Meeting with the enemy tomorrow....

[geezer]

I just got off the phone with the enemy ....you know, a sifu who trained under a slightly, I mean a very slightly different lineage than mine, and I plan to meet him at a park to talk and maybe train a bit.

Now, we do have a bit of a history. Years back, I, unbeknownst to my associates, attended a seminar given by his Chinese sifu. I thought their basics were good and mostly compatible with what my Chinese sifu taught me. This was a big secret from the association I belonged to.

Now many years later, both of us have left our parent cults, er, I mean "organizations," and each of us are struggling to build a student group of our own. Well at least he still is. I've pretty much given up on running a "real" school. I'm a lot older and have fought that battle for too long. But, I still love the art and need open-minded people to train with ...people other that my few personal students, people that bring different skillsets to the table. People who aren't afraid to take advantage of my errors and make me look like an idiot sometimes. And maybe I can occasionally do the same in return. No egos, just honest training.

Well, I plan to see him tomorrow morning. Let you all know how it turns out.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I just got off the phone with the enemy ....you know, a sifu who trained under a slightly, I mean a very slightly different lineage than mine, and I plan to meet him at a park to talk and maybe train a bit.

It is a truism of martial arts and religion that the smaller the differences between the two sects, the more adamantly they will argue about them.

 

[geezer]

Well, I met with the other Wing Chun guy and one of his students yesterday. We shared ideas and discussed some of the things we have in common, and things we do differently.

Significantly, we both believe that functionality is what really matters and that different approaches need to be evaluated from a cost or risk vs. benefit perspective rather than what is "right" or "wrong". This approach gives us a framework for open discussion. I felt that it was a good start to build on.

Hopefully we can meet again in a couple of weeks along with a few more students and a plan to share some specific techniques and applications. You know, trying the kinda training where one of us shows something that works for us and then lets others play with it with different levels of resistance and see what they think. Then it's the other guy's turn to share.

....I know, it's not exactly they way traditional Chinese sifus taught, but I think it's a good way to broaden your horizons.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Well, I met with the other Wing Chun guy and one of his students yesterday. We shared ideas and discussed some of the things we have in common, and things we do differently.

Significantly, we both believe that functionality is what really matters and that different approaches need to be evaluated from a cost or risk vs. benefit perspective rather than what is "right" or "wrong". This approach gives us a framework for open discussion. I felt that it was a good start to build on.

Hopefully we can meet again in a couple of weeks along with a few more students and a plan to share some specific techniques and applications. You know, trying the kinda training where one of us shows something that works for us and then lets others play with it with different levels of resistance and see what they think. Then it's the other guy's turn to share.

....I know, it's not exactly they way traditional Chinese sifus taught, but I think it's a good way to broaden your horizons.

So, then the next meet with students is the leitai death match then

one of the best learning experiences in CMA I had was at my first shifu’s school when we had our Saturday afternoon sparing group. Style did not matter. It was awesome

 

[geezer]

So, then the next meet with students is the leitai death match then

Not exactly a death match. We will be fighting on a raised platform, but won't put bamboo spikes in the ground like we did when I was learning. Today's youth are too soft for that. Maybe some upside down chairs instead?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Not exactly a death match. We will be fighting on a raised platform, but won't put bamboo spikes in the ground like we did when I was learning. Today's youth are too soft for that. Maybe some upside down chairs instead?

At LEAST have broken bottles just outside the ring, can’t go to easy on those youngins