<- doesnt read BB magazine unless theres a sexy chick on the cover.
I have been in the MA for over 25 years, lived on both coast and met rons of people from tons of styles because I am involved in a couple big organizations.
And until I started posting here about a year ago I never heard of Shaolin Do.
It all depends on the community that you are involved in. How many people know who Phil Porter is?
BTW SD, how many Shaolin Do schools are there?
in the early 90’s at the NACMAF tournaments there was a school that would compete called “ghetto fu”, no B.S. The sifu was a big muscular guy that looked like shaft on roids wearing a last dragon outfit. on the side of each of his pant legs was in big letters “GHETTO” and on his butt was “FU”. They had forms and everything. I think in the next ten years they could very well be the most popular style especially if Snoop Dogg, and the guy that played Sho 'nuff start endorsing them.
Yeah, they work multiple attack scenarios (Several of them against unsuspecting woman), Shanking angles, Knife disarms (using gun), ect…
Just over 100. The Villari/USSD/Bagley/Lamattina/Cal Carrozzi/… Shaolin Kempo Karate franchise is well over the 500 count. (Or bigger, I have no idea how many more break offs have happened.)
What will happen in SD is the same that happened in Villari. The individual schools will start breaking off, then the top masters will break off with a bunch of the schools. Its still small right now, but around 250 to 300 schools is where it really starts.
I am not a SD fan, though neither am I a SD hater, I could really care less if someone wants to shroud themselves in a fur coat made from a certain dog faced grandmasters whiskers.
Somewhere in that organization people are going to be learning something usefull, people somewhere are going to even apply that knowledge in a self defense situation and make it work, and somewhere a bunch of SD guys are having a downright blast training and learning while certain others sit at a desk and whine about them.
I just think its getting old. It’s not a cult. Chung Moo Quan is a cult. SD is a successfull business. Be it sprinkled with the crumbs of a dog poop smeared blueberry muffin.
ghetto Fu 
good analysis of ghetto fu, SD. LOL:D
pretty good
Originally posted by Merryprankster
Actually, little Japanese cars are affordable and well constructed. They’re easily attainable because they sell a decent product at an affordable price that people know they will get some real use out of.
Yeah, the Jap car analogy was a bad one, but you know what I was getting at.
Oh, like the McDonald’s that people worldwide keep stuffing in their faces, the Levi’s they buy and the Nike’s they put on their feet? Not our fault. Please forgive us dirty Americans from selling things to people that they want. Don’t get ****ed just because the rest of the world can’t stomach Vegemite.
Yeah, just like that. People in general are idiots and will buy into what the big corps. sell them. The fact that the corps prey on this p!sses me off. And I couldn’t give a toss about who eats vegemite. It’s good stuff and we like it here. England has Marmite - very similar. Other countries have their thing. It’s called diversity and is exactly what I’m defending.
Really? First, perhaps SD has been successful thanks to good marketing and a coherent lesson plan–not to mention commercial availability
Yeah, without any real content. Ah, the American way!
vice the TCMA culture which seems to prefer the idea of a super-secret, closed door kwoon.
You have to get over this misconception. Just about every CMA school I know of is open to visitors, will give a first lesson free or something like that and is only too happy to accept new students. Just because they have a traditional training style and structure that a lot of people can’t handle is not their problem. Anybody that does operate like a secret society is fuq’d anyway.
The good news is that human nature really likes instant pleasure so it’s not just an American trait. Everybody is looking for the easy way. I mean, that is, everybody but “us.” After all, certainly “my” peer group isn’t looking for the easy way out. Just “everybody else.”
Yeah. Like I said, people in general are stupid. Most MAists recognise the value of hard work.
If it can be successfully exported, it will be.
I would wager that outside of the US it can’t be marketed like it can there. Time will tell.
I’d like to point out that I’m not defending what I consider to be SD’s somewhat suspect lineage claims. I’m taking specific issue with:
- The idea that “instant gratification” is somehow an American trait. It’s a human trait. American’s just happen to have the wealth to indulge that trait.
And are therefore the ones that propogate it as much as possible. Ever notice how a smoker always offers around his cigarettes in the hope that someone else will have one and help him justify something that he knows is bad for him?
- The idea that American stuff is somehow being forced down people’s throats.
You mean like the power of advertising and the squashing of legitimate albeit rather poor (financially) competition?
- The idea that SD’s success is somehow a byproduct of uniquely U.S. foibles. I just went to the DC metro area website for Shaolin-Do. It’s slick. I suspect that if their business is run with the same sense of organization and discipline, then it’s quite successful. [/B]
Not uniquely, but primarily.
San shou will be the most popular. I’m thinking about the current succesful arts, TKD, Muay Thai and BJJ and all have a big sport component, and I think that helps promote any art. No guarentee but still…
I think the current styles that don’t have a big sport component will continue to be niche arts.
Originally posted by rogue
I think the current styles that don’t have a big sport component will continue to be niche arts.
I think this is true with the exception of Taiji and Wing Chun. Taiji because it is so wide spread and practised for health as well as a MA, and Wing Chun because it already has so many branches and adherents that it will continue to expand.
Now, good Taiji and Wing Chun… that’s a whole different question! 
i’m with serpie – taiji and wing chun will continue to grow. i do feel that GOOD taiji and GOOD wing chun will be more and more rare. even if there’s the same amount of good stuff in 20 years as there is now, there’ll be so much more garbage out there to muddy the waters, and that much more to filter through to find the good stuff. i think the problem lies when a teacher who is expanding lets the goal of bringing as much goodness to as many students as possible get overtaken by the goal of simply getting as many students as possible in the door. i guess it’s the conflicting goals of generic appeal to masses or specific appeal to the more hard-core.
And it’s the desire to put food on the table too. We’re a cash-money society and often the need for cash outweighs the desire to only teach the purest stuff, which is a real shame.
So many great MA teachers have to have second jobs to cover the rent.
serpie – agreed. i’m not blaming the small-time sifus who simply want to grow their school to something healthy. rather, i’m talking about the people who are intent on putting a school in every strip mall possible for the sake of getting students rather than the sake of getting TO students. 
“So many great MA teachers have to have second jobs to cover the rent.”
hehe… and if they have a normal job and teach kung fu for free to spread the wonderful art?
gotta charge, SD. gotta keep the doors open.
that is unless sifu has a very large garage.
Originally posted by Shaolin-Do
[B]“So many great MA teachers have to have second jobs to cover the rent.”
hehe… and if they have a normal job and teach kung fu for free to spread the wonderful art? [/B]
My Sifu charges a very nominal fee for the lessons, but than he is not relying on the kwoon to pay his bills.
IME, part-time teachers are nore common than full-time teachers.
Some styles/systems actcually forbid Intructors to be full-time they need to have a day-time job.