Martial Arts!
- Thread starter WaRpEd
- Start date
To correct you: The youngest I've ever fought was 1 year younger than me, right now all my competition has to be 18+ and I am 18, so no, they were not just "kids."
What tournaments, these were mixed tournaments, most were either ITF or WTF sponsored.
About Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. You actually have it mixed. Tae Kwon Do was invented by the Hua Rang Do who helped fight for the unification of Korea. But after they managed to unify the land they kind of dispersed and began to write poetry (talk about pussification - samurais turning gay?). In the 11th century, confucianism struck and martial arts practically became outlawed. So the majority of Martial Artists fled to sanctuaries. Shaolin Temples were famous sanctuaries so for over 200 years they became melting pots for all martial arts forms, especially Tae Kwon Do. Prior to this development, Kung Fu was not a real martial art, moreso a spiritual dance, yet after this "mixture," many martial arts began to "give and take" and martial arts became more developed. However, Tae Kwon Do as it exists today did not come about until the 50's, for a while it was divided ito 8 different disciplines, the most common of which was Tong Soo Do, but in the late 50's Tae Kwon Do took over (because it sounded like Taek Kyon, the original martial art) and the modern Tae Kwon Do was born.
My point about Kung Fu was stylishness. Shaolin Kung Fu tends to focus a lot on style and I am confident that a guy w/ 20 yrs of Shaolin experience can kick ass, but my 5 yrs of TKD will take on 5 yrs of SKF any day, the payback for SKF is REAL slow. Omei Kung Fu is preferable in that it is "optimized," it is less "form"ish and more practical. Omei students tend to have better combat abilities and they learn more quickly. I would guess that if two people were both equally trained except one in SKF and the other in OKF the guy from OKF (Omei Kung Fu) would win... regardless of whether it was 2 yrs or 20 yrs of experience.
of course they can kick my ass, they do this for a living and I don't. As a matter of fact, I would be disappointed if they couldn't kick my ass.....but you were talking about walking down the street and being a badass.
I agree that with Schulmann, he has turned it into a money machine. That's one of the reasons why I left b/c I got to point where I wasn't getting any more skillful. Their concentration is on people who can train every day for 3 hours and then send them to these UFC types of competitions. For other people, they just see them as cash cows......but I will admit one thing, I sparred very hard there everytime I went versus the other places I been to (excpet for the boxing gym I go to).
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.