What MMA did to Kung FU

[Jorge]

Yeah, that's true... there wouldn't have been that many guys for the grapplers to beat up and nobody for the MT, boxers and kickboxers to beat up.

Now thats funny!LOLOLOL

[EarthDragon]

God knifefighter you are bitter little man but you still love me dont you? kisses

[Dragonzbane76]

taking the metaphorical "hammer" to him aren't you knifefighter. haha

[David Jamieson]

I met angelo dundee while working on a movie a few years back.
He trained Muhammad Ali. He was a little round guy. BUt a great trainer, obviously.

People can have all the bravado and spunk they like. they're also entitled to say what they like and even believe what they like (even when they don't really believe it, but feel they have to lol).

What I know for sure is that I find practicing Kung Fu to be deeply satisfying to myself and I am happy I've managed to integrate the practice and all that is in it.
I had my stage where I could actively fight and recover well. I'm glad I have an art form that doesn't dead end there and goes beyond to integrate a new path. It's interesting and never ending it seems.

All along the way you'll encounter people and all of them are different. Some think they know the way, others think you know the way, and so on. Ultimately it can only come down to what it is that you enjoy in your framework of life that you build for yourself.

I like that Shaolin Kung Fu is a system and a practice that can be integrated into your whole life or only a little if you like. I'm sure that there are other full life long practices that are similar in other arts that follow a similar path.

Why do so many asian martial arts follow a structured path of martiality, medicine and meditation?

New martial arts and combat sports aren't really as mixed as people would like to think they are. Most decent kung fu students will elarn a thing or two about taking care of someone who is injured in a very for real sense. some go on to learn loads about medicine and healing arts, others also practice more esoteric arts related to mental cultivation and so on.

where is this in mma practitioners or in the sport? It is only there if that is what is brought into it.

for many it ends at merely fighting, and that's a lot of fun and you learn a lot from it, but you cannot physically fight for your whole life nor can you do it at a competitive level for a very long time. Any career you think you might have will be short, barring outliers, but 10 or so years down the road and you're done.

If you are not iceman or couture quality vegas style fighters, then forget it. You other 600,000 guys out there busting it up, will wind up with nothing more than memories of days that used to be.

Kung fu guys will be doing qigong, drinking tea and reading mma rants on forums. lol

[EarthDragon]

excellent post David J. well said

[Knifefighter]

excellent post David J. well said

And completely false. Of course clueless guys like you who know nothing of MMA sport training have no idea that it is not true.

[taai gihk yahn]

The new location is AMAZING! But..we haven't opened yet. We had a major plumbing glitch withthe town of Huntington,which after many weeks, and mucho denaro, we have fixed, and are awaiting our final inspection for our CO.
We have a stack of people who have come in waiting to sign up. You should stop by and see this place-nothing like this has ever been done- a large scale, traditional Mo-Kwoon, in an upscale shopping center.

let me affirm Rik's comments - I unexpectedly had some free time this afternoon, so I stopped in to see his new diggs; in a word, outstanding! TT has put together a space that, IMPO, combines the best of old and new; and talk about location, LOCATION, LOCATION - indeed, he will have to try very hard and use ALL of his grumpy old sifu schtick to alienate people and drive them away! and I am happy because now I can refer people to him without worrying that they need to drive through several gang territories in order to get to the school...

[TenTigers]

and I am happy because now I can refer people to him without worrying that they need to drive through several gang territories in order to get to the school...

Yeah, that old school was right in the center hub, between the MS-13, and the Bloods and Crips. There is still a bullethole in the window.
I would hear gunshots and think,"Boy, it's a little early for Chinese New Year..."
It started to strike a bit too close to home when they started running stories on 1010wins and eyewitness news, rather than the local papers, and closing down schools in the projects. The guy who was shot in the last drive-by was one of my student's cousin.
My enrollment started a quick decline-I got out of there just in time.
Instead of bodegas, gangs and-crack hoes, I am now in the land of Starbucks, Little League and MILFS!

[-N-]

Instead of bodegas, gangs and-crack hoes, I am now in the land of Starbucks, Little League and MILFS!

Nicer environment, but harder to find students that have the fire to become really good fighters. Inner city ghetto has an edge on that.

[David Jamieson]

Nicer environment, but harder to find students that have the fire to become really good fighters. Inner city ghetto has an edge on that.

wow, you watch a lot of tv. everything is everything man and everyone is everywhere.

[David Jamieson]

LOL... another clueless statement about "sport" training. There are thousands of guys doing sport training who don't suddenly quit.

There are just as many, if not more, old "sport" guys still out their doing their old guy sport training as there are kung fu guys doing their old guy version of kung fu.

lol, like who? You? Are you saying that you train in teh same way a competitive fighter trains? Or some other imaginary "thousands" of other guys.

take a look aroud the gyms in your neighbourhood. Who's in there?

I think you throw around "clueless" so much it gets all over you.

[PalmStriker]

it created a bunch of "prodigal sons".

Most of us on this board started in traditional kung fu. For whatever reason, we got discouraged. Maybe the teacher was holding out, maybe the techniques and training methodology are outdated... who knows. But, for whatever reason, we never lost faith in kung fu. We experimented, searched out different techniques and training methods, tested ourselves - threw the notion of style away and just worked hard trying to find a way to be more effective in today's world.

We mistakenly believed that the knowledge we gained through pressure testing and cross training would be welcomed back into the kung fu community. It wasn't. We're the b@st@rd step children of kung fu.

Yes, you are right to a great extent, and as annoying as I can be when it comes to "developing that which I have a use for and shelving the rest", I feel like this forum is a safe-haven for "prodigal sons" like myself.

[David Jamieson]

Do I train in the same way as a competitive fighter? Yes.

Who is in the gyms? Everyone from competitive MMA fighters, to competitive BJJ and sub grapplers to recreational rollers to retired fighters who don't still compete but still train to kids.

What exactly is your point davey boy?

My point is, that you rarely see men beyond 55 (really lets say beyond 40 here) doing any sort of exercise that would be considered to a standard of a competitive fighter regimen.

I think a lot of guys play at it a couple of times a week, but let me posit this, what exactly is the purpose of training as a competitive fighter, if you don't fight competitively?

That's like training to fly to the moon and you're not a member of nasa.

Do you still compete?

[SavvySavage]

when i first started into kung fu, bag work was pretty regular, and I lived with my si hing, so we banged quite often. when the school finally opened, it had to appeal to a wider range of people, it's that simple.

I like that you came out of the closet and admitted to banging your si hing.

[-N-]

wow, you watch a lot of tv. everything is everything man and everyone is everywhere.

?

Not impossible. Just harder.

I grew up in the Mexican ghetto but live in the land of Starbucks now.

There weren't any soccer moms chauffeuring kids to games or milfs cheering their kids at swim meets where I grew up. Kids had good reason and incentive to be able to fight. One of my old instructors yelled at us kids for getting blood all over the mats and not cleaning up after we sparred.

Nowadays, kung fu is 3rd, 4th, or 5th on the list after baseball, soccer, track, and water polo. Everybody is so PC and civilized in the land of Starbucks. Kids aren't pulling knives on each other at school, and their priorities are different.

A big name Eagle Claw guy was telling me about his experience growing up in the ghetto. He and his friends were part of a Chinese gang. In addition to doing their gang stuff, they took it upon themselves to protect the nerdy asian kids from being victimized by the black gangs.