over time, we change or modify or "improve" whatever we are doing/practicing.
what trigger these changes?
your personal experiences?
why?
and how?
:)
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over time, we change or modify or "improve" whatever we are doing/practicing.
what trigger these changes?
your personal experiences?
why?
and how?
:)
Experience pretty much is the catalyst for me.
Over the centuries (LOL) experience in training and competition and real world has dictated to ME, WHAT I train, HOW I train and WHEN I train.
My training is NOT the same it was 30 years ago, or 20 or 10.
The core is stil the same because I believe in training to our strengths WHILE NOT neglecting our weaknesses ( we are only as good as our weakest link).
Over the millenium ( LOL) I have found what I do best, what I am most natural at and I build from there and around there.
I don't add anymore, I "chip away" at what I no longer need.
I started learning shuai jiao and tan tui in kids hood.
in high school, I learned mantis. at the time, there were many kuo shu clubs in Taiwan. They almost all were teaching mantis.
I found the handwork and footwork are kind of too busy or too many variants for me. I was in my teen.
I asked my teachers for something easier or not so busy to do.
to have a good structure, and developing more whole body power. I was introduced ba Ji. I had to stand in low stances for long time. and practice body kao with bags.
to have a speedy or snappy and crispy moves, I was introduced tong bei, you swing your arms fast and faster. in order to do more and more fast moves, I practice relaxation drills all over the body, especially the shoulder and chest/back
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after a while, I love ba ji and tong bei too much.
even thou I love mantis, too.
but I just practice or do more ba ji and tong bei ever since.
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in mantis, you have to practice to have a strong forearm and grips/hooks.
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Direct experience was my motivation to modify, adapt and drop that which I deemed useless from my training regimen.
I've simplified and have become more "martial".
A loss in a San Shou match triggered the change.
While respecting the traditional - I looked at what I was doing and found areas that needed improvement... the biggest being I needed an atmosphere that provided consistent skilled sparring partners.
I looked at several sources for influence: I took up Judo and looked into and continue to look into what I think are best practices. Mainly it's fitness and simplified / structured defense and offense. Currently I like the basic Crazy Monkey defense and have started incorporating their drills into what I do.
Lately I've been getting back to TCMA and will eventually get back into regular TCMA practice. If it's possible, I'd like to learn Chen Tai Chi and Shuai Jiao.
I used to arrest shoplifters for a living.
Most people you detain do not resist and they come back pretty easily. About once or twice a month you'll get someone who will resist. Once every two - three months you'll get someone who just wants a fight.
I figured that this was enough "real world experience" for me, so I avoided competition.
Well, the economy hit the sh1tter and I ended up working with other martial artists (doing their strength and conditioning programs) and creating a blog to make money.
Fun stuff, but no real sense of urgency to train and no exposure to the psychological stressors of fighting.
Eventually I ended up signing up for a Toughman competition. Which was a huge eye opener.
I ended up being paired with a pretty good amateur level boxer. He and I went toe-to-toe in what was the most physically demanding fight of my life. I realized that arresting crack/meth-heads is easy when compared to fighting someone who knows what they're doing!
I also experienced a tremendous amount of psychological stress (nervousness/fear, adrenaline, ect...) - which I think is one of the most important things any fighter can experience. You need to be able to deal with that form of stress just as much (if not more) as any physical stressor related to a fight.
I'm still focused on self-defense, but I now consider full contact competition to be a main component of my training. This has definitely re-shaped my overall approach.
Train Hard,
Josh Skinner
Introduced to MA at 4 with Isshin-Ryu karate.... love at first sight
In college saw Wing Chun and liked the trapping. A few years after graduation started Kung Fu (WIng Chun, Hung Gar main focus)
A small group within the school trained with the teacher's brother. Joined that group and started sparring.
A 40-year old came and beat us all and said he studied with Master Bong (Bond) Chan. I was impressed. He was older, slower, weaker, ect. but beat us quick. In one engagement.
Found master Chan and trained with him for a few years exclusively.
Wanted to fight but had no sparring partners: Began going to public Throwdowns.
God a big head, entered competition and got owned.
Now train BJJ 3 days a week religiously (my new favorite) and work in striking 2 days a week (sometimes 3) with a group of MMAers producing sanctioned winners... met them through losing a 3 round decision to one of their fighters.
Don't want to fight anymore but am too young to quit and I enjoy it. So now the difficulty is just staying motivated to get to the gym. BJJ is easy.... I still have a lot to learn and by missing class people get ahead of you, catch you in tricks you missed out on. Boxing is something I like to do just to stay fit, not grow weary of punches to the head and check that I'm on the right path.
Good stuff. ..........Quote:
Originally Posted by donjitsu2
Well I have to say I started out 7 years ago as a larper. I'll admitt it and yes I am ashamed.
I got into Kung fu because of movies. I liked what I saw and wanted to do the same. What I didn't understand at the time was this was all garbage. Everything I saw in movies was totally unrealistic and would never happen in real life. I had never been in a fight in my life so I didn't know that. I just assumed what I saw on the t.v could be reproduced with enough training and time. Of course it didn't take long for this image of kung fu to be smashed.
I started out in wing chun because it looked like something I could easily start out with. I had never done a martial art before and I just liked what I saw in clips. I wasn't there too long before I realized that fighting is not like it is on t.v. I actually started to like Kung fu more because of this. I also realized pretty early on that I would never be a ring fighter. I don't have the mind for it. I've felt bad everytime I've hurt someone even though it's the goal. Sparring is so much fun and I enjoy it totally. I just don't like hurting someone which is odd I know for a martial artist. Maybe I"m just too nice I don't know. So I train hard to be a fighter although I don't really want to be one. I just enjoy the training for it.
Wing chun worked out perfect for me however I realized that it didn't have all the answers the further I went into the system. That pretty much made me take up JJJ which I thought would help fill in some of the blanks that WC left. It's only been a year but I feel it has. Now I just train both and try to spar and learn as much as possible from both systems. I'm sure once I've sucked up all the info that these systems have to offer I'll move on. I guess I'm more of a student of martial arts rather than a fighter. I like it that way. But don't kid yourself I can still fight. It just isn't my focus and I don't look at everything through a fighters eyes. I just like learning and don't care really about what works and doesn't. Sure I'll test everything and sometimes things just don't work. Doesn't mean I'm not happy to know the technique. It just means I wouldn't use it if my life depended on it. I've got my go to bag of tricks for that. The rest is just nice to know.
Any hoo that's my story. For what it's worth. I have to say that it humbles me everytime I hear how long some of you guys have been training. My 7 years looks like nothing compared to most of you guys. Just goes to show there is no end to learning Martial arts. Good to know because I don't want it to end anytime soon.
lol crazy monkey is fun isnt it :)Quote:
Originally Posted by MightyB
Rodney's stuff is top notch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frost
i learned it from karl....to say he and rodney didnt get on is...well karl called his version the inteligent monkey lolQuote:
Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin
Ego, MA breeds it doesn't it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Frost
LOL !
The only downside of CM is that far too many guys forget they have to look out for body shots, LOL !
spent a total of almost 20 years in TMA, well over 10 in TCMA, sparred and competed both semi contact and no gloved traditional, thought the UFC was full of untrained fighters who looked sloppy..... then went to a grappling open mat found my coach and never looked back i lucky enough to find one of the best gyms in europe on my door step
STill keep in touch with my CLF and Hakka teacher and want to train with him again soon, but its all time and money
karl is lovely.... the few times i have met him he has been great....but i can guess how his personality and rodneys clashed big time lol every one wants to be top dog...and i would never ever want to get on his wrong side (i dont want to know what happened to those guys that attacked him with knifes)Quote:
Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin