Ask me any question about Martial Arts about any systems

JowGaWolf

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How's it going. Time to pick your brain. Ask me any question about Martial Arts about any system. I'm trying to get a feel for questions that people may have about Martial Arts either in general or specifically. Feel free to ask any question, so long as it's a question that you actually have. I want to see what people are thinking about. Skill level doesn't matter.

Who knows you may get an answer back.
 

Rich Parsons

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My School broke, lots of hurt feelings. Lots of weird comments and accusations made.
Oher than People in general - Why ?
...
Yes, I agree there is not enough information to answer the specific question.
 
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JowGaWolf

JowGaWolf

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My School broke, lots of hurt feelings. Lots of weird comments and accusations made.
Oher than People in general - Why ?
...
Yes, I agree there is not enough information to answer the specific question.
Sounds familiar. When I find the answer to that I'll definitely let you know. It's amazing how quickly some will abandon the relationships they make with others.
 

MetalBoar

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How's it going. Time to pick your brain. Ask me any question about Martial Arts about any system. I'm trying to get a feel for questions that people may have about Martial Arts either in general or specifically. Feel free to ask any question, so long as it's a question that you actually have. I want to see what people are thinking about. Skill level doesn't matter.

Who knows you may get an answer back.
Is it better to keep looking for a quality CMA school that does a good job of teaching practical applications, which is what really interests me right now, or should I just settle for BJJ and/or Muay Thai at one of the schools that are almost walking distance from my house and appear to have very good instructors?
 
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JowGaWolf

JowGaWolf

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Is it better to keep looking for a quality CMA school that does a good job of teaching practical applications, which is what really interests me right now, or should I just settle for BJJ and/or Muay Thai at one of the schools that are almost walking distance from my house and appear to have very good instructors?
I'm going to quote "Crazy88" on this one. They literally produce world champions. They say that when it comes to your goals, don't sacrifice quality. Even if you may have to travel further to get what you want. Your question reminds me of them because, what you are really interested in is a Good Quality CMA school. If you settle for BJJ or Muay Thai because they are closer to you then, you 'll never accomplish what you are looking for.

I can use my experience with this and Jow Ga Kung fu. I was looking for the same thing you are looking for. Had I settled for what was close to me then I wouldn't have known how great Jow Ga Kung Fu is. When I say great, I don't mean better than everyone else. I just mean it's very practical and straight forward once you being to really understand it. My biggest interest in CMA are the weapons and that's just not something I'm going to learn in a BJJ or Muay Thai school.

I think it's better to follow your passion and do what it takes to get there, even if you can't get in person training due to the pandemic. It will get you half-way there until you can get hands-on instruction. Depending on where you live someone may know of an CMA system that will meet your needs. However, quality instruction is always a challenge. Not everyone is good at teaching others, not everyone cares about a student's progress. For things like that, you'll just have to give the instructor a test.

I guess the bigger question is to ask yourself if what you like about CMA can be learned in another system. If you answer yes, then that may be an option for you, depending on what type of CMA that you were thinking about trying.
 

Flying Crane

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I'm going to quote "Crazy88" on this one. They literally produce world champions. They say that when it comes to your goals, don't sacrifice quality. Even if you may have to travel further to get what you want. Your question reminds me of them because, what you are really interested in is a Good Quality CMA school. If you settle for BJJ or Muay Thai because they are closer to you then, you 'll never accomplish what you are looking for.

I can use my experience with this and Jow Ga Kung fu. I was looking for the same thing you are looking for. Had I settled for what was close to me then I wouldn't have known how great Jow Ga Kung Fu is. When I say great, I don't mean better than everyone else. I just mean it's very practical and straight forward once you being to really understand it. My biggest interest in CMA are the weapons and that's just not something I'm going to learn in a BJJ or Muay Thai school.

I think it's better to follow your passion and do what it takes to get there, even if you can't get in person training due to the pandemic. It will get you half-way there until you can get hands-on instruction. Depending on where you live someone may know of an CMA system that will meet your needs. However, quality instruction is always a challenge. Not everyone is good at teaching others, not everyone cares about a student's progress. For things like that, you'll just have to give the instructor a test.

I guess the bigger question is to ask yourself if what you like about CMA can be learned in another system. If you answer yes, then that may be an option for you, depending on what type of CMA that you were thinking about trying.
I would add to this: is there something you can do, eventually, to find good CMA instruction? If it is simply not available in your area, are you willing to travel to get to it? How far? How often? Are you willing and able to move and relocate, perhaps to another region of the country?

If you cannot or are unwilling to do these things, then quality CMA may never become available. In that case, if you are otherwise passionate about martial arts and if the other schools near you are quality, then I recommend you train there. Otherwise you may do nothing in hopes of something that may never become accessible. Better to do something, if it is also quality.
 

MetalBoar

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I would add to this: is there something you can do, eventually, to find good CMA instruction? If it is simply not available in your area, are you willing to travel to get to it? How far? How often? Are you willing and able to move and relocate, perhaps to another region of the country?

If you cannot or are unwilling to do these things, then quality CMA may never become available. In that case, if you are otherwise passionate about martial arts and if the other schools near you are quality, then I recommend you train there. Otherwise you may do nothing in hopes of something that may never become accessible. Better to do something, if it is also quality.
Well, it was a bit of a hypothetical question to further the discussion. I think it was in the spirit of:
Feel free to ask any question, so long as it's a question that you actually have. I want to see what people are thinking about.
It is a question that's on my mind but it's a little premature for me to be making any decisions. With the pandemic I'm not yet ready to start up with a new school (I just moved cross country so it'll have to be a new school) and I don't know which schools will even still be in business when things are fully open again. From the research I've done there may be some quality CMA schools in the area, but there's not a lot of info to be had about them or how they're structured.

This is a bit of a "what if" kind of question that I've been thinking about because my past experience tells me that with only a handful of CMA schools (plus a lot of Wing Chun and Tai Chi) in the area the chances that there's a good one are a little slim. To clarify, I'd actually really like to study Wing Chun and I was studying Tai Chi with a great instructor in Seattle before the pandemic. They're both obviously CMA's but I've seen/tried a lot of WC and Tai Chi schools that weren't right for me, so having a lot of WC and TC schools in the area doesn't add to my confidence as much as it might. I've actually been meaning to start a thread in the General Chinese Martial Arts forum to see if anyone has any experience with the handful-ish of schools I'm most interested in, this thread just caught my attention before I got around to it.

@Flying Crane: My thoughts on your questions, at this point I'm not able to relocate cross country or internationally, though I might be willing and probably able to do so at some point. I'm definitely willing to travel some distance for good instruction but not if it's so far that I'll only be able to get instruction less than once a month. For instance, I'd happily drive to Tucson (just under 2 hours one way) at least once a week for really quality instruction in an art I wanted to learn. I'd less happily drive to Las Vegas or San Diego (4.5-5.5 hours one way) for world class instruction in an art that really excited me, but that would probably be a once or maybe sometimes twice a month adventure. Much farther than that and I know I'm just not going to do it unless work or something else made it a regular occurrence. If something changes such that I have both more money and more time I'd consider doing long trips to study but I'm not in that position as of yet.

Cheers!
 
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JowGaWolf

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Ask me any question about Martial Arts about any systems

People may call me "anti-Taiji", but I truly don't believe this is real and possible. What's your opinion on this kind of things.

Please watch at 0.48.

台湾太极大师一掌震开11人 被称超级“赛亚人”_冲击播_腾讯视频

I think these 2 look really intimidating. It looks like they know what they are doing
upload_2021-2-28_21-8-3.png
 
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JowGaWolf

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With the pandemic I'm not yet ready to start up with a new school (I just moved cross country so it'll have to be a new school) and I don't know which schools will even still be in business when things are fully open again. From the research I've done there may be some quality CMA schools in the area, but there's not a lot of info to be had about them or how they're structured.
This pandemic is definitely a challenge. My guess is those who find other ways to teach during the pandemic will most likely be around once the pandemic is under control. If they have a Facebook page or a youtube channel, then you can reach out to some of the students for some feedback on the school. You may get some inside info on what it's really like.
 

Flying Crane

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Well, it was a bit of a hypothetical question to further the discussion. I think it was in the spirit of:

It is a question that's on my mind but it's a little premature for me to be making any decisions. With the pandemic I'm not yet ready to start up with a new school (I just moved cross country so it'll have to be a new school) and I don't know which schools will even still be in business when things are fully open again. From the research I've done there may be some quality CMA schools in the area, but there's not a lot of info to be had about them or how they're structured.

This is a bit of a "what if" kind of question that I've been thinking about because my past experience tells me that with only a handful of CMA schools (plus a lot of Wing Chun and Tai Chi) in the area the chances that there's a good one are a little slim. To clarify, I'd actually really like to study Wing Chun and I was studying Tai Chi with a great instructor in Seattle before the pandemic. They're both obviously CMA's but I've seen/tried a lot of WC and Tai Chi schools that weren't right for me, so having a lot of WC and TC schools in the area doesn't add to my confidence as much as it might. I've actually been meaning to start a thread in the General Chinese Martial Arts forum to see if anyone has any experience with the handful-ish of schools I'm most interested in, this thread just caught my attention before I got around to it.

@Flying Crane: My thoughts on your questions, at this point I'm not able to relocate cross country or internationally, though I might be willing and probably able to do so at some point. I'm definitely willing to travel some distance for good instruction but not if it's so far that I'll only be able to get instruction less than once a month. For instance, I'd happily drive to Tucson (just under 2 hours one way) at least once a week for really quality instruction in an art I wanted to learn. I'd less happily drive to Las Vegas or San Diego (4.5-5.5 hours one way) for world class instruction in an art that really excited me, but that would probably be a once or maybe sometimes twice a month adventure. Much farther than that and I know I'm just not going to do it unless work or something else made it a regular occurrence. If something changes such that I have both more money and more time I'd consider doing long trips to study but I'm not in that position as of yet.

Cheers!
Fair enough as a hypothetical, and my contribution can be taken that way as well. If any of it applies to you, so much the better.

To quote a bit of Pink Floyd:

And then one day you wake to find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run,
You missed the starting gun

Well, it’s easy to sit and wait for the perfect thing to come by that never will, and miss what good might be right there in front of you. And then ten years has got behind you...

So do an honest evaluation of the likelihood. And I realize that Covid has a lot of this up in the air right now so an accurate assessment may not be possible.
 

Buka

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Have you been through the desert on a horse of no name?
 

jobo

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Fair enough as a hypothetical, and my contribution can be taken that way as well. If any of it applies to you, so much the better.

To quote a bit of Pink Floyd:

And then one day you wake to find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run,
You missed the starting gun

Well, it’s easy to sit and wait for the perfect thing to come by that never will, and miss what good might be right there in front of you. And then ten years has got behind you...

So do an honest evaluation of the likelihood. And I realize that Covid has a lot of this up in the air right now so an accurate assessment may not be possible.
if your going to credit pf at least quote them accuratly,
 

Flying Crane

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Have you been through the desert on a horse of no name?
I did find myself in another part of the world
And I found myself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And I found myself living in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife, and I had to ask myself, “well, how did I get here?”
 
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