A Kid's Question

[SPJ]

I was approached by a parent and a kid about info on CMA.

"I have a high school teen and he is interested in studying CMA."

I replied why study to fight? He may pick up a sport.

But he is very interested.

I reluctantly answered that there are 3 venues.

1) Wushu. You learn how to balance and be athletic. It is like a gym routine. You drill to perform the Wushu moves. The moves have martial contents. But the focus is to do the moves right over and over.

2) San Da. You learn how to kick, punch and throw. You study and spar.

3) TCMA. You have to study the real thing. For example, you have to stand in the horse stance for 45 min. You have to practice steps over and over. If you pick mantis, you have to hit your forearm against a bag over and over. hit high and low, hit right and left. Until your arm has callus and you still keep hitting it. When in use, you are a weapon yourself. It is called Iron arm Gong or (Teh Bei Gong).

Which is it?

No answer. Both ran out of the door and never came back.

Later the parent said you are right and he picked table tennis instead. He said he does not want to dance like a girl. He does not want to get beaten up. Most important of all, he does not want to become a weapon. I said why. He said classmates will shun him like a hazard. Police will watch him like a dog.

Hm!

[Indestructible]

Wow, you need some sales training!

[Shaolinlueb]

**** it, wushu is not dancing like a girl :mad:

[norther practitioner]

picked table tennis instead

must have been back in Taiwan.;)

[SPJ]

Agreed.

The truth is always in the middle.

1) Wushu practice will gain health benefits, learn how to be balance in each move, jump, flip etc. It is a good exercise or drill.

2) San Da will train some "fight" skills, learn discipline by following the rules, build characters to take loss as lessons and to take win as fruits of good training. Most important of all, it builds self confidence.

3) TCMA is a long road. However, one may also do 1) and 2) and more. Some basic skills practice to gain health. Some basic moves to gain self defense skills. A lot of neutralization and defense skills, not necessary to hurt others all the time.

We never pitch that San Da is the only road or San Da is a winner game or TCMA is not about fighting because TCMA never fight.

Every body knows TCMA is to drill to fight.

Peace.

:D

[SanSoo Student]

Why not let the boy sit in on all three different sessions?

[Shaolinlueb]

Originally posted by SanSoo Student
Why not let the boy sit in on all three different sessions?

:werd: free introductory class :D

[red5angel]

"I replied why study to fight? He may pick up a sport."


"I reluctantly answered that there are 3 venues."


Why the attitude of turning him away? You don't think teenagers should take the martial arts?

[SPJ]

Agreed.

Actually, there are stories behind the story.

1) We all have to ask ourself, why we study to fight in the first place.

2) To pick up a sport outside Ma. The sport may help MA study in a lot of ways.

Most important of all is that the mind cultivation aspect is stressed in both.

The biggest lesson is to learn how to be humble.

How to know your strong points and weakness.

How to know your opponent.

How to anticipate moves.

How to respond in real time.

How to use your body to move and balance.

The purpose to win does not cloud out his mind as the only thing.

Sportsmanship and spirits are cultivated in MA study,too.

Perservance. Endurance, etc.

On and on.

[SPJ]

If the kid plays Ping Pong well for several years and knows why he is interested in studying how to fight.

He knows he can always come back to us.

Guess what. He will be an excellent student for Tai Ji.

He knows:

How and why it is important:

1) The hands and the feet arrive at the same time. (Shou Dao Jiao Dao)

2) Neutralization and release of Jin. (Hua Jin and Fa Jin)

3) How to balance the whole body and the posture.

4) How to use the waist to rotate.

5) Ping Pong is a ball. How do you transmitt your circular (Ruo Xuan Jin) movement of your waist to yield, neutralize, and redirect via the pad.

6) To go long for the opponent's short shot. To go short for the opponent's long shot. You move to right and actually hit the ball to your left. etc

On and on.

This time around, he will be motivated differently.

And to beat someone up is not the only thing that clouds out the whole mind.

You may win a game or the fight in so many ways other than just to beat somebody up literally.

Peace.

[red5angel]

I don't think I'm completely following the logic. The kid wants to learn the martial arts, but your going to recommend he go learn something else instead? Because he doesn't know what he wants? Because sports is supposed to make him more aware of who he is then the martial arts will? Somehow sports is going to prepare him to be a bette rmartial artist then training in the martial arts will?

[SPJ]

If the kid does not know what he wants, the teachers and the parents need to guide him.

Free trial lessons and demo are all good ideas.

To be able to pick up a sport at the same time would be good, too.

If he is really interested, he will come back.

If he can think about why he wants to study how to fight even for a second and come up with an answer or no answer, that would be even better.

Readying the mind before readying the body does not happen all the time.

:D

[red5angel]

ok, I guess it just sounded like you were dissappointed the guy wanted to learn the martial arts. Now I can see your logic.

[norther practitioner]

Red 5 needs to watch more old school kf movies..

[red5angel]

no way, its all about Only The Strong and cheesy Brazillian Capoeira flicks now!!! And none of them in english!!!!!

[norther practitioner]

I'd rather listen to cantonese and not understand (rather than xebs like portugese).

[SPJ]

Chan;

To know the heart.

I asked why MA and why not sports.

Let us listen to the kid's answers.

1) He wanted to be "manly".

2) He did not want to beat other people or getting beaten up.

3) He wanted to be cool and popular among his class.

So he decided to pick up Ping Pong to achieve his goals.

I merely pointed directions. The kid had answer for himself all along.

That is why the parent said I was right.

:D

[SPJ]

More Chan;

Fundamental questions in life are how to express ourself.

We are constantly in the business of expressing "self".

What constitute self are logics about values and beliefs about ourself. And then we project these values and beliefs to see the world.

We may express "self" in MA.

We may express "self" in painting. poetry, music, architecture etc.

We may express "self" in sports, too.

If you are happy, your music expresses joy.

If you are sad, your painting is full of dark colors.

-----

:)

[MoreMisfortune]

the kids soon will learn...

"power, power
the law of the land
those living for death
will die by their own hand"

[SPJ]

Expressions in MA.

1) The belief of Yin Yang dynamic is expressed in Tai Ji Quan.

2) The idea of 8 directions around yourself and the opponent is expressed in Ba Gua Zhang.

3) To use the whole body posture (Xing) to resemble the meanings (Yi) in Pi Beng Zuan Pao Heng (Wu Xing), 12 animals and 8 characters (Ba Zi) is expressed in Xing Yi Quan.

4) The methods in arm movements of a praying mantis is expressed in Tang Lang.

5) The idea of the open forum for all fighters with all styles is expressed in San Da and MMA.

So the question is that what are your values and beliefs?

How do you express them in your life and in your MA?

When you have the answers for your self, you may then call yourself a martial artist.

Arts are about expressing yourself in the forms that other people may appreciate.

Peace.

:D