Crabs in a Bucket

[pazman]

Crab Mentality (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality)

Gongfu, and martial arts in general, tends to attract some pretty interesting personalities. This isn't bad, and some of the more eccentric people are pretty funny to laugh at/with like this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5QW_BcrWnU). But I can't help feeling that a lot of the community, both here and in China, has become a "bucket of crabs".

I know not everybody always agrees with members like Mr. Ross or Mr. Wang, but they have a public persona and always having something worth thinking/talking about when they post.

Others, like Robinhood/Hardwork are these virtual crab babies which have no public persona and no sense in honoring the traditions they practice.:o

So, what are you doing to improve the state of gongfu?

[bawang]

the biggest failure in kung fu is failing to help the little skinny nerd beat up his big strong bully.

[GeneChing]

I also administer this forum, but I often wonder if that really does anything to 'improve the state of gongfu'. :rolleyes:

Funny thing, I remember 'crabs in a bucket' as a test in lion dancing. The hongbao would be placed in a bucket under a pile of live crabs. One of my lion dance instructors told me of this test, but I've never seen it first hand. He said the solution was to take the rod or butterfly sword (kept in traditional lion dance heads, just in case) and smash the top crab. Then the other crabs would swarm over the corpse to devour it.

Hmm, how oddly metaphoric. Nice topic, pazman. Good timing. ;)

[SPJ]

genie in a bottle

genie is all powerful

however he or she may be confined in a bottle.

your fu may be good against many things

however, no matter how powerful they are, there is a counter measure.

:)

[Jimbo]

There's a lot of great knowledge shared by many CMAists, but IMO the kung fu community has always been rife with negative gossip, politicking, etc. I've seen it both in Taiwan and the U.S. I never saw anywhere near the same degree of that when I did Kenpo, JMA, or KMA.

Many years ago, I also participated in some of it, but at some point things changed, and I saw such sniping for the waste of time it is. It's not even entertaining, IMO. Because non-constructive sniping is always based on jealousy, insecurity, and egotism. Meanwhile, the rest of the MA world think the inter-CMA sniping and maybe CMA itself is a joke if they think of it at all.

My CLF Sifu told us that he avoids the political squabbles because it takes energy away from what is important, and that's training.

[bawang]

There's a lot of great knowledge shared by many CMAists, but IMO the kung fu community has always been rife with negative gossip, politicking, etc.

when you dont fight, your tungue becomes loose.

[Vash]

I also administer this forum, but I often wonder if that really does anything to 'improve the state of gongfu'. :rolleyes:

Funny thing, I remember 'crabs in a bucket' as a test in lion dancing. The hongbao would be placed in a bucket under a pile of live crabs. One of my lion dance instructors told me of this test, but I've never seen it first hand. He said the solution was to take the rod or butterfly sword (kept in traditional lion dance heads, just in case) and smash the top crab. Then the other crabs would swarm over the corpse to devour it.

Hmm, how oddly metaphoric. Nice topic, pazman. Good timing. ;)

Now I am hungry.

[Lucas]

I don't do anything to improve the state of kungfu. My teacher of Wombat Combat taught me that kungfu doesnt need saving. So instead I save my energy to master the modern and ancient methods of the graceful wombat. Wombats know it is important to evolve, and to break away from stagnation through revitalization of your combat methods.

[bawang]

when david jimison became moderator, a black cat appeared at my window. he angered the gods and caused bad fortune.

[Lucas]

as i was reading your post, a swan that was flying north vered back to south, surely a bad omen for times to come

[bawang]

as i was reading your post, a swan that was flying north vered back to south, surely a bad omen for times to come


i will light an incence to michael jackson, he is very powerful.

[PalmStriker]

Now I am hungry. "How can talking about politics/CMA make anyone hungry? :D https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+crab+dishes,+chinese+food&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=BNt&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=iMVLUZSwIvbI4AP8iYGgDg&ved=0CDAQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=807

[PalmStriker]

Deem Sum dumplings are just Chinese Perogies. :D https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+perogies&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=D6D&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=asZLUbfPOtLI4AOB0IGQDw&ved=0CD4QsAQ&biw=1440&bih=807

[pazman]

the biggest failure in kung fu is failing to help the little skinny nerd beat up his big strong bully.

Yep.

What's sad is that coaching the skinny nerdy guys and training them enough to be able to stand up to jock bullies isn't rocket science. Learning how to fight with some basic skill really should only take six months of training. Some teachers might still be having their students stand in santi or learning wubuquan or some ****. Those things are worthwhile to some, but if you are training those things instead of learning how to fight, then we should call it exercise, not martial art.

Of course, guys like Robinhood can stand back and laugh at how that's just "body level" stuff, but we don't see these "mouth boxers" out there proving their game or improving the world. I wonder if Kano Jigoro had to deal with people like him.

BTW, Bawang, you do a great service to this forum anytime you bring up historical documents or your keen cultural insights. You should write a concise pamphlet to shatter people's fantasies of gongfu, so I can hand it out to the next mealy-mouthed idiot who asks me if I teach snake engine or where he can buy silk pajamas.

[pazman]

Hmm, how oddly metaphoric. Nice topic, pazman. Good timing. ;)

There was an eerie silence hanging over the forum. lkfmdc brought up a lot of old threads that were worth talking about, and I think we should continue talking about them.:cool:

[bawang]

BTW, Bawang, you do a great service to this forum anytime you bring up historical documents or your keen cultural insights. You should write a concise pamphlet to shatter people's fantasies of gongfu, so I can hand it out to the next mealy-mouthed idiot who asks me if I teach snake engine or where he can buy silk pajamas.
no words can shatter the fantasy. its up to the person themselves.


there are people who find life meaningless and fantasy fills their void.

[Scott R. Brown]

no words can shatter the fantasy. its up to the person themselves.


there are people who find life meaningless and fantasy fills their void.

For some people, fantasy is more real than reality!:(

[Kellen Bassette]

Learning how to fight with some basic skill really should only take six months of training.

That's the truth. I don't understand why the first 6 months to a year of training wouldn't be fundamental fighting skills. After that start teaching the forms and esoteric stuff.

It should be like some sort of rite of passage anyway. Make them competent with fighting then they can have the culture, style and what not. Instead people are immediately taught the abstract parts of the art and more or less expected to "figure it out" over the next 10 years,

[David Jamieson]

I don't think that blanket statement applies either.
For one thing, you are not going to learn to fight unless you want to.

Having said that, I've seen guys train for a year that still aren't that great at fighting even in a safe environment.

too much bravado in that statement. Plus, if you got a wheezer coming in, too skinny no strength or too fat and no coordination, that six months is going to be used just to get them to a point where they are in shape and can start the training towards fighting.

If you are fit, strong, have a martial arts background etc, then yeah, by all means, if you want it you can learn to fight inside of 6 months by training to fight.

You are not going to touch on much esoteric knowledge and you won't be learning a system really if you are in a kung fu school, you'll be learning the typical stuff.

But if you stay and continue, you will learn more as time goes on. Eventually you will face the law of diminishing returns and no longer be learning big new things and instead you will be repeating old familiar things.

the only way out of that is to continually get comfortable with being uncomfortable and going and subjecting yourself to new learning and new people and new methods.

After a while, you should become somewhat refined and aware of what is best for you.

And that takes years and I don't care who you are or what you are doing. It takes years.

Even GSP wasn't great in 6 months, he has spent years refining himself as a fighter distinctly and only as a fighter. You know what, he will face decline and will fall back in the ranks as the others climb. And so will you each and if you never did get there. it's funny that you would think you still have time to do so now.

There's my .02

[IronFist]

Yep.

What's sad is that coaching the skinny nerdy guys and training them enough to be able to stand up to jock bullies isn't rocket science. Learning how to fight with some basic skill really should only take six months of training. Some teachers might still be having their students stand in santi or learning wubuquan or some ****. Those things are worthwhile to some, but if you are training those things instead of learning how to fight, then we should call it exercise, not martial art.

Of course, guys like Robinhood can stand back and laugh at how that's just "body level" stuff, but we don't see these "mouth boxers" out there proving their game or improving the world. I wonder if Kano Jigoro had to deal with people like him.

BTW, Bawang, you do a great service to this forum anytime you bring up historical documents or your keen cultural insights. You should write a concise pamphlet to shatter people's fantasies of gongfu, so I can hand it out to the next mealy-mouthed idiot who asks me if I teach snake engine or where he can buy silk pajamas.

Snake engine?

[YouKnowWho]

That's the truth. I don't understand why the first 6 months to a year of training wouldn't be fundamental fighting skills. After that start teaching the forms and esoteric stuff.

It should be like some sort of rite of passage anyway. Make them competent with fighting then they can have the culture, style and what not. Instead people are immediately taught the abstract parts of the art and more or less expected to "figure it out" over the next 10 years,
This is the problem for the TCMA. The window to test your combat skill is small. The day that you have a full time job, get marry, and have kids, the day that you don't want to get injury in full contact testing. On the other extream, you can still develop your "snake engine" when you are 80 years old.

Which one should you develop first? Combat skill or snake engine?

[Robinhood]

This is the problem for the TCMA. The window to test your combat skill is small. The day that you have a full time job, get marry, and have kids, the day that you don't want to get injury in full contact testing. On the other extream, you can still develop your "snake engine" when you are 80 years old.

Which one should you develop first? Combat skill or snake engine?


You always do external first, you will progress fast in the beginning , but peak out quickly, then you look for other ways to progress further, if you want to progress.:D

[YouKnowWho]

You always do external first, you will progress fast in the beginning , but peak out quickly, then you look for other ways to progress further, if you want to progress.:D
Not everybody care about "prograss futher". I'll be happy if I can still knock/take my opponent down when I'm 80 years old. That will be as far as I want to go. I may try to learn how to send out a Qi ball in my next life but not in this life of mine.

The most valuable lesson that I have learned in my life is:

Student: What's the difference between high level skill and low level skill?
Master: Anything that you can make it to work in combat, it's high level skill. Otherwise, it's low level skill.

[Lucas]

by peak out quickly, you must mean becoming the world champions in various weight divisions across various fighting circuits across the world. because thats where the 'external' guys end up. you know, being the top fighters in the world.

[Robinhood]

by peak out quickly, you must mean becoming the world champions in various weight divisions across various fighting circuits across the world. because thats where the 'external' guys end up. you know, being the top fighters in the world.

No, I mean your progress is not paying off for the amount of training, diminishing return for amount of time spent training, you stagnate . Unless you are doing sport fighting, then you are training for conditioning mostly, but age will limit you there , along with injuries and amount of time available to train.

I think your in your description , you left out the word "sport" , in top fighters , it should read top sport fighters.

Yes there are mostly external, but the better ones will , or are using internal , its just natural progression .

[YouKnowWho]

Can we just stop the "internal is good and sport is bad" arguments?

We have repeated this so many times. There won't be any new information from this kind of discussion.

[Flusher]

Can we just stop the "internal is good and sport is bad" arguments?

We have repeated this so many times. There won't be any new information from this kind of discussion.

I noticed you removed your second lament- "TCMA techniques are not effective and need more full contact testing" .

Why? Unless.....

Until a 120 pounder takes out a 260lb MMA guy, a la Yang Lu Chan, this one is here to stay.

[YouKnowWho]

I noticed you took out a second line, "TCMA techniques are not effective and need more full contact testing" ....

Is that a concession?

Because until a 120 pounder takes out a large MMA practitioner, a la Yang Lu Chan, this one is here to stay.

As far as "TCMA techniques are not effective and need more full contact testing" argument, there are enough of those argument going on in those WC threads. Robinhood will treate those "full contact testing" as "sport" anyway.

Allow me to borrow our MMA friend's argument here. I always want to ask Robinhood,

- Who are those "internal" fighters that you are talking about?
- Can you put up just one "internal" fighter's clip?

[Lucas]

Sport yes, but most people do not realize there is not THAT big of a differentiation between sport and non sport. for instance, if you take someone like cung le, anderson silva, or fedor emelianenko, and pit them against any 'internal' martial artist of your choice, they will still win. why? because they actually fight, and have extreme amounts of experience. experience is the greatest teacher of all.

you see, it doesnt matter if you do sport or not, the key is actually fighting, not sparring, but real honest fights, with or without rules. the key to being champion material is being an intelligent figher, and having the talent, heart and skills to be able to adapt. these same guys would be able to easily adapt to any scenario any 'internal' martial artist could put forth.

they real secret to martial arts and fighting is fighting. period.

i dont disagree that any fighter from any discipline can become a champion. i believe any 'style', if trained properly, can develop world class fighters. but you see, you must fight and not just spar.

[YouKnowWho]

Also you should not fight just people from your own style. You should fight people from other styles.

[MasterKiller]

the key to being champion material is being an intelligent figher, and having the talent, heart and skills to be able to adapt. these same guys would be able to easily adapt to any scenario any 'internal' martial artist could put forth..

Not true. Otherwise, champions would remain champions. The truth is, you have a very small window for peak peformance, and there are plenty of kids waiting in the wings to take your spot when you pass it.

Plus, in case you haven't been around a lot of them, I'll let you in on a little secret. Most high-profile fighters are dumb as sh1t. They are like rainman...idiot fighting savantes.

[Flusher]

As far as "TCMA techniques are not effective and need more full contact testing" argument, there are enough of those argument going on in those WC threads. Robinhood will treate those "full contact testing" as "sport" anyway.

Allow me to borrow our MMA friend's argument here. I always want to ask Robinhood,

- Who are those "internal" fighters that you are talking about?
- Can you put up just one "internal" fighter's clip?

I am well familiar with the sport vs reality cop-out. IMA/TCMA does not seem to fare well in a sport context. The only video examples we've seen here did not come from the "mainstream". Just from little IMA/TCMA clubs crossing hands with their own.

TCMA will earn it's respect when it finally does what even the layman can see it does not, or it's proponents get honest about it's shortcomings in it's current state, in general. Sure, there are exceptions. But the exceptions prove the rule.

[Flusher]

Sport yes, but most people do not realize there is not THAT big of a differentiation between sport and non sport.

Exactly. Yet the usual suspects will continue to claim that the rules of even the least restricted MMA matches nullify their training.

[YouKnowWho]

IMA/TCMA does not seem to fare well in a sport context.

I can't speak for IMA but for TCMA, it was in sport for over thousands years (record back to 246 BC).

http://combatshuaichiao.com/history.html

http://imageshack.us/a/img806/6752/shanpuyin4.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img846/7450/shangpuyin.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img232/5288/shanpuyin1.jpg

[Robinhood]

Can we just stop the "internal is good and sport is bad" arguments?

We have repeated this so many times. There won't be any new information from this kind of discussion.


Why do you always label something and then blame it on other people, I never said "bad", you did, I have said before "different", not bad, just different, like different food, ....etc.

And try to compare different foods, they all supply nutrition to some degree, some more than others , ect..

[Robinhood]

As far as "TCMA techniques are not effective and need more full contact testing" argument, there are enough of those argument going on in those WC threads. Robinhood will treate those "full contact testing" as "sport" anyway.

Allow me to borrow our MMA friend's argument here. I always want to ask Robinhood,

- Who are those "internal" fighters that you are talking about?
- Can you put up just one "internal" fighter's clip?

Probably the best are using some form of internal, it is the way things work .You just don't see it, that'd why they call it internal .:eek:

[Lucas]

Not true. Otherwise, champions would remain champions. The truth is, you have a very small window for peak peformance, and there are plenty of kids waiting in the wings to take your spot when you pass it.

Plus, in case you haven't been around a lot of them, I'll let you in on a little secret. Most high-profile fighters are dumb as sh1t. They are like rainman...idiot fighting savantes.

I see what you're saying, but the guys replacing them have the same qualities it takes to take that champion position.

idiot fighting savantes sound pretty bad ass. I wish I was an idiot.

[Lucas]

Probably the best are using some form of internal, it is the way things work .You just don't see it, that'd why they call it internal .:eek:

and this is the reason that i see it as all encompasing. for me, there is no internal there is no external. there is simply your body and the ways you can use it. its a flow. some will have certain areas as focus points and lacking in others and vice versa. i dont believe in 'internal' although I know and understand what most internal people are refering too, i simply choose not to divide the body away from itself. i prefer not to create segregation within my own body. you can do your standing and qiggong and meditations as well as lift weights and practice hard styles.

regardless of how you view or approach martial arts it all comes down to kinesiology. are you pulling your power from the ground and using your bodies connections from your feet to the end of your fist to deliver as much power in your strikes as you can? every good puncher does this, some consider it internal, some dont even know what internal is, some of us just see it as human possibilities through movement and intention.

[Lucas]

Probably the best are using some form of internal, it is the way things work .You just don't see it, that'd why they call it internal .:eek:

and that is the difference, the 'external' guys that develop 'internal' application through the natural order of motion have one step above 'internal' guys that refuse to use any 'external' approach.

a full package is always better than a partial.

[Flusher]

This is the problem for the TCMA. The window to test your combat skill is small.

The problem for TCMA is that the majority of folks doing just that, aren't doing so well.

[Robinhood]

and this is the reason that i see it as all encompasing. for me, there is no internal there is no external. there is simply your body and the ways you can use it. its a flow. some will have certain areas as focus points and lacking in others and vice versa. i dont believe in 'internal' although I know and understand what most internal people are refering too, i simply choose not to divide the body away from itself. i prefer not to create segregation within my own body. you can do your standing and qiggong and meditations as well as lift weights and practice hard styles.

regardless of how you view or approach martial arts it all comes down to kinesiology. are you pulling your power from the ground and using your bodies connections from your feet to the end of your fist to deliver as much power in your strikes as you can? every good puncher does this, some consider it internal, some dont even know what internal is, some of us just see it as human possibilities through movement and intention.

When you know the difference, you can choose to use it or not use, depending on what you are trying to do, or show. The outcome will be very different on or off.

[Syn7]

http://youtu.be/MtSzpKiARrI

[YouKnowWho]

The problem for TCMA is that the majority of folks doing just that, aren't doing so well.

Not sure I understand what you are trying to say here. :confused:

The majority of TCMA guys are not trying to develop their combat skill when they are still young. Of course you can develop your "engine" first and combat skill later. The problem is when your "engine" is ready to be used, you may be too old to use it.

[PalmStriker]

That's the truth. I don't understand why the first 6 months to a year of training wouldn't be fundamental fighting skills. After that start teaching the forms and esoteric stuff.

It should be like some sort of rite of passage anyway. Make them competent with fighting then they can have the culture, style and what not. Instead people are immediately taught the abstract parts of the art and more or less expected to "figure it out" over the next 10 years,
:D Kungfu in a nutshell.

[GlennR]

No, I mean your progress is not paying off for the amount of training, diminishing return for amount of time spent training, you stagnate . Unless you are doing sport fighting, then you are training for conditioning mostly, but age will limit you there , along with injuries and amount of time available to train.

I think your in your description , you left out the word "sport" , in top fighters , it should read top sport fighters.

Yes there are mostly external, but the better ones will , or are using internal , its just natural progression .

Clueless as usual

Show me one, just one 48 YO internalist that beats on this "48yo sports guy"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Hopkins

[Flusher]

Not sure I understand what you are trying to say here. :confused:

The majority of TCMA guys are not trying to develop their combat skill when they are still young. Of course you can develop your "engine" first and combat skill later. The problem is when your "engine" is ready to be used, you may be too old to use it.

....that would be a "problem", yes. But aren't there examples of those who go/went for combat first? Ones whom have not merely trained against others, but truly tested, successfully?

We still have not seen an example of it to date. People notice that. Children even. Not really a big deal until the proponents start denying it. That is also a problem.

Fighters are usually pragmatic. If what is truly effective can be learned (and thus improved upon) quickly, what value then is spending extra time building a physiological Rube-Goldberg "machine" to express it with? With diminished results, as you point out?

If you can actually pull it off, well then that might actually be something kind of special. Like Art. Martial Arts. To make the square peg go through the round hole.

Raw talent and creativity can drive the Macarena to fighting effectiveness. Those things can't be taught. I think maybe the truth about TCMA is that 70% of it really is a Rube-Goldberg. And that the useful remains can be found in many other sources, in various expressions. I think the reason *talented* TCMA fighters are RARE, is because just that- they are talented. They could have done it with the Macarena.

[GeneChing]

Patio Party (http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/patio-party/n13394/)

It stuck in my head tho. :o

[Vash]

GREATEST. SKETCH. EVER.

This is my word and oath.

[PalmStriker]

CRABBY PATTIES: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spicy_crab_cakes_with_horseradish_mayo/ :D:):D

[Dragonzbane76]

That's the truth. I don't understand why the first 6 months to a year of training wouldn't be fundamental fighting skills. After that start teaching the forms and esoteric stuff.

It should be like some sort of rite of passage anyway. Make them competent with fighting then they can have the culture, style and what not. Instead people are immediately taught the abstract parts of the art and more or less expected to "figure it out" over the next 10 years,

probably the exact way I feel about this.

You have your whole life to learn "culture" learn the basics and learn to fight first.

[GeneChing]

You have your whole life to learn "culture" learn the basics and learn to fight first.
Culture: the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education.

Teaching culture is fundamental. Think about it in the modern context of firearms. You need to know when to use a gun before you are taught how to use a gun.

[GeneChing]

This is, in a nutshell, the reason I am a proponent of martial culture over martial tradition.

Tradition: A continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices.

I am being selective about the definitions, but many of you are getting caught up in labeling, or better put, mislabeling.

[GeneChing]

I am an editor by trade. We do that....for a living. :o


Not to dispute what you are saying as I think you are on the right track, umm, cool. thanks?


I think that culture means a more universal understanding within the sub-culture of martial arts while an understanding of a tradition(s) can be observed in just a specific style, system of training, or school.
So let's see.... you are saying:
Culture = universal understanding w/in martial sub-culture.
Tradition = observed in just specific style/system.

[Dragonzbane76]

Culture: the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education.

Teaching culture is fundamental. Think about it in the modern context of firearms. You need to know when to use a gun before you are taught how to use a gun.



up to 5 definitions to culture-
the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.

lets take Viking culture into context then....your going to extremes gene :)

[GeneChing]

I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here, just for the sake of argument. I do think 'traditional' and 'culture' are terms we bandy about here a lot. My point is that the interpretation of the definitions of those terms is subjective.


lets take Viking culture into context then....your going to extremes gene :) I love Viking culture. Any culture that would develop helmets with horns and steel bras is okay by me! :p Seriously, I do practice a little baji (8 extremes) so that's only one of my extremes, seven to go (okay, maybe not so seriously)



I know you are an editor and I respect the work you have done.. I have all of your publications since 1992. I was only clarifying the meaning of the words, not attacking you. I respect you.:) Thanks. Since '92? Really? I'm honored. I wasn't attacking you either, just engaging in a little thoughtful debate. Sorry if that sounded too agro.

[YouKnowWho]

"bucket of crabs".
This just remind me one of my friends told me that when he was still a student, he bought a new car. Everybody in his apartment gave him an ugly look.

One thing that I don't understand is when someone posts a personal solo clip, there are just so many negative comments. I think we should encourage each other instead of trying to take other down.

I was in a Judo forum for quite sometime. As far as I remember, no Judo guy had ever said, "Your throw is bad." When you train Judo and others train Judo too, it should be like a big family. It just doesn't make sense to see brothers in the same family fight against each other. I don't know whether boxers, wrestlers, MT guys, or MMA guys criticize each other or not, but I don't see our praying mantis guys try to put others down in this forum either.

I can understand comments such as:

- If you do ..., you may give your opponent a chance to do ...
- It may be too risky to ...

but I just can't understand comments such as:

- Your shoulder is not coordinate with your hip.
- You need to work more on your ...
- Your ... look bad.

[Brule]

Maybe since there's so many kung fu styles people feel their way is the right way and feel the need to show you.

[Dragonzbane76]

of all the different arts I've been in, KF has the most crazies, loons, cultists, and objective people I've ever met. For some reason it attracts them like a moth to light.

[ShaolinDan]

of all the different arts I've been in, KF has the most crazies, loons, cultists, and objective people I've ever met. For some reason it attracts them like a moth to light.

Well, 'objective' is good anyway. :)

[Jimbo]

of all the different arts I've been in, KF has the most crazies, loons, cultists, and objective people I've ever met. For some reason it attracts them like a moth to light.

I've also seen that, but...the most extreme MA cultism I've ever seen was at a Korean-style school I once visited back in the '80s, run by a Korean instructor. In fact, back then, there were a number of Korean instructors who built cult-type followings in their schools. It seems that with the rise in popularity of MMA/BJJ, it's not so obvious or blatant anymore, though I'm sure it's still happening.

[Dragonzbane76]

Well, 'objective' is good anyway.

sometimes not all. ;)

[YouKnowWho]

If all crabs in a bucket work together. One crab gets on top of another until the top crab can reach the edge and gets out. Most of the crabs can get out of that bucket. If the crab on the edge can also pull the bottom crabs out, all the crabs can get out.

If we can all share good ideas, we can all grow together. Unfortunately in some part of this forum, there are just too much "negative energy" around which is not health IMO.

[bawang]

if you get crab blood splash on you, will you become crab cop?

[Scott R. Brown]

I just bought fresh crabs yesterday off the local pier. The biggest crabs hide on the bottom and push all the smaller ones to the top.

Good thing I am blessed to be smarter than a crab. I grab the ones on the bottom first.

[Scott R. Brown]

This just remind me one of my friends told me that when he was still a student, he bought a new car. Everybody in his apartment gave him an ugly look.

One thing that I don't understand is when someone posts a personal solo clip, there are just so many negative comments. I think we should encourage each other instead of trying to take other down.

I was in a Judo forum for quite sometime. As far as I remember, no Judo guy had ever said, "Your throw is bad." When you train Judo and others train Judo too, it should be like a big family. It just doesn't make sense to see brothers in the same family fight against each other. I don't know whether boxers, wrestlers, MT guys, or MMA guys criticize each other or not, but I don't see our praying mantis guys try to put others down in this forum either.

I can understand comments such as:

- If you do ..., you may give your opponent a chance to do ...
- It may be too risky to ...

but I just can't understand comments such as:

- Your shoulder is not coordinate with your hip.
- You need to work more on your ...
- Your ... look bad.

Or........

You don't know, or can't do it because you don't know or understand internal....... :rolleyes:

[YouKnowWho]

Or........

You don't know, or can't do it because you don't know or understand internal....... :rolleyes:
Let's collect some more "negative" comments here.

Or ..... You need to

- go out more.
- find a teacher who know how ...
- put up a street fight clip.
- ...