Wing Woo Gar49 11
Grandmaster
Iām asking the name of the Tai Chi guy that you met.
Where To Draw the Line
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Wing Woo Gar49 11
Grandmaster
The one that could crush you like a bug.
mograph
Master of Arts
I would argue that TMA, properly practiced, integrates body and mind.
Arguably, qigong could do the same thing.
As the story goes, yi leads to qi leads to shen. I spoke to a martial brother (from HK) a while back, and he agreed that shen is spirit, but in the sense of being spirited, that is, healthy physically, sharp mentally, interested, happy, relaxed, yet ready to go.
Arguably, qigong could do the same thing.
As the story goes, yi leads to qi leads to shen. I spoke to a martial brother (from HK) a while back, and he agreed that shen is spirit, but in the sense of being spirited, that is, healthy physically, sharp mentally, interested, happy, relaxed, yet ready to go.
Marsha Larts
Blue Belt
I don't drop names
QuantumKitty
Orange Belt
One of the realizations I have made is that hobbies are a sign of privilege.
Some people dedicate themselves to board games like Chess and Go.
Some people dedicate themselves to hitting a ball back and forth like tennis and Ping Pong.
Some people dedicate themselves to weapons that we no longer use in modern society, such as those found in HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) or Kenjutsu.
Despite all this, so many people have lifelong pursuits towards activities that do not solve world peace or world hunger. It doesn't explicitly make the world a better place.
Many humans are so well off that they can afford to do activities that are unrelated to survival.
There exist tribes where the word "exercise" does not exist in their language because physical activity is naturally woven into everyday life. The idea of dedicating a period of time to waste your energy by moving around is foreign to them. Yet humans are so well off that in most societies, the word "exercise" exists as a concept. But to hunters and gatherers, this is a foreign concept. In their life, running on a treadmill probably sounds like a waste of energy.
There are so many hobbies (not related to martial arts) where I think: "Wow! That seems like a waste of time." Yet, people do them.
Prince_Alarming114 144
Senior Master
Not really. A lot of the working guys I know (mechanics, farmers, builders) have some sort of hobby to do in their spare time. I knew a guy who worked at the same factory dad did who painted really competent pictures of woodlands in bloom, for instance. Or the dude I worked with at my current place who used to cosplay as a ghostbuster, to take something more modern. And long may it continue. A man cannot and should not spend his entire life working. Life is bigger than the grind. These activities are also typically less expensive than other pursuits such as drinking.
Prince_Alarming114 144
Senior Master
I mean, older men are often given to wonder why younger men have taken to collecting things like pokemon cards and plastic toys. The answer is that it's a distortion of a perfectly natural impulse that in healthy individuals leads to a collection of film cameras, vinyl records, model steam trains etc.
Marsha Larts
Blue Belt
Hunter-gatherer groups have always used 'exercise' in the form of games and competitive feats of all kinds to display and demonstrate prowess of different aspects of hunting and gathering skills. Shooting, throwing, running, climbing, and other feats of endurance and strength that extended into matched play, and sometimes not so 'play', formats including wrestling and hitting each other (leg, arm, push, pull and full-body) to establish hierarchy and status within the group and in 'friendly' interaction with other, neighboring groups. Those activities not only developed skills for hunting and gathering, but for defense and attack against other groups and individuals. The urge to 'practice' was encouraged by parents and peers for the sake of survival. Those basic abilities are primal and the urge one has to engage their development is almost hard-wired for most people.
Then there's the internal skills primitive peoples developed for survival that involved remaining still and softly aware - standing, sitting and squatting in a readied state in ambushing prey or an enemy, or evading predators and enemies. That type of activity revealed and awakened different and unusual states of awareness of mind (meditative?) and body.
The rest is history, as they say.
Meh. Hobbies aren't a sign of privilege. They are a privilege. Or rather, the free time to engage in hobbies is the privilege. Anything that isn't directly related to survival is a privilege.
Show me one single person on this planet who doesn't have at least a little free time on their hands.
Man, my dad worked his **** off through his life. I remember getting lectured as a kid about free time being a privilege, and deciding how to spend that free time being a big deal. And that too much free time meant you weren't working hard enough lol.
Show me one single person on this planet who doesn't have at least a little free time on their hands.
Man, my dad worked his **** off through his life. I remember getting lectured as a kid about free time being a privilege, and deciding how to spend that free time being a big deal. And that too much free time meant you weren't working hard enough lol.
Prince_Alarming114 144
Senior Master
A fair point. My dad worked his bottom off too. As a result, my brother makes more money in a day than the kids who bullied him will see in a year. As for me, it's a privilege to be able to look after him as he's getting older.
Prince_Alarming114 144
Senior Master
What loot do you drop though, just out of interest?
Marsha Larts
Blue Belt
Could you share more detail on this?
When I help my SC teacher to teach his SC class in Chinese Culture University out door in Taiwan. A guy challenged my teacher. That guy used foot sweep to sweep my teacher's leading leg. When my teacher raised his leg and let the sweeping leg to pass under, the guy changed his foot sweep into a tornado kick and tried to kick my teacher's head. During his body spinning in the air, my teacher used Xingyi Heng Quan to hit on that guy's waist. It sent that guy's body to fly 45 degrees up.
I saw the whole challenge with my only eyes. Before that day, I though Xing Yi Heng Quan was only good for body throwing. I also didn't know that a punch can send someone to fly 45 degrees up. Of course, my teacher borrowed that guy's jumping into tornado kick. It was a such good timing; only excellent MA guy could do that.
We can all learn from a fighting detail. Hope you don't mind sharing your experience.
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Wing Woo Gar49 11
Grandmaster
Oh ok. So nobody of note.
Wing Woo Gar49 11
Grandmaster
Why not drop them again?
Regarding the OP, I'm of the opinion that martial arts should be about the original self preservation aspect above all else. But that's just me. I think very few people stay with it for that reason, and there'd be a lot of schools going out of business if the main priority was martial. We'd probably get some of the rough and tumble types back, but I don't know that's enough. And there are a ton of people getting big benefits from the other aspects of training. Other than maybe gymnastics and dance, I can't really think of anything that can give you the subtle bodily control and precision that the TMA's can. That in itself is a worthy goal.
And honestly, if someone really really needs to learn how to handle themselves, they probably need it sooner than later and MMA or boxing is going to give them usable results much much faster than 99% of TMA schools. I'm betting "back in day" usable results came much faster with TMA than today due to training methodologies. So it probably just boils down to people doing it for enjoyment nowadays. My dad practiced kyokushin so I was pretty much born into karate. A dojo just feels like home to me. The smell of a well used dojo is super nostalgic and comforting for me lol.
And honestly, if someone really really needs to learn how to handle themselves, they probably need it sooner than later and MMA or boxing is going to give them usable results much much faster than 99% of TMA schools. I'm betting "back in day" usable results came much faster with TMA than today due to training methodologies. So it probably just boils down to people doing it for enjoyment nowadays. My dad practiced kyokushin so I was pretty much born into karate. A dojo just feels like home to me. The smell of a well used dojo is super nostalgic and comforting for me lol.
Marsha Larts
Blue Belt
Ever try fighting someone whose body feels as though it's entirely composed of a non-newtonian fluid?
No matter what you try, you either get crunched from your own power or smothered by your own softness
- Moderator
- #39
There have been times I was able to dominate a better fighter because I had abilities they werenāt trained for. They were still the better fighter, in my opinion, because they would defeat more random fighters than me. And if they had fought me a few more times (and maybe had a bit of instruction on dealing with me), theyād quickly start dominating me.
- Moderator
- #40
Iām not a big fan of āshouldā about martial arts. People like what they like, and thatās fine. I liked the challenge of working on aiki and nuance. That kept me training. I could have learned to fight faster - and probably better - if I put the same time into something more direct, but I wouldnāt have put the same time into it.
