May Cod have mercy on our soles.
May Cod have mercy on our soles.
It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand. - Apache Proverb
hell freezing over aside
Well
(1) the events the gangster guys did in the 70's and 80's WERE full contact after all, much better than point sparring any way you cut it
(2) as I mentioned somewhere else, the fact those events were so "gangster" was kind of a good thing, tons of blood, torn open skin, brawling, nasty, ie REAL
Not kung fu theatre
As Gene and I discussed, 30 years ago kung fu was still at least about fighting
It's still about fighting. Have you stopped fighting? Have you stopped practicing kung fu? I think not. Never mind what others might be doing. As long as some are still into fighting, it retains that validity.
The issue is that kung fu has expanded to include a lot of other things - health, artistic expression, psychotherapy for LARPers, etc. That's not all bad really. It only affects those practitioners of little self-esteem. I'm good with my kung fu practice. I can still throw down if necessary. I'm sure many others of you can too. Well...some of you.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
MANY people would say "yes" but your post has merit in it multi approach aspect
I DO however see a LOT less fighting events with Chinese flavor. I mean if you look at that "old articles" thread, or if you were involved in the US san shou scene in the late 90's / early 2000's
Last edited by lkfmdc; 07-22-2011 at 10:03 AM.
Fighting has definitely taken a backseat to forms in the CMA tournaments. I was just being picky about your phrasing above.
I think there's several factors weighing into that decline: the rise of MMA, more regulations imposed on full contact fights, the Olympic wushu bid of 2008, the increase of wushu-based fight scenes in movies, and the fat asses of our forum members who'd rather flame each other instead of practicing.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
I obviously edited the above, but I HAVE seen people just say "oh we can't do it" without even investigating the real deal
CA is apparently the exception rather than the rule ( you can do MMA but not san shou, how f-in strange is that!)
BECAUSE of MMA being accepted and regulated it is EASIER to do kickboxing now (which is what most CMA competitions are, sanshou included). I mean, you are using pads, there is no hitting downed guys, no choking them out, etc
I can get MMA insurance for around $2000, a san shou event would be CHEAPER. Considering that events in the past got over 150 competitors at $60 a head, that would be well within budget
I think it is more of an EXCUSE....
You know, I just heard that there are now more medical marijuana providers in Los Angeles than there are Starbucks.
CA amateur MMA is now dominated by CAMO. Cung was talking about doing a 'limited technique' MMA fight that would have essentially been sanshou (in a ring) last year, but he bailed on it, as what was the point really? It's not like that would have attracted more fighters or more audience. The real sticking point with sanshou here is the leitai. Full contact has to be in a ring or a cage. No one will touch the leitai concept - it's all about insurance.
Wow, Iron_Eagle_76! You can get wifi on your yacht now?
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
I have heard 2nd hand bad stuff about that
Any comment?
I understand that Cung's shows (Born to Fight) which were in a RING were not allowed, he then turned it into an MMA show
Am I wrong?
My understanding is the entire format, not the competition area, is considered illegal
We had a LOT of shows in CA thanks to Cung (and Tat Mau)... if it is actually LEGAL that would be some hope
Gene left me hanging
No.
Well, Cung is all about MMA and movie making now, but he still proudly reps sanshou and kudos to him for that. He still does BtF events. In fact, I think there was one last weekend. I went to one last year. ; it was under the auspices of CAMO. One of the issues, as you pointed out in the thread above, is indeed throws above the waist. Honestly, I think most of the issues are trivial and surmountable. The real thing holding back sanshou is lack of interest. With so many Muay Thai and MMA fights going on all the time here now, sanshou can't even get a foothold in, promotion-wise.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
If full MMA is now legal in the state, you'd think they could let amateurs do some kickboxing with some throws
(but it IS CA LOL!)
Not sure either if it is "do able" but you'd think that since you can do everything you do in Thai in San Da AND you can also wrestle that it would appeal to the MMA crowd
IE, train your stand up, ALL your stand up
But Muay Thai is a lot more organized and they stick together