MonkeySlap Too
09-27-2003, 06:51 PM
While it is popular to make fun of SD because of the Gi's, or the questionable history - these alone are not the key concerns. There are other groups that adopted Gi's - the Tang Shou Tao group in Taiwan for instance - whose very name translates to China Hand Way - just like the original writing for Karate.
But the difference is in the training methods. Tang Shou Tao is a recognizable CMA with CMA training principles. SD teaches Karate one-step sparring and calls it 'combat kung fu'.
Since Sin The' came from Indonesia, a melting pot of styles and fantastic claims, I'd be pretty open-minded to the SD thing, and even a hybrid karate/cma mix. But the 'true' Shaolin style - fat chance. When you look at the training methodology, and the obvious lack of CMA body mechanics for most of the 'styles' they teach, and the claims of ancient heritage for bad copies of forms that were invented after WW2 - well lets just say the empty barrel makes the most noise.
But the difference is in the training methods. Tang Shou Tao is a recognizable CMA with CMA training principles. SD teaches Karate one-step sparring and calls it 'combat kung fu'.
Since Sin The' came from Indonesia, a melting pot of styles and fantastic claims, I'd be pretty open-minded to the SD thing, and even a hybrid karate/cma mix. But the 'true' Shaolin style - fat chance. When you look at the training methodology, and the obvious lack of CMA body mechanics for most of the 'styles' they teach, and the claims of ancient heritage for bad copies of forms that were invented after WW2 - well lets just say the empty barrel makes the most noise.