I lost the magic of kung fu

[MeatTosser]

Originally posted by johngreenhow
Hi,


Oh, and finding what you went to Shaolin for? One thing: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need."

All the best,

John

Haha, classic song.

[GeneChing]

I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"

When I go to Shaolin, I make a conscious decision to be the singer of songs, not Mr. Jimmy. Most people in line for their Shaolin sodas wind up being Mr. Jimmy.

[blooming lotus]

John,

Isnt it a boitch that we travel travel this far to only discover what we were looking for was not here after all.

Not sure if I'll even make it home ( as in ever ) at this stage, but soldiering on , and providing I can still study for a hm phd or for medicine, i'll go where the teachings at. Love to trade notes, and If I EVER get home 'i'll be in touch. So much news and no-one to share it with



happy training folks!

[Songshan]

Well the Brooklyn Monk has struck again. I actually found the post very informative and insightful by Antonio. I do read posts that I don't agree with to view the authors opinions. However, I disagree on how he feels and what he lost. The first time I really read Antonio's posts I was sort of offended by them. Here I was training day in and day out under one of the "monks" only to read about how he (Antonio) was scammed at Shaolin and that all he learned was modern wushu. But to me the posts seemed a lot deeper. Not only was he discussing his journey and discussed his unpleasant trip but it seemed like to me that he was trying to discredit modern Shaolin all together.....dismissing it all for "wushu" as many of the anti Shaolin martial artists call it. That is what bothered me the most. So I said to myself he has a right to post his experiences and what he believes. Its human nature not agree with everyone all the time on all things.

Antonio is no doubt a martial artist. A hard styled martial artist at that. I feel Antonio has scratched only the surface of martial arts. His continous search for the "perfect fighting style" or the "perfect fight" is nomadic at best. Winning means mastering the art? Or to have found the true fighting style you seek? No way. We all have our reasons for studying martial arts. For me Shaolin Kung Fu isn't just a fighting style. There's a deeper meaning in it for me. It's a way of life especially if you incorporate it in your daily life routine. Perhaps one day Antonio will discover that there is more to studying martial arts than fighting in the ring. I am quite content with where I am. Best of luck!!

[GeneChing]

You know, I just was privy to some amazing private video, all shot inside Shaolin Temple, the fruits of some 9 years of research there. At the request of the filmmaker, I can't divulge much more about it yet, but it was amazing footage of the internal traditional temple stuff that NO ONE is teaching outside yet. It's material that I've been trying to get at for years, but most won't allow themselves to be filmed showing this stuff. That researcher is the next one to watch - we just met for the first time last week after lengthy email/phone correspondance, and he's got some phenomenal stuff, but because it's in development for a major project, I have to keep it secret for a little while longer.

Antonio's experience was quite valid and it mirrors what has happened to other peopole who have gone to Shaolin, including me. But it would be shallow to say that you penetrated the temple and found modern wushu/sanda only. Because it takes years to penetrate the temple. Shaolin keeps its secrets. And so do we...

[emre]

What amazed me about Antonio's articles, was that here was a guy who went half-way around the world to study CMA, and he didn't seem to have the faintest idea of the multitude of styles in existence and what he wanted to learn exactly.

I don't know if it's just the way he spins things, but reading his articles he really sounds like he was just done watching David Carradine when he packed his bags and left, without ever picking up a single book about CMA, or visiting any of the number of schools in NY from almost every single style.

There was a whole article where he talked about tui shou like it was a kung fu style for crying out loud.

[Serpent]

Antonio. You searched high and low (and are still searching) for something. You found that Shaolin wasn't it. You have started making movies that you don't believe in and all the time you are fighting in the simple, elegant arena of western boxing. You train the boxing, because it's the only art that gives you any peace as it allows you to fight. You train the wushu for the movies, but you don't like them.

So, you are either doing things you don't believe in or you're training to fight in a considerably taxing arena.

Have you ever stopped for long enough to consider just exactly what it is that you're searching for?

[norther practitioner]

You know, I just was privy to some amazing private video, all shot inside Shaolin Temple, the fruits of some 9 years of research there. At the request of the filmmaker, I can't divulge much more about it yet, but it was amazing footage of the internal traditional temple stuff that NO ONE is teaching outside yet. It's material that I've been trying to get at for years, but most won't allow themselves to be filmed showing this stuff. That researcher is the next one to watch - we just met for the first time last week after lengthy email/phone correspondance, and he's got some phenomenal stuff, but because it's in development for a major project, I have to keep it secret for a little while longer.

Tease....

[phoenix-eye]

"I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"

When I go to Shaolin, I make a conscious decision to be the singer of songs, not Mr. Jimmy. Most people in line for their Shaolin sodas wind up being Mr. Jimmy"

Gene, that really was just a beautiful post.....

Now I know why you write articles on kung fu and I write reports on risk management....

Sing........sing a song............

PE

[blooming lotus]

Originally posted by GeneChing
You know, I just was privy to some amazing private video, all shot inside Shaolin Temple, the fruits of some 9 years of research there. At the request of the filmmaker, I can't divulge much more about it yet, but it was amazing footage of the internal traditional temple stuff that NO ONE is teaching outside yet. It's material that I've been trying to get at for years, but most won't allow themselves to be filmed showing this stuff. That researcher is the next one to watch - we just met for the first time last week after lengthy email/phone correspondance, and he's got some phenomenal stuff, but because it's in development for a major project, I have to keep it secret for a little while longer.

Antonio's experience was quite valid and it mirrors what has happened to other peopole who have gone to Shaolin, including me. But it would be shallow to say that you penetrated the temple and found modern wushu/sanda only. Because it takes years to penetrate the temple. Shaolin keeps its secrets. And so do we...

hmmm.....


Gene is so so right!!


Folks come here for a year or 2 ( and as foreigners (wai guo yen ) and think they had a "real" experience when in fact , we 've had nothing of the sort.


Shaolin is sacred and have endured alot of hardship from foreign contact in past , so you think you can rock up and expect them to spill their beans??!!!

We really have no idea of what they go through in prac, and it's a gift to appreciate we don't.


hmmm............nearly makes me want to stay ..........

[johngreenhow]

What do you mean "a real experience"? Did you have a fake one? Didn't you get up every morning with aching legs, run up a big sodding hill and then practise jibengong and forms all day? Didn't you, basically, work your arse off and improve your kungfu in a unique environment that so few laowai are lucky enough to spend time in?

Most of the (30,000+?) students in DengFeng do nothing more than that. If they're good enough, they'll make it to the WushuBinGuan and make into a performance team. A few of them will stick it out for over 10 years and still not learn killer-death-touches or any other esoteric kungfu secrets. Most of them will join the police, the army or just head off into normal life. I met a few sanluo drivers who had spent 3 years in one school or another.

I have no illusions about having "penetrated the temple" or having learnt anything I couldn't have learnt in London, New York or Sydney. We may not go through what the temple initiates go through but we do have the opportunity to go through what the bulk of the DengFeng students do, and in my opinion that's just as "real" an experience as you could hope to have.

I dunno. I guess all I'm saying is that I know there was a lot that I didn't get to see but training with the kids in modern wushu and sanda was enough for me, it left me with a whole bunch of lessons that I've taken with me and I couldn't have asked for anything else.

[blooming lotus]

lol...

about as real as any foreigner's getting for now ha


I think you misunderstand. I was working nearby songshan but didn't have time to hang out there long and didn't train at the wushuguan ( though I did a spend a day checking it out ). Still know the experience you speak of and have been having them all over China.

Just didn't want to mislead you, but a future hook up'll sweet. Let you know .

[emre]

So Gene,

Are these internal Shaolin forms completely different from the ones you've mentioned seeing before, like the internal version of Hong Quan that I think you said you witnessed?

Is it a style ( or styles?) that is known to the outside world, but was thought to be lost in Shaolin or is it something unheard of before?

[GeneChing]

BL will tell you all about what a tease I can be (and what a tease comment that is, eh?)

In all seriousness, there's several reasons why we've published so much of Antonio's work on the net. He's an edgy writer who walks the walk. He may not be that scholarly, but what he might lack in literate research, he makes up for with sweat. When he first sent hisShaolin tale, it flew in the face of a lot of things that I was saying about Shaolin, but I felt he wrote from the heart, and far be it for me to say that I have the only perspective on Shaolin. Since then, Antonio and I have kept up a correspondence between his article submisssions, and I've found him to be a fine companion on the warrior path, despite being in different continents and taking totally different approaches. I have a lot of respect for his work, which is why I support his writing and encourage the editorial board here to do so. Given the polarity of reactions to his articles, I'm very pleased. There will be another one of his up soon.

As for the internal sets, yes, they are the same as the the internal version of Xiaohong I mentioned, but there are several of them and I have yet to identify it all. I have yet to identify all of the external versions. The internal temple stuff is much harder to get at. Mostly, they seem to be alternate interpretations of the Songshan forms with which we are already familiar, but to be honest, I've only started to tap this stuff and I have a long way to go. Ask me again in a few years. Or better yet, just keep up with what I publish. Now that's a tease, for sure.

[blooming lotus]

Originally posted by GeneChing
BL will tell you all about what a tease I can be (and what a tease comment that is, eh?)

Sure!! I don't really understand your IMO Here Gene, but here it is folks .......


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¡¡E ...... ropes you in with his smooth as* shaolin god shyte and £Í£Á£Ë£Å£Ó¡¡£Ù£Ï£Õ¡¡£Ô£È£É£Î£Ë¡¡£Ï£Æ¡¡£È£É£Í¡¡£×£È £É£Ì£Å¡¡£®£®£®£®£®£®£®


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Babe??


duibuqi....... I missed it



oh yeah, then gives you "bait " for shaolin perpetusim and leaves you to your ch'an

dammned intellectual honey as*ed maers !!!!!!!