Sifu Roger Engmalm grabs sifu Mattias Lindh's wrist (1) Lindh twists into a scissor stance to break away and counters with a backfist strike. Engmalm blocks with a rising block. Lindh shifts into a bow-and-arrow stance and breaks the wrist grip (2) He then strikes with a straight punch, which is blocked at the centerline (3)

A large crowd of students sat cross-legged in a circle. Two lone figures faced each other in the middle of the floor. For a moment they stood motionless, transfixed on each other's frame. Then came the signal to start. The two students bowed out of respect, then sprung into action. The students sitting on the floor moved back in unison as the two players clashed. A well-orchestrated fight was about to begin.

The grace, power, speed and timing were impeccable. Many hours of practice by both students went into this performance. This is how kung-fu is supposed to look in the hands of a pair of skilled practitioners-choreographed mayhem, orderly chaos displayed by another generation of Chinese martial arts disciples.

History of Two-Man Sets

It is widely believed that Ta Mo (Bodhidharma), A.D. 448-527, was the father of Buddhism and shaolin kung-fu in China. History tells us that Ta Mo walked hundreds of miles during his arduous journey from Southern India to China. He not only survived a long and dangerous journey fraught with highway bandits, but also the freezing temperatures of the Himalayan Mountains. When he reached China he met a group of shaolin monks who he found were in poor physical health. They practiced meditation but were otherwise weak from a lifestyle devoid of exercise. He then taught them an exercise form that featured both self-defense and self-development. This would eventually evolve into shaolin kung-fu, one of the world's most popular forms of Chinese martial arts.

As kung-fu developed into a respected fighting and self-defense system, masters discovered it was easier to teach fighting by breaking the movements down into smaller steps and then combining those individual elements into sets or forms. One of the elements that became a kung-fu staple is doy dars or two-man sparring sets.

The Chinese have been using these sparring sets for centuries. Most kung-fu systems employ two-man sparring sets in their curriculum, because they help develop timing, coordination, speed, power and fast reflexes. The sets also toughen the arms and legs, thanks to movements that require practitioners to bang skin against skin and bone against bone.

Legendary grandmaster Wong Fei Hung, one of China's storied martial arts figures, developed a famous hung gar two-man set. Called "fu hok seung ying doy dar" or the "tiger and crane two-man sparring set," it contains many of the techniques used in fu hok seung ying kuen or the tiger and crane double fist pattern. Two-man sparring sets not only help hung gar students better understand kung-fu's intricate, detail-oriented forms, but also show how choreographed movements can be translated to "real" street defense.

Kung-Fu on the Street

Many martial artists train a lifetime and get the chance to test their skills in a face-to-face street encounter. It's one thing to practice your forms empty-handed, kicking and punching the non-violent air of a training hall. It's quite another to have to test your skills in a life-or-death situation. Not knowing the feeling of hitting or getting hit puts the person at a decided disadvantage. Two-man sparring sets were developed to prepare a student for the possibility that street encounters flow beyond the talking stage.

Training in such doy dars, or two-man sparring sets, teaches the student to adjust and adapt to any situation. Two-man sparring sets are useful because students can practice distance, speed and power. Learning what works and what doesn't, discovering how well you can cover a counter, gives the practitioner a good idea of his strengths and weaknesses.

Changing partners also helps a student adapt to different body sizes, reaches, speeds and strengths. Switching training partners teaches students how to adjust to a variety of hand and kick distances. After all, you never get to pick your attacker in the street.

With or Without a Weapon

A practitioner also learns to acquire proper blocking skills when practicing a two-man set. If a student keeps injuring his fingers every time he blocks, he will soon learn-the hard way-that the block is not being properly executed. The student can then make the necessary adjustments and deliver the techniques in a safe, efficient manner. It is one thing to block and counter while performing a set and something altogether different when pitted against an opponent who makes you pay for your mistakes.

Another unique aspect of two-man sets is the array of traditional kung-fu weapons, such as Kwan do vs. spear; butterfly knives vs. the horse bench; broadsword vs. spear; and long pole vs. long pole. There are even sets that pit weapons against empty hand. These sets teach the student not only how to maneuver the weapon, but also work the same principles found in empty-hand sets, such as timing, coordination and distance.

Stepping past each other, both players are in scissor stances blocking downward (1) Twisting into horse stances, the player on the right strikes downward with a backfist strike (2) The player on the left blocks with a rising block. The player on the right then counters with a punch, which is stopped by another rising block (3)

Engmalm grabs the defender's arms and pulls them down (1)

The attacker then executes a front kick (2)

The defender blocks the kick by bringing his knee up and across. Both players twist into on-guard positions (3)

Lindh (right) executes a front kick. Engmalm steps back into a scissor stance and blocks the leg (1)

After the kick, Lindh steps in fast to push his opponent to the ground (2)

Engmalm (left) executes a tiger tail kick as he goes to the ground. Lindh blocks as he twists away (3)