Lineage??? You mean those funny looking diagrams on the walls of martial arts school, that for some sort of strange reason often start with legendary names as Chang San Feng who lived in the 8th century and reincarnated in himself in the 10th, and again in the 12th and 13th and... or the ones that start with Ng Mui, who learned win chung from a snake and a crane and we have absolutely zero proof to have really existed. Or the ones of Baiyuan Tongbei that start 2500 years ago with a mythical white monkey.....
Or like the one of a "kungfu" teacher in this school I visited who claims to have learned from another Spanish guy who in one trip to south-America learned 100 forms from this mysterious oriental grandmaster, to whom they bow at the beginning of class but then turns out to be a statue of a taoist saint......
And what if I train within the greatest lineage on earth, I mean like from Bodidarma straight to Bruce Lee and straight to me and just plain stink at it but I start a school and teach what I think I know or what I can hide not to know and go on about my fantastic lineage? ...... I've seen some teachers from real lineages that don't train anymore and don`t remember how to do the techniques but still teach.
I mean sure lineage can indicate more or less what to expect from someone. And if you can learn from the best and have that certificied by a lineage chart, well that's great. You're very lucky then. And if the teacher is really good and understands his art and -important- knows how to teach you then you're even luckier.
I for myself have never told any of my students from what lineage I am to get them in my classes. In fact if people start asking me too much questions I tell them to come to class and if they like it they can stay and if not they are free to go and train with somebody else. And if they ask me what kungfu is about I say it' s punches and kicks. And if they ask me about belts I tell them they are to keep pants from dropping. Some people find me rude for this, some think it's funny. For someone who comes for his first lessons I don't think lineage should be a big issue. For advanced students it might be interesting to know if a certain place if legit or if it trains in a similar way as his previous school. Well if one of my students comes up to me after class and asks me "who did you learn from?" I will tell him/her what our lineage is. But if they don't ask I'm not going to waste training time on it.
Well I guess lineage is important but I've seen too much people claim to much things that simply are not true.
Or like the one of a "kungfu" teacher in this school I visited who claims to have learned from another Spanish guy who in one trip to south-America learned 100 forms from this mysterious oriental grandmaster, to whom they bow at the beginning of class but then turns out to be a statue of a taoist saint......
And what if I train within the greatest lineage on earth, I mean like from Bodidarma straight to Bruce Lee and straight to me and just plain stink at it but I start a school and teach what I think I know or what I can hide not to know and go on about my fantastic lineage? ...... I've seen some teachers from real lineages that don't train anymore and don`t remember how to do the techniques but still teach.
I mean sure lineage can indicate more or less what to expect from someone. And if you can learn from the best and have that certificied by a lineage chart, well that's great. You're very lucky then. And if the teacher is really good and understands his art and -important- knows how to teach you then you're even luckier.
I for myself have never told any of my students from what lineage I am to get them in my classes. In fact if people start asking me too much questions I tell them to come to class and if they like it they can stay and if not they are free to go and train with somebody else. And if they ask me what kungfu is about I say it' s punches and kicks. And if they ask me about belts I tell them they are to keep pants from dropping. Some people find me rude for this, some think it's funny. For someone who comes for his first lessons I don't think lineage should be a big issue. For advanced students it might be interesting to know if a certain place if legit or if it trains in a similar way as his previous school. Well if one of my students comes up to me after class and asks me "who did you learn from?" I will tell him/her what our lineage is. But if they don't ask I'm not going to waste training time on it.
Well I guess lineage is important but I've seen too much people claim to much things that simply are not true.
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