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Thread: My experience over 15 years

  1. #1
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    My experience over 15 years

    I've been studying the martial arts in some form or another for about 15 years or so and there are a few lessons I've taken away from it all.

    The first is that traditional arts mostly blow for training people to fight fo realz yo. I've come to the conclusion that traditional martial arts, especially those hailing from china and parts close by, were designed mostly as a way of life for a few "masters". String along students for decades with potential "secret" techniques and long hours training forms and other less than efficient ways of training. most of the classes I've attended, or stopped by to observe seem to lack the type of individual who appears to have a real fighting spirit. They seem more obsessed with the tradition of the art and the sillyness behind magical thinking that still pervades a lot of tma.

    A few individuals have taken traditional arts and applied modern science or reworked or in some cases just completely removed the traditional ways of training and have managed to come up with some serviceable and practicle ways of fighting.

    Many TMA instructors seem ego fueled or financially motivated and tend to claim their own perspective on the art or martial arts in general is better than everyone elses and generally it's just more of the same crap.

    3 months in an program designed off modern principles for practicle reasons, no practicing of forms, no long days spent memorizing crappy strings of moves, just demonstrations on how to do this or that then tons and tons of drilling against fully resisting opponents trying to apply their own lessons on you. In fact it reminds me that I've seen whole TMA schools that appear to not even bother sparring or attempting to apply their techniques under the guise of "too deadly" or some such other crap.

    I used to be one of those guys who cringed whenever an MMA guy on this board started talking about his experiences but as it turns out, modern ways of training and the application of science, not magical thinking, will provide you with the fight skills a whole lot faster. In some ways I think even the arts that have turned mostly to sport these days provide something more tangible than a lot of so called TMA.

    So what's the deal? What's keeping all these crappy arts and instructors around?
    _______________
    I'd tell you to go to hell, but I work there and don't want to see you everyday.

  2. #2
    Actually, I have been training for over 35 years, and have been on this board for over 10 years, and what I want to know is.....how is it you have almost 9,000 posts here and I have never heard of you?

    What keeps all those crappy arts around is a relatively safe society where people have no idea what real fighting or personal danger is all about, so they can pretend to be learning to defend themselves rather than really work hard, get all sweaty, suffer pain, and get hurt.

    We live in a fantasy world of general opulence in America, where most people have only seen danger or experienced danger on TV or at the movies.

    When you live in REAL dangerous circumstances you are more likely to take defending yourself seriously. When you live in relative opulent comfort, you can fantasize about a world of peace and love where lambs lay down with lions, and practice martial arts as part of your lame new age philosophy/religion.

    The instructors do what they do because there are people who will pay for it. We want our children to learn to defend themselves without actually having to hurt themselves or someone else.

    Not to mention the risk of law suits for pu$$ies who don't know how to take pain or injury as part of their training.

    We had a brand new student, WAY back in the day, who broke her collar bone the first day of class! All she was doing was learning how to roll too, nothing dangerous or even, what we considered, challenging. Today, you will get sued for something like that!

  3. #3
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    You've never heard of him because he was very prolific for a few years, a few years ago, then disappeared.

    Hi red. I see you've come over to the darkside.
    "In the world of martial arts, respect is often a given. In the real world, it must be earned."

    "A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. "--Bertrand Russell

    "Liberals - Cosmopolitan critics, men who are the friends of every country save their own. "--Benjamin Disraeli

    "A conservative government is an organised hypocrisy."--Benjamin Disraeli

  4. #4
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    The most traditional school I've been in in China had the best sanshou guys, and was a free class for huizu(and this white guy). The difference between it and other classes was the breadth of knowledge of the teacher of his sytem and the frequent usage of the techniques of the system.

    Kungfu schools and comps in China see thousands of sanshou fighters, because the culture supports that.

    Comps in the US are almost entirely forms based, and put out few fighters.

    You're behind the times. Half the guys on here training or training people are training their style's techniques and principles in varied drills and sparring, a good number have ring experience, and most view form as one tool that cannot be the only tool. Who cares what keeps the throwbacks going, you want cma to be useful, support the ones who are doing the work to make it so, dwelling on the others while throwing the ones doing the good work in the same category is disengenuine and a total waste of time, you'll never get rid of them regardless. Either you support schools who train realistically with full contact, or it's lip service for a convenient proselytizing rant.

    Most of the kung fu schools I saw in China had sanshou programs. Since most of the kung fu schools you've been in don't, I'd hardly call your awareness of what constitutes a kung fu school definitive.

    Either you're doing omething good on here for kung fu and promoting the schools who are doing the good work, or you're slamming kung fu because you think you are some necessary element to wake everyone else to your truth, which will lead to a quick banning, as has been seen. Bithcing about the state of schools you were in is totally non-productive, you can read, you can quite easily see that there are members here speaking about functional techniques and comparing ways to train, not being insular, not resting o traditions without making sure they are useful If you can't, try reading youknowwho's, or Lucas', or Iron Eagle's, or TGY's, or Ross', or Drake's, or...

    If you can't be bothered to read those and recognize that every one of them is discussing traditional techs and training methods that they see as useful and don't resemble the schools you're complaining about, we can't be bothered to respond to this lame mma vs. tma thread. These threads don't play out here much anymore, this is the second one you've done, it's the same topc, and the first one didn't play out much, either.

    My first kung fu teacher fought sanshou, did ANY of yours? My first taichi teacher taught san shou champions, how about yours? Did they train you using that method, or did you just do forms? If not, why are you pointing fingers at others as though they were at your school? Lame kung fu teachers suck, lame martial arts teachers suck, and most of them aren't that great, covered that point, now can we talk about martial arts?

  5. #5
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    This thread is BTDT.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by YouKnowWho View Post
    This thread is BTDT.
    Quoted for truth.

  7. #7
    minding our own yard or front gate.

    we only sweep the dust or snow in front of our own gate.

    we do not care about the snow or ice on top of other people's roof.

    we do not sweep for them.

    good schools and good instructors will stand out.


  8. #8
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    you wasted 15 years studying fake ass american interpretations of what asian martial arts are.

    what do you suppose they use to fight in asia?

    you should have been learning this!
    Last edited by David Jamieson; 12-12-2010 at 09:12 AM.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  9. #9
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    Let's not forget Red5 once thought Capoeria was the bee's knees, so let's not get carried away here.
    He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher. -- Walt Whitman

    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    As a mod, I don't have to explain myself to you.

  10. #10
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    I thought Red5 studied wing chun or some hakka style or something. Just the same, I would gander to think that there aren't that many ppl on the forum now that are under 30yrs old. So most have experienced enough to shed the hocus pocus and kinda come into thier own, or at the least accept what they are doing for what it is. A few of the posts on this thread are pretty sound in that respect. The value of our experiences will always be primarily subjective though. yet at some point we will all get too old to be badasses, except at the local bar, or the accepted bar for meeting at one of the tournaments.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by brothernumber9 View Post
    I thought Red5 studied wing chun or some hakka style or something. Just the same, I would gander to think that there aren't that many ppl on the forum now that are under 30yrs old. So most have experienced enough to shed the hocus pocus and kinda come into thier own, or at the least accept what they are doing for what it is. A few of the posts on this thread are pretty sound in that respect. The value of our experiences will always be primarily subjective though. yet at some point we will all get too old to be badasses, except at the local bar, or the accepted bar for meeting at one of the tournaments.
    lol, I would say that a great deal of the posters here are under 30.
    The over 40 crowd is not that big, although it does have the deepest message.

    except for ronin, who also has the deepest message.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  12. #12
    Has anyone considered he may be a recently banned poster, resuming an old pseudonym, trying to stir the pot again?

  13. #13
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    Tell me Sherlock, does Lestrade pay you for this?
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  14. #14
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    Hung Sing Boyz, we gottit on lock down
    when he's around quick to ground and pound a clown
    Bruh we thought you knew better
    when it comes to head huntin, ain't no one can do it better

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    Tell me Sherlock, does Lestrade pay you for this?
    Everyone knows Sherlock works gratis!

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