Quote Originally Posted by Black Jack II View Post
Beat me to it.

Functional is a whole different ballgame than whatever modality you cater the term master with.

Often they are not even equal in description. Meaning you can have some sort of mechanical mastery of an art form, the same as would a trained dancer, but not be able to apply anything you know in a real world context.
Agreed.
In Pai Lum, you can become "functional" by working the individual techniques taught in the very first beginner's form for a few days on a heavy bag. There are many, many more than that, though, just to master the begginer's level. And mastering the begginers level isn't mastering the art, it is just adding an orange fringe to your newby sash.