Shaolin Do Tournament 9/20/03

[Shaolin-Do]

Hopefully Ill be able to make it to mullins tourney. Would rather fight an open tourney anyhoo.

"A bit like a Karate Special Olympics"
Deja Vu.
"Shaolin-Do tournament? What is that? Like the kung fu special olympics?"
-serpent

[The Willow Sword]

are closed ones. i remember a story once that i was told by my former pre sd teacher. he said that in the mid 70's SD did try to prove itself by having open demonstrations and asking people if they wanted to challenge them. Well at the time one of SD's rivalries in kentucky was that of dr john winglock ng's school.(where my previous training stems from). anyway some of the students went to the demo and as i was told, the sd people got romped. soon after there were no more open venues.
whereas Sd has ALOT of stuff that they teach you they still will not have open tournaments because 1. they dont want to lose face if they get thier ass handed to them. 2. also and this is my speculation, that if they were confronted with thier lineage and authenticity issues there would be frustration and maybe even challenges to deal with. in the years i was there i had never really seen anyone go to other tournaments to compete. i know that i did at one time with a few(the aau tourneys) and a couple of others i can think of that went to so called :karate tourneys:
you have to wonder why there is so much isolation from the rest of the martial arts world with SD(and i think we all know why)
if a tournament be an exhibition of that said kwoons style and system then why not go to open tournaments and prove it to the rest of the MA community(if your goal is to compete)? haha but now i am remembering GM Sin The' and is comments about SD being too lethal for tournaments. Funnny though that in the midst of the grand words from GM Sin that they do in fact have large closed tournaments where it is mostly point sparring and the occasional continuous sparring. since most other open tourneys have this format, why not Have open tournaments that are SD sponsored?
TWS

[shaolinarab]

willow!

haven't u read judgepen's posts on the open SD-sponsored tournament in November? i can understand one's frustration with not being able to compete in an open tournament with SDers, but can you respect the fact that most SDers outside of KY, TX, and TN are scattered across different states and the relatively few general SD tournaments (1 or 2 official annual ones and 2 smaller ones in TX) give us an opportunity to meet other practioners in our art as well as learn from each other?
No doubt that open tournaments would also make for some interesting lessons and exchange of ideas, and i think they will occur in due time, as has begun in johnson city with master mullins's open tournament.

i can only speak of my lonely self in new orleans. there aren't too many schools around here teaching kung fu. it would be great if we can have an open kung fu tournament and exhibition down here. in cities where there are numerous kung fu schools, including SD, are there open kung fu tournaments that SDers are invited too? I'd be the first to go if they weren't far away.

good luck with your training...

[Radhnoti]

Willow, I've found several (supposedly...who knows since it was the internet) accounts of the fight I'm assuming you're referring to in your message. The stuff I've read indicates that things were fairly even with the "black-belt war" on the floor...with a few folks leaning towards it going to the SDers. Let me know if you want me to PM you a copy of what I've got. Just ignore me if that's not the incident to which you refer.

It turns out that I should be able to make the evening portion of the tournament (7PM-whenever), but I'll be with my wife and son...so my "mingling" time may be limited.

I've met Judge Pen, so he may be able to point me out. Bigger guy, very short haircut, dark brown hair. I'll be wearing a black shirt with "Silver Dragon Shaolin-do" written on the front (over a small silver decal) and I'd guess shorts (not TOO cold here yet). I'll just look for Judge Pen when I get the chance to hang out for a while...

[BentMonk]

Rad - I've heard this story before too. The version I got was that the "black belt war" was over very quickily. Too quick to determine a clear winner either way. My source is a former SD student, but he hasn't practiced in years. He is a very forthright person, so I doubt his account was embelished to make SD look any better than it is. What cracks me up is that someone can't even post an SD thread trying to hook up w/folks they haven't met without getting flamed. Judge Penn has posted a million times about the open SD tourny coming up in Nov. I urge anyone on this board who has a totally negative view of SD to go compete. Win or lose, at least then you'd have a solid base upon which to form your oppinion. Peace.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Shaolin-Do
Hopefully Ill be able to make it to mullins tourney. Would rather fight an open tourney anyhoo.

"A bit like a Karate Special Olympics"
Deja Vu.
"Shaolin-Do tournament? What is that? Like the kung fu special olympics?"
-serpent


Some stoners remember some things.

Wow, using the same gag twice. That's not like me.

I'll think of something new for next time.

Mind you, it is the sort of thing that's worth saying twice.

[Brad]

in cities where there are numerous kung fu schools, including SD, are there open kung fu tournaments that SDers are invited too? I'd be the first to go if they weren't far away.

There's a tournement in Canton, Ohio(up near Cleveland) that's open to all kungfu styles. Lots of divisions and kungfu schools going to be there. Shouldn't be too far of a drive for the Kentucky & Ohio SD people.

[Brad]

It's in October

[Vash]

Any SD tourneys gonna be in the south, anywhere near the ass-end of Arkansas?

Love to see what all the hubbub is about.

[shaolinarab]

Vash,
the next one is in austin, TX in Feb. i think it may be equidistant from the both of us.

ohio, on the other hand is out of my league, unless i move back to chicago in the future.

[Vash]

Hell, yes. I'll talk to my sensei about that one. God willing, this ****ing rib;ll be 110% then. Be nice to at least watch.

Not big on sparring competitions anymore. Too many people get 'tudes.

[shaolinarab]

Originally posted by Vash
Hell, yes. I'll talk to my sensei about that one. God willing, this ****ing rib;ll be 110% then. Be nice to at least watch.

Not big on sparring competitions anymore. Too many people get 'tudes.

like the one in your avatar
actually, u have a point there. that is one of the reasons why the tournaments are mostly closed-door...to avoid the 'let me prove my style is better than yours atmosphere.'

and to watch will definitely be exciting. i'm only going to actually physically participate in only a few minutes of it (forms and sparring), but it'll be nice to see all the forms done from different levels and the interesting personalities that each school imparts on its students.

hopefully your ribs will heal by then!

[Vash]

Indeed!

In the closed tourney, non-SD stylists are permitted to watch, I trust.

[Musicalkatachmp]

Good luck to everyone competing

[MasterKiller]

in cities where there are numerous kung fu schools, including SD, are there open kung fu tournaments that SDers are invited too? I'd be the first to go if they weren't far away.

I didn't see any SD'ers at Taiji Legacy or AAU, which are held in Arlington, TX every year. It shouldn't be too hard for one of the Texas SD schools to make an appearance at one of those tournaments. Hell, isn't there an Arlington SD school?

Actually, there was a guy in a black Gi with a grey belt at AAU, but he just watched and didn't compete, as far as I could tell.