You know it's real when you see smiles like this

[JowGaWolf]

One of the things I often see in real application demos that I don't see in fake kung fu demos are smiles of amazement and laughter. Maybe it's me or maybe it's something cultural or maybe I'm just projecting my own experiences. But when I see students smile and laugh in amazement this way, I always think and "know" that there is something real about the technique and about what the person is experiencing.

I've yet to see anyone fake this smile or laughter because it often has an innocent childlike appearance to it. It reminds me of how I've smiled and how I've seen students smile when they have honestly experienced something. It never looks over dramatic. The reaction looks natural and it's not just one sided either. That same happy reaction often shows up on the teacher's face as well. The teacher smiles and laughs as well as if the 2 are good friends. It never takes on that "magical look"

 

[Holmejr]

smiles or laughter can surely be a sign of homage.

 

[Oily Dragon]

One of the things I often see in real application demos that I don't see in fake kung fu demos are smiles of amazement and laughter. Maybe it's me or maybe it's something cultural or maybe I'm just projecting my own experiences. But when I see students smile and laugh in amazement this way, I always think and "know" that there is something real about the technique and about what the person is experiencing.

I've yet to see anyone fake this smile or laughter because it often has an innocent childlike appearance to it. It reminds me of how I've smiled and how I've seen students smile when they have honestly experienced something. It never looks over dramatic. The reaction looks natural and it's not just one sided either. That same happy reaction often shows up on the teacher's face as well. The teacher smiles and laughs as well as if the 2 are good friends. It never takes on that "magical look"

What you're seeing is a shared experience, and few things are more fun than feeling the inner strength of our elders. We expect them to be weak and humorless!

Young people always think they're the cat's meow, and then some ancient person who's seen a lot of stuff can just yank them right out of their fantasy, in that case literally.

But there are definitely plenty of fake kung fu demos full of this sort of joviality. Like that fake Tai Chi video a few days ago...unfortunately sometimes people are just lapdogs. Don't seek them out, they're value-less.

Lots of Lapdogs in kung fu, bro.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Smiling releases neuropeptides that reduce stress. As a result, some people smile when they are stressed. Not commenting on the specific video posted, just on the smile response.

 

[JowGaWolf]

smiles or laughter can surely be a sign of homage.

I really enjoyed that one. He was getting cut up, even when he stop the old man was still going. And that's a lesson within a lesson. "Don't stop." He stopped and the guy and he took advantage of that. Awesome. I think I'm going to share videos like this when people say things like "I don't want to train to hurt someone." or that "Violence is something we should deny." You can really tell they were enjoying it.

 

[JowGaWolf]

But there are definitely plenty of fake kung fu demos full of this sort of joviality. Like that fake Tai Chi video a few days ago...unfortunately sometimes people are just lapdogs. Don't seek them out, they're value-less.

Lots of Lapdogs in kung fu, bro.

I've seen what you are talking about but those things don't come across the same way. I look at what they do and I don't get the same reaction or feel. I guess I've seen enough fake laughs in my life to know the difference. It's difficult to explain. But to me there's a huge difference

 

[Oily Dragon]

I've seen what you are talking about but those things don't come across the same way. I look at what they do and I don't get the same reaction or feel. I guess I've seen enough fake laughs in my life to know the difference. It's difficult to explain. But to me there's a huge difference

It might be because in one video, you're seeing the reaction to a real technique, and in the other reaction to a fake thing. So you're spotting the play acting, rather than genuine reaction.

A kind of uncanny valley.

 

[dvcochran]

smiles or laughter can surely be a sign of homage.

That is truly beautiful to me. It looks like the joy and laughter from someone who truly loves the other person. If that was not a beautiful thing I do not know what is.
As far as the laughter, I believe it was genuine and in no way making fun of the older gentleman.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Martial arts is one of those activities that connect young and old.

 

[isshinryuronin]

One of the things I often see in real application demos that I don't see in fake kung fu demos are smiles of amazement and laughter. Maybe it's me or maybe it's something cultural or maybe I'm just projecting my own experiences. But when I see students smile and laugh in amazement this way, I always think and "know" that there is something real about the technique and about what the person is experiencing.

I've yet to see anyone fake this smile or laughter because it often has an innocent childlike appearance to it. It reminds me of how I've smiled and how I've seen students smile when they have honestly experienced something. It never looks over dramatic. The reaction looks natural and it's not just one sided either. That same happy reaction often shows up on the teacher's face as well. The teacher smiles and laughs as well as if the 2 are good friends. It never takes on that "magical look"

I will interpret your last sentence (my bold print) differently and say it's the opposite. It is indeed "magical." The smiles on the student and spectators faces are the same as those I have seen on a crowd watching a good street magician - pure joy and amazement. So, seeing this similarity, I thought about the similarities between magic and what your video shows.

In both cases we know intellectually that what we are seeing is based on expert technique and not something supernatural. The amazement is that we don't see or understand just how the technique achieves the result. That is a sign of mastery. Sun Tsu said something to that effect in regards to victory in battle.

Are there any other similarities between MA and magic?

 

[_Simon_]

I will interpret your last sentence (my bold print) differently and say it's the opposite. It is indeed "magical." The smiles on the student and spectators faces are the same as those I have seen on a crowd watching a good street magician - pure joy and amazement. So, seeing this similarity, I thought about the similarities between magic and what your video shows.

In both cases we know intellectually that what we are seeing is based on expert technique and not something supernatural. The amazement is that we don't see or understand just how the technique achieves the result. That is a sign of mastery. Sun Tsu said something to that effect in regards to victory in battle.

Are there any other similarities between MA and magic?

Yesss. It's that sense of awe. I like that word . Awe and curiosity at witnessing something masterful and clearly at a high level. Even when they don't understand it, people recognise that high level of skill

 

[JowGaWolf]

Are there any other similarities between MA and magic?

Depends on how a person classifies magic. Here's the perspective that I see as "Magic"
Street Magic, Magic Shows, Magicians = Deception for Entertainment. I show you a trick, you are amazed, but the Joy comes from trying to figure out how it works. This is real and people understand that there will be deception. With the exception of few who fall into the category below.

Then there's Magic that is of a belief system and in the belief the believer believes that there is no deception. Examples of this would be religious beliefs, Voodoo, black magic, white magic, Druids, tai chi balls, etc. In the majority of this area the purpose is not to deceive for the most part. Many of those who participate have a real belief in the system.. I'll use myself for example. So as not to offend anyone. I believe in spirits /ghosts/ demons. Some people may say that I believe in magical things. But for me, this isn't magical, In my eyes this is the natural way of things I believe in these things and I have no interest in deceiving others. Most people in this box have similar feelings about their own belief system. Usually the ones that take it into a "magical realm of things" are corrupt leaders or leaders who may not have a good grasp of reality.

Again I will use myself as an example: When I was a kid I used to play with Yellow Jackets. I would go look for them (they nest in the ground) and I would do things like place pots on top of the opening to see if they can find a way out. The younger me didn't realize that was like making a bee bomb. Because I played with bees so often I thought I had a special ability and bond because I never got stung. I even said as much to my friends and invited my friend to join me. Keep in mind, I'm not trying to deceive. I just simply don't understand the reality of bees. Long story short Everything went well until the pot tipped over and underneath it were hundreds of unhappy bees. That stung us.

In my mind, my luck was probably magic. This wasn't something I created for the purpose of deceiving myself or others. It was complete ignorance and arrogance. which lasted 3 bee stings, some laughter, then a revenge. From that day on I destroyed yellow jacket nests.

It think those who fall in the "belief" category run a runs of being harmed. because of their beliefs.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Are there any other similarities between MA and magic?

To an extent but the same can be be said about a lot of thing. For example, Practice improves your skills. a magician practices his skill sets until he masters it and then he continues to train it. But that's where I would find similarities. After that it's becomes a issue with comparing 2 things out of context.

For example. If you ask the martial artist why we was smiling and laughing. It won't be for the same reason someone smiles and laughs at a magic trick. They look like the same but they aren't. Context is everything.

 

[geezer]

....The younger me didn't realize that was like making a bee bomb. Long story short Everything went well until the pot tipped over and underneath it were hundreds of unhappy bees. That stung us.

...From that day on I destroyed yellow jacket nests.

I grew up in a peaceful middle class neighborhood ...oddly enough full of kids with really devious minds.

We didn't have yellow-jackets around there ...or any other common ground nesting wasps. But if we did, and any of our gang had an experience like that, I can guarantee we'd have capitalized on it.

One of us (probably me) would have set up those bee-bombs with pots over the yellow jacket nests and strung trip wires, then waited, hiding at a safe distance and watching through binoculars to see what happened to unfortunate passers by. I loved stuff like that!

And, we'd have videotaped it ...if that was a thing then. But that was the 60s so video wasn't really a thing, ya know. Other things were. Home-made bombs, molotov cocktails, smoke-grenades, stink bombs, nuclear water balloons, cherry bombs shot from sling shots, dog-poo bombs... the list goes on.

Some of us got hurt. Others nearly arrested. One really smart guy got 3rd degree burns from home-made liquid rocket fuel, another (Mr. Phosphorus Bomb) eventually got a PHd. in chemical synthesis, "Greg"who planted scorpions in grumpy old Mike's gardening gloves went into military intelligence ...and I (the nuclear water ballon guy) went into the fine arts. Go figure!

 

[dvcochran]

I grew up in a peaceful middle class neighborhood ...oddly enough full of kids with really devious minds.

We didn't have yellow-jackets around there ...or any other common ground nesting wasps. But if we did, and any of our gang had an experience like that, I can guarantee we'd have capitalized on it.

One of us (probably me) would have set up those bee-bombs with pots over the yellow jacket nests and strung trip wires, then waited, hiding at a safe distance and watching through binoculars to see what happened to unfortunate passers by. I loved stuff like that!

And, we'd have videotaped it ...if that was a thing then. But that was the 60s so video wasn't really a thing, ya know. Other things were. Home-made bombs, molotov cocktails, smoke-grenades, stink bombs, nuclear water balloons, cherry bombs shot from sling shots, dog-poo bombs... the list goes on.

Some of us got hurt. Others nearly arrested. One really smart guy got 3rd degree burns from home-made liquid rocket fuel, another (Mr. Phosphorus Bomb) eventually got a PHd. in chemical synthesis, "Greg"who planted scorpions in grumpy old Mike's gardening gloves went into military intelligence ...and I (the nuclear water ballon guy) went into the fine arts. Go figure!

Man, that is just a fantastic post.

 

[JowGaWolf]

dog-poo bombs

Now that's just evil lol. I wonder what the relation is between your water balloons and fine arts. But you also got into Martial Arts though.

 

[JowGaWolf]

One of us (probably me) would have set up those bee-bombs with pots over the yellow jacket nests and strung trip wires, then waited, hiding at a safe distance and watching through binoculars to see what happened to unfortunate passers by. I loved stuff like that!

I'm glad you didn't live around me when I was a kid. I can see you now. Telling some kid. "Hey there's a treasure hunt and I hid some candy somewhere. It could be in any where, behind a tree in a pot, on top of a car. lol. You'll probably bait one pot with candy and make sure that pot is easy to find. Then that other pot would have been jammed packed with bees just waiting for someone to tilt it over. Not cool man. lol

But on the other hand, it is funny to see people get stung by bees so long as they aren't allergic. It's one of those things where you ask if they are ok and if they say yes you'll just crack up laughing. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've had more than my share laughter watching my friends get stung by 1 or 2 bees. Even if I got stung it was still funny to see them do the Bee Sting dance lol

I found this video and it sounds like the conversation I had when I was playing with bees lol.

I used to work at a recreation center in my early 20's and I literally told the kids not mess with the bees that they saw coming out of the ground. One of my co-workers told me to go do something about it so the kids wouldn't get stung. I looked at her like she was crazy. But being from the south and having my bad experience I thought "yeah I probably should do something"

One of the funniest days ever. There were like 10 kids in that area and for someone reason one kids stomped on the ground where they were coming out. OMG those bees went off like a Nuke. I laughed sooooo hard that day. Now I will say that the kids who knew they were allergic to the bees, got away as soon as they saw bees in that area. But ohhhh what a sight. I kept yelling to them to run away but about 3 or 4 of them just ran in place when I yell that lol.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

One of the things I often see in real application demos that I don't see in fake kung fu demos are smiles of amazement and laughter. Maybe it's me or maybe it's something cultural or maybe I'm just projecting my own experiences. But when I see students smile and laugh in amazement this way, I always think and "know" that there is something real about the technique and about what the person is experiencing.

I've yet to see anyone fake this smile or laughter because it often has an innocent childlike appearance to it. It reminds me of how I've smiled and how I've seen students smile when they have honestly experienced something. It never looks over dramatic. The reaction looks natural and it's not just one sided either. That same happy reaction often shows up on the teacher's face as well. The teacher smiles and laughs as well as if the 2 are good friends. It never takes on that "magical look"

This reminds me of something that happened with my old sambo instructor Dayn. New student was in (shotokan brown belt, new to grappling), and we were showing him the application of an RNC. To help him see the point of impact, he was demoing on me, and had me sing the pledge of allegiance. As I said "see" my voice shot up until I lost my breath and all sound stopped. Keep in mind I have a very naturally deep voice, so it basically went from baritone to soprano to no sound. All of us laughed hysterically, new guy looked at us like we were crazy.

 

[dvcochran]

I'm glad you didn't live around me when I was a kid. I can see you now. Telling some kid. "Hey there's a treasure hunt and I hid some candy somewhere. It could be in any where, behind a tree in a pot, on top of a car. lol. You'll probably bait one pot with candy and make sure that pot is easy to find. Then that other pot would have been jammed packed with bees just waiting for someone to tilt it over. Not cool man. lol

But on the other hand, it is funny to see people get stung by bees so long as they aren't allergic. It's one of those things where you ask if they are ok and if they say yes you'll just crack up laughing. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've had more than my share laughter watching my friends get stung by 1 or 2 bees. Even if I got stung it was still funny to see them do the Bee Sting dance lol

I found this video and it sounds like the conversation I had when I was playing with bees lol.

I used to work at a recreation center in my early 20's and I literally told the kids not mess with the bees that they saw coming out of the ground. One of my co-workers told me to go do something about it so the kids wouldn't get stung. I looked at her like she was crazy. But being from the south and having my bad experience I thought "yeah I probably should do something"

One of the funniest days ever. There were like 10 kids in that area and for someone reason one kids stomped on the ground where they were coming out. OMG those bees went off like a Nuke. I laughed sooooo hard that day. Now I will say that the kids who knew they were allergic to the bees, got away as soon as they saw bees in that area. But ohhhh what a sight. I keptI yelling to them to run away but about 3 or 4 of them just ran in place when I yell that lol.

When I was 12, me, my father, and one brother were on an early season quail hunt when it was still pretty warm. We were walking o in a line to where we thought the birds would be with two of our dogs. Being the smallest, I was last in line and when everyone else had walked over a terrace it was my turn. I did not know the others had stirred up a ground hornet's den. If you do not have them in your area they are large wasps, much bigger than a yellow jacket (about the size of a wood bee), but similar in color. They pack a punch. I was wearing short sleeves and walked right into the swarm. Before I could get to a nearby pond, I was popped 13 times on my arms, neck, and face/head. I am not highly allergic but swelled up a good bit and, that was the sickest I can remember being for a couple of days. Truly sucked.

 

[JowGaWolf]

When I was 12, me, my father, and one brother were on an early season quail hunt when it was still pretty warm. We were walking o in a line to where we thought the birds would be with two of our dogs. Being the smallest, I was last in line and when everyone else had walked over a terrace it was my turn. I did not know the others had stirred up a ground hornet's den. If you do not have them in your area they are large wasps, much bigger than a yellow jacket (about the size of a wood bee), but similar in color. They pack a punch. I was wearing short sleeves and walked right into the swarm. Before I could get to a nearby pond, I was popped 13 times on my arms, neck, and face/head. I am not highly allergic but swelled up a good bit and, that was the sickest I can remember being for a couple of days. Truly sucked.

How that sucks. Yellow Jacket stings hurt but I hear larger hornets are worse. I hear wasp stings really suck too.

Yeah we got hornets here. I don't want to get stung by anything larger than a yellow jacket lol. I've always seen larger hornets by themselves and I want to keep it that way. lol I couldn't even imagine 13 stings . Do you remember how far you had to run to get out of their territory?