Yes, I am starting a Shaolin-do thread, again. I am new to this board, but being a Shaolin-do student in San Antonio, I wanted to put my 2 cents in. I haven’t been there long, only around 5 months or so, but to me personally I think the Sifu there is TOP NOTCH. I personally think that all this bashing will always go on, regardless of what one learns. For example: 1. Which Wing Chun organization is better? There are 3 popular branches now (each one always headbutting the other) 2. American Kenpo, Tracy’s Kenpo, Dragon Kenpo, MooShoo Kenpo, take your pick (they all stemmed from Mitose, but where are his “secret scrolls” and lineage? Conflicting stories out there…) 3. Taekwondo ITF vs. WTF (enough said there, but which is better?) 4. Who created Hapkido? Look at the conflicts there (and according to Grandmaster Choi, his certificates were stolen just as he arrived back in Korea, and his supposed teacher never entered him as taking one lesson back in Japan) 5. How many Hung Gar lineages are there? (Each group says the other is lying…) 6. Eagle Claw (I count at LEAST two Grandmasters of the system, which is real and which is fake?) 7. Krav Maga (originated from the techniques of Hapkido I read, but they won’t agree to that) 8. By the way, Krav Maga is NOT the official Israeli martial art, something else is (hey, I read it in a Black Belt ad) 9. Kung Fu San Soo (where did Master Jimmy Woo get his knowledge…YOU’RE KIDDING, from his family??? Where’s his lineage certificates? Why did he call his grappling “jujutsus” (plural?) He MUST be fake). By the way, just MESS with a KFSS stylist and you’re libel to get your teeth caved in… 10. Why did all the Korean instructors call their art (taekwondo) KARATE back in the '60’s? Grandmaster Hee Il Cho MUST be fake if he did that…11. Original JKD, Eclectic JKD, JKD mixed with Arnis, Extra Crispy JKD (and all this time I thought Bruce Lee said JKD was HIS art, not to be interpreted by the masses) 12. SCARS has made millions of $$$, but he was a Kung Fu San Soo master (same techniques taught in KFSS) 13. Bujinkan Ninjutsu (all others are FAKE - hey wait a minute - Soke Hatsumi is not recognized in Japan under ANY martial art organization?? Read this article: http://koryu.com/library/ninjutsu.html
Believe me, I could go on and on, but I think you get my point. When I first came to SA, I went to at LEAST 10 different schools to find one I like. I now drive many miles to get the SD school, when there are SO many dojos near my home. So you think I’m a pushover and naive? I have black belts in one of them Kenpo styles and a ninjutsu style, was a hand-to-hand combat / knife fighting instructor in the U.S. Marine Corps (even got the certificate). I’ve also trained in Okinawan kickboxing and Isshinryu Karate. I also have a Bachelor of Science degree.
I believe it’s ludicrous and immature to go on and on about bashing a system. I personally do not like Taekwondo (any of the styles), so you know what? I don’t take it. I don’t sit here on the keyboard trying to convince the world that it’s no good. Why would someone do that? To help out? I don’t think so. It’s simply done to try and prove to everyone that the person bashing is somewhat intelligent, when in reality it just shows how bored, immature, and how much you really don’t have a life. I have an idea, why not go train? And even more ludicrous is to challenge someone over the internet (i.e. YOU KNOW MY ADDRESS, COME ON DOWN AND LET’S FIGHT). LOL how ridiculous is that? Step up face to face, then I’ll know it’s real. In my opinion, the bashers are very poor examples of martial artists. The type of guys (or girls) that get a black belt in one system, then move to another and whip up on a white belt in sparring class to feel good about themselves. I train in Shaolin-do and am proud of it, and will continue to train in SD, regardless of these weak, attention-seeking opinions. I suppose I could quit, and come read this board everyday, with all the “masters” on here I may learn a thing or two. Naaahhh…
As far as 900 forms are concerned, has anyone done the math? I have…it averages to 90 forms per year (over 10 years). It averages further down to 7.5 per month (90 divided by 12). Weekly that’s UNDER 2 forms per week. If you train 7 days a week, 8 hours per day, that’s NOT impossible at all…
Sorry, 2 cents turned into a nickel.
Don’t worry about Fred, he says pretty much the same thing to everyone