What makes you a "true" martial artist?

[JR 137]

Being the in the same area as the OP, I have to say this...

I saw the sifu being discussed here a few weeks ago. How did I know it was him? He's got "Kung Fu Expert" in big letters all along both sides of his car, (white Passat?) along with his name and phone number. It's pretty comical. There's advertising your business, and there's being a jackass about it. I LMFAO when I saw him (and I never use that phrase). All I could think was just when it was cool to be a MAist again, this guy's gotta do this.

Steve,

I highly doubt you're the first one he's done this to, and highly doubt you'll be the last. While I've never met him, I've yet to hear anything good about him. He's got his own issues; don't make his issues yours. You're better than that.

 

[wingchun100]

In English, anyway, there's the word 'artist' in the word, which makes my analogy here—
If you have art as a hobby, others consider you to be extremely good at it, yet you do not have it as a profession, are you not an artist?
Yes, you are, you just wouldn't address yourself one.

Add 'martial' in front of every 'art,' and that's my point.

Yes, now that I think about it, when I meet new people and they ask about hobbies or about me in general, I say, "I practice martial arts." I never say, "I'm a martial artist."

 

[thanson02]

I've been thinking about this a lot due to the situation I am in. It is something I reflect on often, although I think ultimately everyone has to answer it for themselves.

Over the years, I have been in and out of attendance at my previous Wing Chun school. Some of this was due to laziness on my part. Other times, it was due to my mental state. (I'm not ashamed to admit I suffer from depression, and when my mood was on the down swing, driving to class actually felt like driving to work.) Then for a long time I was in an awful marriage. I WANTED to go to class, but I would face a nightmare when I got home if my ex-wife thought I had spent "too much time" there instead of heading straight home from work to sit next to her on the couch and do nothing.

Eventually, I left that relationship and started going to class again...practically every night. Many years passed, and I moved in with a girlfriend. Due to a sudden tightening of my budget, I was unable to go to class anymore. The Sifu at that school put me on blast on my Facebook profile, posting a public message for all to see where he called me a "fairweather wing chun student." I mean, let me be honest here: I got 4 kids. Feeding them, clothing them, and providing them shelter take precedence over MY wing chun training.

And yet during all those times when I wasn't in class, I kept training my forms...kept practicing my techniques even if it was only in the air...took every chance I could to show anyone who asked me "What's wing chun" to demonstrate for them, because in my opinon one of the best ways to prove you understand the style is to explain it to someone with zero exposure to it. The only thing I wasn't able to do was practice chi sao because obviously that requires at least two people.

Recently I shared my history with some people in a wing chun Facebook group, and someone claiming to be a Sifu (I say this because I have not checked his credentials out) took a swipe at me. All I was trying to do was be open and honest, and he makes the comment that I have no "warrior spirit." (If you ask me, I have more than some people because I kept on practicing even when I wasn't going to class. Hell, I know people who were in my class who were amazed that I practiced my forms several times at home because THEY didn't even do them once a day!)

Anyway, I've been dwelling on those two statements: "fairweather wing chun student" and "you have no warrior spirit," probably more than I should be. But it got me thinking that it would make good subject matter for a post here.

So what do you think? What makes someone a "true" martial artist with REAL "warrior spirit?" Can such a thing be judged on class attendance alone?

I'd like to know your thoughts. I don't know why those comments got under my skin. I know I shouldn't let them, but sometimes negativity finds its way into your soul, and it isn't that easy to kick it back out.

My input is going to be similar to what others have already said. It's good that you got away from your old instructor. It's quite obvious based on your comments that he was a very toxic individual and I'm glad to hear that your current instructor it is a far better individual.

As for the comment of a warrior spirit, I think you are showing more characteristics of what makes a warrior then probably your old instructor has. It's hard to keep up training, especially on a daily basis, when you have a family and kids as well as fighting things like depression. The fact that despite those things you're still able to move forward in your training speaks volumes of your character.

Haters are going to hate. Don't let them get to you. Based on your statement, you're doing a phenomenal job. Keep up the great work!

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

 

[Tony Dismukes]

My philosophy is that martial arts are tools created for the use of human beings. Human beings are not created to serve martial arts.

If training twice a week at a McDojo six months out of the year gives you the results you want for your life, then great! Your training is doing its job.

If training hard 5 days per week at a tough gym gives you the results you want for your life, then great! Your training is doing its job.

If training like a maniac all day every day gives you the results you want for your life, then great! Your training is doing its job.

Just don't have unrealistic expectations of the results you will get from your training. If you train a couple hours per week at a McDojo, don't expect that you will become a badass fighter or a world champion. If you train hardcore every day and become a world champion, don't expect that it will give you much time to devote to your family or automatically make you happy.

Training more or harder doesn't make you a more admirable person. It just means you're investing more in a certain aspect of your life. Whether that's a good investment depends on what your priorities are.

As far as the title question "what makes you a true martial artist?", I'd be okay with using the term either for anyone who trains martial arts or for anyone who trains martial arts to the point where it becomes part of their personal identity. I'm not so okay with using it as a divisive term to denigrate anyone who doesn't live up to your ideals of what a martial artist should be.

 

[oftheherd1]

Thanks for the love and support in these comments, friends. To be honest, when I hit "Create thread" I got scared because I was really opening up and being vulnerable. I thought, "Man...odds are I might find another person or two who mocks me for 'whining' and not having 'warrior spirit.'" But I went ahead and posted it anyway, and my bravery paid off.

Thank you all.

Risking our vulnerabilities takes bravery. Examining responses to having opened up is healthy as long as we keep an open mind and don't forget we sometimes can't change what we are, but just have to make the best of it. Keep working on it and take all comments, good or bad, with a grain of salt.

 

[wingchun100]

Being the in the same area as the OP, I have to say this...

I saw the sifu being discussed here a few weeks ago. How did I know it was him? He's got "Kung Fu Expert" in big letters all along both sides of his car, (white Passat?) along with his name and phone number. It's pretty comical. There's advertising your business, and there's being a jackass about it. I LMFAO when I saw him (and I never use that phrase). All I could think was just when it was cool to be a MAist again, this guy's gotta do this.

Steve,

I highly doubt you're the first one he's done this to, and highly doubt you'll be the last. While I've never met him, I've yet to hear anything good about him. He's got his own issues; don't make his issues yours. You're better than that.

White Passat? I thought he had that advertisement on the side of a TAN car. (I am no good at make and model, so don't ask me that.) Also, I never saw "Kung Fu Expert" on it...just the name and number of the school.

As for the treatment, I talked with many of my classmates outside of school and never heard of or saw him address anyone else in that way. I blame myself, partially. Yes he is a tool, but the other part of the equation is I looked up to the man like a second father, and for a long time he actually did fulfill that role. Then his personal life ran into some problems, and it spiralled down from that.

Now that I think about it, it strikes me as funny that he called me a fairweather wing chun student. Why? Because it seems to me like the only time in his life that he treated me right was when things were going good for him. Once they started going bad, we arrived at how they are today.

 

[Kickboxer101]

If you live in Japan? You train all day and every day if possible. No different to sports and other activities that require peak performance, stamina etc. etc. The spirit? Maybe somebody reads too many books. You have to put that in there yourself. As for fighting, "fighters" are chosen when members are still kids and trained to bring that out. If your not a born fighter you never will be good. As for money my teachers never charged me and I try to continue with that. I have always been in M.A. to teach, win and self improvement and even gave up my regular life to do it full time.

No sports person trains all day every day and if they do they don't have a long career

 

[wingchun100]

Absolutely. Though even then, it's not productive to shame your students - if someone stops coming to class, a much better approach is to call or e-mail them to see what's going on. Maybe they've been sick, or had a family emergency and had to travel suddenly, and will feel touched that you reached out to them. Or in this case, it's a money issue. Maybe the instructor can offer the person a reduced rate for a few months. Any of these things could lead to the person returning to the school once their situation improves, but if you shame them, they probably will quit for real and never come back.

I didn't realize you mentioned the discount. Well, he did offer me half-price. It is something he offers to every student: if you do something for him that he calls "Work fare," then he will discount you. See, he does not own his studio: he rents a room in what used to be an elementary school, but now houses all kinds of businesses. He is doing the Mr. Miyagi thing, where he makes repairs and does all sorts of other odds and ends things for the landlord. However, there were two things that played into me stopping: (1) Even with the discount, it was STILL too much money for my current finances. (2) The only time I could do the work for him was in the evenings between my day job and class...time that would be better suited toward working a part-time job so I could make ends meet.

I mean...if my class attendance meant that much to him, he could have waived the tuition entirely. LOL

^^^just being sarcastic there

 

[wingchun100]

My input is going to be similar to what others have already said. It's good that you got away from your old instructor. It's quite obvious based on your comments that he was a very toxic individual and I'm glad to hear that your current instructor it is a far better individual.

As for the comment of a warrior spirit, I think you are showing more characteristics of what makes a warrior then probably your old instructor has. It's hard to keep up training, especially on a daily basis, when you have a family and kids as well as fighting things like depression. The fact that despite those things you're still able to move forward in your training speaks volumes of your character.

Haters are going to hate. Don't let them get to you. Based on your statement, you're doing a phenomenal job. Keep up the great work!

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

Thanks. I agree with what you said: I keep going back to it despite numerous setbacks. Isn't there a saying that it doesn't matter how times you get down...it's how many times you get back up?

 

[Ironbear24]

No sports person trains all day every day and if they do they don't have a long career

I tried that and it lead to a lot of injuries and angry friends.

 

[JR 137]

White Passat? I thought he had that advertisement on the side of a TAN car. (I am no good at make and model, so don't ask me that.) Also, I never saw "Kung Fu Expert" on it...just the name and number of the school.

As for the treatment, I talked with many of my classmates outside of school and never heard of or saw him address anyone else in that way. I blame myself, partially. Yes he is a tool, but the other part of the equation is I looked up to the man like a second father, and for a long time he actually did fulfill that role. Then his personal life ran into some problems, and it spiralled down from that.

Now that I think about it, it strikes me as funny that he called me a fairweather wing chun student. Why? Because it seems to me like the only time in his life that he treated me right was when things were going good for him. Once they started going bad, we arrived at how they are today.

Perhaps I was too harsh on the guy. Sorry. I remember a few of his students that I went to HVCC with saying he wasn't very good about students leaving.

As for the car, maybe he has a different one now? I saw it a few weeks ago when passing by at Colonie Center. No idea who's it was until I noticed the school name and number in smaller letters on the rear fender. One of those things that I had to stare at. Luckily I didn't get into an accident. Maybe I'm being too harsh.

 

[wingchun100]

Perhaps I was too harsh on the guy. Sorry. I remember a few of his students that I went to HVCC with saying he wasn't very good about students leaving.

As for the car, maybe he has a different one now? I saw it a few weeks ago when passing by at Colonie Center. No idea who's it was until I noticed the school name and number in smaller letters on the rear fender. One of those things that I had to stare at. Luckily I didn't get into an accident. Maybe I'm being too harsh.

The only other time I saw him say anything to anyone else was when another one of my classmates said something about taking dancing lessons. Then he commented, "You need to get back to wing chun." However, I don't know of any other classmate who got publicly shamed to the level that I did.