Who is this 'Master Wong'?

[Shooter]

I've seen you on this board and the different incarnations of it for well over 10 years now and I've always respected your opinion. my screen name has changed but thats neither here nor there, but to try to insult people and call them spoonfed for seeking out quality instruction in the art of their choice just wrong. using your logic we should all go on the garage and create our own systems.

btw, i don't think anyone has suggested that you should believe the hype. I certainly don't.

Please understand that I am not against any one seeking out quality instruction. Not in the least. What I am against is the lack of insight and imagination some people have shown - for years - whenever the topic of creating and discovering good martial art on one's own comes up. They demonstrate their ignorance of the process over and over again and it's pretty clear that they can't appreciate or even recognize the methodologies that both cultivate and facilitate that process. The fact that those people may or may not be getting 'quality instruction' has nothing to do with them being spoonfed.

Spoonfed is a state of mind that I already described in my last post - the state of mind of someone that believes the hype. Again, it has nothing to do with whether or not they're getting quality instruction. It's their inability/unwillingness to accept that it can be done any other way but through 'quality instruction'. Their inability to understand that good martial art is nothing new under the sun, and that it's there for the discovery if proper training methods and practices are followed. Spoonfed don't even know what those methods are and can't appreciate them because they've never allowed themselves to experience the methods and practices in the context of martial art.

Spoonfed are those who read through a drill posted here and then ask questions about why this or that is done, instead of just doing the drill, whereupon, those questions are moot. Lots of other examples and reasons for the judicious use of the term.

[gzregorz]

Fair enough, thanks for explaining where you're coming from. I can see what you're saying now, that this should be encouraged instead of questioned.

[Shooter]

And the respect is mutual, btw

[gzregorz]

Good times.

[cdobe]

You're all wong...

[jonathan.bluestein]

Didn't someone say that we might actually get a response from master Wong here? That could be quite interesting...

[liokault]

Would we be having this discussion if the question was " who is this master Smith"?

[Shooter]

You're all wong...

Yeah, it would seem so.

As I already admitted, I've been delusional on this forum since I got here and have had certain folks remind of that from time to time over the years, and all the while those same folks have been doing the real, authentic fighty cma. Doesn't matter that they've changed their tune like I change jackets (seasonally and without thought as to how it looks).

I just keep saying the same shit over and over and continue to be deluded. Isn't that a sign of insanity or some such? Maybe I shoulda meditated more all those years ago and that insanity could havel be prevented...or so says Gary. Don't bother me, I'm talking to myself

Man, I luv this forum

[Bao]

Would we be having this discussion if the question was " who is this master Smith"?

There has been discussions similar to this before. Montague, BKF, Cheng Man Ching and others. I think that Mr should feel honored to get so much attention here.

[liokault]

Would we be having this discussion if the question was " who is this master Smith"?

There has been discussions similar to this before. Montague, BKF, Cheng Man Ching and others. I think that Mr should feel honored to get so much attention here.

Sorry, I think I made my point badly.

I was questioning wether we would even be considering this if he were not chinese.

[cdobe]

You're all wong...

Yeah, it would seem so.

As I already admitted, I've been delusional on this forum since I got here and have had certain folks remind of that from time to time over the years, and all the while those same folks have been doing the real, authentic fighty cma. Doesn't matter that they've changed their tune like I change jackets (seasonally and without thought as to how it looks).

I just keep saying the same shit over and over and continue to be deluded. Isn't that a sign of insanity or some such? Maybe I shoulda meditated more all those years ago and that insanity could havel be prevented...or so says Gary. Don't bother me, I'm talking to myself

Man, I luv this forum

It was just a cheesy joke, there is no need for anyone to take it personal.

[Shooter]

You're all wong...

Yeah, it would seem so.

As I already admitted, I've been delusional on this forum since I got here and have had certain folks remind of that from time to time over the years, and all the while those same folks have been doing the real, authentic fighty cma. Doesn't matter that they've changed their tune like I change jackets (seasonally and without thought as to how it looks).

I just keep saying the same shit over and over and continue to be deluded. Isn't that a sign of insanity or some such? Maybe I shoulda meditated more all those years ago and that insanity could havel be prevented...or so says Gary. Don't bother me, I'm talking to myself

Man, I luv this forum

It was just a cheesy joke, there is no need for anyone to take it personal.

Not personal at all. Was just adding some whine to that cheese

[Doc Stier]

A chip to go with the whine and cheese!

[Doc Stier]

On a more serious note, everyone starts exactly where they already are. Some guys (and gals) are natural fighters and seem to be able to make a good fight without having formally learned anything. Unfortunately, that wasn't me. I learned through hard experience early on that I needed some kind of instruction in order acquire enough skill to get the job done when necessary. The choices were few, so quality of instruction wasn't much of a consideration. In 1961, guys felt lucky to find any kind of martial art instruction at all. I'll bet that's still true even today in many places.

As more teachers of different styles appeared, I explored various arts until I found what seemed to best suit my physical attributes and temperament, and stuck with each one long enough to know for sure. My greatest claim was that I never quit learning and training. I just kept going, long after my curiosity was satisfied and even after realizing it was going to be a lot of hard work to succeed. To describe the training offered by Asian masters in those days as "eating bitter" would be a vast understatement!

Nonetheless, as time passed in training, and my fighting experience increased, it became clear in every style or system I studied that certain techniques and tactics weren't ever going to be my best for one reason or another. I think this is a common experience for most people in the martial arts. As a result, I had to take the basic material I received from each instructor and teach myself how to make it work best for me. If I couldn't do that, screw the hype, I moved on to something else that might be a better fit for me, either physically or mentally or both. I suspect that this is how existing styles are always modified, sometimes changing enough to become a separate, new style altogether. If that process effectively meets an individual's needs, it would be foolish not to do so, right?

That being said, however, I question the wisdom in trying to create a new style or system of fighting without first acquiring a basic expertise in something to use as a jumping off point of logical departure. Otherwise, there's a good chance that what you perceive as lacking in some styles may already be there, but is simply yet to be discovered due to insufficent training time and experience. Instead, I see lots of guys learning a bit of this style and a little of that style, usually not beyond an intermediate level of skill in each, and then blending it all together as their own new style of "mixed martial arts'. And of course, they modestly present themselves as the Founder and Grandmaster of same. LOL

Really? Seriously?

So, it's certainly not necessary to reinvent the wheel, but it's also not necessary to trudge along indefinitely, trying to fit square pegs into round holes!

[Shooter]

A chip? With fine whine and subtle cheese? How gauche!