Best MA!!!

[red5angel]

Ok, the thread title was a shameless attempt to get someones attention. But it is accurate.....

It has been discussed many times on this website, which one is best, why, what makes an ma or an artist better then the rest.
Well, I had an epiphany a few days ago, actually, still working through it. I attended a seminar about two weeks ago. It opened my eyes to a lot of things about the art that I practice, but most of all it opened my eyes to the ma world.
This is the conclusion I have come to:
First, as had been said many times on this forum, and by many people, no style is better then the others. I believe that most o fthe styles that exist today, have been tested pretty thoroughly in the past and have been proven to work and to work well. Not that they do not need refinements but that they have been used enough for real, that they have been show 'scientifically' to work.
With that said, the only thing that makes an ma better is practice, and precision. Seriously, over the last few months I have been practicing in earnest, doing things the way I feel they should be done, practicing everyday.
At this seminar I attended I was shown the light. now I practice it the way it SHOULD be practiced. Forcing myself byond my limits everytime, and doing things the right way instead of the lazy way, or 'my way'. I pay attention to every nuance, every alignment, every feeling that I have and I have come to find that in even just a few weeks of pushing myself, working really hard at it, I have seen significant improvement. Not only the harder practice, but the precision is paying off.
I have in the last few days slowly shed my 'american way' of looking at my ma. Now I am putting my back into it, and pushing myself, no expectations of instant gratification, or huge leaps in performance. No big pay off expected after a few weeks of pushing myself.
A few years down the road, I see myself as being a good martial artist, who has a long way yet to go. Will I be able to fight well? Probably, well enough anyway. Will I be a master? I dont think so, especially compared to some of the more modern masters out there, the mcdojo masters or the money seeking masters.
What I see myself as, is a martial artist who will have grown in his art, who will see the journey ahead and not the road. How about you?

[shaolinboxer]

*strokes ego* gooooood ego

[Golden Arms]

Oh, there IS a master martial art....in fact after discovering it I dont even know why I bother to still train my "useless" Hung Ga!! Plus its name just sounds 40x cooler than almost any other martial art system....welcome my friend..to the world of "DEFENDO" http://www.defendo.com/defendo_web_site.htm

:D
-Golden Arms-

[Shaolindynasty]

Oh.........MY..........God...... Defendo Rules! Well at least the name does? Why are we all waisting or time with crap that doesn't work when we could have Defendo! From now on call me Defendo dynasty!

[red5angel]

Shaolinboxer, this has nothing to do with ego, this has everything to do with "finding" the secret to good ma, hard work, and paying attention, without the interference of ego.
I am by no means good now, I am still a beginner. I will probably not be near the best when I do get 'good', but I am acknowledging that without ego, and with hard work, I can be 'good'.
There is too much crap out there claiming to be good martial arts, but even if you study one of those arts/styles/schools, you can make it good, by careful observation, working hard, and not allowing your ego to BE stroked.

[Golden Arms]

Or you could just take DEFENDO and never again have a care in the world. DEFENDO, THE REAL STREET LETHAL!

:D Ok ok...I am done!!

-Golden Arms-

[red5angel]

So, if I am reading that first page right, If I hug my attacker he will leave me alone? this is the most effective CQB close range attack?!

[Felipe Bido]

Check out the fastest, best martial art of all times!!!!

(And the worst webpage design of all times, too)


Here ya go!

http://www.martialart.org/ACAMAC_the_FASTEST_Martial_Art.html

[KC Elbows]

ROTFLAO!


Defendo!

Is that like the Tic villain Destroyo?

TIC: It's not like his name is NiceGuyo, or HelpPeopleOutO, Its Destroyo for christ's sake!

[Ray Pina]

red5angel, no matter what anyone says, you have the right attitude. It is the only way. You're not stroking your ego. If you did not think all that hard work IS and WILL pay off, then what the hell is the point anyway.

Of coarse its paying off.

In my experince, I'll go through a period where I feel myself advance a level, and this involved seeing old things in a new light as well as being privy to the next step of training. This is great. Then, I'll level off and spend time working these things, testing, making them my own.

Then, repeat.

This has worded for me. Take pride in your training. How many people in this world can say they know Wing Chun? It is popular, but still, not like riding a bike. In the end, like me, you know what you know and what you don't know.

This is a great place to come and shoot the $hit, I take in people's point of view, but your training and its outcome is your own. Glad to hear you are thinking deeper about your art. To me, the break throughs are not in doing soemthing faster or harder, but in understanding -- that requires reflection.

[red5angel]

Actually EF, you are one of the reasons I have come to this conclusion, let me explain.
You have mentioned several times your lack of respect with the WC guys in your are. I undertsnad what you are saying. In my are, WC is sort of like looking for diamonds, you have to dig through a lot of useless material to get to them, and there are a lot of sloppy WC guys here. Lazy mostly, or thier egos are so large they cant see past themselves.
After going through this seminar, I have come to realize that I could easily become a great WC guy of I just work hard at it! Lie I said, I may not be the best, I may not be the best in my area, but I want to rise above the garbage, the garage guys who practice a few times a week and wow thier friends with thier martial abilities.
I am fortunate enough to br training in a lineage that has some no nonsense personalities in it, and who have seen that they way to become good (and they believe anyone can) is to work with precision and heart.

[Water Dragon]

It's not the Art;
It's not the Artist;
It's the Training.

[nightair]

There is no best in the fighting world whether style or fighter. Stylewise it depends on the person and how determined they are.I'm tired of people studying only one style and thinking that it is better than all of the others just because their teacher beat the crap out of a few idiots. Duh, that master is someone who is a fighter, it isn't because of the style it is because of him. People need to realize that there are good martial arts and something to benefit from every culture. Just becuase you go to a class that gives you a couple of fancy moves that could never be used on the streets they think they know something. You should study martial arts as a whole. The one thing I tell people is that I was a fighter before I started to study martial arts. Another thing is just because you go to classes doesn't mean you study martial arts. Martial arts is a lifestyles not just a form of fighting.

[Ray Pina]

I'm beginning to really see that martial arts is not FIGHTING at all, its the ability to beat an attacker senseless like a four year old girl -- that's not fighting, not even close to a competition.

I'm not there yet, I'm still fighting, training hard. But little by little I see myself gaining much more control of my fights. Even when I say, loose a small battle and give, I actually am maintaining the essentials that are improtant to me -- strong structure, good shielding, pushing angle -- and when that transition is finished I can then win the war.

A lot of thought. A lot of thought. I'm always going back to the drawing board.

What's a martial artist is tough. What I do know is what I don't want to be: I don't want to be one of those guys who said they have been studying for years and get their a$$ beat by a no body.

[Golden Arms]

DEFENDO is a Lifestyle too!! Just imagine it with me......you walk into a dimly lit room, several recent converts are in there with you...from all the arts.....Kung fu, Ju Jutsu, Silat, etc....But you have ALL given up on those worthless systems and realized that the ONLY, and I mean ONLY way to be STREET LETHAL is to put on a redman suit ( http://www.macho.com/redlawen.html ) and learn the lethal close quarters fighting hug techniques that only DEFENDO is offering you. In that case it is still the fighter, but its definately also the system!!! hehehe...:D

[shaolinboxer]

"I'm beginning to really see that martial arts is not FIGHTING at all, its the ability to beat an attacker senseless like a four year old girl -- that's not fighting, not even close to a competition. "

That anology is disturbing.

"What I do know is what I don't want to be: I don't want to be one of those guys who said they have been studying for years and get their a$$ beat by a no body."

Would you prefer to get your beat down from a somebody? What is a nobody?

And remeber of you never fight (and I don't mean school fighting but actual combat), you never lose.