I can't get to the bottom of it either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Judge Pen
Yes it does bother me. I take testimony under oath very seriously. I have heard it suggested that Sin The lied under oath and this material is legitimate, but he had to claim it as fabricated in order to avail himself the protection of copyright laws. (The tale is that a defense to one of Sin The's early attempts to sue a former student for copyright violations was defended by his brother presenting evidence that the material was not made up and he had notes to prove it.). IF that's true then there might be some legitimate lineage to the material, but it does not condone someone willing to lie under oath to protect his corner of the economy.
The thing about the short-form is that it's pretty good stuff. It's effective as both a means of teaching/training in fundamental martial techniques and the techniques it teaches are efficient and effective. If he made it up from whole cloth, then he has some skill and talent to do so and it's a shame he lied about it. If he didn't make it up, then I'd like to know the true history or lineage of it.
As it stands, I will not know the truth. All I have is my own understanding of the material and the peace I have in myself that I can use it effectively (whatever it is).
It's incredibly bothersome either way, whether he lied under oath or merely to the entirety of his student body. I probably won't know either way either. But, if he made up the 30 short forms then the odds are that he made up a significant amount of material through at least 1st Black. 18 is all over 1st brown material. 1 and 2 are all over all the material to include the tiger/crane forms he's teaching out now at seminars. This goes back to what JP is saying; of he did make it up, it's good stuff. Why not take the credit. I know that there wasn't much out there in the 60s but Bruce Lee sure didn't suffer in his marketing because he made his stuff up so why would Sin The have suffered if he had marketed SD as an improvement on what the Indonesian masters taught him. It's definitely a mystery. Honestly, I think I'm able to keep trianing in it because my school is so far removed from all the SD centers of gravity and I don't have to get involved in it very much.