Well I originally wrote the following in response to Doc's last post in the Demise of Russbo.com thread. After writing it I felt it was a different topic all together and posted it here. Here it goes:
I guess we are getting way of the topic of the thread here, but I think it's sad that sometimes things come to this point. I think we would all agree on why Shaolin Kung Fu has spread beyond China and how the history/art should be preserved. However, It just seems that the monks who branch out often receive daily doses of slander, criticism, and are sometimes exploited. For some of us who are lucky enough to train under a monk and stick with them through the good times and bad we get to see the real issues at hand. We develop this "inside track" not always voluntary mind you. Sometimes, you can get all caught up in the middle and make some difficult decisions. I guess that's why for a while I took a "break" and trained on my own (away from the school) which was good because I was also taking care of some personal matters. It just got to the point where I felt too many people were getting involved in school politics (the "whats happening" scene) there was this constant struggle for control, Shaolin brothers were being divided and it felt like I was beginning to forget why I started training in the first place. I was spending too much time looking into what was going on and who was going to try and take advantage of shifu rather than my own training. What does this have to do with the thread? Nothing. I guess I was just rambling
This may not make a whole lot of sense to those of you who don't train with any of the monks. For those of you who do I think you can relate to some of it. Reading about the PBS special kinda stirred up some of my thoughts about the Shaolin scene here in the states. Thoughts anyone????
I guess we are getting way of the topic of the thread here, but I think it's sad that sometimes things come to this point. I think we would all agree on why Shaolin Kung Fu has spread beyond China and how the history/art should be preserved. However, It just seems that the monks who branch out often receive daily doses of slander, criticism, and are sometimes exploited. For some of us who are lucky enough to train under a monk and stick with them through the good times and bad we get to see the real issues at hand. We develop this "inside track" not always voluntary mind you. Sometimes, you can get all caught up in the middle and make some difficult decisions. I guess that's why for a while I took a "break" and trained on my own (away from the school) which was good because I was also taking care of some personal matters. It just got to the point where I felt too many people were getting involved in school politics (the "whats happening" scene) there was this constant struggle for control, Shaolin brothers were being divided and it felt like I was beginning to forget why I started training in the first place. I was spending too much time looking into what was going on and who was going to try and take advantage of shifu rather than my own training. What does this have to do with the thread? Nothing. I guess I was just rambling
This may not make a whole lot of sense to those of you who don't train with any of the monks. For those of you who do I think you can relate to some of it. Reading about the PBS special kinda stirred up some of my thoughts about the Shaolin scene here in the states. Thoughts anyone????
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