Attitude

[dezhen2001]

I'm not very good at starting threads :p but just wanted to say something that i've realised recently, and just wondering if others have had any similar experiences :)

Well... i've been training in MA since i was 8. Basically coz i was getting bullied. Now all through my teenage years (i'm now 22) i used to compete a lot in competitions (full contact, semi contact, boxing and muay thai a little, as well as forms), and i really used to love it! It was real exciting, the chance to prove myself against others and develop my understanding of fighting etc...

Now that whole feeling has just gone.

Now fighting is the last thing on my mind, even though i study a fighting skill (Wing Chun) and Qigong. I've realised that i'm training for 3 main reasons now: 1) To be healthy, 2) To understand and develop the skill, 3) coz i enjoy it and it feels good.

I'm just not bothered about fighting anymore. If a situation happens, then of course i will do what i can. But really it's 'win some, lose some'. Yeah i might get beat up or robbed or whatever, but life still goes on. If it doesn't, then so what?

Lots of my friends train in other systems and constantly want to spar with me doing my WC. I've realised that WC is all i want to do right now, and am still trying to unlearn everything i did before. Also i'm not too bothered about sparring with them, we just play. As i have 2 many bad habits for WC right now, so can't use the skill properly yet (need more practise and chi sau :D).

This post sounds kinda freaky. But it's just something that i've realised. I've more important things to do in my life than worry about fighting, though i do like to train in MA. Also there are any more benifits to MA than just learning the fighting part of things.

What does everyone else think? :confused:

:)
david

[Former castleva]

Great post.
I guess that competitive mindset and proving thing vanishes when one clears his senses and practices the art naturally,excessive waste disappears.
And of course,art is a tool.

[scotty1]

That seems like a healthy attitude to me mate.

I definitely enjoy the competitve aspect of kickboxing though.

[Gabriel]

Im with you david. I'm in the MA for fun, health, and curiosity, not out of an overwhelming desire to bash heads, though self defense is in my attitude somewhere I guess, just not the only concern.

Gabriel

[prana]

Hey David,

I guess in this way, I moved on too. Its been 8-10 years now almost since I left MA to do more nei gung stuff. Maybe its your calling ?

[dezhen2001]

Hey guys, thanks for ur replies :)

Prana: All i hear is a calling to "Train Harder!" :D Howz the Bora doing mate? It's interesting that all the skills i am learning right now (soft qigong, hard qigong and wing chun)m have all led to this attitude in me i guess :)

FC: Great reply :) Actually i agree 100% with what you say - Art is a Tool. For example: I'm a graphic designer, and use visual communication as a medium to portray a meaning to the viewer, and make $$$ :D But more importantly, with each piece i do i express who and what i am, as it's also a very personal experience.

Scotty: how are things mate? All the stuff for china ready? :) Sure, everyone enjoys to do different things. Theres nothing like a good scuffle which really tests you, but i recently realised that it really isn't important to me anymore. Others are different, hence why theres competitions and the UFC etc.

Gabriel: I'm the same :) Sure if i train hard then there is some crossover with the skill to self defence. But MA training doesn't take lots of other things in to consideration, like Black Jack, Rogue and others always mention. So that's why to me the self defence side is not at the top of my list, there are more important things to me. Health being most important - if i have that i have choices i can make, without it there is nothing.

What does everyone else think?

david

[guohuen]

I'm impressed! Took me a lot longer to reach that attitude. Now I practice wuyi 20-30 min. a day and qigong 3-5 hrs.

[dezhen2001]

Guohuen - it's coz i'm a wuss and don't like to get hit ;):D

Well, when i'm training properly, i usually do around 3hrs of qigong and an hour or so of wing chun :) Just starting to get back in to it after a few months break coz of problems...

I was just wondering what other ppl thought because none of my mates around me that i play with sometimes could understand it :p

david

[scotty1]

"Scotty: how are things mate? All the stuff for china ready?"

Taking the course in August, leaving in October!

"Sure, everyone enjoys to do different things. Theres nothing like a good scuffle which really tests you, but i recently realised that it really isn't important to me anymore. Others are different, hence why theres competitions and the UFC etc"

yeah I can totally understand your feeling about your training now.

I think its cos I'm kickboxing that I like to keep it tested. If I was doing something like WC I think I would do the same as you and hang back on fighting, at least until I was proficient and relaxed in WC.

Sorry, ramble!

:D

[norther practitioner]

Well, I have to say I still like to compete (just 'cause I still have fun doing it), but my main reason for training is health. It is more than just a workout too. It is one of those proverbial things, like, if you get in a fight (I have gotten over that, if it happens it happens), and get beat up, are you in good health? If you enjoy training, and stop, are you in good (mental) health? I think you can all see where I am going with this. For some people, they fall in love with MA and the reasons for training will change, but they will always have the MA in their blood, others, well circumstances change and they quit. I always hold some respect for people who go out and train frequently no matter what the style or system. So, I guess, some of you guys train martial arts because you like to fight, thats cool, some do it so they can stay in shape, thats cool, some do it to be able to do forms and compete, thats cool too, but the people who do it to be cool, well thats not. I'm not going to bash anyone who does that, but I'd have to say a lot of short timers got into it to be cool, and it was too much or not the right thing at the right time . Well I guess where I am going with this is big up to all the real martial artists out there, and hopefully some of the Joe Karate types will hang on long enough to sort of come around, but there are always a lot of them out there and I feal my job sometimes is to just tell some of them to hang in there.

[shaolinboxer]

I think the more you let go of fighting, the better you will become :).

Fighting has its limits in application. Martial art does not.

[dezhen2001]

shaolinboxer - good post :) Actually i am not bothered about fighting because i realise that i don't need to 'fight'...

Scotty: Sure, i love testing myself as well. But if i can't use my skill against fellow classmates properly, what hope do i have against others? For me right now i need to learn how to use the skill in chi sau first, using and learning the correct structure, energy and positioning and then i can apply it in a not so controlled environment (with friends or whatever).

NP: MA is very diverse so theres plenty of scope for everyone to find what they want and need :) Health is most important to me, both physically and mentally. If you're not healthy, will your block, punch or kick be strong enough? Will you be able to have the mental clarity and control of your body to adapt to things? (not just self defence but life in general)...

interesting guys :)

david