After reading the material in regards to Shaolin-do, it’s obvious that there are abundant and persistent unanswered questions about the legitimacy of the style, as well as a negative stigma surrounding involvment with the topic. There seems to be some prejudice and preconceptions about anyone associated with SD. Basically anyone who studies it for any length of time automatically seems to be stripped of credibility with anyone who studies a ‘real’ martial art. So I propose a challenge.
NOT a physical challenge but a mental one. I propose some common sense answers to the smoke and mirrors surrounding Shaolin-Do. The problem being that there have been no real answers to these problems surrounding it. The challenge is whether or not the answers will be acceptable and objective enough to keep the hostilities to a minimum.
Here’s the thing, there are bozos everywhere in everything. I’m sure that in your own schools there’s the guy that sucks but thinks he’s good, or the girl that gets on your nerves, or the parents that think their kid shouldn’t have to do push ups. Then there’s the bozos that come to class don’t do anything don’t learn anything but tell all their friends how hard they work out, basic hypocrit. There’s something that we can all agree on, right?
I don’t want a debate to happen because debates are just that, debates, there’s no resolution. Trolling is inevitable and expected and not surprising.
So just because a few bozos in Shaolin Do have a website that sucks, and because of the inconsistencies in what one SD practioner says is different from the other, then obviously it’s a GrandMaster’s scam? But it’s possible and verifiable to prove or disprove anything under the sun right? So I humbly request you all afford me the opportunity to defend Shaolin Do with some amount of objectivity and reason.
I have a black belt in two different styles, 2st DAN in Tae Kwon-Do and 4th DAN in Shaolin Do for a total combined experience of 17+ years. I have studied intimately with both Sin The and his brother Hsiang The as well as some of their oldest and most loyal students. I have trained with Master Hsiang at his farm and had dinner with him and his kids. He’s not only a good instructor he’s a great friend and really nice guy. I have studied with Master Sin in the same manner and he’s much of the same. So if I cannot readily answer some questions then I have access to find out the answer.
I’m not trying sell myself as the one who know everthing but would like to represent SD with some honesty and knowledge. As I’m sure as is obvious even within SD there are people who do not like the sparring the performance of the forms or the people who practice them. Hell even Sin and Hsiang disagree to the point that they don’t speak to each other anymore, that has more to do with family matters than the Shaolin though.
Why is called Shaolin-Do? Because back in about 1995-96 or so the senior belts and Master Sin decided to try and form an association similiar to the Tae Kwon-Do, Karate, Aikido, etc associations that are there to regulate material and provide resources to students in the form of training, supplies, development of new schools blah blah blah. Up to that point each school had artistic license to name their school whatever they wanted. There were schools named, Winchester Shaolin Karate Do Academy, Shaolin Kempo Karate Do Academy, Richmond Chinese Martial Arts, etc etc…It was decided in a black belt meeting that the simplest name for the association was Shaolin Do Association, with the Do providing recognition to new prospects since most karate school have a Do in the name somewhere, and also because most of the other Shaolin names were already taken in copyrights or trademarks. Also ‘Shaolin Do’ would default a school as being part of Master Sin’s line of Shaolin. So all schools that were under Master Sin had to have Shaolin-Do incorporated into the name of the school. It was a matter of being practical.
I will provide more information as time permits, currently though I must return to my daily duties.
More later…and thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy post about a heavily trolled subject.
BTW that website with all the bad kata, everything that everyone has to say about it is so true it’s not even funny. They truly don’t have a clue about what it is they’re supposed to be trying to do. They don’t have any power, they don’t understand the forms they’re doing, and can’t fight the current in a bathtub. I know because I’ve fought several of them from the same school, and my teacher has personally whipped the crap out the site owner. My teacher is one of the original set of students that the The’s had when they started teaching here in the states. The site owner basically kissed a lot of poop holes and paid a lot of money for his rank. And I apologize that he is what you percieve as being our material. Even in the ranks of Master Sin’s students dissention and ego runs rampant, and it’s safe to say that there are only three original students that are credible representatives of SD. They’re the only three left from the first years of instruction, first generation students. These other guys are usually just students of students of those original three.
