Chi-I-Do

[Drunken Monkey]

my reading is a bit hit and miss....

 

i think speaking the language helps more than being able to read it,

 

especially something like chinese/cantonese.

 

what it means is that less time is spent trying to explain things to me.

 

well, not that it makes a difference seeing as most people in my group speak the language....

 

but um, it doesn't mean i don't have to practice.....

 

unfortunately, i am too lazy for my own good.

[47MartialMan]

But, it is one of the many Chinese dialogues.

[Drunken Monkey]

kinda.

 

the majority of the mandarin dialects are easily understood by each other.

 

cantonese is vastly different.

 

it almost does stand out as a separate language.

 

(and i think in some circles, it is regarded as a separate language)

 

i mean, in spoken form, the structure is totally different to the others which share the same grammatical structure as mandarin.

 

and well, that last point you make about it being one of many dialogues/dialects doesn't mean much when what i learn comes from a cantonese speaking place.

[47MartialMan]

Yes, I understand that. The same conflict I have within on many subjects. Being exposed to a Mandarin family and Mandarin dialogue, not to mention that family usage "slang"

 

But, the difference meaning much to me, if I am to learn.

[Master Jules]

Its those subtle differences that made it difficult for Japanese students of Okinawan arts to "get" the very subtle nuances of the system

[Master Jules]

Its those subtle differences that made it difficult for Japanese students of Okinawan arts to "get" the very subtle nuances of the system

[Master Jules]

Its those subtle differences that made it difficult for Japanese students of Okinawan arts to "get" the very subtle nuances of the system.

[47MartialMan]

Its those subtle differences that made it difficult for Japanese students of Okinawan arts to "get" the very subtle nuances of the system.

 

Yes, the above not the Japanese/Okinawan...replace with others) is one of the bases for the thread I had started "Gong Fu (Kung Fu) is not an actual martial art."

 

Because it depends on the person recognizing the term in accordance with their dialogue, translation, and accepted terminology.

 

A second base for that thread, was to probe to see the different opinions.

[Drunken Monkey]

i'm not sure if it'll be the same for japanese/okinawan.

 

the thing with the chinese martial arts is that they were originally devised using the terminology of the belief system in mind.

 

i mean, as someone else pointed out, the fighting arts was just one of the virtues of a scholar.

 

as such, the poetry, history, writing skills, fighting skills, medicine etc etc all use the same set of terms, so to speak.

 

these terms are so ingrained into the chinese culture that unless you were born part of it and exposed to it as a way of life, a lot of it you simply won't understand as instinctively as a 'native' would.

 

i'm not saying you can't learn it, it just won't be the same.

[47MartialMan]

That could be what MJ and I are saying.