Here is the letter I mailed to my master's daughter, the school's manager, yesterday. It explains my sentiment perfectly

I am withdrawing from the school,

The first thing master asked me last friday was, why didn't I tell him I was going to fight. Besides telling him at the start of the summer (when I doubled my training and tuition), I reminded him periodically, including the time I showed him the gloves I was going to wear a week before the fight .... the same gloves he liked, the same ones you called me to get more information about. On top of that, two days before the fight both the promoter and myself called him telling him that I needed a waiver to fight. First he suggested I don't go (after training all summer and dropping the required weight) and then told me to just forge it and then, "good luck."

So he knew about the fight. I know somehow things look better if a student lost and the teacher didn't know, didn't have the chance to prepare him, but he knew.... he had the chance.

Secondly. I have been turned off by the ceasless comparison with other schools, and even with fellow students. I train to be the best I can be. While it's awesome to train with other styles in mind, I find it rediculous to put these styles down. They are winning at the highest levels, we haven't stepped out of the back yard. I wanted to train harder, not distance myself by saying it's only sport, too many rules, etc. There is a huge difference between beating karate and kung fu "masters" and students, playing with guests, and facing a highly-skilled, trained and motivated modern fighter in open combat.

I say this, because I know from first hand experience. I haven't lost one challenge match against Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Ju-Jitsu, etc.... I haven't won one "sport" fight. The sport fighters aren't only better, they're MUCH better. I don't think anyone being honest with themselves would deny that a professional fighter is better than a hobbyist.

I say these things because I think few apreciated master's technique more than me. I don't regret my time with him for a second; I have a confidence in my hands that I didn't think possible. Just lately, there seams to be more emphasis on "doing things differently" than doing them for real. There's seams to be more emphasis on protecting the style (by championing its greatness within the confines of the garage's four walls) rather than realistically developing it.

To master's credit, his material is great, and if you're willing to get dirty you can incorporate his material and become a fighter. It's just a shame that there's not enough people who feel the same way to keep a fighter there, to allow a fighter to grow and experiment and stay with the style.

I know master's dream is to take a team to China to fight. I wish you the best of luck.

As for me, I will not share anything I have learned with anyone other than my students. I have developed several safe drills incorporating boxing gloves that train capturing the hand and hitting if you're interested.

Best of luck to you as a martial artists,
Ray

PS
Just finished reading Ali's biography. His all-time favorite bag (his words, not mine) was a custom made 185lbs bag that he gave to Joe Frazier...... he replaced that bag with a 200lbs bag.