KJ-

Good topic of discussion. For me training hard definately pays off the most, but there are always exceptions. Reducing the risk of major injury is always the right idea. Getting a broken nose, black eye, brusies and bumps are minor and all can heal in time. My sifu has had his ribs broken while sparring heavily before. One important attribute you will gain from this is self knowledge of what you can take.

For example we were sparring last week in class. One of my seniors snaked his fist through my arms after I trapped him up and popped me good right in the mouth. I was not even stunned, the second it made contact I slammed him on the ground and started to choke him out (later he reversed it and pretty much ended up beating me). Knowing that I can fight through basic attacks like that is a good sign to me. If someone breaks your nose can you get right back up and fight through it, or are you finished?

Have you ever been hurt and saw that white flash for a nanosecond then the pain immediately sets in? Can you fight past that white flash? I can sometimes and have before.

If you do not have realistic combat training (like heavy sparring, with hard contact in a controlled enviroment so no major injuries occur) then I do not believe your kung fu could with stand that many real fights. Know your limits, it makes you a better fighter. If you know for a fact you cannot win up front from knowing your limits and walk away unscathed, then that is good kung fu.

Conditioning is also a factor that must be taken seriously to be able to apply one's martial knowledge in an effective manner in real life. I work out and do endurance training, trust me it helps. I also started doing some iron palm training and one of my sihings just commented to me the other day about how he didn't like punching me anymore becuase whenever I block it with taan, jom, biu, or juts it hurts his arm, even when we are doing drills. That made me feel better about my training lately. That was just from conditioning my arms, which was really not that hard to do.

To answer your question in my own view its to train the following philosophy:

-You will get hit in class and it will hurt, but you will live, and getting hit in class is much better than getting hit on the streets.

-always be safe when it comes to breaking bones and dislocating joints, eye gouging, etc. those can be "career ending" injuries

-There is always risk involved, if you don't like that then don't train

-always respect sifu, and your fellow brothers/sisters/uncles/grand masters/etc and respect the kwoon. You need these things to balance out your training.

-Taking hits is a necessity at one point or another, its part of kung fu.

-fighting is not the best option to settle things, but sometimes you have to fight and I would much rather be prepared with realistic training over theory training

I have one question for you KJ. Since you are a woman, what are you views of training in general? I know we attack the groin when we train. This always reminds you that you can strike the groin to get out of certain situations, and it also reminds you that it hurts so keep your groin guarded. We have a few females that comes to class from time to time and I always feel awkard sparring and doing drills with them. Sometimes I have to grab them or trap them in akward positions. I don't give them any special treatment and treat them as equals. None of them have ever complained that I am too rough, or they feel uncomfortable that I am trapping them or grappling them in akward positions. But, then again they may never speak up. We do train all aspects of fighting when sparring so ground fighting comes into play. I grab a guys groin if I am in a real comprimised position and they present the strike to me, but I never strike a girl in the groin because it just seems wrong. So I guess I do give them special treatment in that way.

What are your views about realistic training with the opposite sex? Do you ever feel uncomfortable?