Drunken Monkey

...yeah but opinions are based on supposed facts that have should've been substantiated by knowledge or proof. which is again, part of my point. i believe that anti-matter weapons are totally impossible to build. that belief (or opinion) is based on what i have read and what i know (based on what i have learnt/been taught). BUT if something that i have read or been taught is found to be false, then my belief/opinion is also false as their basis is 'wrong'. i.e then it means that anti-matter weapons are possible. hence: my original belief/opinion was wrong.

so they didn't get you to push against someone who was on one leg? i mean, did you actually see it work? as for the punching. are you talking about shifting fett from facing left to right (and back again whilst punching) and um, are you just changing feet with the punch being at the same target or are you punching in the direction your feet are turned? guess it don't matter. here's soemthing to try. when you shift your feet, don't think about moving your feet. try to shift your knees (to carry your hip) and let the feet follow. it doesn't make much sense but try it and you should feel what i mean. anyways.... how important is the dummy? the answer depends on who you ask... i'd say that overall, it is very important. because the arms are fixed, you end up working positions that are, relating to the jong, perfect. i mean, the arms don't move so you get used to stepping to the point where you can get your best position. if that makes any sense... also, the dummy is where you can begin to really free yourself. you can do whatever you want, however hard you want (or is that 'can'?) without fear of hurting anyone other than yourself. the dummy is where i try things before i try on a person. it also gives you the opportunity to practice entering at your full capacity, with technique against something that doesn't really give (i.e you always receive pressure from it) this in turn can show and help you develop your ranges. you can learn how to integrate the kicks into your 'style'. but best of all, it gives you an overall indication of where your strengths/weaknesses lie. if your stance is bad, if you try to press into the jong, you will 'collapse'. if your positions are bad, you will compromise your hand techniques and tie yourself up. if you overcook hand movements, you will notice them more on the jong as it doesn't react. if your base isn't good, you won't be able to kick properly against the jong, esp if you are moving your hands as well. lots more things.... well, everything is done on the dummy. but you have to work the dummy 'truely'. if you try to hide faults. if you do you are missing the point. it doesn't matter if your dummy work isn't perfect. do things as you would normally, adjusting for the fixed dummy, and you should see/feel when something isn't right. y'know, the dummy is a dead object; it can't lie.

neither. but i missed out a little bit. kung fu is not originally a mandarin term. or as i said elsewhere kun fu is originally a cantonese term.

neither. but i left out a little bit. kung fu is nor originally a mandarin term. or as i said elsewhere, kung fu is a cantonese term.

the thing with dan grades is that there is an element of time involved. some of the earliest (founding) masters never lived long enough (after all of their initial training and developing) to 'gain' a high dan grade. as a result, many died having only gained a 4th or 5th dan. today, many people begin training at an early age. even at 18, assuming that it takes 5 years to reach black belt, it would take about 30 years to reach 6th dan. now if the person in question started when they were 18, that would mean that before thay are 50, the would be a 6th dan on the verge of 7th dan. it doesn't quite seem fitting to have a modern student being higher graded than the original masters, which is one reason why the old masters were given with a higher dan grade. but once again, this was an honorary title and not an actual awarded (as in, tested) grade.

but i have presented my opinion here and you seem to be saying that i am wrong... that is the only point that i am trying to make. human reasoning is a flawed process. it all hinges on the base as well as every step along the way to forming that opinion, being true. Can both opinions be right, or both be wrong.? my answer:yes. again. why can't opinions be wrong?

did i imply that you did? i was just pointing out that the term is primarily a cantonese term. that is why you won't hear much of it's use in the other dialects. this was in response to I deinfitely believe it describes Chinese martial arts, but cannot wholly believe this term was used 100's of years ago. Especially, the dialogues of Mandarin, which I had some exposure to

i was told that if it is obvious to you that the aggressor is going to fight no matter what, you are best to loudly state that they you are trained to defend yourself (choose your wording, it doesn't matter how you say it) for the benefit of any witnesses. actually he said that i) shout so that people can hear you, something that will draw their attention to what is going on. ii) shout something that makes people aware that you are likely to be attacked iii) shout so that people can hear, that you are trained in whatever martial art (see above). ii) best to do iii) more than once so that the aggressor can in no way say that he wasn't warned. note that the shouting isn't to act as a warning but rather to protect your own behind with respects to the law.

that's strutting? i was just presenting opinions that are wrong. admittedly they are a little extreme but the point still holds. why can't opinions be wrong? opinions are based on personal beliefs and experiences and things we hold to be true/false. if any one of those are flawed, the resulting opinion is also going to be flawed and in some cases, downright wrong. again, in case you missed the question. why can't opinions be wrong?

...it is not a mandarin term. as for the language, it's nature doesn't lend itself to much change if at all. the reason for this is that the grammer is fixed and the mainland languages follows grammer quite rigidly. the only changes i am aware of is that the language is 'losing' characters (not words...). however, cantonese is a different matter. if you like, it exsists almost only as a spoken languge. there are also variations of cantonese depending on your actual family origins but again, the base underlying written grammtical structure is the same.

Do they use it to make reference per this era? Do they use it as general reference for others? no it is the term they have always used when talking about the act of training and the training itself. as i keep saying, the term's actual meaning and what it actually describes is not a fixed thing. kung fu is a concept. it is describing the results of perserverance and dedication and hard work. if you like, the term is actually closer to describing what you need to do in order to get good at something. the term itself originates from another set of terms used in martial arts (in cantonese): 'mo kung' (and varations thereof). this term roughly means 'fighting art/skill/work' (the kung is the same as in kung fu) kung fu is an extension of this term and roughly means (not translates to) 'result of hard work' i.e the work involved in training 'mo kung'. one thing about the chinese language is that the translations and the meanings are not always the same.

also touched on a one legged stance does that mean you have now also withness/experienced trying to push over a person that is standing on one leg and failing?

....i told you.... learn first or learn last. soso, what did you do? i've said before, i'm always interested in what people do in their first class.....

i have no exposure to martial arts as taught in china. everything i know comes from hk. the oldest person i spoke to was my grand-dad who passed away this year aged 93. he always refered to it as kung fu. my cousin's grand-dad (not sure how old) also calls it kung fu.

it is complicated because a lot of chinese things don't translate well, if at all. even the things i have given here are more or less approximations and are only correct to a degree. on a forum such as this it is complicated because a two minute spoken explantion where you and i can interact in real time and interrupt and add to what each other is saying takes too long here. i am also hampered by the fact that i have to be very specific in the words i use for fear of mis-presenting something that could lead to confusions later on. and one reason i can see why your sifu dismisses it is because he speaks mandarin. cognitive supposition does not deal with what others may believe as it is only a document as to how the brain deals with knowledge. it is also only one aspect with how the brain deals with telling truth from untruth. the only time what others believe matters is if it 'proves' what i believe to be wrong, in which case, that becomes my 'truth' until the next time.... but this is where other processes come into play as well as aspects of culture and upbringing. now this really is a topic too complex to go into here not to mention totally off topic.

i still hold that sometimes some things are wrong and that opinions can be wrong. i think killing small children for personal entertainment is a legitimate past time. i think hilter was an ok bloke. i think drinking and driving is not a bad thing. i think people with i.q less than 100 should be executed. these are opinions. all of them are wrong.

i rad it was between 500AD. which is kinda odd cos i also read that he was born around 560 BC.....

well, like i said before, it is only really used in cantonese which in itself can be considered bad or lazy chinese if you ignore the pronunciation aspects. nearly all other dialects follow correct grammer. in cantonese, it isn't slang. in mandarin, it (kinda) is. the thing with this specific term is that it doesn't mean one specific thing. it more less deals with every aspect of martial art. when you say you know kung fu, you are actually saying that you have trained. sometimes, what you say really does mean something different to the words used. the meanings aren't fixed. (call it a quirk of chinese). kung fu is the product, process and result, all in one compact term. that is why i keep saying that to translate/desribe it is difficult. and this is just the written form. let's not even go into the spoken words that have no written form.... as for your last statement i can't say that i've heard/read anything to that effect.

but how does one go about proving something like a language? can you explain why a car is called a car? why an orange is called an orange? can you prove those explainations? cognitive supposition is a term used to describe how the brain supercedes known 'truths' or what you decide to be true. more accurately, it is describing how the brain effectively overwrites the old information, hence rendering it obselete and considers it to be 'wrong'. it is the process and is merely the name given to a documented presentation of observations. when i say it's complicated that is all i mean. i only tend to say it when trying to desrcribe/explain the chinese language and sometimes, i just don't know how to. people with much greater understanding that i have tried and even then haven't quite got it right. take a look at confucius' writing. a simple four character phrase needs pages of english text to fully explain. as i have mentioned, the chinese language likes to refer but these references are often not actually 'presented'. take the wing chun principle 'receive what comes, follow what goes'. it references borrowing energy concepts and using opponents energy but if you translate the words and describe what they mean, you won't see the implied meanings. it doesn't help when sometimes, a phrase can reference another phrase that references another..... like i say; complicated.

......it refers to 'martial art' but doesn't mean martial art. actually it refers to something that you have to spend a long time to gain skill in. this is why it is also used, although only more recently, to desribe any skill be it cooking or driving. kung=work; both proffesional work as well as physical work. you can 'faan (go to) kung' (which is just 'go to work') or you can 'linn (practice) kung'. this use is specific to martial arts training (but i can't actually tell you why... well, not yet...) and the use of the word 'kung' here is a short form of 'kung fu'. i.e the whole phrase would be go to 'linn kung fu' and it isn't used for anything else. as i said, it is specific to martial arts and has been adopted for other skills, not the other way around. i should add that it is a very general way to refer to the martial arts. if you like, it is almost like a slang term to refer to martial arts training to the layman.

i say it is complicated because it is. the 'problem' with the chinese language is that there are no real rules to how things go (especially with cantonese); nothing that can help you to understand. it is all a case of either you know or you don't know. in the examples i give, i can explain because i know. if i didn't, no amount of translating would be able to help understand/comprehend the other meanings that exist within phrases. and no. the gum gong ging is a buddhist script. nothing about kung fu in it. another little note. the use of the term 'kung fu' is more or less a cantonese one. in mandarin, they tend to use more specific terms.

walking billboard? or walking target?

what? i'm not presenting myself as an authority. however, i do believe that i am one of the very few people here who speaks the language and is able to translate and give accurate descriptions of things from the chinese language. perhaps you would prefer me to not answer questions.

it's also been said that some of the rebels/rebellion actually started in the temple as opposed to going to seek refuge in the temple. it's all generally very mixed up.

and well, i've learnt that sometimes it doesn't pay to beat around the bush. if you disagree with something it's sometimes best to just be blunt about it. if i believe something to be wrong then in my mind it is wrong and there is probably reason for my belief. but then i'm not disputing the problems with doing things this way but such is the inherent flaws in cognitive supposition: if even one little element in my thought train is wrong, be it a simple misunderstanding or mis-reading the intended tone, then all following comments i make are going to be wrong. but then again, that's the nature of debate. if we all skirt around saying 'yes you are right' without posing the notion that you might be 'wrong' (or perhaps just 'not quite right') then we might end up going in circles without you seeing the flaws that may exist in your opinion. if i am wrong i expect people to tell me.