Is Shaolin-Do for real?

[MasterKiller]

One pec vs. two thighs and his left calf?

[sean_stonehart]

Since M. Sin was taught to use the pec's to crawl and swim during snake training, and since CN's beard is only used as a flavor savor, I would have to go with the pecs on this one.

Flavor saver? Bah... everybody knows the beard is secrectly another fist hidden in the golden locks of the beard...

[Judge Pen]

Since M. Sin was taught to use the pec's to crawl and swim during snake training, and since CN's beard is only used as a flavor savor, I would have to go with the pecs on this one.

Obviously you've never been on the business end of what we call a good "bearding". Let's call it Chuck's secret "steel wool" attack.

[Baqualin]

Obviously you've never been on the business end of what we call a good "bearding". Let's call it Chuck's secret "steel wool" attack.

I'm not touching that one with a ten foot pole...bet MK will

[Baqualin]

Who would win in a street fight between Sin The's pectorals and Chuck Norris' beard?

I would have to give Chuck the advantage here if you were to compare beards....M. Sin doesn't have much of a beard

[Golden Tiger]

Obviously you've never been on the business end of what we call a good "bearding".

Uhhh....well...no, can't say that I have. Does Mrs. JP know of this?

One pec vs. two thighs and his left calf?

Pec still has it. He trained to freaking crawl on them for goodness sakes!

[Judge Pen]

Uhhh....well...no, can't say that I have. Does Mrs. JP know of this?

Sure. My dad was a master of it. When we would wrestle he would pin me and rub his stubble against my face.... it's part of my ground defense now.

[tattooedmonk]

Sure. My dad was a master of it. When we would wrestle he would pin me and rub his stubble against my face.... it's part of my ground defense now.

now this is funny . It is no wonder that you had to add this technique to your fighting style because from what I hear kung fu does not have ground fighting** rolls eyes**

Here are some new topics.... Is there ground fighting in Chinese Martial Arts?? And did the art of ju jitsu/judo come from China??

[kwaichang]

Sure it did all MA came from china by way of India prior to that Greek KC

[BlueTravesty]

And prior to that, the origins of MA hearken to that long ago time when Caveman Ugh saw Caveman Trog hitting on his fine Cave-chica Grugita. The system known as "BRaaahhh... GRAAAR!" was later refined by Cave-shamans who incorporated movements imitating those of the mighty Dinosaurs. This tradition surives in today's Martial Arts through all the growling and posturing we know and love.

[Baqualin]

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING


JP...how was the little ones first Holiday.

KC How close are you to the pitter patter of little feet

BQ

[Judge Pen]

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING


JP...how was the little ones first Holiday.

KC How close are you to the pitter patter of little feet

BQ

The little one had a great time. Mom and dad were a bit frazzled though.

I hadn't heard anything from KC...

[QuackenBush]

Interesting to see this thread evolve into it's own little community.

I discovered these forums a few days ago and spent a lot of time (couped up with a cold) reading the first 85 pages and some other pages here and there.

I've been studying TKD in Golden, CO for the past 2 years and am desperate for a change. Prior to stumbling into this forum, the CSC centers in Denver and Boulder were at the top of my list, but after reading much of this thread, they've slid to the bottom, and probably soon, off the list entirely.

Now before my post starts another outbreak, let me explain that, setting aside the controversy over lineage and all that, I'm simply not interested in a high volume, mass absorption of lots of forms - it's just not what I'm after. I had suspicions of this before finding this thread, and many posts here have pretty much confirmed it. Plus I didn't realize there were so many other options in Denver, but there's another thread here which has given me several great leads on schools I didn't even know existed.

I will say that sorting through all this discussion has really made me contemplate just what I'm looking for - now to find it.

[kwaichang]

Hey all, I have been giving JP some space he needs it i'm sure. I told him if he needed room to breath and wanted to w/o come on over. Anyway Tomorrow is the day we had a close call yesterday but hoped today would be the day after all it is Bruce Lees Birthday Thought of the name Leigh /aka Lee as a middle name in honor of him. So tomorrow am is the day KC

[Zen Archer]

Hello to all and a happy thanksgiving as well!

I first stumbled on this forum while doing research on my art, and was at first somewhat irritated. Upon reading further I became a little entertained & more than mildly amused. From there I beagn to reflect on the fact that certain individuals posting here had so much time on there hands to spend energy on negativity & what might they achieve if they used that time for real Shao-lin training. I then began to realize that some of the people who embodied Shao-lin the most on here through manners, words, & action in fact appeared to be SD students. In my life my 1st priority is Shao-lin training, not just the martial aspect, but also the application of buddhist and taoist philosophy to my life, the practice of meditation, and also the integrity, values & moral aspects. I asked myself could I justify spending alot of time online with this forum. In answer I realize that is indeed my duty to spend a little time here, as a current CSC-D student who works very hard to embody the original spirit & work ethic as practiced in the temples & who works to be kung fu in every aspect of every activity in every second of his life. So I will be posting some bits of very relevant Shao-lin & Kung Fu wisdom on a regular basis and also responding to some of the questionable statements regarding SD or Chinese Shao-lin Kung Fu as different people may call the same thing.

First of all to the TKD student in Golden. Don't sell CSC short just yet, and perhaps you might want to read this forum a little more in depth. I know there is a lot of crap to wade through on this forum, but there is also some very intelligent discourse as well, both from SD or CSC students & their antagonists. I read through many pages of crap & mudslinging before I got to anything intelligent or objective. As far as mass absorption of material goes that is not the focus at CSC-Denver or any other CSC or SD school. That the material is available is a fact, but you as the student set the pace and the depth with which you learn the material. The variety of material serves various purposes: one is that, as in the Shao-lin Temples in mainland China of the 19th century you are exposed to various styles and/or composite styles of varying technique so that you may assess your abilities & what styles or movements best suit your temperament or body type. In the temples of China your teachers generally made these assessments at the lower levels and then chose what styles you would specialize in. In the West we have much greater freedom, which is both a positive & negative (more on this later). With respect to the current facet, this freedom enables you to chose what you will focus on or spend the most time with. A second benefit is that as you move through the various material you gradually are introduced to more and more complex movements & strategies that build both your physical conditioning and your minds ability to grasp & apply these movements & strategies. There are other benefits as well, but I believe these to be the most important aspects or facets of the varied trainings in forms material.

Now, back to the point on training in Shao-lin in a western culture versus the east. First and foremost GM SKT's mission is to preserve Shao-lin for future generations and make it available to cultures all over the world without respect to race or gender. In order to ensure this some commercialization was neccessary. In China there would be sometimes thousands waiting to try and gain teaching at Shao-lin, so the monks were able to pick and choose a very small percentage of these who showed the most promise in strength of mind and compassion of spirit. Of 250 prospects only maybe 5 or 10 might be chosen. From these perhaps only 1/2 might make it through to the level where they were accepted as disciple. In our culture, since a business must be profitable, anyone who walks through the doors and pays their (minimal) fees as well as showing proper respect is accepted and may continue as long as they wish. For this reason perhaps only 1 in 100 or 1 in 500 students may show similar skill to monks of old at any level from white up to senior belts. Also some of the most promising students may work 10 or more hours a day and sacrifice free time or time with family to get a fraction of the training that the monks did, and therefore may take 20-30 years or more to approach that level of skill. ALSO, and I STRESS this point, most westerners are lazy even when it comes to those who work out and train in the martial arts. As we have the freedom to set the pace and depth with which we learn material as well as what we specalize in, we also choose the work ethic we apply to training. Although it is repeated many times in our classes as well as many other styles of Kung Fu (and this is perhaps the most important thing you will ever hear regarding martial arts training) that stance practice, especially horse stance, is the first and most important basic training to be undertaken, very few in any school I've ever visited put this into practice (including ours). This is the great caveat to training in the West. But it is YOUR choice.

One more thing with respect to varied trainings: At the highest levels of Shao-lin as with other combat strategies (as opposed to styles), those with the greatest ability in real combat situations are those that synthesize their own style of fighting from all that they've learned to create a style of no style (ala Bruce Lee), and who are able to change and adapt this syle in a split second based on their opponent(s). "Be like water". Also one who is a master of all & no style will beat a comparable master of a single style based on his/her unpredictibility & flexibility to adapt. This is your ultimate goal as a martial artist, to transcend all styles, be one with the self, and have no style, but that which suits your body, tepmerament, & situation/opponent at a given moment in time. This goal is facilitated by being exposed to a variety of technique.

Thanks to all of you who are objective and read this with an open mind, yours will always be the greatest capacity to learn.