"where do i go from here?"

[Sui]

seems to be an uderlinening question,that hits us all! if you have not asked this i gaurantee that you will at some stage.
so at some stage point we ask this.what do we as kung fu practitioners expect??? do we go back to re-learn?do we venture out to find more?do we stay as we are,doing the same level?

most of all do we ask sifu for an answer?and expect an answer like the equazion "2+2=4",where as "4" is the answer?if so what when the the sifu dies or lets you go?

be honest gentlemen,to you and your sons.

sui

[Dercetuas]

i seems to be an uderlinening question,that hits us all! if you have not asked this i gaurantee that you will at some stage.

I asked myself where to go just over 2 years ago. I'd trained for 2 years in a style I enjoyed but circumstances forced me to move 500 miles from my teacher. I was happy with what I'd learnt but soon found I had limits that I couldn't overcome myself. I looked for a new teacher but couldn't find a local one. I knew by then that one to one training was the only way to go and came to the conclusion that I had to travel to find a teacher. In the end I made regular trips to london, 150 miles from wher I lived then to train with a Sifu I felt was teaching what I wanted to learn and who I felt was a good teacher.

"if so what when the the sifu dies or lets you go?"

This is a question that I've fortunaly never had to answer for myself. But if it comes to it alot of soul searching and consideration of the options will give the right answer. From experience I'll say choose a teacher/ Sifu carefully. If something doesn't right it probably isn't, but if something doesn't feel right to you it doesn't mean it isn't ideal for someone else.

[joedoe]

My Sigung died about 18 months ago. When he died, everyone was sad at the loss of the knowledge that went with him. Initially I was sad, but I came to this conclusion - none of the art had been lost. If it can be discovered once, it can be discovered again. My sigung was a great teacher, and I am sure that he taught his top students enough to discover the higher points of the art on their own.

So, back to the question - where do you go from here? If you have achieved a high enough level, you can discover things for yourself. This is how martial arts evolve. If they do not evolve, then they die.

The good old circle of life :)

[psycho monk]

exactly joedoe , I agree when one is faced with this one must have faith in themselves as well as their art and keep training.

[TaoBoy]

I've always said that the martial arts are a personal journey. If circumstances dictate that you must change schools - then you just do it - you move on - and you continue your own journey.

[fiercest tiger]

you go internal! This to me is where the real kung fu lies....

hows things bro?

FT

[HuangKaiVun]

Sui, that's the question that every martial arts student should ask himself no matter how little or long he has trained.

The answer lies more in the person asking the question than the person giving the reply!

[joedoe]

Gee, that is nice and enigmatic :D

[Serpent]

Originally posted by HuangKaiVun
Sui, that's the question that every martial arts student should ask himself no matter how little or long he has trained.

The answer lies more in the person asking the question than the person giving the reply!

Brought to you from the endless book of HuangKaiVun's Self-Validating Bull****.

[ZIM]

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell."
-Edward Abbey

IMHO, it does depend a little on the motives & circumstances of the student. If the sifu 'lets you go', it depends on why? For cause, like bad behavior? if its that, then work lies elsewhere. If its because 'you're done, I've shown you all i can" (which sounds like a kung fu movie), then there's always "just" honing skills, seeking interpretations. The differing interpretations can/should amplify what you know, if you are tolerant.

I think there's a lot of worth in going back over everything. "Many" world-class MAs have done just this- going over with a fine-toothed comb everything the sifu sez (like from notes) to make sure they got it really right. It's like making the simple more simple, or the art more artful, whatever....plumbing depths....going 'internal?' Maybe so.

IMHO, staying where you are, at the level you are, is not only dumb-ish (like standing still in a fight, in a way) but ALSO impossible- you always change, circumstances always change (we get older, rusty, whatever) change is the way of the world, so it doesn't happen that you stay 'where you are', even if you think so. I guess to remember that a 'wall' is more a stepping stione, or an opportunity, thats the key.

Death, well death is. Grieve first, then decide, i guess- i haven't had that happen. Being separated is like that, too- for whatever reason the separation happend.

Hey Sui! Howzit?