Drunken Monkey

um, actually if it was chinese, 'bo' would mean 'step'.

it's one of those things that you really have to feel to understand. being told what to do, even seeing it won't help. it also has many many levels to it. at it's most basic it is about maintaining position and forward energy. at a higher level it is about leading energy (stealing) and retaining energy (springing).

well, that was my point. from what i gather, the weapons training previously taught were more of a separate entity that was also taught to thai warriors and not an integral part of muay thai itself (hence the separate name of krabi krabong). think of how integral the use of a knife is to something like silat and perhaps you'll see what i mean. silat is more or less knife fighting (with or without the knife). i don't think muay thai is sword fighting with or without the sword.

i believe that the art in which i am training has the potential to be combative. indeed, in the past it has been proven to be very effective. however, i also believe that my personal training in it is very far from how they used to train and hence, my involvement in the art is not much more than learning what it is. whether or not i can apply what i know is another matter entirely. as i am about to be chucked out of the p.c lab, i shall post more later when i've had more time to think about it.

me? on a mission? not really. just trying to understand what you are trying to say. all along i have been asking you to explain what you meant....

nope. it's still all rubbish to me. why dont you just make your point. if anyone here has said something that you disagree with, point it out and say why. otherwise you are just spouting rubbish, with no frame of reference to which no one understands.

sorry but i don't get it. you say you are trying to point out the ingorance of some comments by making ignorant comments? if you have a point to make, make it clear.

too many posts for me to read through.... which description of muay thai?

historically, capoeria, as done by the street gangs is in the 'angola' style. it is much lower, focuses more on the fighting and, 'on the street' was often accompanied by knives. also, what most people see, is the game (roda) of capoeria and not the actual fighting. think wing chun and its chi sau. kinda the same thing. both are games we play safely to test the waters. actual fighting is totally different.

and you chose to do this by making general statements about a few people that belong to a vast 'family' as it were of karate practioners? that is not much different from me saying that all muay thai guys can only do five moves cos that's what i see in ring fights.

we had a 'game' we used to play. it was more of a footwork thing. the idea was that you would do your best to move out of the way and remain facing, centred and in a position to defend yourself... nothing like actuall trying to fight though.

karate claims to be a battlefield system? i could've sworn that it is widely accepted that modern day karate from funkashi was designed for mass learning in schools. the fact remains that the origins of karate pre-funakashi was used by people in real world combat of some sort. unless of course you are saying that all of karate was created in the 20s by one man. like i say. be more specific. it helps.

and which styles, invented in the 20s by one man, claim to be battlefield sysetms?

so san soo as in 'loose hands' get it.... that kinda implies that what is taught is actually the applications of something from a form (or something similar) without the actual teaching of the form. if you get my meaning... is that how they teach? 'little techniques' so to speak.

well, he's mentioned some weapons training but like i said, i always thought that it was regarded as a separate entity. anyway, as far as i was aware, historically, muay thai was primarily a sport in thailand. the fact that it was used in wars and other such events is that most people in the country have trained in it. does that actually mean that the style itself was a war art? i mean, is it a style that happened to be used on the battlefied or a style that was designed for the battle field?

y'know, i can't actually figure out what san soo is supposed to be in cantonese.... it might help me figure out a meaning to the name. anyone know what it is?

but sometimes you can't SEE where you're not 100% whereas someone watching CAN see. once again, just giving a very general example isn't the best way to discuss something. i mean, if hat the guys was repeating was something that he keeps seing wrong in people (remember, you are not the only guy in the class) then he has the obligation to tell you how things should be. think about, if you've told someone what to do, how to do and when to do AND he still keeps getting it wrong. what would you do? not tell him again and let him think that he's got it? i should say that your point has been given in a very general way. it is kinda hard for us to agree or disagree as you seem to have targeted this very general statement at every style that is not muay thai. an example of what you've experienced would make discussion easier.

yes.... where? london is quite big. town name?

not clever. true. wushu taught these days is not much more than performance, even if it is performing with a sword in hand. in kung fu circles, wushu is not really a fighting art. it is however, an all emcopmassing name that refers to ALL chinese martial arts. again, this is debatable as when we talk of martial arts in chinese, we just say that we practice 'wu' not wushu. if you say that you pratcing wushu then that means a very specific thing and that is the former 'national art'.

just cos i'm curious, where is your gym?

well, that's wushu. it's not exactly a fighting art now is it?

hmm, how are we to discuss generally without a frame of reference? if you are talking about something you have seen in a particular style, be it karate, wing chun, hung kuen, jiujitsu then mention what style. there are many of us here who pratice these styles and we can then give you an idea of what do as opposed to what you have done in the past. it makes for better discussion as we can let you know if what you experienced from the other styles is typical of the style.

well, seeing as i seem to be the resident cantonese speaker....

and these prayers are a very sacred thing. getting blood on them doesn't seem fitting to something like this which is so entwined with buddhist ritual...

y'know, i could've sworn that i read somewhere that the headgear and armband were prayers and stuff rolled up to 'protect' the fighter.... also, isn't the weapons aspect a totally different set of arts to the un-armed muay thai? krabi krabong?