Martial Arts obsession

[red_fists]

Originally posted by neito
your new icon looks cool

Thanks.

Just glad the Chinese Characters can still be deciphered at that size.

[jon]

Am i obsessed with Kung fu???

1 I do a course in it and practice for a minimum of 3-4 hours a day and usualy more.

2 I have very few friends left as i never have anything other than kung fu to talk about.

3 The girl im dating obviously thinks im a little insane and the weapons on my bedroom door give her the creeps.

4 Im not working at the moment but im looking for a job and the my compleate wish list includes - hours that still let me attend class.

5 Old people in Chinatown are starting to recognise me.

6 My master knows EVERYONE so most of my contacts are now also in the kung fu world.

7 Several of my better friends are kung fu instructors

8 Ive never learnt any chinese formaly but im picking it up at a rate of knots.

9 I have Yum Cha several times a week with other students and my sifu.

10 People KEEP thinking i speak chinese dispite obviously being a westener. I get constant questions IN Chinese from Chinese tourists and they still look supprised when i motion i dont understand them.

11 My best friend...
I drive an hour to go and see him and then when i do we spend the rest of the day belting each other up.

12 When i play fighting games on PS2 i get angry becouse i cant simply enter the game and fight the way 'I' would.

13 I still answer the posts by trolls

14 The majority of the people i hang out with are Chinese and i spend most of my time in Chinatown. Im becomming an egg

15 I read profiles of anyone i like a comment of and then spend the rest of the day wondering how they would fight.

16 I come here everyday and usualy several times, for some reason i seem to think if i dont check the boards every few hours the world may come to an end.

17 I hit EVERYTHING, as i walk along i punch walls, poles, signs, walk signals, lamp posts, trees - if its in my path it will proberly cop a hit. Ive even learnt to do it so hardly anyone notices

18 I look around at my surroundings and try and work out Jacky Chan inspired stunts i could pull off.

19 I walk strait though the middle of large groups of guys - i simply dont care anymore

20 I seem to be constantly flexing my forearms, when im not making tiger claws im spinning my wrists around.

21 I have loads of weapons in my room, i found out today this is NOT a way to impress women

22 My dogs are both scared of me and are sick of being 'sparred'

23 All the movies I watch are Chinese and i have over 30 HK
action films on DVD

24 Ive broken all of the punching bags ive ever owned, the last one tore in half after a side kick... pffft knew i should have got leather

25 I have gotten to number 25 and could easily keep going...
For eg
My martial arts book collection
My collection of ornamental dragons
My total inbility to hold a converstation with someone without at some point relating it to kung fu.
The fact i seem to now enjoy being hit
I like watching old men move slowly

What do you guys recon, am I obsessed?

[Chinwoo-er]

You know, before this minute, I thought I was obsessed. Now I know what it means to be obsessed.

Although I could apply most of what you have said onto my own life, I bow down to you jon. For you have gone way beyond my league. You should either see disiples following your devotion or a doctor.

But there is something I have done which I see you have not. I have avoided a romantic relationship all my life because i know it will take up the valuable training time I need. I have avoided video games, parties, celebrations, etc too for the same reason.

Your humble servent

Chinwoo-er

[Arhat of Fury]

BALANCE..... Danielson.... BALANCE
(insert yelling Pat Morita voice)

[Tae Li]

Iim jealous...my obsession has become quite pathetic.. BUT NO ONE beats my obsession with Jet Li, and EVERYONE on this forum knows that... so take that!!!!!

plus, my so called on again off again Boyfriend is as Chinese as they get cos he is from HK, but in aust now. plus im taking mandorin class at uni...plus i can use chopsticks...ok thats a dumb one but still, its a skill you know...for a westerner.


Tae Li

[jon]

Tae Li
"BUT NO ONE beats my obsession with Jet Li, and EVERYONE on this forum knows that... so take that!!!!!"
* He is all yours
Leave me Han_Jing and ill be happy

"my so called on again off again Boyfriend is as Chinese as they get cos he is from HK"
* Hehe that makes him a Honky not a Chinese Does he wear heaps of Jag and CK too

"plus im taking mandorin class at uni"
* You are lucky Ive tried before but i was young and didnt have the attension span. Starting to need it, my sifus English is not exactly first rate.

"plus i can use chopsticks...ok thats a dumb one but still, its a skill you know...for a westerner. "
* lol, im developing the full bowl to mouth shovel rice effect like a real Chinese... Ive even eaten a chickens foot... A CHICKENS FOOT I TELL YA!!!
Im also trying to figure out how to fight using chopsticks


Next time you see me i will proberly be dressed in silk carrying a sword and talking like a taoist Not much a change really

Gawd i need help!

Least the new girl likes my forearms i guess

[Ego_Extrodinaire]

Jon,

You truely live your life like a B grade Shaw Brothers movie coming to life. You've even got a sifu who speaks very bad english. Why not ask him / her to take english lessons rather than you study chinese, or mime in chinese but speak in english.

Do you relate well to the main character in the movie Kung Pow or better still the fighting cow?

[dezhen2001]

Jon: have you ever tried ducks feet? or baby octopus?
Very Nice!

Ego: how can you 'mime in Chinese'

david

[nightair]

Martial arts is a lifstyle not a sport, you can't get too obsessed you do what you have to do, and if people don't understand that then too bad for them, all my friends and family know that that is my life and they will never try to hinder it in every way, I would give up all my material possesions and live in the forest if it was requiered of me, and I really hope that I am not the last one that understands this. We need to keep the spirit alive and not let it die. This is our job to keep at least one thing just like it was. There is a reason it was so strict in the old days and now everyone trys to change everything in martial arts, that is why real harcore people like the stereotypical old-guy-in-the-park probably will never reaveal that he trains because he knows what will happen to the art if he trains anyone other than his children and grandchildren. The world makes a industry out of whatever they come across. I mean how many of you teachers here teach for free, every time I come across someone who knows something they always want to charge me and that shows what has happend to the art forms.

[Chinwoo-er]

Nightair, while I admire your devotion and spirit, I find it rather hard for me to believe in the practicality of what you are talking about. I agree to basically all the ideals you have said. but at the end of the day, we are still living in a civilized ( acutally, "modern" would be a better word ) world. And in this world, we still need to put food on the table, roof over our head and clothes on our body. And I really don't see going out and living in the woods all alone will be valid unless you have a goldmine to support you.

True, given the availiable conditions, I have no doubt that i will do the same, but reality stands that it is not possible.

Which lead me back to my original question. What place would you put MA ? On a practical level. Not an ideal level. To be honest and with utmost respect, I really doubt that you will be willing to give up ALL you material poccessions as this in itself will stop you from your common daily life. If you don't have the fundamentals of a surviving being, there is not much point to talk about martial arts. For one cannot train if one is not fed and warm.

[dezhen2001]

but if your Sifu teaches for a 'living' then he has to charge something to make ends meet. Not in the McDojo sense, but in the sense that it is his 'life' he does nothing else.

Just because you have to pay money doesn't mean the skill is diluted. It means you have to help your Sifu! Who knows what the traditional way is? There is a saying 'you never get something for nothing'. Do you think someone would teach you their skill - that they have spent their life practising and perfecting for nothing? Whether you have to pay by money or 'pay' by doing something else is a common way of doing this.

In my own case, as i am poor, i pay by doing other things for my Sifu. Of course, if i can help him in any way, i would gladly do it...

It only becomes an industry if you succumb to the lure of the Green Qi. If not, you can still run a good school and make ends meet. The key is the balance. Not too expensive, but enough to live from. It's a difficult thing. Especially when most people think of you as providing THEM a 'service' (a class they can come and go to at will)!

Martial arts is a lifstyle not a sport <--- depends on what you are doing and your attitude towards it.

david

[nightair]

NO, I understand that we need to support familys and pay taxes but what I'm saying is I would only if necesary , Im saying that given the situation I would drop other things, yes I have other things I do(carrer wise) but they are only there to help me later meet martial goals in my life.
Dezhen2001-There is nothing wrong with paying your sifu. I would not ming helping him in any way but I'm talking about in general how martial arts has just become a huge industry . I feel that it is selfish if you practice and train your whole life for your own benefit ,you should train to be able to pass it on to the next generation, there true payment should be that they led you on the "way" and that when they die they know that you will succed as they have by keeping the original alive. Not teaching little kids how to defend themselves from a school bully, but keeping something sacred. And you said "it depends on what you are doing and your attitude towards it"exactly we should all have the same attitude about it. reching whatever it is that pushes us. Not to get a trophy it is much deeper thatn that and you all know it. There is no words that can describe the mysterious force that pushes us and I hope that it is not necesary to describe it because you shuold all already know what I am talking about. Some people say that it is all of the masters that have passed just trying to remind us what we all ned to accomplish. Like that Japanese kanji Keiko,"to meditate upon the old."I know a lot of you refuse to apreciate martial arts as a whole but research that word.
Chinwoo-er-I'm just saying that martial arts should be what you eat sleep and breathe.It is more than just being at the dojo. A person who paints is not just an artist when he has a brush in his hand. Martial arts is my common daily life. It is just like those people that do horrible stuff all week and then they go to church on sunday and think that they are doing ok.Martial arts can be applied to everything.Some people work there whole life to retire and "travel the world, or go fishing all of the time, or go see more of nature" why do you have to work all of your life first why don't you just go that path in the first place. I can't see how anyone can stay in the same place their whole life and call it a life. Same with martial arts everyculture has had some form of hand to hand combat why not try to understand all of them while keeping devotion to your chosen art. And I am being honest and I mean no disrespect to anyone, I would give up all of my material possesions if neccesary to continue on the "way"

[Ego_Extrodinaire]

dezhen2001: you mime chinese by mouthing chinese words but speaking in english - thats out of sync with the movements of your mouth.

So, you're another sucker who does chores for sifu, there're lots of them i've come across on this forum.

You're also saying that good sifus can charge a fee that's not too expensive to make ends meet. Can't you have a rich instructor who's good. Must they be poor and accept the chores student does for him. This is so sterotypical of kungfu pop culture it makes me sick.

nightair: what rubbish you speak to say that kungfu is a way of life. Fighters in the days of old did it for a living, be it a General in the Northern Army, elite guards on the silk road or insurgent movements amongst hung gar practitioners. Kung fu was their occupation, now people like you do it as a hobby. Way of life is just rubbish.

[dezhen2001]

to Ego:

you don't know me, know my background or anything about me! just like i don't know about you. Who are you to judge what i do or don't do? I hope that you feel much better now for taking out your aggression on me through the internet though

In my post the reference to miming Chinese was just a joke. Sorry you don't get my sense of humour.

I also never said anything about an instructor not being allowed to be rich. You can still have quality instruction and a successful, flourishing school. Charging the correct price is just good business sense. ie: not too expensive, or too cheap. Like i said in my original post.

I do things for my Sifu because i appreaciate his instruction but can't afford the price for class (being a student form a family with poor income and living on only a student loan sucks)... also because i respect him and would like to help him any way i can. He doesn't ask me to do them for him (as i'm quite sure he's capable himself), but sometimes i take the initiative. There's nothing wrong with that is there? Or should i give up on the idea of training and developing myself because me and my family have no money?

People train for different reasons. Again, who are you to judge them?

to nightair:

some of the thoughts i have and reasons i have are similar to your own But like i said above, people train for different reasons. Maybe some want to train so they can win competitions, others for health, self protection, all of the above, none of the above... so many different things. I think it's a good thing that people are interested in training martial arts, whatever the reason. They always change the further down the line you go anyway. I'm sure if you examine your initial reasons for training, they will not be the same as your reasons now? (of course i could be wrong )

david

[Tae Li]

boys boys boys... relax... we are all obsessive lunatics in our own way.

ok, now follow these instructions:

1. breath in.

2. breath out.

3. breath in.

4. breath out.

simple really.

Tae Li