Sunstylin:
What I say proves crap? lol First of all, before I prove anything, you tell me a name of a single kung fu master who had proven his skills in any form of hand to hand combat in modern times. Don't go into stories and legends. Trust me, I have read them all. Ron Van Clief was a 10th degree black belt in Okinawan Goju Ryu and a master of Chinese martial arts. He (though a great guy and a good teacher from what I hear) lost in minutes and taken down in 4 seconds. In IL. there have been several masters (though not from China) who have competed in NHB events. There have also been a few who faught in Indiana. All lost. The person you are claiming to be a novice was a guy claiming to practice some 5 animal kung fu. I never thought of him as a master, but he looked pretty good. As for other masters, there have been masters from karate and tkd who have competed in no rules events since the day they began. Don't just look at the UFC, the promoters of which quickly realized that having "masters" of traditional arts (like Thomas Ramirez claiming to be a Pa Gua master from Porto Rico...and getting KOd with a single punch in 8 seconds) competing would get them killed. Look at the No Rules competitions all over the world. Check out the Gracie tape where Royce fights and defeats (twice in a row same guy) a San Soo Kung Fu teacher. Than see his brother Royler defeat a 3rd degree black belt in Kempo (later that Kempo guy published an artical in black belt magazine about his experience). Why not see some Vale Tudo tapes from Brazil (the one features Marco Ruas) where a team of Kung Fu fighters get destroyed by a few nhb competitors. Actually, get any no rules competition from Brazil and/or tapes of challenge matches at the Gracie academy. All traditional masters lose and lose badly. Rent some Extreme Fighting tapes and see how well some proclaimed Wing Chun fighters do. What about a Wing Chun grandmaster (name not included) who got taken down by a challenger at his very own seminar in late 80s. The grandmaster was in his prime back then. No reason he should not have been able to stop a basic double leg take down from a guy with mediocre background in college wrestling. In IL, IN, WI, and MI we have seen no Rules competitions in the early days (before people truly accepted cross training) where classical fighers got demolished. I would imagined people from the West and East coast witnessed the same. I have yet to hear of a traditional master winning any full contact no rules even. Their excuse, "Our skills are too deadly to be showcased...we practice to fight for life and death not sport...we don't want to make the Gracie's money...NHB is for kids, true masters would handle them." LOL To me, and many like me this sounds like, 'I don't want to embarass myself and realize that my skills are not good enough to stop a cross trained fighter...I don't want to face truth.'
Tell me, are you one of those people who still believes in the invincibility of a master? In that case...which one? I'd like to meet this fellow. Seems like before 1993, many masters have been claiming to teach the ultimate art stating that the reason they don't compete, is that there are too many rules. Now that we have tournaments with virtually no rules, all these masters avoid challenging their skill. I respect all that have stepped into the Octagon. Whether they were guys like Fred Ettish (a 5th degree in Kempo who couldnt take a punch) or Royce Gracie. They, at least, didn't talk. And, those novices you Kung Fu novices you mentioned. I respect them much more than any Kung Fu master talking about his skills and skills of his masters, as appose to displaying some of the against a contested apponent. Hell, if Jason Delucia (a novice according to you) faught what you would call a MASTER, I'd have my money on Jason.
Are there good masters? I'm sure there are. I'm not sure where they're hiding. Any master in his prime (as masters of Sambo, Judo, BJJ, Pancration, JKD, have done ) can prove his arts effectiveness by stepping into the ring.
MA fanatic