Liu Seong Kuntao - Fundamental Strategies, Tactics, and Techniques - Strategy

Strategy

Liu Seong is an art of self defense, and not meant for sport competition. Practitioners spar at less than full speed and strength, and many attacks are not used due to their inherently dangerous nature. This concession is considered a necessity in order to prevent injury to the students. The Liu Seong system, in great part, has not undergone modernization, as have many other disciplines.

Willem Reeders' system of martial arts still retains its old school combat orientation with techniques that are designed to seriously injure an attacker. The essential premise of the art is that for self defense to be adequate it must take into account the worst possible scenario in which you could find yourself, in a fighting context. Accordingly, this would be having to face multiple, armed attackers who are versed in the martial arts as well. This assumption lays the theoretical basis for the art.

The Liu Seong system is a 'blade aware' or weapons based system which is generally trained without weaponry. Weapons are added to the training at advanced levels as an extension of the hand technique which is considered paramount. This is a departure from the method of many other styles of weapons combat which begin training with weapons first and take up 'empty hand' methods after basic baton, knife, or staff skills have been learned.