sanjiyan99

After overcoming fear, and learning to handle the mandatory "adrenaline dump" which occurs during an actual, unexpected confrontation on the street, it is then time to fight for one's own survival in the urban jungles of wherever you are.

I have trained in wing chun and choy li fut, having stayed with each discipline for a year's time. After spending time with these two systems, and having had the opportunity to test them out in real life altercations during my high school days, I discovered that they best worked when applied DEFENSIVELY. The fact that this is so ought not to surprise anyone, since these arts, originating from the Shaolin temple, brought with it the overarching consensus of its inventors -- that all a life is precious, to walk humbly among men, to avoid a fight whenever possible down to the time a move is made in offense with the intent to hurt another or oneself. While such virtues are definitely extolling, the training structure offered, the techniques taught, severely lack practicality (among other necessities) when in an actual confrontation. There is a saying I had heard that goes like this -- "If you attack a Shaolin priest, you have no chance. But FORCE HIM TO ATTACK, and all his training won't save him." There we can draw the inference that kung fu is meant to be defensive in nature.

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My wing chun and choy li fut training did assist me in my fights, but 80% of what I had learned when out the door when fists and feet were flying. It was then that I decided to switch to something more practical. So, I enrolled in muay thai. For a year, my trainers conditioned me to fight -- to be able to take punishment and dole out effective strikes. The techniques were simple, few in number, but I must say very effective when honed. The stances made more sense, felt more natural -- IMO, THE WAY A HUMAN BEING OUGHT TO FIGHT. Sure, the crane looks nice but I don't have a beak and I lack wings. The dragon is powerful, but I lack sickle-shaped claws and sharp fangs. But, I DO HAVE fists, feet, elbows, and knees! Also, the stances in muay thai ensured a proper defense of vital parts. In contrast, the choy li fut stances had all sorts of openings.

Perhaps I had not spent enough time in either kung fu style to make it effective for me. Yet, this has become my own personal observation -- kung fu, like many other martial ARTS out there have become a way of making money instead of making fighters. Of course, I realize that there are others who take up the practice of martial arts for reasons other than fighting/self-defense. Yet, it cannot be discounted that 90% of people who decide to take martial arts do so for reasons regarding fighting/self-defense. Alot of these "masters" will tell you that it would take a lifetime to learn their particular system. This also means that you will be PAYING for a lifetime. To make doubly sure that you will stick with their system, they ask you to sign a contract, binding you to them so that you cannot just up and leave, switch systems and discover for yourself which one is more suited to you. I believe that a contract should not even be there if the sifu/sensei can effectively convey his knowledge of the fighting arts to a student of any level and learning ability. The fact that there is a contract, in my opinion, is an implicit confession that either the system itself, or the way the instructor teaches is not very good.

Also, there are some sifus who run their schools like little cults. A very important thing to remember is that the instructor (whatever title he calls himself by) WORKS FOR YOU! Not the other way around. That sifu's primary job is to teach you how to fight. Morals are what your parents (and clergy, if you're religious) ought to have taught you. One sifu I've heard of (I won't mention his name) is like this, wasting his student's precious time (and money) by giving them pep talks in class concerning "restraint", "honor", etc., but then turns around and enlists his students to go join him in acting out his own personal vendettas against those who have verbally insulted him. What?!!! An insult, even a slap to the face, is a blow to pride but not a threat to life. He was a lover of violence whose first and second "golden rules of kung fu" obligated the student to obey him, defend his honor, and uphold his "good" name. My advice -- if you have to go to class required to wear a silly costume, adopt a cult-like philosophy, and given alot of verbal verbiage on right and wrong instead of just getting down to business and training, look for another teacher.

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