Shaolin Temple UK Training

[dave]

lol vince!

dave

[shaolinstylee]

Now that would be comedy at its finest for the russbo.com crew.....I'm cracking up of just the thought of it.... Not that I have anything against him personally, but damn...lol

[Jay]

STUK Highest Level Students

Hi, ive trained at Shaolin Temple UK.
Im just curious as to how high of a level some of the students have progressed. Eg: are there any past the Oxen level etc? If so, are they really impressive?

Ive noticed so far that the amount of fancy traditional (cool) stuff they teach is very small. Which is fine by me. I appreciate that you have to build the basics and learn the boring fundamentals a millions times over.

Im basically curious as to what I would have to look forward to at the higher levels.
Do the students have the option to learn traditional animal forms if they want when they reach a high enough level? And what about weapons? hmmmmmMMMM?

It seems as though the monks want to teach more practical stuff that is actually of use to people. Which is excelent dont get me wrong.

But my main passion for studying there would be to learn the traditional animal forms etc They are so beautifull. And are just ****en COOL!! You know what I mean.


Jay

[wooden dummy]

Well I'm not sure, but the other day shifu Yanzi was showing a video from a demonstration given a few weeks back from what seemed to be some high-level students, doing some pretty impressive flying double-roundhouse kicks and all this kind of thing...

[doc]

Vince, I'll send you the the money. A few hundred should cover it. But I get exclusve rights to the video footage.

We are going to make you a star my boy...

[Lipster]

Jay, as far as I'm aware, oxen is the highest level anyone in the temple is at. Since the temple's only been open a few years. But even Horse and the rest are still considered the beginning stages of the gong fu. Yanzi's trying to build up champions for the 2008 Sanshou Olympics, and he says he can't start teaching 'real' gong fu until he has students good enough. Oxen and horse are kinda advanced, but when you see what's to come once you've completed those stages, you'll see it's just the beginning. It takes about five years of tough training to build a good foundation in gong fu. I'm just going into rooster so I'm not speaking from experience.

Yanzi's concerned with combat efficiency, not performance skills. Therefore most of what he teaches is intended, directly or indirectly, for application.

Once people reach stages past horse I think he'll start weapons and more forms. When students are 'ready'.

[Maestro]

yanzi..

yanzi ever fight anyone?

like a real fight..not some sparring but has he ever gotten in a fight with another trained fighter?

[dave]

vince - Shi yanzi used to compete in san shou/san da back in china as far as i know - there were some articles in uk MA mags when he first arrived here.

dave

[Maestro]

nooooooootttttttttt

umm thats not exactly what i was thinking of

san da and san shou fights arent real fights

its just like boxing..they arent "real"

real enough would be like how the ufc was when it first started

just because he fought in some san da comps doesnt mean much to me

i just wanted to know if hes ever used shaolin kung fu..NOT san da

for combat

i know if i was a shaolin disciple or student i wouldnt want to train for 10+ years just so i could know how to defened myself with san da when i could learn that in like 1-2 years

aswell as learning little to no traditional..and practicing chan inside a temple where id pay to go..

id rather just do it alone

so what im saying is

has shi yan ming ever fought anyone in a real fight using shaolin kung fu?

do any of you uk guys know?

i dont think yan ming has been in any real fights either its why im asking

[doc]

Maestro, you don't want to get into a fight with Yanzi. He's a reknowned sanda fighter in China. Better if you stick with the Wahnamites.

[arhat]

I know Yan Ming has fought challenge matches.

I don't know if they were like UFC fights, in the early days, because I never saw early UFC fights, nor did I directly witness the challenge matches. But I am very familiar with some of the eyewitnesses to these events. I also know there were some issues with the Tongs, and a few Chinatown masters who came to 'visit', I know the Tongs are one reason we don't do much for the Chinese New Year festivities.

I did just see a Sakuraba fight, (Pride- someone help me out) and I coud have sworn I saw him do a butterfly kick- call me crazy. Did anyone else catch that?

I would love to see WKK tiger claw someone like, Vitor Belfort. Or crane stance him or Sweeping Dragon Humps Glistening Unicorn Rump. Vince please tell me you are really Vitor in disguise, messing around with us. Come clean man...

I think after watching some of this stuff, that TCMs, any "traditional" martial art, has a lot of stepping up to do with these guys- if that is important to your training, I have to say I think most of those fighters would eat most of the TMAs I have seen for breakfast, if we're going to talk in generalities, and the TCMs know it. Otherwise how do you explain that there are *no* gong fu guys in there, *at all.*

Doc, didn't you say one of the monks you knew was looking to get into it? I do find it hard to believe, that with all the "traditional" MAs out there, nobody has really stepped into the cage with their skills to see what was what...

[Shaolin Science]

There are a few students who have reached Horse level but to my knowledge the classes have yet to start officially for this level. When you watch these students spar you can see they've put in the time to practice but as Lipster was saying it's still only the beginning.

As far as weapons is concerned the last I heard Shifu talking about this he said that once students reach a certain level of skill it is easier and quicker to learn weapons, I think it is important to know how to move your body corectly first before throwing a sharp object into the mix. He was also saying that there is a limitation on space as well which should be clear if you've been to the temple. He has mentioned several times that he'd like more masters to come over to teach with different specialities, at the moment he has concentrated on Sanda, so perhaps then there will be more weapons and the animal forms.

Although as Shifu has said when someone is wishing to fight you, you'd be better off using a punch that will take the opponent out as quickly as possible, not thinking about which animal you want to emulate. But of course it would still be nice to know these forms too.

Hope this helps.

Ross

[dave]

vince - i know a few guys who fight in the san da format using taijiquan and seem to do quite well. so just coz u train a traditional skill doesnt mean u cant use it in the san da format... depends on your training.

dave

[doc]

Shi Xing Hong claimed to have wanted to do this UFC stuff in the past. He's not a steroid crazed muscle monster, and he's about half the size of me, but, he's incredibly fast and powerful. I think it would be an aweseme match, but, again, this is kind of out of vein for Shi Xing Hong. He's very Buddhist you know, and even though he talks about getting into the ring and kicking some ass, in my opinion, that's really not his nature. He's more interested in the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of gong fu, than in this exhibition nonsense.

[Maestro]

for one thing

for one thing im not knocking san da..

dave..doc..im ashamed

you guys have been listening to my rants for how long?

too long..

i wasnt knocking san da as combat efficient or anything like that

all i wanted to know was if shi yanzi has ever used traditional kung fu in a "real" fight

"real" meaning..basically anything goes, and in an 'ordinary' place..a resturant..a street corner..wherever it doesnt matter

the only thing that would matter to me would be that yanzi used traditional kung fu in a fight

it would matter if he won or not..but it would REALLY matter if he or any of the monks have used traditional fighting methods in a fight


and talking about pride..ufc..bla bla bla

look at the file library i uploaded like a dozen highlights of some really good fighters in NHB

including sakuraba..

and sakuraba..well hes slipping..been slipping for awhile

the same thing with belfort, hes not what he used to be..alot of people think hes lost his heart but who knows it could be something else..

besides that..yes the ufc fighters could(and do) whop some serious azz

of course itd be difficult for some TMA to fight those guys..but you know what?

the best fighter in NHB is a traditional martial artist..

royce gracie is probably the best fighter in NHB just because of all the different kinds of people hes beat and how long hes been beating them

and i have seen some other TMA do good in UFC etc

in the begining anyway..nowadays it seems as if everyones generally standup/grapplers

thats just what it comes down to..people work on basics..standup(muy thai..boxing etc)

and bjj..or just regular wrestling..all kinds of grappling going on

and it really doesnt matter either..i mean royce gracie has lots of familiy members..and bjj..and gracie bjj is good

but none of the other gracies have done half as good as royce has

and they know and teach the same thing

and not everyone is as successful as ortiz..or like belfort was..or bass rutten was..or frank shamrock was..

but they all generally know..teach..train the same thing

ortiz is a ground and pounder

belfort usually comes out stricking..fast and furious, he can grapple to, renzo gracie taught him i think..and hes one of god i dunno hundreds maybe thousands of people who train the exact same things as him

it just goes on and on..

what im getting at is..i dont think that its dependent on the style of fighting for combat effectiveness..

i think its 80% the man, 10% the art, and 10% chance

do i think yanzi or yanming could do well in the octagon??

i dont freakin know..i dont train with either of them..and u guys are students of these "martial monks" and your not very convincing thats for sure

i dont care how many abbs yan ming has, or what he says

if he cant put up..then he should shut up..that goes for all monks imo

if they cant fight..then they shouldnt be teaching people combative skills

now..i got no problem with people going to a temple and learning shaolin chan through their kung fu forms..i understand that..i like that aswelll

but when people start saying one thing..and doing another..

it gets on my nerves..

anyway the rants over

peace