Masters who don't tell you the name of the style(s) you do

[edededed]

JB - ha ha, I have heard of similar things - basically, it seems that a lot of old Chinese teachers are on the one hand conservative/secretive ("Oh this technique? It's nothing.") and on the other hand eager to talk about things as well (forgetting their previous denials)...

[Chanchu]

sifu, " I won't tell the lofan the name of that method because he learned other way before- name is similar but force and shen fa are not. If I tell him the name- that damn lofan will get even more confused"

true story.....

[edededed]

Hmm - that could be a good reason...

[Craig]

i know the name of the styles i do but i couldnt tell you what a lot of the individual movements are called. probably a lot to do with the language barrier but most of the time he says "just do this movement" and shows us the movement so we know which one he is talking about.

[Ian]

Kal,

Good question. This is specifically what I'm going to do if I ever open my own school - I'll only tell them the name if they aren't attached to it.

I don't want students coming to me just because they want to learn a certain style. I ONLY want them to come to me to learn fighting.

(Regarding health - there are better ways to become healthy without pretending to practice self defense.)

And if my reputation as a fighter isn't up to scratch, then I shouldn't be teaching "martial arts".

Simple.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

I think we can all heartily agree that bullshido can go fuck themselves as they are essentially not actually a valid voice for anything other than posturing nonsense and ditto heading in favour of the UFC and it's ruleset as the only standard.

wankers is what they are.... no offense to some of the guys who for some reason keep hanging around that shitfest. lol

[kal]

Some great and interesting replies. Thanks to all.

I don't want students coming to me just because they want to learn a certain style. I ONLY want them to come to me to learn fighting.

This is very thought provoking. It might even be worth its own discussion in a separate thread i.e., Is it good or bad to want to learn a certain style?

(Regarding health - there are better ways to become healthy without pretending to practice self defense.)

Agree!