The Martial Arts and Philosophy

[Brian O'Conner]

I know the guy doesn't like me. I don't have a real issue w him. I don't train so that I can fight. But I have an 'internal' feeling that he will try me one day.. and he has the confidence to do it, because he's much larger and has practiced ma longer.

I was just saying.. the internal parts are the most important, everything matters less, if you know body mechanics and breathing better.

I get what your saying. idk man, personaly I believe being in the right gives you more power in those situations. If your attacked by someone like that their not going to be as effective because they are coming from a bad place internaly

and yea i agree that internal parts are most important but not really effective till the external stuff becomes second nature

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

I get what your saying. idk man, personaly I believe being in the right gives you more power in those situations. If your attacked by someone like that their not going to be as effective because they are coming from a bad place internaly

and yea i agree that internal parts are most important but not really effective till the external stuff becomes second nature

It all depends on what you want to cultivate first. Mike Patterson told me in an email that he thought people focusing on external skills and development have a better chance of reaching a good level of combat skill, power, and overall danger. However, he said they often have a lot of trouble progressing to higher levels of skill because rewiring yourself to learn the internal stuff is hard as hell. Likewise, he said that people dedicating themselves to the internal skills have a huge chance of never making anything really come together or to become decent, but if they can, they find it easier to progress to something resembling a master level. He said that this accounts for how in the Chinese Republican era there were a larger number of people studying internal stuff who were considered 'masters', even though the number of people overall studying external stuff were larger in number by a huge margin.

Personally I don't care much for comparisons between internal and external shyt much anymore. It's all just quibbling to me and it's all ultimately irrelevant in the face of practice. I think people should just practice what they can progress in. and find a teacher and school that suits their growth best.

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

 

[Blackking]

well i say fear only Allah... not any man, but yeah,

the latter is more dangerous.

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

a lot of what I study is in this video. I don't like how they portrayed Xing Yi and Bagua as learning steps toward Taiji () or some of silly chi generalizations (). BUT, a lot of the foundational material i learn is in this video. Also, Hung I Hsiang really was a legend/master ()

 

[Blackking]

Xingyiquan has too many non-practical movements for my taste.

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

Xingyiquan has too many non-practical movements for my taste.

Like what? The five fists are all super practical and easy to apply in real time. That's the appeal of the whole style. Most of the animals are too. The only stuff that is difficult to apply in a sparring/competition context is the pecking and dian xue stuff from chicken. The fact is that Xingyi fighters used to beat it up in the guoshu stuff from the republican era and in modern times.

List of lei tai fighters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[KyokushinKarateMan]

Kyokushin No Seishin (The Kyokushin Spirit)


- Head low. You should be humble.

- Eyes high. Aim to achieve high ideals.

- Closed mouth. Do not brag or boast.

- Broad mind. Appreciation of what others have to offer.

- Respect. Respect your parents, your seniors, and all living beings in general.

 

[KyokushinKarateMan]

Sosai Mas Oyama, founder of Kyokushin Karate - “The heart of our karate is real fighting.There can be no proof without real fighting. Without proof there is no trust. Without trust there is no respect. This is a definition in the world of martial arts.”
- People referred to Mas Oyama’s Kyokushin Karate as kenka karate, meaning “brawling” or “brutal” karate. Oyama responded by saying, “Kenka karate ja nai! Budo karate da!”
Translation: “This is not brawling karate! This is budo (martial) karate!”

 

[IronFist]

peace lord, i was wondering if you are familiar with microcosmic orbit that is often spoken about in the Taoist Philosophy?

 

[Blackking]

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

I was just talking with my master about something very interesting. For those of you who are into 'traditional martial arts'; meaning anything that isn't boxing, muay thai, bjj, wrestling, how does your school or former schools run? It is pretty rare now in the United States to see a TMA school that is full time, fully equipped, tons of students, etc. I often see that there are lots of disingenuous attempts to market stuff. Here's a great example:



These people are saying that they teach "deadly" stuff, that their martial art is forged in the jungle and all that shyt...... Offering certifications in like 12 different arts, selling goofy instructional video. I can say straight up: that guy is not very good at Xing Yi. He doesn't have the body method of someone who has real experience and practice in the art. It's intellectually dishonest. But it raises an interesting question. How does one promote and maintain traditional martial arts in this current era? I can only speak from the perspective of chinese martial arts, but it seems like on the coasts there are plenty of good schools with teachers that don't have to resort to marketing themselves as 'deadly' or teaching things that will give people spiritual or special powers. Is it because there are simply more people there? Maybe more asian immigrants who have an interest in their home culture? Better teachers is certainly an option, there are some famous people in Cali, NY, Nevada, Colorado, and Florida. The best martial arts instruction I have received is typically in small environments, seriously a couple guys meeting up for a couple hours a week in garages and above shops, minimal equipment, kind of like really intense study groups. But maybe some of yall in bigger schools can comment. How do your teachers market their stuff or promote it?

@Blackking @ExodusNirvana @KyokushinKarateka @The Real @IronFist @Brian O'Conner

 

[ExodusNirvana]

http://www.kungfuwusu.com/

This is my school...

And IMO I consider Muay Thai a traditional martial art as well as boxing. It's just that there are very few traditional schools for these things left. It's hard to run a school and keep it running for a long time. The art gets diluted, people try to change things either because they don't get it or they want to cut corners. Or some people take their talents to other organizations and you get MMA gyms where you learn a little of this little of that...and that is my main issue with the modern state of martial arts.

People laugh when they hear you study kung fu or karate but they don't understand that to get good at a traditional art takes A LONG TIME. This isn't something you can pick up in like 2-3 years and all of sudden you're a martial artist. This is what a lot of people in 2013 have issue with. You can train in kung fu for 2-3 years and still be trash and it's not the art or the system, but the person.

Kung Fu has suffered in the past 60 years or so because there was a point during the Communist reformation that the art simply disappeared. People stopped teaching it, systems and techniques were lost....then when it finally popped up again it's in the form of WuShu. You will get WASHED if you try using that shyt in 2013. It's largely performance art and has no real application.

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

http://www.kungfuwusu.com/

This is my school...

And IMO I consider Muay Thai a traditional martial art as well as boxing. It's just that there are very few traditional schools for these things left. It's hard to run a school and keep it running for a long time. The art gets diluted, people try to change things either because they don't get it or they want to cut corners. Or some people take their talents to other organizations and you get MMA gyms where you learn a little of this little of that...and that is my main issue with the modern state of martial arts.

I agree, it's a misnomer. Boxing, Wrestling, and Thai are all traditional martial arts. But you know what i mean conventially when I say that.

People laugh when they hear you study kung fu or karate but they don't understand that to get good at a traditional art takes A LONG TIME. This isn't something you can pick up in like 2-3 years and all of sudden you're a martial artist. This is what a lot of people in 2013 have issue with. You can train in kung fu for 2-3 years and still be trash and it's not the art or the system, but the person.

I would say it depends on what you consider 'good', and what art. Like, you can become proficient enough to defend yourself well from a single untrained guy in Xing Yi, Kyokushin, Hung Gar, in like a year. Baguazhang, Taiji? maybe longer. It depends, you know. I agree that shyt is super impatient now though, people generally don't wanna dedicate themselves to something that takes time and effort.

 

[Julius Skrrvin]

@ExodusNirvana i can see how you described your training plan to me that one time. Your school seems like it's syncretized a bunch of different arts. It's all good as long as you learn Ti Da Shuai Na (kicking, striking, throwing, grappling), though. If you ever want to learn some crazy shyt like Xinyiliuhe or Baji i know some awesome places up there, you're lucky to be in NYC