Opinions on this school

[Judge Pen]

http://www.clearsilat.com/silat/selection.htm

This is in my area. the guys has reportedly studied with some good people, but I'm skeptical of anyone who purports to teach Dim-Mak and "one touch" KOs (with a "TM" behind it.) What do you guys think?

[Fred Sanford]

I'd go there long before I'd set foot in a shaolin-do school.

You ain't got room to be skeptical of anyone.

[BM2]

Fred Sanford! You ole fish-eye fool! I ought hit you with this purse!
( in an Aunt Esta voice) Sanford & Son TV show.

[Judge Pen]

Ah Fred, I can still be skeptical of a school and still find merit in what they teach. I've heard great things about his teachers and I was thinking about visiting his school. I figured some of you guys may have worked with him at some point. He used to teach in Florida, I believe.

[Oso]

JP, I think a guy here in town either trains under him or with him under deThours but I haven't seen him move so I don't know.

[Oso]

awful lot of theory on this page.


http://www.clearsilat.com/silat/gallery.htm

[MasterKiller]

I dunno if he's legit or not, but look at the size of his head! (http://www.clearsilat.com/silat/Biography/Gallery/UncleBill01.jpg).:eek:

[MonkeySlap Too]

Some of his teachers are good.

PM me.

[Shaolinlueb]

in the 2nd video the kids like um throw left so he does the technique, pauses and continues....:o he should be able to make it work from either punch. but yeah for demo purposes its good.

[kenso]

Disclaimer: The following statements do not indicate that I think this person is phony. I'm just going to go over some things that raise my eyebrows. I have made no conclusions from this, because I can't be bothered to care enough.

1. It always dings my phony radar when someone calls himself sigung.
2. I'm always suspicious of claims to mastery of multiple schools.
The site claims:

His training includes over ten styles of Silat and Kung Fu and Systema, as well as intensive knowledge of Tai Chi and Chi Kung. His certifications include a Guru (senior teacher) level in Pentjak Silat, a Master level (Si-Gung) in internal Kung Fu, and an Instructor certification in Systema.
My questions:
What styles? Under whom? Master level (Si-Gung) in internal Kung Fu? Again, where and with whom?

I'd go check it out and see if I liked it. If I did, then I'd probably do more research.

[IronFist]

#

A guarantee of the ability to deliver a minimum of 3 hits per second sustained for a minimum of 10 seconds. (we are able to guarantee this because the # of hits usually delivered is closer to 6 hits per second.)

:rolleyes:

From here (http://www.clearsilat.com/silat/ET/index.htm).

[Yum Cha]

JP,
Doesn't Houston have both a Traditional Shaolin School, and Southern Praying Mantis School?

I think I'd start there, or at least check them out...

[Judge Pen]

they may Yum Cha, but I'm in Knoxville Tennessee. I was just curious about checking out other schools in my area.

[Tak]

He has over a quarter century of continuous study in the martial arts
He doesn't look old enough. And in the lower "Suwanda and Inosanto" pic, he looks like he's about 16, yet the date is stamped 1995, so he's already been owning/teaching at his silat school for 5 years? And all the pictures have that I-just-walked-up-to-Dan-Inosanto-and-asked-him-to-take-a-picture-with-me-so-I-can-claim-him-as-my-teacher look to them.

[Fu-Pow]

Looks like a joke to me:

1) Teaches way to many styles of kung fu
2) Way too young to be calling himself Si Gung (which is the Chinese equivalent of Grandfather)
3) Claims to teach "drunken" which isn't a style its a subset of several different styles.

Maybe this kid is a good fighter but I don't think he has built the teaching credentials to the level that he claims.

[kuntao]

Hi,

First I'd like to apologize for resurrecting this thread, but with the way old threads like this can pop up in search engines I felt the need to address some of the concerns expressed here.


"I'm skeptical of anyone who purports to teach Dim-Mak and 'one touch' KOs"

As you should be. We are more than happy to demonstrate any of the skills we claim in our advertising. We love questions and we encourage anyone who has them to stop by and ask. For more information on what exactly we mean by "1 touch KO's" go here: www.fastknockouts.com Sifu Clear has also written a few posts on different kinds of Dim Mak http://www.clearstaichi.com/chi-power/death-touch-655


“It always dings my phony radar when someone calls himself sigung.” “What styles? Under whom? Master level (Si-Gung) in internal Kung Fu? Again, where and with whom?” “He doesn't look old enough. Way too young to be calling himself Si Gung.”

Tyrone Jackson gave him the rank of Sifu on jul 1st 1989 and later certified him at the Sigung level on feb 20 1994. Tyrone Jackson was the senior indoor student of Dr. Fred Ang Ming Wu.
More recently Uncle Bill said this "My most senior practitioners who will always remain on my scroll are the following individuals: ... Sigung Richard Clear 20 years with me" for Uncle's complete list you can read this thread over on silat.tv http://www.silat.tv/group/kuntaosilatdethouars/forum/topics/uncle-bills-thoughts

Because of the Tai Chi, he does look around 10 years younger than he actually is. (He's 45 right now)



"I'm always suspicious of claims to mastery of multiple schools." "Teaches way to many styles of kung fu"

Sifu Clear has been studying since 1976. He currently studies and teaches full time. He gets about 240 hrs of instruction each year at his level of skill. (figure the average blackbelt gets around 1.5 - 3 hrs per week for about 4-5 years. that's 156hrs per year.) He has studied from many different teachers many of whom are masters of several different arts. For a partial list and more about his background you can visit either www.clearsilat.com or www.clearstaichi.com.



"A guarantee of the ability to deliver a minimum of 3 hits per second sustained for a minimum of 10 seconds. (we are able to guarantee this because the # of hits usually delivered is closer to 6 hits per second.)"
Yes, you can learn (and be able to use) this in one of our 2-3 day executive programs or within the first 6 months of regular silat classes.


"Claims to teach 'drunken' which isn't a style its a subset of several different styles."
Yes, drunken is a subset or an "attitude" that can be applied to many different styles, and yes we do teach it. Not by itself but as a higher level component in some of our programs.

I think that covers most of the questions raised here although I know most of you are probably the "I'll believe it when I see it" type. So I encourage anyone in the area to stop by and visit. Anyone is welcome to try out a few classes free of charge and ask all the questions you can think of. For those of you who are not nearby, we are about 5 min. from the Knoxville Airport and 20 min. from the Smokey Mountains. We regularly hold workshops and bring in masters from around the world. (last year we got to work with Uncle for a weekend and Master Liu Ji Fa from shanghai for a full two weeks)
The Smokey Mountains are also a great place to take the family for vacation.

I'll try to keep on eye on this thread and answer any other questions, but for a faster response you can also send us an email or leave a comment on either of our websites.

Train hard and stay safe,
Ben

p.s. for those of you who are wondering I've been a student of Sifu Clear's for about 5 ½ years now.

[Lokhopkuen]

I'd go there long before I'd set foot in a shaolin-do school.

You ain't got room to be skeptical of anyone.

Why that's just darn right mean:D

[David Jamieson]

how do you get certified as a grandfather? :p

It is strange how the filial names from a family style of pai get turned into ranks somehow.

si hing, si fu, si gung are not ranks.

It causes no end to the confusion when people choose to do this.

Merely pointing it out seeing as it got brought up.

[kuntao]

how do you get certified as a grandfather? :p


Birth certificates are usually good, but genetic testing is more reliable.:)


* Guru simply means teacher. There are different levels of guru.
* Sifu means father or teacher and is roughly equivalent to a 4th degree black belt.
* Sigung means grandfather or master. This is the sifu’s sifu and is equivalent to a 6th – 8th degree black belt.
* Si Tai Gung means great grandfather this is usually the creator or head of a system.


Of course the definitions and meanings will change based on the context and on who you ask.

[David Jamieson]

Of course the definitions and meanings will change based on the context and on who you ask.

well, not actually. Not in reality. Not if you ask a chinese person. :)

These are filial associative titles.

If you are going to insist on having ranks why not use standard ranks like:

Director / Founder
Chief Instructor
Instructor
Asst Instructor
Various Belt ranks.

As opposed to adopting another cultural tradition and then *******izing it to meet the needs of rank awards.

it would be like using :

Pope = Main teacher of meditation
Cardinal = direct student of the main teacher
bishop = school director for meditation
priest = school main instructor
deacon = asst instructor of meditation
lay minister = seminar organizer
parishinor = student

so, there is a disconnect when these heirarchical terms get turned into ranks which they aren't.

just pointing it out. And I would point out again that it causes no end to confusion when these filial associative names are used as ranks.

which in turns casts an eye of suspicion on the school that does it.

[kuntao]

These are filial associative titles.

Yes they are, and they are often used to refer to someone's teacher in the martial arts or the master of a system. I guess some people might find this confusing if the didn't pay attention to the context in which the words were used. These titles weren't chosen by him. They were given by his teachers.

Many of these systems are family systems and so they use family titles.


If you are going to insist on having ranks why not use standard ranks like:...

We use:
phase 1
phase 2
phase 3
phase 4
etc...

there are 18 total in the silat program.

[Iron_Eagle_76]

I wonder if we could open a Kung Fu temple, give each other significant sounding titles, claim a religious exemption, and use it as a tax write off. ;)

[Lee Chiang Po]

I wonder if we could open a Kung Fu temple, give each other significant sounding titles, claim a religious exemption, and use it as a tax write off. ;)


I don't see why not. What I find strange is that everyone that studies a form of Chinese martial art also wants to adopt the entire culture and language. It would work as well if you used terminology that is familiar to your own culture and language. This usually includes religion too. I have to be honest with you. There is nothing special about being a Chinaman. I have been one for almost 65 years now, and it hasn't gotten me any special treatment.
Call it a Christian, Jewish, Muslem, or whatever, Kung Fu organization and you can file for exempt status.

[Yum Cha]

how do you get certified as a grandfather? :p

It is strange how the filial names from a family style of pai get turned into ranks somehow.

si hing, si fu, si gung are not ranks.

It causes no end to the confusion when people choose to do this.

Merely pointing it out seeing as it got brought up.


Shhhhhh! Don't go giving away ALL the secrets....

Everybody in my school wears a black belt....Its an instant thing with Pak Mei... Like the White Eyebrows...

[Dragonzbane76]

go to the school do a first hand observation and find out if your interested. If the guy wants money up front and a contract then the first red flag should be flying high.

I'm very leary of anyone proclaiming 1 punch knockouts.... dim mak bull crap.

sounds like a lot of flashy stuff stuck into a site to make people who don't know anything about martial arts come in and get themselves a fansy contract for a year.

if the program is sound then make a decision. (drills, workout, etc. )

anytime i go to another gym or "school" i watch and observe and if i can participate.

[kuntao]

go to the school do a first hand observation and find out if your interested.
Yes, please do. Classes are free to try, and questions and participation are encouraged.