Shifu's Master Plan

[Dmitri]

Reading some of these threads is like watching 70's kung fu flicks all over again...

[Steve James]

Does this program cost anything?

[Dmitri]

Your time?


Sorry Maarten, don't mean to derail or make light of your experiences and adventures. I really do think this is very cool (even if nothing else). You're sort of living a life, in parts anyway, from my would-be-parallel-universe-life that never happened. I've considered doing something like that in the past, going to China, etc.; even started learning to speak Mandarin (that was many years ago.) It's very interesting to see yet another account of how it all plays out in real life -- yours, in this case. (And, surprisingly, in many ways it's making me feel actually better that I didn't go that route, after all. )

Really appreciate all your posts here, photos and all; thank you.

[MaartenSFS]

I can teach as many students as I want until then, but cannot take on disciples.

Right now, what could you teach students that you can't teach disciples?

Considering you only need to study 3 years to get that permission, what can you learn? Can you become "advanced" in only three years? How much "indoor" practice can you cover?

That depends. Is the teacher actually teaching the right stuff? Or just going over mindless amounts of techniques? Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido, had far, far less time with his own teacher than 90% of the aikido students now. Ueshiba's total seminar time with his teacher was 120 days. That's it for official training. Of those 120 days, no one is sure how much time was spent hands-on. Remember, these were seminars with other students training, too. On top of that, Morihei Ueshiba's son stated in an interview that a student should only need a couple of years to learn techniques. What does that have to say for those people who spent 20 to 40 years in an aikido system, not even getting anywhere close to the founder's skill level?

So, what can you teach? If you're shown the right stuff, a lot. Especially the beginning training to change the body. Can you become advanced in 3 years? Maybe not 3, but with IMA, you should be standing out as different in 5. If you're doing the solo training.

If you love what you're doing, MaartenSFS, keep going.

Will do.

[MaartenSFS]

Good training is good training, it sounds as if you have found someone you respect that is willing to teach you in depth. Go for it!

On the other hand, don't expect some of those here to get too excited about someone creating a system as the modern martial arts are full of experts who have created their own styles... some of it is good stuff that deserves to be transmitted to new people; some of it is sad marketing to people too ignorant of martial basics for their own good. As I'm sure you can appreciate, it's tough to judge how good the material is unless people actually know you well or know your teacher well.

Not trying to be negative about you or your teacher, just generalizing.

That's understandable. In due time I'll put out some stuff to quiet the doubters..

[MaartenSFS]

There can only be three!

I like the fighting part, as a measurement of skill. You know what would be better? If he asks you to beat 3 different disciples of three other masters.

That may actually be possible to arrange. He has a good relationship with many masters.

[MaartenSFS]

Does this program cost anything?

Not for me. I got really, really lucky that he found me and decided to take me under his wing..

[MaartenSFS]

Your time?


Sorry Maarten, don't mean to derail or make light of your experiences and adventures. I really do think this is very cool (even if nothing else). You're sort of living a life, in parts anyway, from my would-be-parallel-universe-life that never happened. I've considered doing something like that in the past, going to China, etc.; even started learning to speak Mandarin (that was many years ago.) It's very interesting to see yet another account of how it all plays out in real life -- yours, in this case. (And, surprisingly, in many ways it's making me feel actually better that I didn't go that route, after all. )

Really appreciate all your posts here, photos and all; thank you.

No worries, mate. We're all supposed to be enjoying this, and life - mostly.

Just curious, though, what makes you feel better that you didn't go that route?

[MaartenSFS]

Like I mentioned before, he taught army combatives where soldiers only got three months of intense training before they were shipped off. He wants us to be able to fight in between three and six months. Everything after that is just refinement. If you come up to him and say "I want to learn Baguazhang" he'll teach you that. He's created this system for those of us that want to improve our fighting skill in the most efficient way possible. If I have time I'll still keep plugging away at my Taiji, etc.

[Dmitri]

Just curious, though, what makes you feel better that you didn't go that route?

It's a long story, lots of factors, irrelevant here... Just wasn't the right thing.

[MaartenSFS]

Ah, well no worries. It's not for everyone, to put it mildly..

[chenyaolong]

Can you give us a basic rundown of what the 8 basics are?

One of them is cloud hands right?

[MaartenSFS]

Ja, that's right. Yunshou is circular, can be done alternating on both sides rapidly, can block, strike, throw, lock, etc. with one or both hands and can be done standing or whilst stepping. It also leads into many good positions from which to use other techniques. The other eight are similar. There are actually nine now. I imagine there could be up to several more at most. Some of them are simpler than Yunshou, several are about the same.

One can learn all of them in two classes and immediately begin using them - but not at Shifu's level. He told me that when he learned Taiji that he was told to do only Yunshou for an entire morning of training. Yema fenzhong is another.

Also, Shifu told me today to call his system an engine, not a style (though it can drive itself if we're using this anology).

[chenyaolong]

What about the others?

[MaartenSFS]

They are from various other arts including Xinyiliuhequan, Baguazhang, and Tongbiquan.