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The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2021 1:08 am
by wushutiger
The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

This was an interesting discussion!


Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 5:47 am
by nicklinjm
Another really nice interview, loved Mario's recollections of the Chenjiagou tournament and his teacher, and had no idea the refusal to engage with / allow MMA in China came right from the top of the wushu hierarchy, what a loss for CMA :-\ Thanks for sharing ~

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 10:18 am
by GrahamB
He talks a lot of common sense.

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 12:18 pm
by wayne hansen
I liked as much as I disliked about this talk
I would love to see the most recent stuff he is doing
Also I would like to see the Sam Masich clip he is talking about
My Wu comes from the same source as dan dochety he talks about
My yang is as strong as my Wu lineage
Penang schools took on all comers and I wish he had gone there and tried them out
I am sure he would be in a far different place today
Just look at some of Nigel Suttons books to see where a lot of the people he talks about came from
Plenty of shui Jow people there
Remember Randori is Randori and street is street and lots of people pressure test there

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 12:24 pm
by GrahamB

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 1:58 pm
by wayne hansen
Thank you

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 2:54 pm
by Bao
How you can become 'drunk' on tai chi when everything works as it should is something he describes very well. And then the difference when you meet someone skilled.

IMO, general lack of sparring and pressure testing is worse than not competing in PH. I am mot sure why he believe that PH competitions should be so important. Before the 1980s Tai Chi people entered sanda competitions if they wanted to compete. IMO, PH competitions has hurt Tai Chi people's fighting training more than it has helped.

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 7:03 pm
by wayne hansen
It’s not if you having pushing tournaments or not
It’s how they are done

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 9:26 pm
by Bao
Agreed they could have their place. But I am not sure that they could be done very different in the tai chi environment we have now. IMO, it's a pitty that they are viewed as more important than open style tournaments.

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 12:05 pm
by Bhassler
It may be worth noting that Napoli was, I believe, in his mid to late twenties when he went to Chen village, competing against teenagers. In terms of physical development, this is roughly akin to a pro athlete competing against high school kids. IIRC, another westerner who was there said that they invited Mario to come back next year, when they could provide some competition for him that was more equal in terms of age and experience. He did not accept the invitation.

That's not to say I think the village approach to push hands and competition is anything other than what it obviously is, just some context for the events that Mario used to make himself famous (which, now that I think about it, the village Chens should appreciate more than anyone).

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:00 pm
by GrahamB
Bhassler wrote:It may be worth noting that Napoli was, I believe, in his mid to late twenties when he went to Chen village, competing against teenagers. In terms of physical development, this is roughly akin to a pro athlete competing against high school kids. IIRC, another westerner who was there said that they invited Mario to come back next year, when they could provide some competition for him that was more equal in terms of age and experience. He did not accept the invitation.

That's not to say I think the village approach to push hands and competition is anything other than what it obviously is, just some context for the events that Mario used to make himself famous (which, now that I think about it, the village Chens should appreciate more than anyone).


Teenagers must be bigger in China.

Image

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:41 pm
by wayne hansen
To me he didn't look that much bigger than Mario
He was certainly no bigger than Marios student in the tai chi people clip
As for Mario being sick ,I noticed the story changed in both clips
I want to see the doctors certificate
I would still like to see some more recent clips of Mario in action
Teenagers or not they were the a class people who were put up against him so I take they were the cream of the crop

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 8:25 pm
by wushutiger
I believe this was the gent in the final

https://ibb.co/1dpKPFP

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 8:28 pm
by Bhassler
wushutiger wrote:I believe this was the gent in the final

https://ibb.co/1dpKPFP


Image

Re: The Drunken Boxing Podcast #022 - Mario Napoli

PostPosted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 9:33 am
by Giles
As Mario mentions in the podcast with Byron, he was already around 40 when he went to the Chen competition.

I met his student Jesse at a CMC event in Périgueux years ago (not long after the Chen expedition) and he was/is a really big guy: tall, heavy but not at all obese, athletically built. So anyone in a photo standing close to him and looking about the same size is also going to be a big guy.

I had a chat with Mario at the Jasnières meet in France that same year, not long after he got back from China (a few months, max a year or so) and he said just the same to me about being sick during the compeititon as he recounts in the podcast. Not bigging himself up, just mentioned that he'd been sh****** out his guts for days, was feeling horrible and weak, I think 'wrecked' was the word he used. What he said to me years ago gels completely with the account in the podcast, just more details here now. I find that really impressive spirit/dedication.