Originally posted by ulsterman
Lol! Not sure what to make of that, Saine. I believe in turning the other cheek, unless a guy is intent on seriously harming me, in which case he would need to be not merely a good fighter: he'd need to have bigger balls than me, plus he'd need to be a fair bit stronger as well in order to hurt me with his fancy moves. I promise you, gentle person though I be, not very many guys could beat me in a fight!
MVPlaya, that was a very interesting article on the history of martial arts. I am sure there are some who would disagree with you on the effectiveness of one KF form over an other, as i find in these debates there is seldom any modicum of consensus on what works best, with a lot of subjectivity thrown in. However, I am not saying you are wrong - i simply don't know enough about either form to pass judgment.
I hear ya.
I actually help coach kids in TKD so I have some knowledge about Martial Arts. My friends do SKF (Shaolin Kung Fu) and I know plenty of OKF'ers (Omei Kung Fu). Of course you can't narrow down any couple disciplines and say, "This is better! That sucks!" The point I was trying to make, however, was pay-off. All three of these martial arts are excellent disciplines to immerse yourself in if you are that determined. However, the point about pay-off is that many people simply start a Martial Art and quit 2 years later, seeing as the Kung Fu branches are harder to master, 2 years is not enough to give you a proper fighting background. Someone with 2 years of SKF is simply not ready to be put in a real combat situation.
My point about OKF is that it is less formish than Shaolin. Shaolin Kung Fu tends to focus a lot on "forms," artistic maneuvers, etc. etc. If you've ever watched a Wushu presentation you know what I mean. While this is all great "eye-candy," its simply not applicable to real life martial arts. (What is the point of doing a cartwheel through mid-air without hands while swinging a blade parallel to the ground?) Omei Kung Fu keeps the root of Shaolin Kung Fu, it has all the kicks, punches, grapples, but eliminates many of the unnecessary parts. By unnecessary I do not mean that they are wasted, I'm sure some guy out there had use for these outrageous moves, but simply put, you need to keep into account that you could have devoted the same time and energy you spent on that move on a more applicable technique (hence better pay-off). Also, only 2 people do those unbelievable moves:
1) Absolute beginners (Martial Art AFC's)
2) Elite fighters (Martial Art DJ's)
AFC's like the moves because they are flashy and use it and at some point get there asskicked or simply mess up and hit the ground hard without outside intervention, so intermediates stay away from these. MDJ's know the moves and can master them.
To return to your original point, all of these martial arts are highly valid and can give you excellent skills, however, judging that in American culture (and most Western culture) one's martial arts education is narrowed down to 2 to 4 years, choosing a martial art with a large foundation like SKF simply is not enough time to master it.