White Warlock

No, i'm not forgetting. I didn't know. Thank you. But, it still doesn't detract from my thought that the competitions could cause one to develop a bad habit of not defending against head attacks... at least from the hands. Also, i've never thought attacking the head with a foot/leg as a 'smart' move (unless, of course, you park his head down to knee level), so i'm not really seeing this additional information as all that beneficial. I.e., the competitions encourage three bad habits: one is to not worry about defending against hand attacks to the head, another is to attack the head with kicks, and the other is to stay within grappling range, yet not participate in grappling actions... and thus not develop actions which could help to counter or complement grappling actions. As would i, but my experience has taught me that what you practice in a tournament can very well translate into what you do in the streets, as it becomes more ingrained (via muscle memory) than what you train for outside of competition. Granted, this is not a hard and fast rule, but it is the leaning.

Not necessarily a direct backwards fall, as this would give your opponent the point (not to mention put you in a horrible position), but a switching to the side as you begin falling backwards. This would give you the point, especially if you mount immediately after. It is much harder to do if you are going for a double-leg, which is another reason why i recommend going for a single to a double.

Nobody can. I'm sure if you make a request for a list of the courses he enrolled in at Washington University (he majored in philosophy), you'll get some concrete information. But, other than that, it's all word-of-mouth. From some of the word-of-mouth information i've obtained ( http://www.wingchun.com/ROLF.htm ), he entered a boxing competition in high school, while still in Hong Kong, and fought a person named Gary Elms. I am not sure if he had any other bouts, but he had to have done some studying in order to have entered the competition (rules studying, at the very least). He also studied cha cha for 4 years (dance), and won the Crown Colony Cha-Cha championship in 1958. This is documented. It is also documented that he acted in 21 films by the time he was 18 years old. A child actor. As to specifically what martial arts he studied formally, and the amount of study in such systems, i only know for certain that he studied wing chun for 5 years. He shared knowledge with students and colleagues, many of which were talented practitioners on their own merits (Bob Wall, Chuck Norris, Dan Inosanto, etc), and i understand he studied boxing, fencing, and judo formally at Washington University for an undetermined period (semesters?), but never verified this, nor am i inclined to. As well, if you examine his notes, as presented in Tao of Jeet Kune Do, you'll find he posed many detailed observations of other systems, which required him to have delved a little... to have studied. Personally, i don't think it's all that important. He was a man, a father and a husband, not an icon. He acted and he studied the martial arts. Exactly what his path was, is not important. Only that he did not have the opportunity to complete this path, only to journey it. I recommend reading this article from his son, Brandon Lee. It helps to put things into perspective: http://www.bruce-lee.ws/article1.html /tangent off

No, they are not the same artform, they merely have the same characteristics. I.e., false grandmasters, systems based on falsities, a cult-like atmosphere, excessive expense, a failure to cultivate independent thinking and proper spiritual development, etc. Also, no... the 'self proclaimed' grandmaster of shaolin-do indicates he escaped from China to Indonesia, or that his master did. Can't recall which, but the point is it was not of the 1400's variety in which Chinese fled China, landed in Okinawa and encouraged the development of kara-te as we know it today and it is not a 20th century version of the same either. The Communist took over China in 1949, after a 3 year civil war, but the Communist Party of China was founded in 1921. The story of him, or his master, running from the Communist Chinese to Indonesia has not been established. There are no proofs to this claim, nor any evidence to support the existence of his master. A thought. Kuntao... where did your instructor learn this system? The reason i ask is that the origins of kuntao are that of Chinese arts being influenced by Indonesian systems, a similar origin as claimed by shaolin-do. However, shaolin-do is not kuntao... so i'm intrigued.

"Another one bites the dust" - Queen

Dubbed - "Your kung fu is good, but not as good as mine." Dubbed2 - "Which part?" Dubbed - "Huh?"

Well, it would probably be a good idea to find out exactly what he does have. As a teacher, or assistant instructor, you 'need' this information in order to properly instruct.

hehe

Ugh, don't get me started on Wal-Mart and their exploitation of cheap labor forces overseas. Definitely no loyalty should be considered for them.

It sounds great. Moreso than your finding a new realm to explore, i'm glad you were able to put the belt aside and 'empty your cup.' Hehe, always wanted to say that. Seriously though, i've visited plenty of schools, donning their white belt, white sash, raging red n00blet suit, etc. It's both a humbling and liberating experience every time and i'm glad we share that now.

Yes. It requires that you drink plenty of water, which is what you should be doing anyway. Also, you should not take it regularly. Creatine you can buy is a supplement. It adds-on to the creatinine your body already creates. However, if you take it for too long a stretch, your body decreases the amount of creatinine it produces.... which is not good. The trick is to take it for only a month or less, and then take 2 to 3 months off, rinse and repeat. Also, you do not need a lot. For the first few days, take about 5 mini-scoops (mixed with a thick drink), then just take 2 or 3 mini-scoops a day (better to spread it out through the day, and preferably before a workout). Its greatest effect is to cause you to 'look' bigger... which is a placebo for your ego. It fills your muscles with excess water, ballooning you. Its more subtle, but far more important, effect is to ensure your muscles are well lubricated, and thus less likely to fatigue. You will be able to work out longer. It can also help 'prevent' tendonitis. it can't cure tendonitis, nor can it treat it... so don't be foolish enough to take creatine when you have tendonitis. You'll only be encouraged to hurt yourself further. Just heal properly, taking anti-inflammatories and follow your doctor's / physical therapist's advice. One extra note is that, if you've done this 1 month creatine, 3 month no-creatine cycle for an extended period of time, your body may actually increase it's creatinine production. This what has happened in my case, and i must tell you... i'm not happy about it. Since i've stopped taking creatine, some time ago, i've had plenty of cramps. That is partly due to my not taking the 'extra' water that i would normally need if i were ingesting creatine regularly. I've had to 'permanently' increase my water intake just to keep those cramps away.

Loyalty over personal goals?!?!? I'm sorry, but you pay this school so you can learn the martial arts, which is your personal goal. However, you don't feel they are providing what it is you are looking for. I fail to see the conflict. If you have friendships there, great, fine... if you go to another school to study a different art, and you are shunned by those friends later, then they weren't really friends anyway. Loyalty to a school is not the common stock for things in this day and age. Although it's nice, if it takes you down, hinders your ability to obtain your goals, then it's a sacrifice. Not merely a sacrifice of money, time, and energy... but a sacrifice of your own dreams. I'm sorry, but that's just too much given away... especially for ill-founded loyalties.

Hmm, Jussi, was your copy of the book in English? Just a thought that maybe in translation things got messed.

Okay, i'll try to touch this as delicately as possible. From what i've seen of the art, and researched, it's hokey. They purport to teach a multitude of Shaolin arts in one, including tai chi. Problem is, tai chi is not Shaolin. They claim to teach bak mei as part of their curriculum, but bak mei is never taught as 'part of something.' At least not that i know of. Also, bak mei is not Shaolin. They purport to be of Southern origins, yet indicate they teach systems whose origins are northern or southern and weapons that span the breadth of China and Japan (also, i understand that originally, they taught mostly Japanese weapons, so the inclusion of every friggin' Chinese weapon is relatively new). Shaolin-do practitioners wear Japanese gi, practice with Japanese weapons (nunchaka, sai, naginata etc) in addition to almost every friggin' Chinese weapon (Northern and Southern), and originally (60's to the 80's) all the actions/techniques were presented entirely in Japanese. Indeed, the Japanese weapons are part of their belt-obtainment curriculum. An Okinawan karate practitioner i know recognized much in the system, although buried in odd-flowery actions. He indicated some various Japanese words (which i suspect he thought i knew what the frick he was talking about) to indicate forms or katas that he noted meshed into the system. The grandmaster claims to know 950+ forms, and claims to have been a master (or grandmaster) of a multitude of shaolin systems by the time he was 25. The claims, and many others, can be found in his book, Shaolin-Do: Secrets from the Temple. Check out the reviews for some rather interesting 'extremes.' Here's my personal thoughts. The system is hokey, the history is false, the courses are a bit up there in cost, and there are plenty of other red flags. However, and i have to be honest here, students have come out of that style being 'competent practitioners.' It's just that, to me, i want truth. Sincerity is a big issue with me, as i may have mentioned here before. I don't like to study any system, or under any teacher, that is not sincere... honest. Falsity is something that can eat at the soul, create or encourage an imbalance.

Oh i had no illusions on that, just noting some of the potentially problematic issues that could develop due to the rules of your competitions. A student putting too much emphasis on those competitions could get these 'rule-habits' ingrained, and then he would be wide open for face shots and takedowns. One thing i do like about kyokushin is that it's one of the few systems that recognizes the inherent advantages of equidistant assault.

Oh, and as for santa claus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas feel better now Blue Devil?

They get destroyed because they have focused on their own rules for competition and have not modified their training to adjust to the different rules. The techniques in sumo are effective, unfortunately the traditional structure of the competitions of sumo tend to encourage pushing, instead of takedown (approximately 40% of matches end in someone being pushed out of the ring). Also, they do not practice finishing techniques, and thus suffer the same fate as wrestlers. Get them there, but then don't know what to do with them. And last, the sumo practitioners that have entered these mma competitions (and K-1 is not an mma competitions, in my opinion), may be champions, or near-champions, in sumo, but their physique is not fit for these types of competitions. Their bulk becomes a liablility.

Not necessarily. There is some basis for the myths. Bones of dinosaurs found ages ago may have helped proliferate these myths, but incidents with giant alligators, komodo dragons, and various sea creatures i'm sure put the seed to them.

Alright, let's see if i can close this out: A video report: http://www.king5.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=www.king5.com/ki_021605taichi.wmv IRS criminal investigation report: http://www.treas.gov/irs/ci/articles/dockim99.htm Articles: http://www.rickross.com/groups/chung.html http://groups.google.com/group/rec.martial-arts/msg/56d7e6bc362f203?q=%22M.C.+Busman%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&rnum=2 Multiple Yahoo & Google group discussions: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=iron+kim&btnG=Search http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/oomyungdoe_discuss/

Really, if you are in Buenos Aires, there really aren't all that many 'quality' schools. I think that should be your first priority... find out what schools are available near you, what their rates are, and then whether they are quality. From there, you should sit and watch the class of each one and find which ones intrigue you. If they don't intrigue you, then you shouldn't study there. Also, if you're short on money, you may be able to join a nice capoeira club that works out at the park where the Museo Historico Nacional is at. Good luck

To be fair, he did study boxing, fencing, judo, and other styles. He took boxing, fencing and judo courses while in college. As to the history of hung gar, it is shoalin-based, yes. It needs to be mentioned, though, that the martial arts didn't originate in shoalin temples. And, the founder of hung gar was also a disciple of the progenitor of wing chun. You'll note very many similarities, including phraseology (lop sau, etc), between the two.

aye, what has been mentioned already is important. Additional actions to work on so as to not telegraph are: Do not lead with the head. Instead, drop by stepping in and down, bending at the knees, instead of the head or the hips. Leading with the head is the #1 reason why 'sprawls' work so effectively. Don't fail to recognize that he may push forward, which could cause you to have to flip-backwards in order to complete your takedown. Aiming right off for a double is an "all or nothing" venture. Try instead for a single, and then transition it to a double. The pushing at the top of the head, or the pulling of the neck toward you as indicated earlier are two good means to disrupt a person's balance, and prevent them from being able to sprawl quickly, but there are other more devious tactics: Slapping is a tactic that, if done right, won't be considered a fault in competition and can really throw off your opponent. Grabbing the opponent's wrist and yanking their hand down and then to their face is a great entry technique, especially for a single-leg. An insult or some other derogatory, just a millisecond before entering can sometimes throw off your opponent, toss him into anger mode for a second and cause him to forget defense. It's worked plenty of times for me in competitions. A harsh yell also sometimes jars them into rigidity. You have to feel your opponent, but you'll be surprised, as much as they, when it works. It's also completely within the rules of competition. Asking them a question, such as their name, or if they have a girlfriend, or whether they finished their homework, or what their GPA is, or tossing out a riddle, etc. These are effective in getting them to lose focus. But, be careful you don't lose focus yourself. It's very much like 'telling' someone they have an itch. If you haven't mastered yourself, you could very well make yourself the one that is itching. The unexpected is much of what i'm mentioning here. Other examples of the unexpected are reaching for some chest hair (one or two strands is enough), putting a wet finger in their ear, tossing a riddle, etc. The idea is to throw them out of their game plan. Obviously, there are plenty more thoughts... but i don't want to post all day.

Having a multitude of of techniques is very helpful in 'recognition' of those things posed against you. If you are unfamilar with actions committed by your opponent, you can be surprised and taken out. That said, i advocate exposure, with an emphasis on the basics. In my studies i've come to realize that only a few particular movements/techniques are required to master, and these movements translate to a hundred or more tricks, or applications. So, it's not good to master just 'any' techniques, and especially not good to master a particular application or small series of actions of a technique. Instead, it is good to master a handful of techniques that are universal in their application, whilst exposing oneself to a variety of other techniques and applications so as to familarize yourself to such, thus decreasing the likelihood you will be caught flat-footed. On the other hand, for the purposes of 'certain' competitions, mastering one or two specific applications of a technique is the route to go. But, i don't advocate competition study mentality for anything other than competition.

Depends on whether he was ordering Bud Light or not.

what is entertaining is that i've found two ma sites that 'quote' him.