InsaneTigerCrane

shorinryu is right. are you really trying to ask a serious question?

sevenstar is right, shuai chiao doesn't train a lot of ground fighting. lots of focus on throwing, which is odd if your objective is to throw your opponent to the ground.

i studied classical chinese kung fu for five years ( southern tiger, northern crane, long fist, and a little dabbling in other styles mantis etc.) i also was in an amatuer boxing league for some time until my coach died( i wont go into it). i am also in a renaissance martial arts organization were we have specialists from all over the country come in and teach various european styles of fencing and wrestling. it's a huge class, which is cool because you get to see a lot a different peoples moves. well i dont know what you would call my style if you were to give it a name, but the techniques are derived from the above. i like to utilize a lot more striking in my technique than i guess sansoouser does. we all stick with our strengths as a base, however i do practise ground fighting and the clinch.

i would like to hear some feedback from anyone out there who is training, or thinking about training martial arts without a master. or even anyone who has some light to shed on this topic. i lost my sifu of 5 years about 2 years ago, and since then i've been reading, and finding out everything i can about new ways old ways, and anything else that i think will help improve my kung fu (martial arts skill). i even joined an amature boxing league. i also still meet regularly with guys from different martial arts affiliations and backgrounds. physically i see myself improving, and my style is changing to a more simplistic aproach. my desire to train has not deminished, i'm getting faster, stronger, and my awareness is only slightly improving, but i feel i have no direction other than those aspects. i tried going to other schools, but it's not the same, (you know) after you develope a bond with your master, and he's there to push you, it just doesn't feel right with someone else. i just keep training because it's what i love to do, and i hope he would be proud of me. i guess one of my questions are can this be continued, with the result of a truly unique martial arts mastery, and can it been done by someone with hardly any martial arts history, if he truly knew what he was trying to accomplish. the only research i've done on the possibility of accomplishing a self martial mastery is in the book of five rings. miyamoto musashi the masterless master. i have five different translations of the same book. anyways, the point is that it has been done before, albeit not very often. unless of course miyamoto never existed. i'm no expert on japanese history, but my sources say that he really did exist, and was undefeated having no master to teach him. i also here that the book of five rings is an incredibly popular book in japan, for japanese buisinessmen, because it shows numerous ways to overcome your opponent or in theyre case buisiness competiters . anyways my research doesn't go much further than that. can someone please share some thoughts on this, is it a foolish quest?