Effectiveness of flexible blades?

[Jables]

you are completely lacking in all things kung fu. You have no skill, no talent, and can only raise yourself up by bringing others down. So sad. A stationary object can only do so much.

Let me spell it out to you, it is the military who have good northern kung fu. Of course novices at fighting ie. monks have to run away from professional fighters - won't you? How would you stand up against a heavy weight boxer or a octogan fighter?

You sidestep the point as usual Ego. This statement has nothing to do with the previous statement. And is irrelevant.

I've seen shaolin monks fight in kung fu movies but their fighting styles in documentaries look quite unimpressive. I think the average bishop at the local church would be a fair match against any of them.

You've seen Shaolin Monks fight in movies? What an expert that must make you. What shaolin monk has ever been in a movie? I'll go ahead and answer that one for you, junior. None. You've seen Actors in movies, acting. They run through choreographed moves for dramatic effect. Movies are fantasy sparky. I'll clear that one up for you too. Some expert you are.

I also have seen footage of special forces apply unarmed combat skills. I think faced against a monk, the monk would do best to run away, perhaps hide in the local church.

Your entire statement only shows your ignorance. You lack the social skills necessary to actually make a point. In addition you have this fascination with worthless fighting styles. The octagon fighters? Nothing more than sport. It's sad that you would put so much faith in an activity that doesn't bring anything but detraction from the Martial Arts.

[Ego_Extrodinaire]

Jables

"you are completely lacking in all things kung fu. You have no skill, no talent, and can only raise yourself up by bringing others down. So sad. A stationary object can only do so much."

Are you trying to bring me down to your level of discussion?

"You sidestep the point as usual Ego. This statement has nothing to do with the previous statement. And is irrelevant."

What I said is completely relevant. To put it simply a novice best run away from professional fighters. Be it you from an octogon figher or a shaolin monk from a soldier. I never had much respect for the kung fu at shaolin temple anyway.

"You've seen Shaolin Monks fight in movies? What an expert that must make you. What shaolin monk has ever been in a movie? I'll go ahead and answer that one for you, junior. None. You've seen Actors in movies, acting. They run through choreographed moves for dramatic effect. Movies are fantasy sparky. I'll clear that one up for you too. Some expert you are."

I've seen shaolin monks do live performances. They are actors but with less special effects. They look more like gymnist rather than kung fu experts. I see little kung fu in what they do.

"Your entire statement only shows your ignorance. You lack the social skills necessary to actually make a point. In addition you have this fascination with worthless fighting styles. The octagon fighters? Nothing more than sport. It's sad that you would put so much faith in an activity that doesn't bring anything but detraction from the Martial Arts"

Most kung fu styles are less than what you see in the octogon. I've seen wing chun players getting creamed by octogan fighters and boxers. Becareful in what you say - by bringing something down you might be bringing yourself down with it and to a greater extent. To vindicate what you say, have you fought an octogan fighter and showed him or her that is nothing more than just a sport. Perhaps you might like to have a run in with Tank Abbot.

He's a brawler, nothing in your southern kung fu forms would prepare you against a brawler.

[Jables]

But what if anything have any of your latest posts had to do with the topic, junior? I'll cover that one for you. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. As usual, or should I say as is your style, you side step the original topic to talk about what you want to discuss. If you can't discuss the topic Ego, I suggest you go elsewhere.

You wanted to talk about the octagon. Sport. But is this an "octagon" thread? No. You want to talk about the effectiveness shaolin monk kung fu. Is this a thread on that subject? Once again I'll give you the answer that you've so stubbornly overlooked. No. You want to talk about things that have nothing to do with the discussion at hand Ego. If you have nothing to say about the topic at hand, then keep your fingers still.

It's really too bad that you didn't have anything constructive to say about the topic at hand.

Ego Minimus. Sad really.

[friday]

Ego Minimus!!!!

[Ego_Extrodinaire]

Jables:

If you paid a little more attention to what I had said earlier, it is quite evident that flexible blades are a modern creation for wu shu performances and not for real live battles.

It was omarthefish who brought in the monks - maybe you should address him for going off topic in the first instance. and it was you who said that octogan fighters are nothing more than sports fighting.

Sure the topic might have gone off, but from the number of views so far, it sure ain't stale!

How would you rate yourself against Tank Abbot?

[Doug]

Hello,

To add to the discussion, wushu weapons do not contribute to the real history of Chinese martial arts.

For one to practice an authentic art, one must use the weapons of the past (either by purchasing an antique or an accurate modern weapon). However, this is usually a difficult aspect to weapon training: accurate weapons are few and far between. Some companies, such as www.sevenstarstrading.com , sell authentic weapons from China that can be used in practice. Every weapon sold there is guaranteed to be what it is advertised as. The weapons sold there will hold together for forms practice, and they will cut (but since these are antiques, I would not recommend it in favor of preserving them). The modern ones from from Cold Steel or Paul Chen are not necessarily accurate (or even the ones from www.martialartmart.com , which certainly are not representative of real swords, knives, etc.). They are either too heavy or too light. The balance may be wrong. The fittings may get in the way of good technique. Something can just throw the whole weapon off. This is one problem facing Chinese martial artists today.

If one uses wushu weapons, one should realize that what one is practicing is something other than the combat version of the art in question. As long as that distinction is clear, then there is no problem. However, if one thinks one is practicing a real version of a chosen art with a wushu weapon or a weapon that is overtly heavy--so heavy that one cannot properly perform the techniques of a given form correctly--then there is a problem.

This just opens a can of worms when the idea of weapon sparring or weapon competition comes into play.

It is my hope that Chinese martial artists (not performers) will be able to return to more accurate implemnts in their training. In terms of swords or polearms, the first mass-producer I would recommend is www.kriscutlery.com for their good work. I have a Gim from them that is pretty well balanced and is not too heavy. I have yet to try out their dao, but when I do, I will post my findings and comparisons to my antique dao.

Doug M

[alecM]

If some of you want good info on Chinese sword have a look here at Thomas Chen's website.
From what I’ve read in this thread there’s a lot of old wives tales about Chinese weaponry still doing the rounds and a lot of cr@p from Ego.
Ego I see you are still preaching that cr@p that Chinese armies consisted people from Northern of China and they made the best soldiers.
Like to debate the subject a bit more or you afraid you might get banned from here as well.

one more thing Ego or is it Kelvin, most people in the US don't know what a balaclava is so you must be from the UK or Australia

[Doug]

Yes, Thomas Chen's site is a good one. He frequents www.swordforum.com quite a bit. I recommend to anyone who is interested in accurate weapon usage and construction to frequent that forum too.

Also, check out Scott Rodell's new book, Chinese Swordsmanship: The Yang Family Taji Jian Tradition, for a great resource on the straight sword of China.

Doug M

[Doug]

Check out this link for more information that is extremely helpful:

http://forums.swordforum.com/showthr...&threadid=3283

Doug M