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Thread: Books by Phillip Starr

  1. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by P. Starr
    I understand what you're saying, but...

    Every teacher is accustomed to training with his or her particular system. Their forms, including weapons sets and techniques, are based on the fundamental principles of the system that they teach. This is why they won't allow you to skip over the other parts of training and go directly to training with something like a staff.

    ...
    You may never need martial arts for purposes of self-defense. I hope not. In today's world, though, there's more of a need for effective self-defense skills than ever before. ...
    I wonder why you say this about needing more effective self-defense than ever before? Because it seems like there's less and less violence in the world than ever before.

    Fewer wars, fewer people dying, people living longer, life expectancies at all time highs.

    Yeah, I agree with you on the teachers and teaching thing, but that's the problem. I don't want to learn another entirely different way of moving. Martial arts teachers like that are boot camp instructors, so to go through one boot camp, and then to go to an entirely other boot camp where they do everything differently, is a bit purturbing, to say the least. Especially when you just want to spar with their students and you don't really want to learn their way at all.

    Anyways, it's no big deal. Poles are harder than bones or faces anyway.

  2. #17
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    Judging from what I've seen and been told by friends who are still in law enforcement, this country is still suffering from serious violence problems. We don't necessarily have the high-profile gangsta-type stuff happening with the same frequency that it did years ago, but there's still more than enough violence to go around.

    If I may ask, what martial art(s) did you study previously?

  3. #18
    Yeah I did some research about that recently, and it really varies from state to state. States like California where they have 3 strikes laws have had a lot of reduction, like in 1/2 or something, but evidently other states haven't had as much.

    About the only item that hasn't gone down that much is rape for some reason. Although why anybody would rape anybody with all the STDs these days is beyond me. I guess those people don't think very much.

    The main martial art that I spent the most time in was a family style, that the instructor just called 'animal style kung fu'. I tried to track down what actually it was, and it turns out it was brought back by a guy who was in the Korean war. His son was teaching it for a while.

  4. #19
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    How long did you study it?

  5. #20
    Well I don't want to say, because it's nothing compared to your experience. You'd just laugh at me.

  6. #21
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    No, not at all! I don't laugh at anyone who seriously wants to learn martial arts-

  7. #22
    Well somebody saying that they don't want to study with teachers anymore sounds like they have a huge ego. You know, the whole cup is full thing.

    So if I say something less than you studied, or another teacher, then it is going to sound like I'm an idiot and not just a huge ego.

    But the bottom line is, it's not a matter of ego. I don't have time to practice even what my first sifu taught me, or good partners to run drills, therefore why bother working on anything else? It seems like a waste of time. I mean, every new school has their own drills. If you find yourself away from a particular school in the style, or even the same sifu (some sifus do things differently), they make you do everything over again.

  8. #23
    Sifu Starr, is there some good info on your style, Yiliquan, out there somewhere?

    I keep finding all these posts everywhere about how it's some sort of longfist + bagua + xingyi + taiji all together, but I fail to understand how you could concatenate all of that together into 8 shapes, and all the applications into 1 step drills. How many different 1-step drills are there?

    Do you do any sort of weapons work at all?

    Are there some movies anywhere or anything?

  9. #24
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    The drills aren't carved in stone...and the "shapes" are ways of responding to an attack (in terms of footwork and body shifting). So there's no memorization of certain combinations or any of that sort of thing...

    We should have our website up very soon. I'll be sure to let you know when that happens (we're using our own server, so it's taking some time).

    Presently, there are no books or videos as yet on Yiliquan. But I'll be happy to provide you with whatever information I can.

    Where are you located? Our numbers are few at this time but there may be one of my senior students near you-

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by neilhytholt
    Sifu Starr, is there some good info on your style, Yiliquan, out there somewhere?
    Well, depending on where you are located, you could always check out either our regular training classes or our seminars... Failing that, correspondence with any of our seniors, or our entire student body, via our Yahoo Group is an option as well.

    I keep finding all these posts everywhere about how it's some sort of longfist + bagua + xingyi + taiji all together, but I fail to understand how you could concatenate all of that together into 8 shapes, and all the applications into 1 step drills.
    It isn't that all of that training is concentrated into 8 drills... Rather, there are 8 conceptual models that incorporate variations of footwork, technique, throws, locks, etc. For example, some throws work better with certain kinds of footwork, so they are incorporated into that "shape." Further, each "shape" applies certain methods of general movement; Heaven Shape always advances, Earth Shape always retreats, Water Shape retreats and then advances...

    How many different 1-step drills are there?
    As many as you can think of. Some are simple technique combinations. Some are taken directly from the forms. Some are taken from the forms and then deliberately made "different" (by changing the distance, angle, or attack from the basic application of the form, forcing the student to see how the exact same technique series can be applied against a myriad of possibilities).

    Do you do any sort of weapons work at all?
    We use 4 primary weapons - Staff, Broadsword, Spear and Straight Sword. There are others, but these are the main ones.

    Are there some movies anywhere or anything?
    We don't have any official videos (yet), so the only way to see Yili at the present time is in person...
    Matt Stone

  11. #26
    Thanks for the info.

    But basically I gave into the Borg, in nerdspeak. Joined a karate McDojo ... the kids love it, and the sensei's really nice, and the best thing is I get to do a ton of sparring.

    I just got tired of all the nonsense of CMA systems, not being able to practice things from other styles, the tons of different forms, not being able to spar for months or years.

    This way we all can practice pretty much anywhere. Must easier for everybody. Plus it's a family environment and the kids like it almost as much as Playstation.

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by neilhytholt
    Thanks for the info.
    You're welcome! Anytime... If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away!

    But basically I gave into the Borg, in nerdspeak. Joined a karate McDojo ... the kids love it, and the sensei's really nice, and the best thing is I get to do a ton of sparring.
    Well, I'm glad you found something to your satisfaction, regardless of what it is... I tell people that discuss martial arts with me that not every art is "for" everybody. Some folks have preferences, and some have to make compromises. For instance, there's a BJJ school here locally that I'd love to train at, however with the prices the teacher charges for the minimal class time, I refuse to attend. I don't care how good the instruction may be, I simply won't shell out a kidney and a liver for a few paltry hours each week...

    I just got tired of all the nonsense of CMA systems, not being able to practice things from other styles, the tons of different forms, not being able to spar for months or years.
    I don't blame you. Some of the things I like about training in Yiliquan are:

    a) Most everyone has some kind of prior training background;
    b) Their prior background is used to one degree or another to gradually guide their technique inline with our doctrines and theories of application;
    c) That even other forms/kata/hyung are used on occasion to illustrate similarities between arts (in our club, since I know Naihanchi Shodan fairly well, we use that to show similarity in technique between it and Baixingquan for example...);
    d) We work gradually to work a straight beginner into "sparring," but when someone's ready, they get full tilt boogie.

    I've been with it for 20 years, and even when I tried to find something to substitute it (permanently in some cases, due to military assignments), I was completely unable to find anything with the same depth and breadth. Ever.

    This way we all can practice pretty much anywhere. Must easier for everybody. Plus it's a family environment and the kids like it almost as much as Playstation.
    Good luck with it, and I hope your kids get plenty out of training!
    Matt Stone

  13. #28
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    The Making of a Butterfly SWEEPSTAKES

    Starting Feb 1st, 2007, enter to win your autographed copy of Phillip Starr's book, The Making of a Butterfly. This promotion will last two months. Good luck everyone!
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  14. #29
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    A note of thanks.

    Sifu Starr, I just wanted to tahnk you for your book. I read it a few months ago, it was a grand recollection of the process you went through while learning. It was great to hear the perception changing as you learned more and more about the culture and art.

    Truly, thank you. =)

  15. #30
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    To all you smart guys that entered yesterday...

    ...the contest starts today. I'm going to overlook those of your who don't read the fine print and jumped the gun.

    Good luck again, everyone!
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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