bao
11-13-2001, 09:08 PM
Recently with a friend of mine whom I respect and love like a true brother. He and I came from the same traditional wing chun school in nyc, but then I left the school to join "the modified" wing chun of Lee Sifu in Queens, NY.
Well, he said that all he wanted to do with traditional wing chun was "to defend himself" and I agreed. Why the hell study the martial arts if you are not going to be able to defend yourself? He said that I was really serious about my wing chun like he was serious about computers. By the way, my friend is a gifted tech person.
Well, the way i see it with people is that yes it is good that pople are studying the martial arts but there is never a stopping point when you study the way. I do not think there anything wrong with being serious with the arts and trying to explore it everyday.
The problem simply is that many people separate gung fu from their daily life. Gung fu is a way of life and has been compared to life by many gung fu artists. But what does that mean?
E.g. If you are married, you don't separate your spouse from your real life. You don't hide the ring when you go outside, right? Perhaps some... =) I hope that marriage isn't a separate part of people's lives but an element which they don't treat as a hobby but simply work together as one naturally.
Gung fu can work the same way. Because once you separate your gung fu from your life, you are not practicing gung fu but a life less art. If you separated your marriage from your real life, then what kind of marriage do you have? Hence, my question is does it matter?
Gung fu isn't everything, but it isn't a hobby either.
Bao
Well, he said that all he wanted to do with traditional wing chun was "to defend himself" and I agreed. Why the hell study the martial arts if you are not going to be able to defend yourself? He said that I was really serious about my wing chun like he was serious about computers. By the way, my friend is a gifted tech person.
Well, the way i see it with people is that yes it is good that pople are studying the martial arts but there is never a stopping point when you study the way. I do not think there anything wrong with being serious with the arts and trying to explore it everyday.
The problem simply is that many people separate gung fu from their daily life. Gung fu is a way of life and has been compared to life by many gung fu artists. But what does that mean?
E.g. If you are married, you don't separate your spouse from your real life. You don't hide the ring when you go outside, right? Perhaps some... =) I hope that marriage isn't a separate part of people's lives but an element which they don't treat as a hobby but simply work together as one naturally.
Gung fu can work the same way. Because once you separate your gung fu from your life, you are not practicing gung fu but a life less art. If you separated your marriage from your real life, then what kind of marriage do you have? Hence, my question is does it matter?
Gung fu isn't everything, but it isn't a hobby either.
Bao