magikchiongson

Yup, no style is Mcdojo proof. Its a strange problem. If you are a teacher, you want to make sure that your student is commited and won't leave untill their training is complete. Because you don't want a partially trained student running around saying they learned MA from you, because that will give your school a bad rep when they get their a$$ beat down. I think that's what has happened to TMA, partially trained people opening their own Schools, each generation is subsequently getting diluted. However, we live in an era were long term commitment is represented by contracts and monetary issues. A TMA practioners challenge today, is how do you show your commitment to a "real" Master without getting screwed over by contracts?

Several years ago, while taking Kung Fu. I made a big mistake by signing a contract, I was young and stupid then. Anyways, I was in it for several months and I enjoyed it very much. However one day, this big ass SUV decided to have a Martial Arts competition with my crappy Metro. That's like Tank Abott fighting Richard Simmons. Anyways, my car gets destroyed, we destroy parts of a person's house and I'm left with a serious leg injury, no car, and paying for whatever amount my insurance can't cover. I was working at a car wash at that time, so basically I'm screwed. So I call my dear "sifu" and ask him if I can cancel our contract since, I'll be in a cast for a couple of months and basically broke as hell. He says no, I"m like huh? WTF? he says pay or your credit is ruined. So of course I can't pay, because I have more pressing things to pay for, like a new car, medical bills, school ohh and that little thing called FOOD. That goes against my credit report and I have collecting agencies after me for Kung Fu payments in months i didn't even attend class in. What a nightmare, if you're operating your own School don't be an A$$ like that. If you're a student be careful before you sign that contract.

It doesn't make sense to me to assume that all martial arts came from one source. More likely that as long as there were wars to be fought, there was some form of Martial Arts. Another theory about Chinese Martial Arts, implies that during Ancient China, the Emperors forbid their Soldiers to leave the Military unless it was to join the monks. Thus, former warriors became monks and subsequently brought their fighting arts with them, where it was catalouged by the Temples.

Hmm is it Kenpo that you like or Kenpo's Philosophy? Several people have told me that Kenpo was just a name slapped on to Kuntao because too many people were annoyed that Kuntao was being taught openly. Never taken Kenpo, so I don't know how they deliver those rapid strikes. Our philosophy is to punish the opponent all the way down to the ground. We also like to destroy the opponent's outermost extremity, like if someone was punching, we not only block it but we kill that hand then work our way up the wrist, the elbow, the shoulder, the neck the head. But I'm kinda confused, I go to school with some people who have taken Kenpo, and one guy says, Kuntao is nothing like it, another tells me its like compressed Kuntao. I've seen some Kenpo techniques, one teacher showed me how to slap aside a punch and backfist and opponent, and another teacher showed me the same movement cept now it was ended with a head wrenching neck break. =) Be careful, make sure you find a teacher that will show you how to hurt people. That's what Kenpo is for.

Good luck with Sniper School! Carlos Hatchcock would own Bruce Lee IRL.

Hmm your range is usually a product of your built. Medium Height Stocky guy? Your range is going to be limited. My old Sifu tried to teach this 5'1 stocky mexican dude Shaolin Long Fist... Yah, didn't work out very well, it looked comical even. I would say, Choy Li Fut. Choy Li Fut has some of the best Tiger forms, and good Schools will arm you with what your body can do best. You'll probably get a nice mixture of short and long with Choy Li Fut. And true Southern Martial Artists are powerfully build individuals anyways.

The natural reaction for anybody fighting is to grapple. I remember this from my early years. Throw a couple of wild punches, then grapple. You know, your basic ground and pound. Those were like Middle School stuff though. Last guy that fought me, ended up in the hospital. He was dumb, he snuck up behind me and instead of just tackling me from behind he tried to throw punches. Stupid, cause you always have a milisecond to react to that stuff. This is also, why I am a firm believer in my art. We train in these strange positions, non fighting positions, and have another student come at us from awkward angles, and were supposed to hit them first before they even get close to us. We do learn "ground fighting" not necessarily grappling. One of our Monkey forms is an emmidiate take down, with you staying down untill the other guy isn't moving anymore. But I dunno, last time I was on the ground was when this guy knocked the snot outta me back when I was a freshman and he tried kicking me while standing up I just grabbed his leg and took him to the ground.

I would have grabbed the nearest thing I could use as a weapon. A stick, a pipe, a rock whatever. Then take off runnin. lol

I like to move out of the way lol, no pain that way. My cousin used to take Yaw Yan, and it freaking hurt like hell whenever I tried those low kicks on him, Shin Guards hehe.

I was never into the tournament sparring type, but Sifu used to force me to spar against the people our school was sending to compete. I took the time to try out some concepts I picked up from other Martial Arts on these unsuspecting students, hehe. I mess with the other students, if its a tall guy, I wait for that kick and then boom lower my stance and come right in. Throw some punches and then go behind them. They say I make mistakes like, always fighting on one stance, never putting my hands up. I can tell you what common mistakes other people make. They try this airial stuff, spinning punches, and kicks. I'm not allowed to sweep them, but as soon as they land just start smacking the crap outta them. I don't do that anymore though, it gives you too many bad habits.

No no you got me wrong jjf, grapplers we cool, chest thumping grapplers we not cool. LIke I always, said, I think learning groundwork is essential in a Martial Artists progression.

I'm kinda torn on this subject so I don't know where to begin. Should a Martial Artists, learn, Groundwork? Yeah Absolutely. You just don't know what situation you're going to find yourself in. Should I aim to take every single fight to the ground? Hell no, you're nuts if you attempt this in any violent encounter, other than a one on one with an unarmed opponent. There's basically two types of people I absolutely cannot stand, people who churn out blackbelts by the thousands in these McDojo factories, and these "grapplers" who claim that their art is the best and is for real, because they beat up a blackbelt from one of these McDojo factories, at a controlled sporting event.... To me, Mcdojos and chest thumping grapplers are all the same, and I dislike them for the same exact reasons. I tell my niece who is in TKD you try that stupid manuever In REal Life, you're gonna get killed, and I tell my cousin who is in BJJ if you try that in real life your opponents friends are gonna come up and kick you on the head.

Having had my nose splattered by a palm to the face that barely travelled a couple of inches I tend to believe in the lethality of Tai Chi. This was during a "sparring" match, where I was allowed to throw any punch or strike as I pleased. Unfortunately for me the guy demonstrating didn't have very good body control, hence the broken nose. If he had no body control, I doubt I would be standing here now.

I agree with that statement too Kensai, but this theory of everything being equal and valid is so PC and I seriously doubt its' reality. Nothing in this life is ever the same or equal, one way is always better than another way, I would think the same laws apply to the Martial Arts. People being People, I'm sure Warriors in the pass would have sought or perfected their Arts as much as possible to gain an advantage over others. Thus I think its impossible for the Martial Arts to be equal, I think some are just superior to others.

Because, we steal each other's girlfriends....

Originally the moves were designed to kill, but its been turned into a sport, so few people know their true lethality. I mean take your basic Universal backfist, I know how to turn that into a move that makes more surface contact with your face and neck, then finally turning into an arm break if I"m being nice or a neck break if I'm not. You cannot imagine the collision that will happen as a result. I'm lucky enough to know a Martial Artists who trained in the old way, and trained our Marines and SEALs bound for Nam, he kinda breaks down all these forms and techniques I learn at the Martial Arts schools I went to and he breaks down for me what is the "flower" and what is the "fruit" of that particular movement.

It depends, I'm faster than most people I guess, but my style demands the ability to hit someone soon as you see the threat several times in rapid succession. Kinda difficult to explain, I know I can position myself and move my hand faster than a lot of other martial artists, making it appear that I'm physically faster but in all reality all I did was perform a simpler and naturally quicker movement. Say your hand is open, then you close it into a fist. Now say you are in a fist, then you open it up into a hand, which motion was faster? The hand turning into a fist right? That's kinda how I operate. Hehe plus I run a 4.4 on the 40 yard dash, hehe those NFL Fan days have cool machines you could test yourself on..

The only reason why Kung Fu, Karate doesn't appear as practical as they use to, is simply because nobody trains in the old way anymore. Kung Fu nowadays has turned into a new wave exercise program for senior citizens and a lot of the techniques are saturated with these healing motions. TKD, Karate and some Kung Fu styles have turned their Martial Techniques into tournament moves. There's not many places where these old Martial Arts exists as they used to. Even China, don't be fooled by the lure of China, Chairman Mao tried to eradicate Old Chinese Kung Fu in China. Its also true, that some of the more dangerous styles have been discouraged from being practiced by certain Governments. Indonesian Government has tried to ban Kuntao several times in Indonesia, while promoting Silat as a "National Sport". In the Philippines, rules were set for Eskrima/Arnis tournaments forcing you to wear head gear and ridiculous armor. Martial Arts as a whole has simply athropied. The crucible in which they were forged no longer exists. Which is why I want to see more Traditional fighters compete in the NHB tournaments, its the closests thing we have to a crucible. Maybe we there, we can relearn what we lost.

I think it would be a travesty for Martial Artists to apply the theory that all Martial Arts are equal and valid. Because they are not. I think its good, to try to answer which system is better, which practioner is better, I think attitudes like that will prevent stagnation in the Arts.

I saw this occur twice, first was when my Northern Kung Fu Sifu lured this really skilled Hung Gar practioner from his Sifu, who I knew but didn't study under. Anyways it all culminated into the student shouting challenges at his Hung Gar teacher, and they ended up fighting to a draw. So the student left his Hung Gar School and went on to teach at the Northern Kung Fu school I was in. So that was that, however one of the top Instructors at the Northern School (different guy) had a grievance with my then Sifu, leading to challenges and they ended up fighting with the instructor almost having his back broken by Sifu. That kinda made me rethink about staying at that School, and I left. But that just sounds weird to me. I wonder if this is a common occurence in your Schools? Whether they are TKD, Kung Fu, Karate, BJJ ect.. Is it normal for a long time student to turn on their teachers like that?

There are certain motions that just come naturally to the body. If you've ever seen two untrained fighters go at it, you will see a number of things, wild punches, grappling, the person who is less used to taking hits will put their arms out reflexively and start flailing or doggie paddling.

You most be learning Northern Shaolin, probably long fist huh?

I've been in several fights yes. Latest was last year. I was pleasantly surprised that my reflexes worked, and I executed a reasonable facsimile of Ba Gua's (Pa Kua) single change of palm. The guy almost died though, and was in the Hospital for a time. I think it was more luck that skill though, as I was taken completely by surprise and he had several chances to punch me out from behind. I don't think I ever moved so quickly in my life.

Welp, that's the frustrating thing about certain Martial Arts, just can't simulate certain situations. Best thing you can do is get your reflexes so used to doing something, like whipping the eyes, either to stun or take it out altogether. It just feels strange to be deciding the affectiveness of a Martial Arts within a controlled environment though. If we were ever to see a Kuntaoer in the Octagon or Pride for example, it would be a very diluted form of Kuntao. They have sport Silat now too, and I kinda cringe at that. But man, I would love to see how a Kuntaoer or a Penjakker even at its' Modified for Sports forms compete in these events. Dutch Indonesians are hotheads anyways, I'm surprised they aren't busting down the door to UFC to fight. If Muay Thai's close ranged attacks does well, there's no reason for other SE Asian close ranged Styles not to do well. Especially with these's arts penchant to follow an opponent to the ground to finish them off.

Kuntao, Strengths: Teaches you to be extremely aggresive, learn to block, grapple, and hit all once, very very fast, simple movements and always always teaches you to be continiously moving out of the way, can hit you at any angle while looking for that escape route. Very punishing, Kuntaoers usually look to destroy you piece by piece all the way down to the ground without relenting. Has the advantage of never being turned into a sport. Weaknesses: The only weakness is what I bring to the table.