Drunken Monkey

gonna be a bit flippant here..... 1+1=2

......and i am telling you what the term means and how it is used from the perspective of someone who speaks the language from birth....... i was refering to the language aspect. i wasn't talking about ALL chinese culture. you have to understand that i see a lot of instances of chinese phrases and terms being bandied about in english form and being totally misunderstood mistranslated and misused. are you saying i shouldn't point things out? even if i know that they are presenting something that is wrong? the thing about the chinese language is that there aren't many languages like it. some things just don't translate and there are a lot of implied meanings and overlaps of use and the context also plays a part in the word you use. take the ever popular tai-chi chuan. separately tai= great/grand/extreme. it isn't directly translateable eg.tai dai(big)=too big, tai por(grandma)=great grandma chi= something in the extreme it's use is kinda complicated. chuan= fist. in this instance it is a short version of chuan fa (fist pattern/fist skill/fist movement) another case it is the short version of chuan tou (fist head) which is the noun, if you like, for fist. chuan can also mean punch depending on the context. now here's the tricky bit. together, 'tai-chi' has a third meaning that you will not get from the constituant parts and so tai chi chaun=grand nexus fist (art). it is this third bit, the implied/suggested representation/meaning that a lot of people just don't understand. as a result, a lot of people will translate tai-chi chaun to be grand ultimate fist (art). now this isn't wrong per se as the translation is correct but it isn't actually right/true when talking about the martial art. going back to 'kung fu'. yes, the term itself does not translate into 'martial art' but the term does mean 'martial art' as well as a few other implied meanings. there's another little phrase; "eat late night porridge/congee (or is it 'incense stick'?)" that also implies/means that you train in martial arts. go figure.... you might not have noticed but i only tend to translate from the cantonese. the instances when i have commented on the mandarin, i made sure that the grammer involved applied to both dialects. the thing with cantonese is that it has pretty much remained a constant with the only exception being new vernacular. with mandarin, it has been even more constant (blame the teaching system...) throughout the years. and yes, i know of different dialects but that only really exists in the spoken form. in writing, it's all more or less the same and has been so for a very long time. i have a 'copy' of the gum gong ging from a few hundred years back and it reads just as it would today if you were to do a modern transcript of it.

well, it depends on how you look at things. everything is either degrees of right or degres of wrong. it's kinda how the mind works. (that along with cognitive supposition...) you learn a 'truth'. later, you learn something that is more 'true'. this replaces the old, which in turn becomes untrue (or 'wrong'). i like to learn. in my mind everyonbe is wrong to a degree and so the opposite is also true; that everyone is right to a degree. when i see something that is in my view wrong, i will point that out and give why i see it as 'wrong'. (just as when i see something that i can make more right i will add my t'pence) after that it is up to you to decide if i was more right than you. anyway. this is of course, ignoring the times when someone says something that is outright wrong this was perhaps taken in the wrong context. i was refering to instances of fact like there is no proof of the five shaolin elders like bruce lee DID lose fights like karate does have grappling... you get the idea. there are facts out there and sometimes we have to recognise them just as we have to recognise where we might be wrong/mistaken.

But its origin is from India is this about the use of it in the older chinese characters? i have no idea about that. just thought i'd mention it's appearance in the written language. the character in question is something to do with money.

not sure.... when that was going on i was but a little nipper. i know of some controversy over some of the matches and the circumstances over how the early 'challenges' were issued. some people issued a challenge back at them but they never responded. a few years later, both parties agreed that there should be no bad blood as, well, both parties knew it was all to do with the business side of things and not really about love/hate.

but don't forget the tour de france guys are also racing, i mean, he can take it easy some days, and go like the clappers the next, depending if he's going through brighton or southend.....

it's also seen on some old chinese characters, specifically ones that were used before the 'unification' of the empire, language and writing.

i strut? anyway..... Isnt "Kuen" also spelled/pronounces as Kuhne, Kyuhn, Kyuhn Tou, Kyuhn Tauh, or Kune? Can it also be used, spelled, or prounounced as Cheuih, Quan (Chuan), Quan Fa, Quan Tou? are you really asking? cos um, well, if you can give them examples, it means you have seen them used so you've kinda answered your own question. in any case, this is one reason why it is sometimes better to translate into english as opposed to trying to teach the chinese. what you have given is basically different ways of romanising two (sets) of chinese charaters; one (set) is for 'fist' the other is for 'punch'. in chinese there is a degree of overlap as to what they mean/represent but one is definitely only used for 'punch'.

that site is kinda missing something.....

that would depend on the question and who you were asking.

the famous gracie challenge. .....there were other people who challenged them back but they never took it up....

Interesting, yet you give answers, commentary, and opinions so readily perhaps you would like me to act all high and mighty and mysterious? i give answers according to what i know; according to what i know to be 'true' or perhaps 'more true' than something else. if i did not think it to be so, i wouldn't say anything. or i might throw a little question into the debate. this is of course, ignoring the times when someone says something that is outright wrong.

.....but how often are you going to get the opportunity to get a clear shot at the throat? it is a small target that is well protected.

where abouts are you?

just a little note on the 'one inch punch' type movement of the wing chun punch. as well as it being a way to bring an extra 'power' (i should add that some schools teach 'solid' wrist for punches) the wrist action also serves to disrupt balance, specifically/originally, against older chinese (shaolin) styles that teach to relax on feeling contact (i.e go soft to absorb before tensing to 'bounce' the hit). this goes in part to explain why the first is vertical; to first push down before driving through. the snap of the wrist also acts as a timing device. before you've 'finished' the punch i.e competed wrist movement it is easier to interrupt your move because your wrist is still loose.

You seem to have a answer for everything not really. i only answer the questions that i can. Just because I ask questions and make statements does not mean I do not have the answers so if you have the answers, why ask the question?

this is gonna sound harsh but i think it's a good thing that he didn't win gold, esp. on his first attempt. hopefully, what it means now is that he knows he has limits and he has to keep pushing them boundaries. confidence is one thing but it can so easily lead to arrogance.

....the nazi one points the other direction. there's a specific name for it but i can't remember it off the top of my head.....

....if i seem like i keep jumping on you (which i have to admit i kinda am), it's because i keep seeing people say things about a particular martial art (or family of martial arts) without actually knowing what they are talking about. too many people make a generalised comment like 'stand up don't work against grappling' 'chinese styles don't work' 'most schools are mcdojos' and then they make comments about how a certain style does something without actually knowing how/why it is really done. i.e they use their 'uneducated' version of a move from a style and say it doesn't work. when they haven't even taken a single step beyond their own school. you say that there aren't many real kung fu schools out there but how many have you gone to see? how many styles have you visited? in how many countries? i know there are mcdojo's and other 'franchises' out there and i think they really might outnumber 'real' schools but i won't make the general comment like it's hard to find a real school because in my experience, it isn't. then, that might be because of where i live. hope you understand what i mean.... anyway. where abouts in london? and who do you intend to train with here?

.....nope. not that long. but then, in my few years i have l have learnt sufficient to answer questions that you could not. like the old adage goes; it's about quality, not quantity. take your posting for instance. in three days you have notched up 200+ posts, most of which are practically pointless/useless/meaningless. i think i have yet to see one bit of useful info in your posts...... nice example of quantity, not quality.

.....the symbol itself is old and has been seen in ancient cultures such as mesopotamia. the one as seen in japanese buddhism is taken from the sanskrit 'svastika' and is taken to be a symbol of the stars and tends to represent night. mr 47. are you trying to impress us with your trivial knowledge? cos if you are, then you've got it slightly wrong. technically, it is called a 'sauvastika' or manji.

...you're moving now? i thought you said it'd be after your associates.....? so, tell me, why does moving mean you have to start a new style?

well, the only serious training i ever did was wing chun. i would only ever say that i've been exposed to the others. i was shown chow gar mantis as a comparison to how things worked for them and how similar they were (but i'm looking to start at a semi local class near me soon...) choy li fut was shown to me by my cousin's grand-dad (not my blood relative) and i was kinda forced to learn it while i was in hk sorting out my i.d card. hung gar and shaolin was kinda taught to me side by side and i only really picked up basic forms and training drills and stuff. and it was again, a counterpoint to my wing chun. this was shown to us by my first wing chun sifu. he was a first gen from hk, from a martial arts family/vilage. in his youth in london, he used to cross train with a whole bunch of people he used to work with.

i'm 25 and i haven't been studying martial arts seriously for that long. i've just been lucky in that i've had access/exposure from an early age. on and off since i was about 12 (first contact was at about 7-. more off than on. i would say i have been training wing chun for about 4 years. the other styles i have picked up some bits of, were shown to me by various guys at uni and in hk. i've been 'homeless' for the last two years which is when i started to go to the kickboxing and lee gar.

nope they are not wing chun weapons. i learnt them as fun extras. the three was just a progression from my staff work. and the nine section was an experiment that went horribly wrong. the point of that was for me to get used to stepping properly as i whirl and brace the whip as it is in motion. the idea was that if i could keep in postion whilst playing with the whip it would mean i would be ok for the three section staff. what it did do was point out that i needed to really practice my foot work. i practically shredded my knee as i bashed the whip against my leg countless times; highlighting the fact that i was standing incorrectly.... that's one of the things they don't actually teach you; how to step. or more correctly, how you have to move in a different way when using a three section staff compared to a normal staff. the hard thing about a three section staff is getting used to the different movements of the weapon and the way the weight shifts and tugs at the weapon. parrying a hit with the front section and feeling it tug on the far section is odd and sometimes, the middle section bounces too much and then *bam* sore little finger. weapons i have learnt. wing chun butterfly knives. wing chun long pole. shaolin pole three section staff chinese long sword chinese short/broad sword styles i have dipped my feet in. wing chun choy li fut shaolin hung gar chow gar mantis bcmaa rules kickboxing (although the way i do it, it's more like wing chun with gloves on...) lee gar kuen some more than others.