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Thread: hobbyists

  1. #31
    1. amateur vs pro

    a. if you compete regularly and train to compete

    b. if you use MA in your duty or job

    You are a pro.

    Otherwise, we are amateur or non pro.

    2. Hobby ist

    is an enthusiast, learn and collect

    but not necessarily use MA in the ring or daily job or duty.

    3. Wow

    an old thread returned.



    A nice french TV series.

  2. #32
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    old thread indeed....

    Funny no one mentioned training martial arts/kung Fu for health. I wouldn't classify that as a hobby but a way of life.

  3. #33
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    ttt 4 2015

    Martial arts are just fashionable hobbies now, warns Hong Kong's kung fu-loving finance chief
    PUBLISHED : Monday, 14 September, 2015, 5:13am
    UPDATED : Monday, 14 September, 2015, 8:51am
    Vivienne Chow vivienne.chow@scmp.com


    John Tsang studied kung fu at a young age. Photo: Sam Tsang

    True mastery of the martial arts is fading as people today fail to fully appreciate their principles, the financial secretary said as he recalled his kung fu memories.

    In a blog post published yesterday, John Tsang Chun-wah described his recent encounter with the city’s leading kung fu figures including Pak Mei kung fu master Li Shek-lin, Tung Kong Chow Ka Preying Mantis Li Tinloi, Hung Kuen master Lam Chun-fai and his disciple Hing Chao, who founded the International Guoshu Association.

    The blog was posted prior to next week’s opening of the Hong Kong Culture Festival, organised by Chao’s charity Earthpulse Foundation.

    Tsang, who studied kung fu at a young age, said historically martial arts were about making a living or even survival, but today they had become a hobby and viewed as fashionable.

    “Master Li Tin-loi said, ‘in the past, people only asked you which school of kung fu you practised. But today, people ask you how many forms you can perform. It seems the more you know, the better’,” Tsang wrote.

    He said Rome wasn’t built in a day and that despite kung fu’s different forms, the basic training was more or less the same.

    Tsang said there was nothing fancy about the daily drills one must perform to hone one’s skills. He revealed that his strenuous practice had left him with scars on his arms that only recently healed.

    Yet he maintained that “boring” training could yield surprising results.

    Tsang said he once witnessed an old master shattering a tiny olive seed with nothing but the tip of a rod.

    The three-week culture festival, running from September 25 to October 18, aims to serve as a wake-up call to the government and public to preserve local living heritage, including kung fu, Cantonese opera and ink art.

    This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Martial arts mastery at risk: financial secretary
    I've never had an issue with 'hobbyists'. I have more of an issue with neurotic martial artists who have issues with hobbyists. Honestly, what other pursuit has issues with hobbyists? Do artistic painters criticize those who paint as a hobby? Of course not. They know that it's those hobbyists that buy the bulk of the materials, feeding the economy so their paints aren't exorbitant.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    I've never had an issue with 'hobbyists'. I have more of an issue with neurotic martial artists who have issues with hobbyists. Honestly, what other pursuit has issues with hobbyists? Do artistic painters criticize those who paint as a hobby? Of course not. They know that it's those hobbyists that buy the bulk of the materials, feeding the economy so their paints aren't exorbitant.
    People do things for different reasons, and IMO there's nothing wrong with that. As long as whatever school you join is in line with whatever your goals are, it's all good.

    Although I think he's a little late with his observations. Is Kung fu even fashionable among young people in Hong Kong theses days? It sounds like some of his comments could have come from the 70s.

  5. #35

  6. #36
    Oh sweet, this necro thread gives me an opportunity to quote Gene... as an author of a book!!!

    Zhang Lipeng, an ex-monk who went by the Shaolin moniker Shi Xingpeng, once told me this: "There are two ways to practice real kung fu. One is after someone kills your wife. Two is after someone kills your whole family. Either way, you practice one set, every day, for ten years. Then you are ready to take revenge. Today, nobody practices like this. It makes no sense. Just get a gun."
    -Ching, Gene "Shaolin Trips" p 43



    So by this definition, pretty much everyone is a hobbyist.

  7. #37
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    shi pengpeng has made a fatal error. he assumed that the average dengfeng kung fu factory school nongming graduate can actually find a wife to lose instead of having to visit prostitutes
    Last edited by bawang; 09-17-2015 at 06:50 AM.

    Honorary African American
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  8. #38
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    But seriously, did he really mean training a set for 10 years was good preparation for taking revenge(killing the other guy)?

  9. #39
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    I still don't quite get why we choose to denigrate hobbyists.

    I suppose it's a sorry attempt to elevate ourselves. That's usually at the heart of any put down.

    Quote Originally Posted by MightyB View Post
    Oh sweet, this necro thread gives me an opportunity to quote Gene... as an author of a book!!!

    -Ching, Gene "Shaolin Trips" p 43

    So by this definition, pretty much everyone is a hobbyist.
    Zhang Lipeng was our 2002 Shaolin Special cover master. He's an old friend although I've not been in touch with him in several years.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  10. #40
    Greetings,

    I am not too crazy about hobbyists: to teach them is like taking a p!ss in the wind. Even then, they are the ones who keep the bills paid. If any of you have noticed there is a push toward having a more social component to MA schools: birthday parties, barbecues, and even weddings. So, as long as they are paying the bills, the hardcore guys have a place to train and develop. China was no different. There were students and there were disciples. Unfortunately, we do not think of disciples as hardcore; but, they were the hardcore of the times.

    I think I posted something similar to this before. Well, I AM POSTING IT AGAIN!!!


    mickey

  11. #41
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    these days, I take the more yoda approach,


    IE: you either practice, or you don't.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  12. #42
    These days I'm finding more joy in doing and not caring about what everyone else thinks.

  13. #43
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    i am a hobbyist and i am proud.

    *rub nose

    brb desecrating 5000 years of glorious chinese cultur

    Honorary African American
    grandmaster instructor of Wombat Combat The Lost Art of Anal Destruction™®LLC .
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  14. #44
    Quote Originally Posted by bawang View Post
    i am a hobbyist and i am proud.

    *rub nose

    brb desecrating 5000 years of glorious chinese cultur
    I'm not sure how being realistic is desecrating a culture because, technically I don't think anyone can claim anything other than being a Chinese Martial Arts hobbyist unless they're wearing full-armor, riding a horse, and shooting arrows at the charging horde of similarly armed adversaries.
    ---
    Being a hobbyist doesn't mean that you don't take your chosen martial art seriously. You can be serious in your training, pay attention to all the details, develop jing, and develop the skills that would be necessary to defend yourself--- being realistic just means that you realize that there's not a lot of need to fist-fight. A better goal is seeing and realizing that TCMA is a key to give you something incredibly valuable:

    https://www.facebook.com/britishshao...8/?pnref=story

    *most of the tough competitive Judoka that I knew that lived to the above guy's age all had some type of mobility issue - canes, braces, hunched limped walking, etc.

    They sure as heck weren't moving like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ_DSsyEiPY

  15. #45
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    Well, if we consult the dictionary....

    Hobbyist on Dictionary.com directs us to:
    hobby
    [hob-ee]

    Examples
    Word Origin

    noun, plural hobbies.
    1.
    an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation:
    Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.
    So if you're not making your living in the martial arts, you're a hobbyist. I guess I'm not a hobbyist.

    Quote Originally Posted by MightyB View Post
    So by this definition, pretty much everyone is a hobbyist.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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