BLACK CRANE KUNG FU
黑鹤式​功夫​​

Black Crane Kung Fu is a combat level martial art taught at Imperial Combat Arts school in Denver Colorado. Black Crane Kung Fu is a specialized Crane Kung Fu Style that incorporates the training secrets and powers of both Mantis Kung Fu and Snake Kung Fu into its own techniques. Black Crane often moves its arm like Snake Kung Fu using the similar serpentine form of the Cranes Neck and a unique highly toughened weapon for strikes. 
This unique martial art also uses the quick arm captures and finger tip strikes of Mantis Kung Fu. Black Crane Kung Fu is an advanced martial art that can only be trained after learning Crane, Mantis, and Snake, as Black Crane brings these three styles into one powerful system. Even one of these three styles can take years to master and requires several years of extensive hand and leg toughening to train. 

HISTORY OF BLACK CRANE

The three martial arts that comprise Black Crane Kung Fu each have their own unique martial histories, and are each legendary in their own right. It was during the reign of the Ch'ing (Qing) Dynasty 1644 to 1912 that these 3 arts and their sub-styles came to be known as one style. Great masters of the arts noted that the 3 arts representing the most Yin energies (photo above/left) Crane, Mantis, and Snake could use each others techniques if the body and movements found unique postures, and a rhythm central to all the styles. Black Crane Kung Fu moves and fights in such a way that it can transition through these three arts seamlessly at will, sometimes even using techniques from multiple styles in a single strike.

THE ARTS WITHIN BLACK CRANE

CRANE KUNG FU
鹤式​功夫​​

Crane is a legendary Chinese martial art as renowned for its grace, agility, and balance as it is for its powerful highly toughened angular strikes. Crane masters train extensive kicking, leg controls, maneuvers and high level shin and foot toughening. Masters of this fighting style will routinely demonstrate standing on one leg, evading multiple strikes while simultaneously countering with fingertip strikes breaking three or more inches of solid wood. Enter Page> Crane Kung Fu

SNAKE KUNG FU
蛇式​功夫​

Snake style fighting is legendary for its blinding speed and incredible accuracy in combat. Unlike most snake martial arts Imperial Snake consists of five unique fighting styles each considered a complete martial art with their own master level toughening and training. One of the five is Python a massive system of powerful palm strikes, combat grappling, chokes, strangles, joint attacks, and throws. Also Cobra, Adder, Viper, and Asp. Enter Page> Snake Kung Fu 

MANTIS KUNG FU
螳式​功夫​

Mantis is an art renowned for its speed and accuracy. This legendary art specializes in capturing opponents strikes and counter-striking with single or two-fingered strikes to vital points. Years of finger toughening and speed training are required to master this style. Imperial Mantis Masters demonstrate the true power of Mantis with one fingered strikes into melons, and destroy animal eyeballs held in moving dummies. Enter Page> Praying Mantis Kung Fu

BLACK CRANE TOUGHENING

Black Crane Kung Fu starts with the prior master level toughening already developed in its parent styles of Crane, Mantis, and Snake. From here the blending of these styles goes into toughening and techniques unique to Black Crane alone. The style of Black Crane fights with; the beak and wing style weapons of Crane, the single finger strikes and captures of Mantis, the fast spear hand strikes of Snake, as well as the toughened legs and feet of these styles. Enter Page> Hand Toughening 

BLACK CRANE SETS

Black Crane trains sets from Crane, Snake, and Mantis and its own sets that show how the unique blending of these styles can have powerful applications in combat. Like all the Imperial Combat Arts animal styles Black Crane sets are vs multiple opponents and often done in compromised positions such as blindfolded or on posts and beams, to further press develop the style for use in low light or rough terrain. There are also numerous weapon sets trained in Black Crane using the weapons specific to the style.

BLACK CRANE DRILLS

Black Crane Kung Fu trains drills from all three styles. These drills are done both in the air and on specialized equipment designed to train the speed, power, accuracy, and reflexes needed to use Black Crane in battle.  These devices help build the powerful and fast captures of Mantis, and its finger strikes vs moving targets. They build the speed, accuracy, and timing of Snake strikes, and the strikes, kicks, balance, and evasion of Crane. 
It takes years of forearm, leg, and finger toughening just to begin to use Black Cranes training equipment.

THE BLACK CRANE FORM

Black Crane has one long intricate form. This form teaches the techniques of Black Crane and is one of the primary ways the style is taught to the next generation of Black Crane practitioners. Every move in The Black Crane Form is trained in full speed sets and matching, and is not trained for flashy moves or aesthetic competitions. Additionally each kick and strike of Black Cranes form is tested by breaking substance or kicking through baseball bats, or cinder blocks. 

BLACK CRANE GROUND-FIGHTING

The three arts that make up Black Crane each already train Black Scorpion for their ground combat. Black Scorpion is a massive martial art that has highly toughened gripping Chin Na, devastating strikes, strike captures, kicking and throws as well a a vast grappling and ground-fighting system made up of numerous sub-styles. Black Scorpion Ground-fighting System teaches high levels of Terrain Fighting, climbing, in water, hillsides, tight spaces, obstacles etc. Enter Page> Scorpion

BLACK CRANE WEAPON STUDY

Black Crane Kung Fu also masters melee weapons for combat and uses some of the weapons already trained by its parent animals, and that fit best to its unique style. These weapons make use of the same techniques and body development already mastered with the empty hand in Black Crane. Black Crane has its own unique ancient weapons, favored battlefield weapons, and its own favored series of weaponry for ranged combat, long weapons, and for close quarters combat. 

BLACK CRANE MATCHING

Black Crane matching is done vs multiple opponents and often times on balancing posts, in the dark, or blindfolded. With no rings, gloves, or pads Black Crane Masters rely on their control, defenses, and body toughening to match each other, often shrugging off hits that would break the bones of people without high level body conditioning. Black Crane practitioners match each other, as well as testing their techniques against the other Animals Styles.