My Chow Gar

When does power development begin in Chow Gar?

Many people would probably say: later.

First you learn the basics. Then techniques and forms. And once the foundation is there, you begin training power.

But that is not quite how Chow Gar works.

Power development starts with the very first lesson.

Saam Gok Ma is already teaching the body how to organise force.

Stepping tests whether that organisation can survive movement.

The first hand methods begin connecting the hands to the body behind them.

And Saam Bo Gin gradually brings these relationships together.

This is also why progress in Chow Gar cannot simply be measured by how many techniques or forms you know.

You can practise the same movement for years while something underneath it continues to change.

The material may remain the same. The body performing it should not.

Our new article explores how Chow Gar begins building the foundation for structural power from day one, and why those apparently simple early exercises remain important even at much higher levels of practice.

👉 Read: How Chow Gar Develops Structural Power From the Very First Lesson

https://mychowgar.com/blog/how-chow-gar-southern-praying-mantis-develops-structural-power-from-day-one

And for those already practising Chow Gar:

When did you first notice that one of your “basic” exercises had started to feel completely different?

What does a serious Chow Gar student actually want to know?

During Niko’s last training session with us, he started asking questions.

Not prepared interview questions. Real training questions.

About finding a good teacher.
About private lessons.
About why rules matter in training.
About how to recognise when someone is forcing a movement instead of connecting the body correctly.

We kept the camera running.

The result became a conversation about some of the things that are hardest to understand from the outside, but matter enormously once you actually start training seriously.

If you are interested in Chow Gar beyond the surface of forms and techniques, this one is worth watching.

🎥 Watch the full video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhgO3chETlw

The Only Secret Is Good Practice | Chow Gar Training Q&A What actually creates real progress in Chow Gar Southern Praying Ma...

The Missing Link Between Foundation and Power

Learning the movements is only the beginning.

At some point in Chow Gar training, the real question becomes:

What should actually be happening inside the body?

How do the upper and lower body connect?
How does the bridge carry structure and force?
How do you recognise connection without turning it into stiffness?
And how does this become the foundation for real power development?

This is exactly what we will work on in the Transformation Cohort.

A 10-month guided journey through Phase 2 of Chow Gar training, focused on body connectivity, bridge quality, internal understanding, and the transition from foundation toward power.

Led together by Siheng Zoltán Bereczki and Siheng Attila Baráth, following the lineage and teaching method represented by Gatekeeper Grandmaster Ip Chee Keung.

Starts September 21, 2026
Maximum 30 qualified practitioners

This is where you can gain an advantage that may otherwise take years to discover through trial and error.

👉 Learn more:https://mychowgar.com/cohorts/transformation

Why can a good Chow Gar bridge feel so heavy when there is almost no visible effort?

It is easy to assume that a heavy bridge comes from stronger arms, more tension, or simply pushing harder.

But that misses the point.

As Chow Gar training develops, the bridge becomes connected to much more than the arm itself. The stance, hips, torso, shoulder and elbow begin to work together, allowing the structure of the whole body to reach the point of contact.

And this is where things become interesting.

A movement can look technically correct from the outside while the internal connection is still missing. Partner work often reveals immediately what solo practice can hide.

In our new article, we explore:

• what a heavy bridge actually is
• why heavy does not mean stiff
• how contact reveals breaks in body connection
• why this development matters before serious power training
• and how the heavy bridge relates to Geng Tan Geng without being the same thing

For us, this is one of the important stages where Chow Gar starts to change from something you perform into something you begin to feel and understand from inside the body.

👉 Read the full article:
https://mychowgar.com/blog/heavy-bridge-chow-gar-structural-contact-power

The Heavy Bridge: What You Feel When the Whole Body Reaches the Point of Contact

Why are Chow Gar and Wing Chun compared so often?

Both are Southern Chinese systems.

Both work at close range.

Both use bridge contact.

Both value efficiency over unnecessary movement.

And yet, when experienced practitioners of the two systems actually touch hands, one thing often becomes clear very quickly:

**They do not feel the same.**

The reason is deeper than technique.

The two systems place different demands on the body, prioritise different qualities, and organise their training around different developmental goals.

Wing Chun may develop remarkable economy, timing, sensitivity, line control, and the ability to act from very small movements.

In Chow Gar, power development becomes one of the organising principles of the entire system.

The stance.

Saam Bo Gin.

QiGong.

Bridge work.

Chy Sao.

Forms.

Partner training.

They repeatedly return to the same question:

**How can the body become capable of generating, carrying, and releasing more effective power?**

The deeper comparison is not:

**Which system is better?**

It is:

**What kind of body is each system trying to build?**

Our latest article explores the differences in stance, close-range fighting, bridge work, sensitivity, Heavy Bridge, and Geng Tan Geng.

**The body becomes what the method repeatedly asks it to become.**

Read the full article.

https://mychowgar.com/blog/chow-gar-vs-wing-chun-comparison

Today, The Awakening Cohort officially began.

Students from different countries have started their journey together through Phase 1 of Chow Gar.

Over the next 10 months, they will train together, receive personal feedback, ask questions, and build the foundations of the system correctly from the beginning.

Because learning movements is easy.

Learning the method is much harder.

The first two weeks of the program are intentionally designed as an onboarding period, which means new students can still join and comfortably catch up with the group.

Enrollment closes permanently on July 14.

After that, the cohort will continue together as a private training group, and the next opportunity to join is expected in September.

🥋 One start. One journey. One group.

https://mychowgar.com/cohort

What if QiGong isn't what most people think it is?

What if it isn't primarily about relaxation…

or breathing…

or moving energy around the body?

In Chow Gar, QiGong has a very different purpose.

It exists because techniques alone are not enough.

A technique can only express the qualities that the body already possesses.

If the body cannot connect, it cannot generate real power.

If the body cannot organize force, no amount of technical knowledge will fix it.

That is why generations of Chow Gar practitioners have spent thousands of repetitions on seemingly simple exercises.

Not to collect movements.

But to change the body itself.

In our latest article, we explore:

→ Why a fighting system needs QiGong at all
→ The difference between muscular tension and structural tension
→ Why Saam Bo Gin sits at the heart of the system
→ What Chow Gar QiGong actually develops
→ And perhaps most importantly… what it is not.

As my Sifu, Gatekeeper Grandmaster Ip Chee Keung, often reminds us:

**"Techniques have an end. Power has no end."**

Read the full article below.

https://mychowgar.com/blog/the-role-of-qigong-in-chow-gar-training-and-what-it-is-not

Many martial artists talk about internal power.

Far fewer ask a more important question:

**What is that power being developed for?**

A body trained to absorb and redirect force develops differently from a body trained to generate and deliver force.

That doesn't make one right and the other wrong.

It means the training methods reflect different goals.

This is one of the biggest differences between Tai Chi and Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis.

Both speak about internal power.

Both can transform the body.

But the destination shapes the journey.

In our latest article, we explore:

→ Why internal power looks different in a fighting system
→ The role of Geng Tan Geng (Shock Power)
→ Why Saam Bo Gin sits at the heart of Chow Gar
→ How purpose shapes structure, training, and results

One of my favourite observations from years of training is this:

**The body becomes what it repeatedly prepares itself to do.**

Read the full article below.

https://mychowgar.com/blog/chow-gar-vs-tai-chi-internal-power-for-fighting