[QUOTE=bawang;1272501]kung fu people often associate big muscles with arrogance, bullying, and humiliation and pain. they often see kung fu styles like tai chi and wing chun as “one weird trick to defeat big tough guy”. this is why they are scared of “cross training”. to meet their childhood bully archetypes again. to know that they did not go on to bag groceries and flip burgers, but are successful and power, and still dominate you. skinny efiminate kung fu guys are children of boomers, that was the generation of neglect, lack of love from parents, new age movement erasing european tradition and heritage, and emasculation from feminism. that is why they seek out kung fu to fill that void within themselves.[/quote]
I actually see the Western concept of machismo, which is just a slightly different idea of face, as a key part of the problem in much the same way face is a problem for Chinese martial arts in China. Not being able to face one’s weaknesses, but having to deny them and respond with a show of strength.
There are plenty of fit kung fu people who cannot fight very well. Hell, when I was younger in kung fu, I knew a lot of body builders. The only ones who could fight were the ones who trained it, even if some of the others got in a bar fight here and there, that was them picking fights that were really just shows of strength, not testing skills against anyone worth fighting.
Shows of strength are not always applicable strength.
the theme of kung fu is transformation.
lifting weights and hitting bags is not “crosstraining”. they are “training”.
Indeed. Kung Fu is a transformative process.
For the mind and the body.
I don’t know about the spiritual part. I suppose that kind of transformation is different from my point of view and has very little to do with Kung Fu practice in a martial sense.
[QUOTE=Dale Dugas;1272484]You need to train how to strike, kick, throw, & grapple. If need be, go learn from others. I agree with many others here that there is nothing wrong with learning from multiple teachers. Look at Master Chang from Shuai Jiao. He spent years learning from different teachers who were experts in different aspects of Shuai Jiao, let alone being cross trained in other systems.
If you do not train in what you lack, someone who does is going to get you.
I do not care who tells you that you only need one of the above mentioned skills or half of them.
If you lack one of these areas, someone who does not will get you.[/QUOTE]
Indeed!! This is the philosohy I live by. Well said!!
As I once state din another thread, the main issue that some CLAIM to have with cross training is the whole silliness of “jack of all trades, master of none”.
The reality is that has ZERO to do with it because the TRADE is fighting.
Let me say it again, the TRADE of MA is FIGHTING.
For a MA that is a striker to training in a different MA ( perhaps grappling) to perfect his fighting skill is comparable to a welder that is proficient in TIG welding training in MIG to be a better welder.
The trade is welding, the cross training is in different TYPES of welding.
The trade we do is fighting and the cross training is in different TYPES of fighting.
When we cross training in the aspects that are not prioritized in out base MA (like grappling is not prioritized in WC for example) we are MASTERING our trade (fighting) because we are become proficient in ALL aspects of our trade.
No one is a master welder if he only knows ONE method of welding.
No one is a master MA if he knows only ONE aspect of the MA.
To cross train is to become a master in the trade that is Martial Arts.
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1272648]As I once state din another thread, the main issue that some CLAIM to have with cross training is the whole silliness of “jack of all trades, master of none”.
The reality is that has ZERO to do with it because the TRADE is fighting.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;1272738]Service pic in uniform or it didn’t happen. :p[/QUOTE]
I would be offended by your statement, but have achieved a higher spirituality through membership in Canadian secret societies and frequent guitar playing. Also, UFOs.
As I once state din another thread, the main issue that some CLAIM to have with cross training is the whole silliness of “jack of all trades, master of none”.
The reality is that has ZERO to do with it because the TRADE is fighting.
Let me say it again, the TRADE of MA is FIGHTING.
For a MA that is a striker to training in a different MA ( perhaps grappling) to perfect his fighting skill is comparable to a welder that is proficient in TIG welding training in MIG to be a better welder.
The trade is welding, the cross training is in different TYPES of welding.
The trade we do is fighting and the cross training is in different TYPES of fighting.
When we cross training in the aspects that are not prioritized in out base MA (like grappling is not prioritized in WC for example) we are MASTERING our trade (fighting) because we are become proficient in ALL aspects of our trade.
No one is a master welder if he only knows ONE method of welding.
No one is a master MA if he knows only ONE aspect of the MA.
To cross train is to become a master in the trade that is Martial Arts.
[QUOTE=Faux Newbie;1272740]I would be offended by your statement, but have achieved a higher spirituality through membership in Canadian secret societies and frequent guitar playing. Also, UFOs.:D[/QUOTE]
the reason no one wants to cross train their wing chun is very simple. If you mix black and white you get gray. mix good and bad and you get mediocre. Training any other inferior system will usually require one to violate the very principles that make wing chun the very best fighting system ever devised. you wanted to know, so there it is.
