kung fu is whatever you put your mind to. whether its forms, lion dancing or fighting. some people do it for themselves. others do it to test themselves in competition and reach for the gold. it when we start letting others tell us how we should feel, want, or do becomes the problem.
i am happy with what i do. my students are happy. they don’t have dreams of becoming ufc champs. they’re satisfied with what they’re learning and confident in using it effectively in a hostile situation.
kung fu itself is the umbrella and under it falls the fighting, forms, lion dancing, basics and stance training then into weapons.
all of those who hate kung fu, thats your problem. deal with it.
[QUOTE=sanjuro_ronin;1193840]Kung fu isn’t JUST about fighting, we all know this and not everyone does kung fu “to fight” or to be prepared to fight.
The problem is when kung fu is NEVER about fighting.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with this. Fighting must be understood to have cultivated kung fu in yourself. You don’t have to be the greatest or the baddest of all bad asses, but you should understand it (violence) in the sense of it being a reality that may occur in your life.
Judo teacher: Judo is not only for fighting, it’s good for health too. When I use hip throw to throw your body over my head, it’s good for my health.
Student: It may be good for your health, but it’s not good for my health.
Have people noticed that “TCMA for health” guys may spend more time in “power generation” and “strike into the thin air” than “TCMA for combat” guys do?
Is it fair to say that those who work on the heavy bag are “TCMA for combat” guys. Those who do not are “TCMA for health” guys?
[QUOTE=YouKnowWho;1193895]Judo teacher: Judo is not only for fighting, it’s good for health too. When I use hip throw to throw your body over my head, it’s good for my health.
Student: It may be good for your health, but it’s not good for my health.
Have people noticed that “TCMA for health” guys may spend more time in “power generation” and “strike into the thin air” than “TCMA for combat” guys do?
Is it fair to say that those who work on the heavy bag are “TCMA for combat” guys. Those who do not are “TCMA for health” guys?[/QUOTE]
The crazy part is that power generation is an advanced concept that really only makes sense after you’ve begun the path of mastery of kung fu’s most basic intrinsic skill - fighting. These TCMA for health guys are just plain nuts because the whole idea behind the power generation practice was for a guy to be able to deliver a tremendous strike. The health aspects are neat, but the basic basic basic foundation needs to be developed first. And it has nothing to do with “the street” or the too deadly primitive combat. Here’s how I know… the creation myth behind the art that I practice. Wong Long developed mantis because of sparring sessions with his Kung Fu brother. These weren’t life and death matches - these were games/contests between two friends. They fought for the pure joy of mastery of fighting techniques - and one guy kept consistently winning, the other wanted to win. This is the foundation of mantis - friendly but rough sparring between friends.
The crazy part is that power generation is an advanced concept that really only makes sense after you’ve begun the path of mastery of kung fu’s most basic intrinsic skill - fighting.
i feel like a broken record when a new student comes in. “YOU’RE USING TOO MUCH MUSCLE”. OVER AND OVER.
These TCMA for health guys are just plain nuts because the whole idea behind the power generation practice was for a guy to be able to deliver a tremendous strike.
INSTEAD OF BEING A TOOL TO SAVE THEIR LIVES, THEY TURN TO THE ARTISTIC SIDE AND NEGLECT THE COMBATIVE SIDE.
They fought for the pure joy of mastery of fighting techniques - and one guy kept consistently winning, the other wanted to win. This is the foundation of mantis - friendly but rough sparring between friends.
[QUOTE=hskwarrior;1193912]i feel like a broken record when a new student comes in. “YOU’RE USING TOO MUCH MUSCLE”. OVER AND OVER.[/QUOTE]
We tell the students, “The idea about taking 10,000 times to master a skill is that YOU are supposed to practice 10,000 times. Not that WE have to TELL you 10,000 times!”
We tell the students, “The idea about taking 10,000 times to master a skill is that YOU are supposed to practice 10,000 times. Not that WE have to TELL you 10,000 times!”
