Talking about things teachers do to keep their style hidden, and the utter uselessness of it in the modern era.
“I didn’t teach him the real style”
Really? So you conned a paying customer? How nice. Remember when you called your students friends/family? You were lying. The fact that you had to say so speaks volumes.
“I alter the form in demos”
This is a leftover from the era when people stole forms and taught, something that doesn’t pay the water bill these days. Knowing a form is little, and anyone worth their salt can figure out that steps 1-88 all work a lot of things you’ve worked on the body mechanics of for years, step 89 looks like a waddle, and steps 90-108 look like something you worked hard on again.
“I don’t teach the real style until after these seven forms that I made up.”
It must be embarrasing that your students would know more about moving in relation to another human had they taken salsa lessons over your six or seven forms, and that, even after you teach them the real style, they’ll have to train and teach 7/8 of their time in things that have no basis in usage.
And I’m not joking about salsa lessons. Every time they move in relation to one another, every time you do form you’re not, and the two man sets, after years of other stuff, don’t exactly make up the difference.
“I move well, so and so doesn’t look like he could move.”
Fighting seems to have more to do with moving in relation to others than how we move on our own. Athleticism is cool, but moving well at one thing does not relate to reading and moving in relation to others.
Add your own as you remember them, this is not an attack on kung fu, just remembering the old days, and having a beer in honor of their demise. I’m all for preserving the USAGE of every style possible, and care not one bit about preserving any other part over that.
