What a great book! If you have any interest in Five Ancestors Fist (Ngo Cho Kun) or Southern Boxing in general, this large, well-illustrated volume is a must-have for your library.
The Five Ancestors is one style that combines five forms of Kung Fu fighting. Its core style is TaiZu, named after an Emperor of China who was himself a martial artist. Here we have a blend of Emperor, Monkey, Luohan (Shaolin), White Crane and Bodhidharma style. There is much emphasis on some unusual hand positions, strong blocks and body angling. This book includes much in the realm of the empty-hand fighting and weapons tailored to the style, such as the staff and the Bandit Knife.
What do I like most about the style? I think those small, southern partner sets made up of only four or so moves, but which can be grown into any shape and length. Ngo Cho is a fighting style with the ability to seek new combinations of usage, form, and training all its own. While it looks like the individual movements are relatively easy to learn, they open a lot of acreage when it comes to adapting to attacks. After all, Ngo Cho has been through a number of rough centuries (looking at the review table will testify to that.)
Another recommended book on southern boxing techniques (where, incidentally, many Kenpo practitioners will find their own ancestors.)
