Allow myself to introduce....

[SixStringFist]

...well you folks know how the rest of that goes. Just thought I'd pop in for a brief introduction before I hit the hay for the night.

I'm relatively new to the martial arts...I'm 23 and I've only been training for two-ish years now, under Sifu Charles Bigham in Sigung Tak Wah Eng's Fu Jow Pai system. I'm currently working through the five animal forms, the first of which is whole-heartedly kicking my butt :)

I'm a musician by trade (electric guitar...feel free to argue about that not being an instrument) and took up Kung Fu mainly for the health benefits, both mental and physical. Long story short, in the two years that I've been training, I've kicked both my cocaine (19 months clean) and marijuana (5 months clean) habits, but I'm still working on cigarettes. I credit the principles of Kung Fu in my drive to become clean and sober. Without my training, I don't think I would have conquered the addictions.

I try to be open-minded in terms of martial systems, in that I see no one system as inherently superior. I strongly believe in the commonality among most systems, even those of highly divergent techniques. Like I said, to me the martial arts are primarily a health/spiritual pursuit, an art form if you will. Self-defense happens to be an extraordinary fringe benefit.

I look forward to sharing comments and conversations with all of you. I have my flame-proof suit and troll repellant at the ready at all times :)

[unkokusai]

... Long story short, in the two years that I've been training, I've kicked both my cocaine (19 months clean) and marijuana (5 months clean) habits, but I'm still working on cigarettes. I credit the principles of Kung Fu in my drive to become clean and sober. Without my training, I don't think I would have conquered the addictions. :)


Good on ya, man. Welcome!:cool:

[TenTigers]

Martial Arts, like music, is a passion. They are expressions of the self. They are totally connected. So...what kind of music do you play? What is your set-up? Axes,amps,fx?
My main axe is a Gibson Les Paul studio,and a Fender Strat with a fred pickup in the bridge and a Floyd. My students recently bought me an80's Performance Guitars strat-HSH setup with a Floyd-it cranks! (I have about seven others-assorted Pauls, strats,ibenez,SG, but those three are my babies. I run them through a Marshall JCM2000 but when I play blues jams, I have a Roland cube60 which can almost nail the same tones. FX are echo, wah,phase, maybe chorus and flange, pretty simple. My music is blues based,heavy rock, kinda like Led Zep.Hendrix,Halen, with a sprinkling of Henry Mancini, and a dash of funk-if you could picture it.
My old band mate from years back suddenly showed up on my doorstep and said, "Ya wanna make an album?" so I have about 15 songs I am currently working on and laying down basic tracks-nothng great, just so we can collaborate. Then we will go into studio,audition, and play out.
My daughters, The Kung-Fu Girls, play as well, and are in the process of getting signed.
You see, it's all related.Gung-Fu, Guitars,meditation-read Steve Vai's old articles in the guitar rags. He spoke of technique, but quite often talked about using the instrument as a vehicle to higher conciousness. Many of his articles focused on meditation and a zen/taoist approach.

[xcakid]

...Long story short, in the two years that I've been training, I've kicked both my cocaine (19 months clean) and marijuana (5 months clean) habits, but I'm still working on cigarettes. I credit the principles of Kung Fu in my drive to become clean and sober. Without my training, I don't think I would have conquered the addictions.



Awesome!!! Keep at it.

[bodhitree]

martial arts helped me to give up some destructive habits. I haven't had a cigarett in like 3 or 4 or 5 years now. Pass on the positivity.

[SixStringFist]

Read Steve Vai's old articles in the guitar rags. He spoke of technique, but quite often talked about using the instrument as a vehicle to higher conciousness. Many of his articles focused on meditation and a zen/taoist approach.


Steve Vai is one of my personal heroes...and I've read the articles you mention. I especially like his ideas of meditating on a single vibratoed note. Powerful stuff :)

As far as gear goes, I use Ibanez RGs almost exclusively for my originals and most of my cover work. I have 6 of them, fitted out with various combinations of Demarzio pickups. The main one I'm using now, a Prestige 1550, has a ToneZone in the bridge and a PAF in the neck, along with whatever the stock single coil in the middle was. I also have a Fender American Strat for blues gigs, which doubles as the guitar I use for my teaching (since Strats look awesome when they're beat up a bit).

I've shied away from actual amps lately, and I've found myself using a Line 6 PODXt straight through our PA for most gigs. For when I need to be LOUD, I use the pod as a preamp through a Mesa/Boogie poweramp from the mid-90s, which works quite well. The POD also models dozens of fx, so my need to purchase them has vanished. The main ones I use are compression, then some delay when I solo. I also use the acoustic simulator and chorus for shimmery clean-tone goodness. Marvelous technologies this digital age has brought us.

And thanks to you guys for the well-wishes regarding the drugs...means alot :)

[kidswarrior]

...took up Kung Fu mainly for the health benefits, both mental and physical. Long story short, in the two years that I've been training, I've kicked both my cocaine (19 months clean) and marijuana (5 months clean) habits, but I'm still working on cigarettes. I credit the principles of Kung Fu in my drive to become clean and sober. Without my training, I don't think I would have conquered the addictions. :)

Good trade off! I just celebrated my 7th birthday in AA, and the sense of sanity still feels good. One of old my Sifus used to say, in his quiet, humble manner, You can't drink or drug and do this art. Anyway, welcome!

[Yao Sing]

I think when you're in the zone the mental state is the same whether you're doing MA or playing an instrument.

[SPJ]

so my cousins' kids in taiwan;

they all hooked to ipod, game boy, x-box, play station etc.

they played all of their the free time.

I can only sigh.

they are not interested in any MA related activties.

--

:(

oh, welcome to the forum.

[Shaolin Wookie]

It's always surprising...yet extroadinarily consistent...to hear that "destructive" arts (boxing, MA, etc.) in which one fights often lead to self-preservation. Even the most eviscerated professional fighters aren't binge-drinking drug addicts....although they have plenty of exposure to these bad elements. But their drive and work ethic keeps them focused on themselves, their conditioning, their readiness, and they can't risk dropping from their peaks by dabbling in the truly "destructive" stuff like drugs, alcohol, etc.

It's always good to hear someone's gotten out of destructive behaviors.

Martial arts and fighting are about self-preservation. Welcome aboard, dude. Just make sure to keep up your guard.:cool: :D