Welcome to the rum soaked fist. Please introduce yourself

[DancingDragon]

Thanks for the welcome.

I already see evidence of RSF going on the rag every 6-8 weeks mentioned in the FAQ, although not in any thread I'm participating in currently. LOL

[taijicannon]

Hi all

My name is michael and I am joining this forum in the hope to share in the collective global wisdom and passion about the internal martial arts that you all seem to have. I fell in love with the arts when I was a kid and like many of you have been involved in various systems over the years. More than a decade ago I got interested in the internal arts paticularly standing still and then taiji. I spent so many hours standing still in my back yard that the earth was compacted nicely and the grass couldn't grow...lots of fun then along came taiji.
Managed to stumble upon erle's system via a video in a kungfu shop in the fortitude valley and got pointed in the direction of one of his student from the 90's. On experiencing the martial side of the art demonstrated I was hooked. From what I've read on the net this is a controversial system with supporters, detractors, those that couldn't care less or those that have been there done that. I would loved to have met erle in person, just once, as he gave so much to so many.
Like I said before, my teacher was a senior student in the mid 90's and for a period served as chief of training with erle, I think he spent around 14 years training with him. Having never met or trained with erle myself, my only exposure to taiji besides a little Wu style form has been through my teacher and after just shy of 30 years of constant training I would consider him a master in his own right, though he will likely never be publicly or formerly recognised as such. Well, I'll just say that the art I'm shown whether it is taiji or not, rocks. There are so many nasty, brutal yet beautiful techniques in this form of taiji that it will take me a life time or more to own.
So I am currently exploring the feet, inches and the beyond of every technique, skill and method in the system and I love that beyond the martial aspect, I can use it tune in. I am trying to keep a YouTube log of my studies and go by the same user name; I am no master thats for sure but I do love it and I'll keep practicing no matter what. We only train slow form, push hands and some martial forms and I felt to get the most out of the art, it was time to disect and explore, understand and refine the energies and skills inherent in the forms. So I practice all aspects of the art I am taught exactly as I've been shown but I also come up with my own drills that try to isolate a skill or a skills set and drill them into the body. This usually includes pad work, slow solo drills, partner drills using peng jing and fajing training.
Alot of you will be way better than I and I hope I am not judged too harshly for my postings, yet at the same time I hope that I can contribute to and be involved in this online communitity in a positive honest no BS kind of way.

warm regards
michael

[WingTsunChap]

Hi all,

I practice Wing Tsun in Hungary. Started with Judo at a young age, then a little Karate in my teens, then spend some time looking around and playing with different systems to see what I liked (Japanese arts, South East Asian arts). Just had fun looking and learning and mixing things up. Had a brief exposure to Xingyi (which I liked) and then found my way back to Wing Tsun and realized I'd never really left it.

The Xingyi and the Wing Tsun are very different, but I feel some of what we do in WT has a good connection to internal practice - so apples and oranges... but both tasty fruit ;-)

D

[MinhXeon]

Hi ,

Im a Xingyi practionner with 20 years of experience. I also did some Sanda to amateur level. My works make me travel a lot, so I have the chance to meet a lot of Famous Masters from differents kind of martial art. I am here to share my experiences and my view on Chinese culture and Martial art.

Cheers!

[wrags]

Hello

I'm new to these forums and searching for a teacher. My experience is paltry compared to the others I've been reading. I only have about 4 years of hapkido experience as well as about 1 year of chen style taijiquan.

[Foot]

And another hello!

My names Isaac, I have at least one foot.

Started out in Shotokan and Kajukenbo when I was five, and discovered Taiji and Choy Lei Fut in college (a la a disciple of Doc Fai Wong). Since then I've fallen hard for the internal styles, although I lost my master when I left college

[akihiko_t]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking on and off for a long time. Thought I should at least introduce myself before I start a thread.

I started Isshinryu karate when I was 5 or 6. In middle school and high school I started learning some qigong as well as the 24 and 42 taiji forms. In college I got into modern wushu. Currently I’m focused on traditional longfist, Chen taiji and sometimes some modern wushu.

[wubbo]

My name's Sean. I've done Shotokan for many years but recently decided to study Xingyi.

[WaterMargin]

Hi I'm Charlie.

I did Changquan for 4 years and then mixed it up a little with MMA and some AMOK knife work. Learnt a short taiji sequence at a seminar. Practiced it for a while and had a 'click' moment when grappling with a big MMA guy. We were in a clinch and I had this harmonious sensation of flowing with the movement and executed a perfect throw. Big surprise for both him and me!

After that I became really interested in the IMA. Have done some more Taiji and Bagua but haven't really found a teacher that seems legit.

[Peter ILC]

Greetings. I'm an I Liq Chuan practioner in Austria. I started ILC in 2007 after attending a seminar given here by Sam Chin. Prior to that I dabbled a bit in Jujitsu and Chen Taijiquan. I've trained with a couple of the people here on the forum - Ashe, Serge, Eric L. at various seminars in New York, London, Paris and Florence, and I'm sure there are some others as well (hello Ron P!) .... I'm about halfway through the ILC training system, and am certified to teach the basics. I enjoy the discussions here on RSF and hope I can also contribute from time to time.

[Ron Panunto]

Greetings. I'm an I Liq Chuan practioner in Austria. I started ILC in 2007 after attending a seminar given here by Sam Chin. Prior to that I dabbled a bit in Jujitsu and Chen Taijiquan. I've trained with a couple of the people here on the forum - Ashe, Serge, Eric L. at various seminars in New York, London, Paris and Florence, and I'm sure there are some others as well (hello Ron P!) .... I'm about halfway through the ILC training system, and am certified to teach the basics. I enjoy the discussions here on RSF and hope I can also contribute from time to time.

Welcome aboard Peter.

Ron

[Quigga]

Hey, Thomas here. My user-name on this board is just a nickname.
Nearly 17 years old; been dabbling in Ju Jutsu for half a year, then switched over to Tae Kwon Do.
My master knows both Tae Kwon Do as well as Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan (+ much other stuff). It took me around half a year to join the Tai Chi classes.
Have been practicing Tai Chi diligently for just about 3 years now - it helped me out of some depression - and I'm basically in love with it as of now.
The thing is, the more you practice / study Tai Chi, the more interesting and fun it gets. So I landed here after some research. Been lurking for quite some time now (thanks for the awesome threads!) and decided to join.

In addition to introducing myself, I want to thank you all for giving me some more insights. Especially the threads about ji ben gong have been interesting, and I asked my teacher whether he knew some of it. After a short time of him playing dumb and me asking the right questions, he walked off with a big grin and said "You only have to squeeze me out now." . That's really cool, now I know that even MORE interesting times will follow !

Greetings and happy posting !

[Basher59]

About Me:

Hi to All on this fascinating, fact filled Forum (try saying that fast, several times).
My name is Nic, I’m an Ancient 50 something, but at my age you forget, or try to. LOL. I currently live in the “leafy” county of Surrey, in the south east of England, a dozen miles south of London. Username is due to an after work sporting accident 20 years ago, when during a friendly Softball match I accidentally collided with and hospitalised one of our young secretaries. (Bosses weren’t impressed with my competitive nature, as she was off work for a couple of weeks !!!)

Whilst I was still at school in the 1970’s, I began studying Kyokushinkai (Full Contact) Karate under Sensei Brian Dowler (then a 3rd Dan) and Steve Arneil (then a 6th).
Believe that I started training for self defence, after being threatened by somebody with a knife !
After a few months, I discovered that although I was a lot fitter and more confident, I wasn’t really interested in just training for sport = Competitions & Plastic Trophies.
But more in the entire history, traditions and techniques of the “older” styles of Karate, etc.
I was constantly searching for something, but really wasn’t sure what ! I dabbled in a little Shotokan which was ok for a while, then GoJu Ryu which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, the Class was just too far away from Home for me to afford the travel costs and I was getting home very late. So got some grief from my Parents.
Friends of mine were studying Tomiki Aikido at Crystal Palace, so I went along for a while. Now this felt more like it. Although I was tall for my age, I was a bit thin & weedy. But this art seemed to rely more on the actual technique doing the work, rather than how strong & tough you were. So I enjoyed it immensely.

Right up until the time I saw a Magazine article about a cockney Chinese bloke called Chee Soo. Who was teaching something called Fung Sau (hand of the wind style) kung Fu. I decided to take a look at one of his classes and was hooked.…Found a club nearby (in Surrey) which taught the same style, my Instructor was Trevor Nightingale…I did (just) the kung fu for a few years. Then (accidentally) turned up really early for a class and saw Trevor teaching people Lee style Tai Chi. So (initially) started learning that, as a sort of pre kung fu warm up. Lots of similarities in some of the techniques and exercises.

To cut a long story a little shorter, moved to Essex but ceased training as no Lee style taught there at that time. Plus my Instructor Trevor died unexpectedly.
So HUGE GAP in my Training…Then recently moved back to Surrey, started looking for suitable classes. Finally went to see Tony Swanson, the highest ranked Student of Chee Soo (who passed away in 1994). Have been attending his (TAO) Tai Chi classes ever since. Tony is extremely good at showing you the “intent” or martial applications of any movement. His teaching style is informal & friendly and he can illustrate a point in several different ways, including by demonstration, or relating an amusing anecdote from his long history in the arts. Really enjoying being back in the IMA world.
(Apologies for the long rambling above)
PEACE

[pennsooner]

Hi, I am Chris (Pennsooner) and am from Oklahoma but living in Pa. I've done various martial arts for a number of years but have only been formally doing internal martial arts for a couple of years.

I've been doing Hebei Xing Yi for just over 18 months and and really enjoy it. My teacher is Zhonghua Wang and he was taught Xing Yi in China by Meng Huifeng. Sun Lutang linage.

I also got to study Chen style Tai Chi for a very short period of time with Huanchang Zhang, an indoor disciple of Ma Hong. That was bit of a farce in that it was such a short period of time that it was difficult to really learn anything, got some pole shaking and standing practice as well as learning a little of the 83.

In neither case am I or was I being taught "closely and secretly" although the school I go to is new and therefore I have gotten a bit more personal attention, particularly in XingYi than one gets at a typical commercial school.

I look forward to getting lots of good information on here. Many thanks.

[inner_achievement]

Yo! I'm from BC training by myself for a few years now with a lesson or two from my teacher and friends. Do a bit of Yang bit of cheng ba Gua but mainly liu he ba fa. Not that that matters. I figure fighting spirit, body method, and openness define a good internal martial arts. If you can't fight do yoga. If when you do a snake creeps low and your back bends and heel comes up do yoga, if you think your style is the best, then you should at least be able to do the last two. Haha... Really I don't really care. Just Wandering along the path. I'm a soft wimp, but if your in the area lets clash fists in a friendly expression of selfs. Peace