lowereastside

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! AND MANY MANY MORE.

sensei8 says - "I believe that no day is guaranteed to anyone" So True So True - My Wife told me that the other day a women 6 months pregnant was struck by a falling tree branch while walking in the park - both mother and child died. I guess I'm just venting - but when Sensei8 posted the above quote - all I could think about was that poor women and child. Sorry for going a little off course on this. Oh! Sensei8 -well said.

I would have started my Kung-Fu training at an earlier age - and should have started teaching earlier I was 42 when I started teaching.

Let me throw this out - Would any of you do anything different in your martial arts Journey?

Gone to soon - RIP

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Much appreciated - especially coming from the talent that is on this forum. Thanks Again. Angelo

cici118 - I have never studied Shotokan - but have seen a lot of it and some great teachers. This is how I would do it. 1st I would try not to burn myself out ( but look whose talking I'm 59 YO lol ). 2nd -I would try not to create bad habits on my own. 3rd - I would practice the Forms/Katas slowly - even though they are actually done at a faster pace - the articulation is important - and hopefully it will give me a better understanding from going from move A to B and B to C and so on. Good luck and I hope I somewhat helped.

My 3 Cents - Again - Many karate teacher's have lived into their 80's and 90's. And many have passed in their 50's and 60's. There are to many factors to consider - life style - personal tragedy - luck of the draw ( not being exposed to something like asbestos or other harmful chemicals or materials ) - stress - genetics - not having the advancements in medicine ............ An example - many individuals have said that Sanchin in Goju karate is harmful to one's health - Chojun Miyagi and his teacher Kenryo Higaonna died in their mid 60's. However, many of their students lived into their 80's and one or two reached 90. So is Sanchin kata or Goju in general bad for one's health? IMHO - NO! But that is my opinion - others may disagree - and that's fine.

A little more background - Bruce Lee also studied Kung Fu in the US - under a Sifu named Fook Yueng - circa 1959-1962/3. Fook Yueng was a former Opera Performer who studied Red Boat Wing Chun and Southern Praying Mantis among other things. The training under Fook Yueng was one on one - if memory serves me correctly.

Patrick - I lurked around - many of the Forums - especially the Kung - Fu Forums the admin's keep the Mud Slugging going and after 50 or so posts the admin's final step in. On this forum I noticed even if individuals disagree - you never let it get out of hand. You step right in and shut it down - I even met an old friend on this forum. Keep up the good work and thanks.

My 3 cents - find a style that you like - a good teacher - and then stay with it. In the beginning try to get 1 style down real well. Then go out and explore - I was lucky - I have a very good friend who does Chinese Wrestling - I traded my Mantis concepts for his Wrestling. I met a fellow who taught Kali - we exchanged his kali for my Mantis - we are now good friends also. The important thing is to find a good teacher who is willing to give it - and the student must be able to catch what the teacher is giving out.

Aggressive OR Passive!? - The style of Kung Fu that I practice ( Jook Lum Praying Mantis ) is an aggressive style but at the same time a calmness of mind must exist. To a lot of folks it can get confusing being calm and at the same time trying to take someones head off. But that's the way the style works - or should work. Once I was able to put this into my body - my whole concept - understanding of YinYang - SoftHard changed.

Yes - women can fight - some better than men.

sensei8 says " The practitioner should evolve!" WELL SAID!

Chi Sao does have its purpose - however one must put things in perspective. IMHO The use of energy and where the energy is going is a big thing in Chi Sao - Push Hands........Also besides the hand and foot - one must learn to use the BODY.

My 3 cents - Stances whether - Karate - kung Fu - Boxing should be natural - 2nd nature. Yes- in the beginning we learn the pose - the structure etc.... advanced people should learn to move without thinking of this stance or this hand technique.....

sensei8 says - " Should you bulk up or not? Well, I sincerely believe that that's a personal decision, and not the decision of anybody else, including ones sensei/instructor/friends/relatives/associates...anybody, just the individual. Everything has its pros and cons, but it's the desired results that bring those parameters into focus. " WELL SAID - However, Bulking Up is not for me.

This past Friday - one of my students was having a difficult time with a double hand move in one of our Forms. After I showed it to him in application - no more trouble with the move.

If you enjoy the classes - the school - the teachers - good for you - stay and enjoy. When its time to move on you will know. For the ranking situation look at the so called Traditional Schools - How many have gone to Japan/Okinawa/Korea/China and have come back with inflated ranks of some sort. How many have opened up Branch Dojo's After only spending a couple of weeks in training with a certain Sensei from a traditional school. Like i said in a previous post all of my students have tons of previous experience - some come from the so called Traditional background 7th - 8th Dans from other schools. It's not what I say its what they say - They feel like taking their High ranks and Certifications and throw it in the garbage. I guess what I'm getting at its not only the McDojos - In todays world its kind of the norm. All that being said there are exceptions to the rule.

It depends - A few years ago I was having a conversation with a friend - he related to me that he had gotten into a fight - the person he was fighting picked up some beat up broom stick in a garbage can and swung - an over the head strike - my friend did an upward block ( right out of the Karate textbook ) broke the stick and hit the guy. and that ended it. No blocks in Karate? I can't tell my friend that - the block probably saved him from getting his head bashed in. Individuals really have to look deep into their art(s) - karate - Kung fu - judo -ju-jitsu .........and PRESSURE TEST to see what works and don't work for them. Your also have to go outside the BOX. Last Summer a friend of mine set up a Seminar for me in Philadelphia. The seminar had 27 participants almost half of them were Teacher(s) or Teacher level. Since they came from different backgrounds in Martial Arts - I decided on a little experiment - I went up to each one of them and started throwing jabs - a boxer(s) jab ( and I have not boxed in years ) and guess what? only 2 individuals were able to deal with it - It was a real eye opener. What works and don't work - Individuals have to find out for themselves. What works for someone may not work for someone else - and what works on some individuals may not work on other individuals.

Interesting Stats - nemcuon - if your asking if Sanchin is bad for your health? - my answer - I don't know.

My user name - LOWEREASTSIDE - come from the place I grew up - The Lower East Side of New York City.

Very well said - Sensei8 -

Going back to my Karate days - it took 2 - 3 years to get to Black Belt - but then the training was 5 days per week over 2 hour(s) per class.

I find that some students have a respect - of not wanting to hit the Teacher/Instructor. I had this problem with my Teacher - it took a while for me to get IT - with the program. I have all my students pressure test - even though all of my students have experience - some are not aggressive and others are to aggressive - which is fine - I just don't want a Hospital run. All I can do with my non-aggressive students is to keep reinforcing - one of my students - a good friend - and nice guy had this problem - From the other style he studied he was technically very good - but when I put him in front of my more aggressive students his techniques would fall apart - Not the fault of his original style - It was just him - being to nice - not aggressive enough. A Teacher must be able to help his students over come certain flaws - And I'm happy to say my student/friend was able to correct this problem - and today he gives as much as he gets. And he's still a nice guy