Have you studied other martial arts besides Shaolin? I think you studied Thai Boxing, right? What is your honest opinion about the effectiveness of traditional Shaolin? I go to China mostly to see the temple and out of genuine appreciation for the birthplace of most martial arts but in my mind I don't expect to become a much better fighter. As I come from Jeet Kune Do background I don't really see much use in terms of real fighting to learning forms or punching from a horse stance. I have done this staff when I learned Kung Fu in the UK in the past. But JKD is much more agile and fluid and all the punches and kicks are done how they would be done in a real fight. I would like to believe though that a good master such as the ones from the 'De' generation know how to 'kick ass'. What's your inside from these guys? In a real fight would they use Kung Fu or just Sanda? Sanda is not really Chinese, the punches mostly come from Western Boxing and the kicks are not exactly traditional either. I've never seen any of these guys doing anything but practising forms. I recently ordered a dvd of Shi De Yang showing the applications of Da Hong Chuan. I haven't received it yet but I have seen clips of it on youtube. I can't say i was very impressed by what I have seen so far.
Judo when I was a kid. Which was a very ****ing long time ago
Kenpo for many years. Stopped a long time ago.
Seidokan, also for a few years. Stopped.
Wing Chun, for a few hours. (Couldn’t stand it)
Shaolin for a long time. Used to teach it. Now, rarely practice it.
American boxing, for a few years. Don’t deal with it anymore
Muay Thai, in Thailand, for many years (teach it also). Still do this. Going to pick it back up next month when I return to Asia.
Shaolin is great stuff, I really enjoyed it. There are a lot of combat applications even in the simple stuff, but you need the right teacher to expose you to it. Which is why I tried to get you with Decheng. The younger guys don’t deal with it; they’re too interested in competition. Competition brings awards, awards brings future jobs. But, then again, I was never interested in the fighting aspect of martial arts; I always enjoyed the health aspects, and learning the tradition associated with it. Ironically, I ended up learning oodles of fighting applications, but, again, the whole fighting (and current MMA shit) just doesn’t appeal to me.
Sanda has its roots in Shaolin forms. It seems to be a less pure form of traditional fighting, more like Muay Thai. The applications in Shaolin have a certain style, finesse, and art to them. Sanda is fun, but don’t bother with it now. Learn the traditional shaolin stuff, and you’ll find all sorts of jewels in it. I don’t believe that Sanda comes from western boxing; I think it all comes from the Greeks when Alexander the Great conquered that way (look up Pankration, I think I have it on the site). You’ll see lots of similarities between some Shaolin stuff, sanda, and Pankration. I don’t think we influenced the Chinese all that much when it ocmes to fighting styles.
Da Hong is not one of my favorites. Don’t bother with it. Shao Hong is much better, along with the other ones I mentioned. There are two versions of it; the three stage long version is very boring and repetitive, and the newly created version is just a reiteration of Shao Hong Chuan.
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