lowereastside

David Nisan - Thank You - I have not been exactly right in quit a long time. . You and the other members have all given good viewpoints.

Here I go getting myself in trouble again LOL. IMHO one must look beyond the martial aspects and look at the social and political climate of China in the 1800's. How much did the Okinawan's get from the Chinese Kung Fu Masters? How much was changed by the Okinawan's? and so on......... 1st - back in the day even in China to learn Kung Fu was not an easy task. Kung Fu was very secretive - if you did not belong to the same clan or village - good luck trying to get in. If one was not Hakka - good luck in trying to learn Hakka Kung Fu. If one was not Cantonese - good luck in trying to learn Cantonese Kung Fu. and so on....... So how much chance did an outsider have in learning true Chinese Kung Fu? Or did they just get little tidbits to take back? How much was actually put in to the Bubishi and how much was actually decoded or not decoded? I'm Italian-American my Mom, and Dad were born in Italy. I speak read and write Italian. Let me give you an example - there is a saying in the village that my parents come from that when you go to google translate - translates " to the groom of Monday" . However what does it actually mean. On the surface one may say someone getting married on MONDAY - BUT THAT'S NOT IT. A few years ago I received a document from my Kung Fu Teacher written in Chinese. I gave that document to a close friend - a Kung Fu Sifu who was born in Hong Kong to translate it for me. after 5 minutes my friend informed me he could not translate to document it was all in riddles - codes etc etc. When I later got together with my Teacher and told him I could not get the document translated - he just smiled. Another lesson learned off the training floor. He then began to translate each character verbally one by one with the explanations. I hope I'm making some sort of sense out of this. Again my 3 cents.

LeighSimmsMA - informative article. IMHO Ippon Kumite should only be done at the beginners level to intermediate level. Then you got to let it go or one will get stuck reacting a certain way. When I learned Karate we did Ippon Kumite and sparred - and the sparring look nothing like the kata or Ippon Kumite. Again Just my 3 cents.

Sensei8 and Nidan Melbourne have said it best. My only imput would be are you there to learn or socialize. Look at the Teacher and the Seniors - their experience can be of great value. That being said do what makes you Happy. Good Luck.

Happy New Year 2017.

My - Sincere Condolences. May they RIP.

From a Chinese Kung Fu perspective - there is much more than just hitting a block of wood ( Dummy ) or sand bag.......and I will leave it at that.

Congratulations - on your 50th , Bob.

GojuRyu Bahrain wrote - I know, different sessions will be different, but we Karateka's should be fit like machines! I teach 5 days a week between my regular classes and privates. I am very hands on - meaning I get a good sweat. I also do cardio at home for 45 min. 4 days a week. When I was in my 30's I could drop 20 lbs. in a month. At 62 years old I now have to watch what I put in my mouth ( LOL ). And I've lost 47 lbs.

Sensei8 says -- "When did I NOT have an "Aha" moment?!? 51 years in the MA and I STILL have "Aha" moments." LOL - Very well said.

IMHO - you have to attack the attack - a calm mind and at the same time wanting to take someone's head off. The problem is people are people - look what happens when a movie theater catches fire - people panic - they get crazy aggressive and more people are killed form trampling than the fire itself. To change human nature is not easy - we often do it to ourselves. Just my 3 cents.

"Should the Kata's be executed slow or should they be executed at regular speed, hence, fast?? " IMO - i like to see it both ways. I've seen many videos that do it both slow and regular speed. But its just my preference. Just my 3 cents

For me training is not only in the Kwoon/Dojo/Gym.........Years ago My teacher and very good friend James Soo and also my very good friend Joe Musse. Expressed their views on taking it to the next level. For them it was not just training in the school environment. It extends on how one drives their car - on how one walks - the hand gestures - opening a door - pushing buttons on an elevator and so much more..............I've meet many Martial artists in my time Karate - Kung Fu ............however of all the Martial artists that I'VE MET - James and Joe stand above. A little story - about a year ago Joe and I were having lunch - crossing the street - we had the right of way - a livery cab cuts us right off. Instead of us being upset - he gets out of the car and starts cursing at us while walking towards us. i did not get it - it was 2 of us against him 1. Waking towards us and #@%%#$. Joe just looks him and in a calm voice says "do you really want to go there". The man looks at Joe not me gets back in his car and drives off. You had to be there - at almost 62 years of age I'm still learning.

The late great actor James Cagney - 2nd Dan Judo. Also James Caan - 6th Dan Karate.

From what I was told by my teacher - No forms actually existed in Kung Fu. Forms where created later and with the passing of time - later generations created more forms and more forms. The founders of many of the Kung Fu styles supposedly had a clear understanding of their particular style and developed their forms accordingly. If one somewhat understands their particular style somewhat inside and out - then create a form. Problem today is that many individuals don't understand or think they understand and start putting movements together just for the sake of it. They start rearranging instead of a block punch its now a kick punch. Just my 3 cents worth.