question about good martial artists??

[killorbe]

Why don't any of the good instructors out there compete or do any of them compete in any eventsd to display their skills against another,, if I was a martial arts instructor, I would be willing to fight to prove to my students that im no fraud? i know thjey probably can beat the crap out of there students. what about other instructors though? I know this might sound a bit childish but how good and how much do you have to do to prove yourseklf!

[SevenStar]

I'm all for competition. I love to step in the ring. I'm not out to prove anything though, I just like to compete. It's a driving force - pushes me to continually train harder and maintain my edge. That being said though - competing is a personal choice. If you are confident in your skill, why do you have to prove anything to anyone?

[yenhoi]

neways.

If you are talking JKD specific instructors, the ones you see publically all the time, or at least thier names, such as Paul Vulnak etc, have consistently 'proved' thier skills in the past.

If you have already passed the middle-school entrance exam, why would you continue taking the test for 15 more years?

[SevenStar]

neways?

[yenhoi]

yenhoi'nese for 'anyways'

[Mr. Bao]

Instructors who go out their way to beat up people to defend his status as a bad ass or the best fighter in the world is not what I call an enlightened person. It is down right ignorance.

Bao

[SevenStar]

lol, I know what neways is :) I meant, what were you saying that for? Something I said, or something he said?

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

Two main reasons people step into the ring.. either to prove something to others.. or, to validate their own training in the purity of one on one competition.. those seeking validation of their training (ie: does it really work), spend little time in the ring.. once they know it works, they go back to the training.. those looking to prove themselves have an endless line of others with the same agenda.. it has been my own experience that once one assumes the role of "tough-guy", little progress is made into the deeper aspects of the arts, one is too busy being a "tough-guy"..

Show your "stuff" and others will seek to defeat it.. conceal your "stuff" until it's needed, and they never know what hit them..

Be well.. train sincerely..

[HuangKaiVun]

That's the age-old question of kung fu, killorbe!

Actually, there's a 3rd reason that's far more commonplace than the two Taichibob gave.

In traditional CHINESE kung fu, guys challenged each other routinely. They did this not to "prove something to others" or to "validate their own training", but to find out what other styles and stylists were all about.

For example, Cheng Man Ching and Morihei Ueshiba both fought many challenge matches. Neither of these guys were out to "prove something" or "validate their own training". Cheng speaks of his encounter with the legendary Du Xing Wu (Tzuranmen) as "exhilarating". This is because old style kung fu practitioners weren't afraid to put their arts to the test and knew no better way of probing the strengths and weaknesses of other styles.

Not all fights end in bloodshed or rancor. I am a kung fu sifu and I myself have been involved in challenges on both sides. Of the challenges that I physically participated in, both sides walked away with true respect for the other.

As a sifu, my door is open to ANYBODY who walks in that door for a friendly challenge. If Ken Shamrock walked through that door to "test me" in a controlled environment, I'd gladly oblige him in a polite way. He'd probably get the better of me in sparring, and I'd try to learn from him if I could. Then I'd take him out to dinner afterwards or something.

Winning or losing a POLITE challenge match is the least important thing. Learning about other people's skills and seeing what one can do to improve himself - those are the real reasons why traditional kung fu fighters like myself challenge each other to friendly sparring.

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

Agreed.. and, i do the same myself.. i suppose i didn't consider the "polite challenge" in the same context with the "No Holds Barred" matches with which i am familiar. The exchange of styles through friendly competition is apprporiate in the Chinese MA culture, and you were correct to point that out.. i stand corrected.

Be well..

[fa_jing]

My teacher has many successful ring/MMA-style bouts under his belt. He is JKD and Wing Chun, a student of Ted Wong. He is a bit too old to do that anymore, now he's 43. However, I and my classmate hope to follow in his footsteps - at an amatuer level only.
Ever hear of Joe Louis?? Apparently the man is still going strong, regularly spars people in his seminars.
I do think that instructors should be able to hold their own against other instructors, not just their students.