[email protected]
New member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2003
- Messages
- 0
This post will be addressing the kung fu scandals going on for a while now, things to be careful of when learning any style, and some other stuff to take into consideration when learning a martial art.
Scandals: Kung Fu, for a long time, was a secret in China. It was believed only the Chinese could teach and learn kung fu. Over time, it started to spread outside of China. People like Bruce lee helped teach many non Chinese and non Asians about Chinese martial arts. These events made it easier for people to learn kung fu and other fighting styles.
A more recent event many of you may know about would be the tai chi master losing a fight in 10 seconds to a boxer. This sparked a major controversy which brought up the question if Kung Fu actually was effective. In my last post I gave the brief explanation of the 3 main styles of kung fu. Tai chi(internal), Xing yi quan(external), and Qi gong. Right off the bat many people without any spiritual knowledge would assume tai chi doesn't work at all. Even the tai chi master himself started taking kick boxing classes. So what went wrong? Tai chi is seen as the ultimate form of kung fu. The reason being is because it is more for spiritual purposes. All the movements resemble moving a ball of energy, or doing long motions with your arms. Kung Fu and martial arts isn't about winning. It's about not fighting and doing what you can to prevent a fight until you cannot. Then the skills will ensure your safety. That is why traditionally there is emphasis on conditioning, discipline, and hard work. If Kung Fu was truly against this notion, Xing yi would be the ultimate form since it's more aggressive and about attacking.
The tai chi master had another fight after he trained in kick boxing and also lost that fight. It was against another "Kung Fu master" who obviously never fought a day in his life. He mostly won due to weight and height. But even if a "Kung Fu master" won, it still looked very ineffective. The term Fake martial arts would be used to describe the styles these men used.
Stay cautious: Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the styles are bad in any way. I surely know tai chi has importance and I know anything can work if trained and tested enough. However, where did these people learn these styles? How many times have they sparred using those styles? Are they using the traditional system or a modern system? Many people now in days can teach martial arts. But they can also teach their own brand of a style. I will use wing chun as an example since I personally do it. On YouTube there are many people teaching wing chun. One guy I saw do the wing chun first form was called Jake Mace. Yes he is a Jew but he is also a good example for what I am trying to demonstrate. His wing chun videos are very wrong. Generally he knows where to move his hands, but his movements are extremely aggressive and done fast. The exact opposite of what WC is all about. By his own words he says he does shaolin kung fu(the five animal styles), but on all of his videos you will see people who train in those styles say he is wrong and is a scam artist. Some may say it's his interpretation or his version of the styles, but he never states that it's his brand. He sells it like it's legit and traditional. That is something everyone should be careful about when learning a style. Find out of what lineage you are, and if you're learning a modified or traditional system. I will make a separate post on lineage after this to further explain it.
As SS being physically fit and active can help us tremendously in the long run for spiritual and physical purposes. Whether you wish to learn any style for spiritual needs, physical needs, or pure interest, make sure you are careful to avoid fake martial arts masters, teachers, etc. If the situation ever occurs that you need to use your skills, a fake martial artists skills will simply fail. At best they can hurt an average person a bit, but people tend to throw out wild haymakers in response. It just won't work.
What makes a good fighter: Practice makes perfect. Learning moves is one thing, but applying them to a fight is another. Muscle memory takes over, adrenaline is making you less focused, etc. This is where sparring comes in. Sparring is possibly the realist form of training you can get. It will simulate a similar scenario and set the conditions for you to try out what you learned. If you can't get a partner then shadow boxing will be the next best thing. That requires a lot of focus and visualization but still effective. I've noticed even thinking about a more and how to apply it will help. Replaying it in your head for a while will help it become an instinct. Just expose yourself to it and your mind will pick up on it eventually.
Conclusion: What kung fu in general lacks today is proper sparring, testing, and there are many fake instructors. In wing chun usually the sparring consists of either sticky hands or WC people vs other WC people. It's no mistake that Kung Fu is effective or once was since it still exists. However people back then would fight people of other styles. That's how you make your skills more useful and perfect them. If WC people focus on bigger opponents they will adapt to take down bigger people, if they focus on boxers the same will occur. How you train your skills will determine how the end result will be. If you half ass your training then your skills will also lack in effectiveness.
My next post will address lineage and the different spellings of styles. Thank you all for reading
Scandals: Kung Fu, for a long time, was a secret in China. It was believed only the Chinese could teach and learn kung fu. Over time, it started to spread outside of China. People like Bruce lee helped teach many non Chinese and non Asians about Chinese martial arts. These events made it easier for people to learn kung fu and other fighting styles.
A more recent event many of you may know about would be the tai chi master losing a fight in 10 seconds to a boxer. This sparked a major controversy which brought up the question if Kung Fu actually was effective. In my last post I gave the brief explanation of the 3 main styles of kung fu. Tai chi(internal), Xing yi quan(external), and Qi gong. Right off the bat many people without any spiritual knowledge would assume tai chi doesn't work at all. Even the tai chi master himself started taking kick boxing classes. So what went wrong? Tai chi is seen as the ultimate form of kung fu. The reason being is because it is more for spiritual purposes. All the movements resemble moving a ball of energy, or doing long motions with your arms. Kung Fu and martial arts isn't about winning. It's about not fighting and doing what you can to prevent a fight until you cannot. Then the skills will ensure your safety. That is why traditionally there is emphasis on conditioning, discipline, and hard work. If Kung Fu was truly against this notion, Xing yi would be the ultimate form since it's more aggressive and about attacking.
The tai chi master had another fight after he trained in kick boxing and also lost that fight. It was against another "Kung Fu master" who obviously never fought a day in his life. He mostly won due to weight and height. But even if a "Kung Fu master" won, it still looked very ineffective. The term Fake martial arts would be used to describe the styles these men used.
Stay cautious: Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the styles are bad in any way. I surely know tai chi has importance and I know anything can work if trained and tested enough. However, where did these people learn these styles? How many times have they sparred using those styles? Are they using the traditional system or a modern system? Many people now in days can teach martial arts. But they can also teach their own brand of a style. I will use wing chun as an example since I personally do it. On YouTube there are many people teaching wing chun. One guy I saw do the wing chun first form was called Jake Mace. Yes he is a Jew but he is also a good example for what I am trying to demonstrate. His wing chun videos are very wrong. Generally he knows where to move his hands, but his movements are extremely aggressive and done fast. The exact opposite of what WC is all about. By his own words he says he does shaolin kung fu(the five animal styles), but on all of his videos you will see people who train in those styles say he is wrong and is a scam artist. Some may say it's his interpretation or his version of the styles, but he never states that it's his brand. He sells it like it's legit and traditional. That is something everyone should be careful about when learning a style. Find out of what lineage you are, and if you're learning a modified or traditional system. I will make a separate post on lineage after this to further explain it.
As SS being physically fit and active can help us tremendously in the long run for spiritual and physical purposes. Whether you wish to learn any style for spiritual needs, physical needs, or pure interest, make sure you are careful to avoid fake martial arts masters, teachers, etc. If the situation ever occurs that you need to use your skills, a fake martial artists skills will simply fail. At best they can hurt an average person a bit, but people tend to throw out wild haymakers in response. It just won't work.
What makes a good fighter: Practice makes perfect. Learning moves is one thing, but applying them to a fight is another. Muscle memory takes over, adrenaline is making you less focused, etc. This is where sparring comes in. Sparring is possibly the realist form of training you can get. It will simulate a similar scenario and set the conditions for you to try out what you learned. If you can't get a partner then shadow boxing will be the next best thing. That requires a lot of focus and visualization but still effective. I've noticed even thinking about a more and how to apply it will help. Replaying it in your head for a while will help it become an instinct. Just expose yourself to it and your mind will pick up on it eventually.
Conclusion: What kung fu in general lacks today is proper sparring, testing, and there are many fake instructors. In wing chun usually the sparring consists of either sticky hands or WC people vs other WC people. It's no mistake that Kung Fu is effective or once was since it still exists. However people back then would fight people of other styles. That's how you make your skills more useful and perfect them. If WC people focus on bigger opponents they will adapt to take down bigger people, if they focus on boxers the same will occur. How you train your skills will determine how the end result will be. If you half ass your training then your skills will also lack in effectiveness.
My next post will address lineage and the different spellings of styles. Thank you all for reading
