I had a long discussion with the main coach of the Chinese Olympic Judo/wrestling team on this subject. We all know that Chinese government would pay any price for the Olympic gold metals. The coach said, "If Qi work on the mat then what do you think that I'm doing here for?"
He had a good point there. If Qi works, Chines government would find those "true masters" no matter where they might hide, and force them to teach how to use Qi on the wrestling mat.
OK, may be Qi just doesn't work well on the wrestling mat. How about in the boxing ring? Chinese government would be interested in the Olympic boxing gold metal as well.
If Qi can neither work on the wrestling mat nor work in boxing ring then where can Qi be useful?
Last edited by YouKnowWho; 10-14-2013 at 08:26 PM.
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None of those events would force them to flee the country, and of course we know individuals who remained through each event. The motive for the burning of the monastery wasn't to kill the monks, and there are numerous other monasteries all over Songshan (which people don't seem to realize). It is ridiculous to think that any of those events would force all the monks of Shaolin Monastery to flee the country and show up in Chinatowns around the world. Bawang is probably right again...
That's true that they crank out some excellent athletes for the Olympics. I'm just not sure why they can't do the same for champion fighters. Sanda is pitted against Muay Thai in general, and does well. But we still don't see Chinese champions in the main K-1 tournament.
Furthermore, Kung-Fu does have grappling, so is it just weak grappling? And Japan is where Jiu-Jitsu originated and they have Pride, Shoot Fighting, etc. yet the Japanese still can't match the American & Brazilians in MMA. Granted that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu revolutionized the ground game of Jujutsu & Judo, but much of BJJ's ground game for these Japanese arts are still there in JJJ & Judo.
If anything, BJJ is not the dominating force any longer in the UFC, like it was in the early days. Especially with Dana White, aka Mr. Clean...making it very clear that he wants "exciting fights only", which means no pure grab-assers will get too many fights. He wants standup, bloody and KO's. So this should favor the Kung-Fu & Sanda fighters of China. Ground game is still essential, just not as much.
Lastly, China pumps a ton of money into their sports program to bring national pride in forms of title belts and trophies to their country. Incredible govt' subsidy to Chinese athletes compared to American athletes who are usually, all self funded. Not to mention a lot of money in the top tier UFC fighters. Then there's Boxing, where the most money can be made. Why can't China produce good fighters?
I'll get flamed for this, but my opinion is that Asians just aren't as good in the fighting game, even though our culture is fully engulfed in chopsocky movies.
During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Monks either fled into hiding or were incarcerated and re-educated by the Communists. The Commies don't play around, especially during that period of time when Communism was striving for significance. Shaolin Monks have been known in Chinese history to be resistors of oppressive regimes. The Commies would have never let such shizz-disturbers roam free. And, they are a highly religious entity, which is a no-no to Marxists. I know some Vietnamese that were imprisoned by the Commies for over 10 years in re-education camps just for being capitalists. These camps were like concentration camps.
It wasn't that long ago... Can you name any of these individuals you refer to only as "the monks" and do you know about their individual lives, or are you just repeating what you think is likely to have happened to "the monks"?
haha, yea you probably fight to the death against multiple opponents all the time right? I always carry my 9mm + 2 knives whenever legal, so it's usually never a fair fight if I was attacked. I don't chopsocky in the streets, only bang-bang. But most of the time, showing it ends the situation (except 1 time).
You know, a trained fighter knocking you the F out with his fist & feet, works just the same in the street, in prison, Mad Max Thunderdome, etc. as it does in the ring.
The only difference is, in the ring, the referee saves you from brain damage or death. While in the streets, once you're unconscious and lying on the pavement.....it's up to the trained fighter's good graces whether he walks away or just stomps on your head repeatedly until your skull caves in and you die. I mean, who's going to stop him if it was only you two?
So, in other words, you're just guessing and don't really know anything about what actually took place...
As for fighting, different situations require different strategies. Would you disagree? In a lot of situations outside the ring, pure sanda strategy and tactics pulled out as is won't cut it. One can be a champion fighter in sporting competitions and still not fare so well outside. It is not the be all and end all.
Of course there are some very high level monks - but it doesn't make sense to think that some voluntary amateurs will be higher level than professionals selected from a billion people for their exceptional talent, and provided with the best coaching and resources in the world. Of course, you could argue that the monks are more traditional, and therefore better. I rather think that that is a specious argument, for various reasons.
I get the impression you know some of the monks personally and feel a loyalty to them. I haven't trained at Shaolin, but I did, very, very briefly, do a bit of training with some of the monks. And they were extremely impressive. But then I got to see professional level wushu over a long period, and in my view there is simpy no comparison. But - it's just my view.
Last edited by Miqi; 10-15-2013 at 04:45 AM.