Drunken Monkey

i know austin goh (on a purely 'profssional' basis). my cousin trains with one his kung fu brothers (who trained with goh sifu under lee shing) it might interest you to know that lee shing was the student that yip man chose to present his own pair of butterfly knives to. that kinda says a lot about his abilities. so i can 'vouch' for the guys up to austion goh's level but anything after him, i have no idea about cos they would still be relatively 'young' in the system/family.

i've heard about 2008 too..... anyway. the one thing about san shou that marks it out is the throws. from the little i've seen, many fights are won on points gained from throws. while they are impressive, it just seems kinda 'wrong' when hand+foot technique seems to play second fiddle to the throws.... again, cos this is something i have limited exposure to, please feel free to tear my post to shreds.

and once again.... the 'one inch punch' is a demonstration of the effects of using correct structure or perhaps what happens if you manipulate that structure. it is not a technique per se but something that should be in every technique you do, from an outright attack to a simple step forward.

As with all of us time flies when your having fun so it wouldn't suprise me that some watering down of true form well, in most cases it isn't really watering down. a lot of the time, it is because the teacher has gotten so used to doing his way of things, he forgets to teach the original version. which is one reason i believe that original/old forms have a purpose: they act as a better starting point. for a start, if you can explain WHY you do something differently to how it is shown in the form, then your student has a better chance of understanding how things work. another problem is that some students train to 'be like' their teacher. a side effect is that they are imitating as opposed to making it their own. again, this is where original forms come into play again. the other scenario, is that often, non-family members were taught things differently. not neccessarily bad things, or even missing things, just differently. of course some people inevitably did omit some things from teaching but even then, that isn't neccesarily a bad thing (as the clever student should see where he has a failing and question himself, if not his teacher). thus, he fixes the flaws he finds and hey presto! 'new' technique. as for choy li fut, i know of two major lines of this style and it appears that you guys have more political issues than we do. by far and away the biggest problem with finding a proper fighting martial arts teacher in china is jet li. everyone wants to be him. i mean, the idea is too appealing. send your kid to MA school at the age of 5. leave him there for 5-6 years and when he grows older, after winning a few worldwide competitions, he will be in the films just like their hero..... easy, right? AND like i said, even the legit styles (i.e non wu/quo-shu places) have biiiig schools teaching aesthetic renditions. even wing chun, a style that almost has no aesthetic has fallen foul of competitions where chi sau is the judge of skill. EXCEPT it doesn't quite work. chi sai is about finding the centre, maintaining the centre, and breaking through the centre. the end result is to hit and to knock down the opponent. in the chi sau comps, you do not go beyond the centre i.e there is no hit, no going forward, no trapping space, no crowding space. you just stand there (except for the last of the three rounds) they have removed a vital part of it to accommodate 'fair' contest. they have removed the forward pressure which is supposed to be automatic. in other words, they train for this by REMOVING the 'auto-pilot' so to speak. they train you to hold back. wrong wrong wrong......

.......all of the holes? i'm not that good...... or should that be 'not that patient'? to be honest. i don't know.... to be honest, i don't care. i've just spent a great evening with someone who makes me feel alive again. hey, who knows. maybe he's right? maybe i am just another immature kid who talks crap. maybe i don't know what i'm talking about. you can think what you like and i really mean that. i have always been honest about what i think about the things said here, which has landed me in trouble on more than one occasion but i stand by that policy. i'm not going to push it by repeating what i think about the things said at the beginnign of the thread. i think i've made my point pretty clear. like i said before, i'm still not sure what i have to apologise for? i haven't been insulting, have i? i don't think I have been insulting anyone....

.......so tempting.........

.....they're not very legal here either. basically, they kinda fall under the same catogory of 'offensive weapon' (although recently guns and knives have their own laws). but my experience is that the police aren't that unforgiving. y'know, there is a difference between a schoolkid with a pair tucked inside his jacket and the rough looking guy on his way to training with them on the back seat. and unless you are a fool, they will just let you know that they should be securely carried in a case of some sort. oops. well, in the uk, you're slightly better off with a pair of nunchaku....... only slightly.

....i think that it's slightly different with chuck norris (or any other celebrity) i mean, he has 'power' so to speak, backed up by good public image. for the average martial artisit, it'll be different. i mean, let's take good ol' bruce lee. if he were around, i'm pretty sure most schools would allow him to teach what-ever he wanted to their school kids. or pehaps it should be that if a school asked him to teach their school kids, they'd be prepared for what it might include.... anyway. i'm also pretty sure most school kids would happily practice what-ever he taught.

on a not too un-related topic. there is a wing chun association out there that has a habit of introducing a new 'grade' (no belts) every few years. it works out that to get to an instructor level would take, if you're lucky, 20 odd years. then tehre are levels beyond instructor. now i should say this is partly from word of mouth but i'm looking into it.... belt-no belt. it doesn't matter. it's a question of power. they have the power to do something (give a belt, grade, badge, what-ever). what you have to try and do is limit the way in which they can abuse that, which, at the end of the day, is down to how honest they are.

.....i said it was stupid because that is the most honest response i could think of. was it the diplomatic response? probably not.... but why skirt around the issue with diplomacy when honesty hits the nail right on the head? as for where i live, it doesn't matter. if you really want to know i can give you the name of my local town and you can do a crime search. but what would that prove? nothing. which is why i don't tend to mention where i live cos none of it is confirmable on a forum. just like what-ever you say cannot be confirmed. anyway. just to point out. you're the one who started telling little stories. i started by saying that what i read was stupid. then i told you what i thought was stupid. then i gave examples of things that i read in my local paper this week as well as things that i remember from past papers. an, well, i questioned your 'location' because well, what time do the local malls shut around your parts? and y'know, i always like in kid's stories how they always manage to find out that the guy they beat up is in what-ever hospital suffereing from what-ever injuries and that they had what-ever criminal records.... y'know, as if that kind of information is free on the streets. and um, one final question; what is the typical jail sentence for a serial rape, assault AND theft?

...sorry if that came across as a bit harsh as i really didn't mean it like that. it's just that too many 'pick' on other styles, which when substantiated is fine but then to go that extra bit to actually insult or ridicule.... well, a bit too much in my opinion. and um, i am not the first to realise, that humour and insult tread a very fine line especially on a forum such as this.

the local church hall. it's kinda odd cos there's little kiddies pics all over the wall... the local cub scouts use the hall as well....

i quickly front kick him in he knee which then he was up on one leg and as soon he was on one leg that was what you said. you mentioned 'on one leg' twice. anyway. so, when did you decide that pretending to be from the philipines would make you more credible? or was it just so that not many of us here, except perhaps martial_artist (has he changed his name?) can verify anything you say? kid, grow up. you don't know who i am i don't know who you are. you claim to come from rough streets. i don't know. my guess is that there are lots of un-caught criminals where-ever you go. i can tell you that in my local park, that's about 400m away, people get shot, and knifed on a regular basis (hence patrol by both park police as well as the met). yes, this is the same park that my friend and i go to train on nice days. in my local town centre, right next to the new police station, people regularly get attacked, kinifed, set on fire.... that's why the new police station was built there (and opened by the chief of police no less), to act as a deterrent. recently someone was shot dead cos of a minor car collision, right outside my old secondary school. a solicitor was knifed cos of a bad outcome in a case (wa-hay!). kids openly mug people on buses at knifepoint. (as well as attacking the bus-driver; last christmas there was a strike cos of safety issues) two guys are getting charged for stabbing a guy outside a pub. some kid got beaten up by three men. violent burgular gets 14 years. you must remember that this is in a country where guns and knives are more or less illegal. so yes. my town is really safe and nothing ever happens. but i'm pretty sure most people here live in similar places which is why i don't make a point of telling people about where i live.

....hehehe..... actually, i didn't mean that it is a secret. it's just a lot of kids who don't actually train ONLY see a kick to the knee as something you do to damage the knee. they have no idea that kicking can also be a controlling technique. y'know, they see a kick as being a technique by and in itself. where-as in wing chun, it is sometimes a device to aid control of your opponent's movement/direction/mobility..... y'see? and about the principles and theories.... they are there and there are many. the problem is i) they are all in chinese and a bit hard to collect, organise and translate. ii) most of the time they are not taught in words but shown in the class by actions. i mean, even in the two posts you have here, you have already mentioned (the actions of) two principles....

I think its apparant you think your a good guy, you think you are in the right, and you think you are a well trained martial artist no, i think it's apparent that this is just another big pile of cow manure. if you kick a guy on the knee correctly, he would not left his leg.... also, have you checked up on what the philipines government do to criminals? let alone a serial rapist and thief....

.......i admire them every day...... sorry. i'll get my brain out of the gutter now.....

y'know, i never get tired of the hk films where they get untrained hk pop girlies to star in. they might not be able to fight their way out of a bad song but they sure as hell look cute doing it....

.....it's the chinese red roast pork. it's down to my consumption levels and my extremely failed attempt to make some at home.

......recently, someone has taken to calling me 'char siu'.....

my thoughts on videos. they are a supplement. they are not the real thing. even if you have someone to practice with, unless they have first hand GOOD knowledge of martial arts, at best you will be imitating, at worst you will be creating bad habits. granted that some training is better than none, i still hold that if you are going to train badly, i'd rather you not train at all.

ahhh, you must've missed my little post about what to do against lawyers......

well, it doesn't have to be watered down. i mean, i can probably teach a bunch of guys basic defence ideas without actually teaching wing chun. i mean, the real basics getting used to an incoming attack getting some sort of useful instinctive reaction getting people to understand body structure y'know, real basics that are actually useful in the long term for those that are actually interested who might want more (and are not afraid to bleed a bit) basic techniques can be taught i.e intercepting, stepping, closing gaps, breaking away. the problem i see in a lot of general self defence is that there is no concept of basics. things are taught in little sets of techniques i.e do this against that. anyway, the problem may be that you are in a country with very, if you'll excuse me, daft lawsuit problems. i'm pretty sure you know better than i do about this and how it would affect what was taught in a school.

.....one thing the police do when watching a crowd. they keep an extra eye on the quiet ones.....

......right....... so should we call wing chun; the hand slapping style? wrestling; the one where guys who crawl on the ground grabbing each other's balls? karate; the art of making funny noises? escrima; the art of morris dancing? sorry, but there is no need to ridicule them just cos you don't agree with what they do, not even in jest. saying that you don't think they should use 'martial art' is enough. there's no need to push it further. especially seeing as there aren't any xma guys here to make their defense.

i think the only way to teach martial arts in a school is to have it under the all emcompassing 'self-defence' title. the moment you start to teach a specifc style the whole politics issue will undoubtedly creep in, which, in a school where teaching time is limited anyway, would hamper what you can teach and how you would teach. either keep it 'pure' so to speak and organise it around a 'limited' club or teach everyone and be general. my worthless key tappings....