SmallThought

Red Rum, Red Rum, Red Rum...

I must thank you for staying on topic and offering a reasonably well thought out response and not flying into out defamation as has been your want in the past. However, if you you take the time to read my other posts regarding Cheung, you will notice that i never in fact defend the man; i actually insinuate that his character is indeed one to be questioned.

What i have been taking exception to is the fact that you persistantly assert, as fact, what i know to be erroneous information in regard to the fighting system i have trained, as well as dismissing off-hand the abilities of myself and my seniors; people who you have never and are never likely to meet. In this, as i have said before, you are demonstrating no better behaviour than that which you say you hate in Cheung. I concede that there are many people who say they studied with Cheung who are indeed useless. Infact, i know many of my seniors who would not stand a chance in a real scenario against myself or other more talented practioners of the system who have taken the time to train technique so that it is second nature, and who have picked the system apart and learned to fully understand it application rather than believe the LEARNING excersises practiced in the kwoon are infact the FIGHTING techniques to be employed. I can assure you that my chain punches are no disco move, but by that same token, i would not use them other than in a very simple situation. Most people never realise that drills and sparring are just that, drills and sparring... they are not actual fighting, but learning exercises!

As for Cheung not having a street fighting reputation... well, that is really a disputable point and we can only agree to disagree; and as i'm sure i know Cheung, as well as many people who have known Cheung for a long time better than you do, i will not be convinced by your assertions. GrandMaster Cheung may not be well liked in the martial arts community, but i can assure you that he is respected for his fighting ability; at least in the higher escelons. If he weren't, how could he arrange friendly fights and system exchange programs with other Masters for his top student/s? If he had so little respect, why would the US military employ him and his top students for close range combat instruction?

I'm sure you will want to refute these as unsubtatiated claims, but i personally have no reason to believe that it is anything but true. I don't believe everything that comes out of the man's mouth as i have my own personal experiences that have extinguished any belief that he is some "hero", but i don't believe he is stupid enough to claim having trained the 7th Fleet unless he had done so, and i trust the students of his that i personally know who have also consulted with the US Military.

As for "street fighting" cred being established by capturing it on video; no offence; but you are just crating a bad image for yourself and other dedicated martial artists. I have a friend, about 5 years older than me, he weighs about 110kg, has broken 6 jaws in his time and knocked out countless mouth pieces, lives in a small country town where things where always settled on the street... infact, people from other country towns used to come looking for fights in this place... i can assure you, none of his fights have ever been caught on video but no-one who personally knows him ever doubts his fighting ability.

Another friend is about 140kg, 6' 4"... he grew up being beaten by his father... nothing hurts him. When i was 13 he used to lift me under the arms and hold me against the ceiling; he was 17 at the time; i would punch him as hard as i could and kick him in the chest and he would just laugh at me. Now, as a youngster, i used to fight like hell all the time as was a local whipping post... but thats another story; my point is i could hit hard enough to hurt most people. This freind (actually a freind of my brothers) has been witnessed taking on a guy armed with a motor cycle chain, has been witness picking up a patch wearing club member and using him to break a brick built bar in a pub and he has also been witnessed ripping out a traffic sign and wading into a group of 8 guys who were kicking shit out of my brother. He has never had his fights recorded on video either, but it would be a very foolish man who decided he could be taken in a fight with any style of matial arts.

By the way, neither of these guys have ever had any training other than in the school of hard knocks. Both are genuinely lovely blokes who wouldn't hurt a fly unless they were extremely provoked... but maybe it's just age that mellows them, that and i'm lucky never to have got on their bad side as i've known them since i was about 10 years old.

I'm a lot smaller than these guys but as i mentioned before, when i was young, i was at risk of ending up as hard as these guys. I hated fighting but was good at it for no reason other than i had to do it... alot. By the time i started Wing Chun at 21, i had had at least 22 knock down, drag 'em out fights (not to mention the times i just let guys king hit me and get away with it because it was easier than fighting... anyone who tried it twice got a beating because i truely went 'berserk'), had fought multiple attackers 3 times and had had a knife pulled on me during one of these attacks.

I actually started learning Wing Chun in order to, a/ control my temper (ever seen Erik the Viking?? " a true berserka knows when to contol his rage and when to unleash it" LOL), b/ neutralise attacks quickly WITHOUT causing too much harm as i had nearly broken a guy's neck at 16, and c/ learn a traditional fighting system, as martial arts tradition had alway facinated me. Since training Wing Chun (14 years), i have fought 5 tournaments and had 4 fights against multiple attackers (some of them trained fighters)... yes i've been hit, yes i've been hurt. Hell, i've even been covered in my own blood, but i can assure you that no-one i have fought for real, or who has seen me fight for real, would ever want to fight me again.

Actually, the thing i take pride in from my training is that there have been numerous other occassions when i could have fought, notched another one under my belt, but instead used the conflict resolution skills i learned from Wing Chun to defuse the situation.

I digress, but my point is that it is neither training nor video evidence of your escapades that make you a good fighter in the real world. The only thing that can do that is actually fighting, not disco dancing with your mates in a night club. Traing can help a good fighter, but it does not make them... a good fighter is created by a "strong spirit"... again, training can enhance that, but very few instructors can teach it to a student who does not already posess it.

The fact is, most people who really can fight never want to and do anything in their power not to fight... a/ they don't want to get hurt, b/ they don't want to hurt others and c/ they don't want the time off work to go to court/prison/hospital!!! The only people who go looking for it are unstable individuals who feel they have something to prove.