close Combat, Nhu 1, Nhu 2, Nhu 3 (Lotus), Wing Chun Katas 1 (Siu Nim Tao), 2 (Chum Kiu), 3 (Biu Tze) as well as Cuong Nhu Bo Katas 5, 6 and Cuong Nhu Double Tambo Katas 1, 2, and 3.