Kung -Fu Interview

[Rick Wilson]

No intent to argue as it is always seems to be taken the wrong way and I have no desire to create anymore stress for anyone.

However, I will just point out my post was a quote from Adam Hsu not myself and I think his credentials should be well known to anyone on the inside.

I am sure disagreements with Mr. Hsu’s opinions also exist as there are over every opinion in the martial arts.

All the best Mr. Yee and enjoy camp I am sure if I ever make it back there we would indeed have a great time and forge a good friendship as I did with many people I met at the one camp I was able to attend.

I will only close with agreeing with Van that “This is not a gossip page …it is a forum about the tactical ways of street survival…the theme of this extremely popular site from day one.”

In fact I think Van has created for himself a priceless body of intellectual property with his tireless work posting on this forum and moderating discussions.

All the best to all and enjoy your training.

[Luckyd88]

As a first-timer on these forums (long time listener, first time caller,) I would like to put in my two cents. Kung Fu has several meaning: Hard Work (which you would apply into your training in any activity. And proficiency, that is achieved when your skills in any activity has reached a certain level. Not necessarily applied to fighting.)

Underground fights? Wow! That sounds really exciting. All these years that I've gone to China to visit mine and darin's Sifu, and I've never even got a chance to see anything like that. Talk about secrets in the martial arts. I will say this about yee though, he makes the martial arts so much more interesting and gives it that fantasy feeling that I loved when watching Kung Fu movies as a kid. Love and Respect.

[Van Canna]

Welcome aboard LuckyD…

Your opinions will be respected on this page. Please feel free to write as you wish.

And Rick, thank you for your unwavering support here from day one. Your opinions are much valued.

As you say, the intent should never be taken personal or in the wrong way…but you are correct that in most instances it is.

And yes, all my hard work of ten years and ongoing on this forum that George has facilitated, many thanks George, is indeed legally considered my intellectual property as opposed to a gossip page. The reason why I shall defend it with sword and shield against all attackers.

There are many facets to my posts, one very important one being the point of examining the preconceptions within all of us, pushing the readers to look inward and examine their own preconceptions about the critical components of self protection and how those attitudes might also affect the way we treat our fellow human beings, even if only on a subtle basis.

Here it is human nature to make lots of mistakes and so the education through involved discussions is indeed priceless.

[Luckyd88]

Thank you Sensei Van.
I'd like to clarify the meaning of 'Ghow Sie.' It can mean instructor or it can mean dog crap...depending on the Chinese dialect that you are using. If you use Cantonese, then the meaning is instructor. If you use the Taishanese dialect, then it can mean dog crap, but that is only if you incorrectly jumble the two dialects together.

[/quote] These words actually mean "dog crap"

In my humble opinion, to say that these words ACTUALLY mean dog poop is inaccurate, because the meanings are incorrectly used.

[Darin Yee]

I see a few of my words quoted. Here is one I did not see. “At my age, it is more important to past on knowledge to those who seek it honorably and respectfully.” I shall leave it there.

As for secretes,,, we don’t consider most our chronicles secretes. We were asked to understand them as family matters. Our honor is to respect the wishes of the organization regardless of outside pressures.

As for the segment of kung fu on A&E, please go to the A&E web site and request this show. I’ve seen it a few times on television already. I believe you can purchase it from them also.

And Van, I would like to humbly apologize to you for some of my statements which did not come across the way it should. Just my way of saying things in a loose manner. I respect you as I respect all martial artists.

When certain knowledge are past though the web, there are always those who disagree. As all people have the right to. Clearly many issues are mistakenly perceived and overstated. That is why I choose not to continue in this manner. I would really appreciate it if you respect this request.

I would love to have an opportunity to meet all of you at George’s summer camp or one time or another. I will be visiting Canada for martial arts purposes later on this year. If I am welcome, I will certainly make time for my Uechi-Ryu brother. Please write to me at darinyee@hotmail.com. It would be my honor.

[J.Iovinelli]

With all due respect, I can just not get past the fact that any Martial Artist would use a such a general term that a Chinese Martial would only fair well in a fight with an amateur. But everyone has the right to their own option.

Is this a general consensus of all Uechi practitioners?

This seems a bit narrow minded to me. I would like to re-quote myself if I may:

I will admit that the Chinese Cultural Revolution played much havoc on Chinese Martial Arts. Although, in those years some good combative stuff was going on in Taiwan. The mainland is now really getting it together as regards to putting the martial back in the art.

In Wing Chun we do chi sau. Full contact, no gloves, but controlled so we learn. Taiji we do push hands, Pakua we do Circle hands, Hsing-i has energy duels ect... They are all like sparring to some degree. All fierce, the way we do them anyways. All used to build different skill sets.

I believe Sparring is a drill or duel. I do not feel it is a game that people play to see who is better. Drills and duels are meant to build skills. No drill or duel is perfect, there is always an under laying factor that will not allow it to be 100% real.

I believe sparring (or even point sparring) will help you with MANY needed skills for a real encounter, but unless the subject of the drills knows what is lacking it will give them a false sense of security. Just sparring alone will not build a good combat technician.

I could give examples all day long of sparring in all kinds of styles. They are all over youtube.

It's the man and his mind that makes a good fighter, not the style.

[Van Canna]

And Van, I would like to humbly apologize to you for some of my statements which did not come across the way it should. Just my way of saying things in a loose manner. I respect you as I respect all martial artists.

Not a problem Darin…we all make mistakes now and then when we post on the forums. I have made mine and will continue to make them…but have come to accept that.

The ones that don’t _ are the ones that don’t get involved. Men are made of passions.

That is why I choose not to continue in this manner. I would really appreciate it if you respect this request.

That is fine with me Darin. I certainly will not ‘demand’ that you continue to post_ feel free to do as you wish. You need not engage in any discussions unless that is your wish.


But keep in mind that other stalwart contributors to this forum have also the right to be respected in posting as they wish, asking any question _ for the purpose of discussion, so do not expect that I muzzle these guys if that is what you meant…

….probably not… am I possibly misunderstanding you? So feel free to elucidate as you see fit.

As indicated, and I say this most respectfully, I personally have no interest in Kung Fu History or styles other than the Budō _ Bujutsu aspects of any martial art, even as the terms are being used interchangeably in English with the term "martial arts"__ Budō being most often translated as "the way of war", or "martial way", while bujutsu being translated as "science of war" or "martial craft."

I have found all of the above in our beloved Uechi Ryu system to which I drifted with glee after beginning my martial arts training mid ’59 in Judo/jujitsu at the same school where Walter Mattson began his first martial training experience under a superb sensei trained in Japan.

I was all of a ‘green belt’ in judo/ju-jitsu when I started to work out with George early ‘62_In those days rank was dispensed very sparingly.


And again… please keep in mind that these are open forums…and once you go public with an interview or written material…it is only fair to expect ‘retorts’ and questions and differences of opinion.

Notice I wrote ‘retorts’ and not ‘answers’…big difference…but it is the nature of forums…which thrive on debate…many times of an emotional nature.

I am sure that you understood that when you went public with the interview. which triggered a response by Hoshin in starting a thread.

Perfectly normal.

Take care,

[hoshin]

Quote;
_____________________________________________________________________
When certain knowledge are past though the web, there are always those who disagree. As all people have the right to. Clearly many issues are mistakenly perceived and overstated
_____________________________________________________________________


on the other hand people can be more open and show their true feelings when there is a certain amount of "face-lessness" when sitting behind the computer. in person people might smile and shake their heads to be polite, while their mind is saying something different. in an online forum you are more apt to get a true honest response.

written words can speek volumes, while lack there of speeks louder.

steve

[Van Canna]

Most excellent commentary Steve....right on the button

Just the way it is...yet so many have difficulty understanding basic human nature...you just wonder sometime....

[Laird2]

on the other hand people can be more open and show their true feelings when there is a certain amount of "face-lessness" when sitting behind the computer. in person people might smile and shake their heads to be polite, while their mind is saying something different. in an online forum you are more apt to get a true honest response.

written words can speek volumes, while lack there of speeks louder.

steve

Good points Steve. This facelessness on the internet can be avoided by registering with our real names or signing our posts with our real names ,instead of forum handles.

There has always been a great deal of trolling by the many of the unidentified folks. At any rate If I pee on someone's cornflakes they can always come to Banff Alberta to seek recourse, I'm in the book Laird Elliott, I'm easy to find.

I personally believe that people online are pretty much who they are in real life. Our character flaws and values are evident when we posts.

Liars will continue to distort the truth.

Frauds will continue to be frauds.

Cowards will continue to perform cowardly acts.

Yes men will be yes men.

One does not have to read the forums long before they discover who excells at the criptic little messages, the phantom insults etc.

Dishonest types continue to run for cover when found out.

I think we get a really good feel for who we are dealing with on the forums, a leopard can not change it's spots.

Human nature is what it is and it's diverse. We get to see the good and the bad qualities on these forums same as in the real world.

[Stryke]

If everyone feels warm and fuzzy now can we discuss the topic , or do we have to play ego and politics a bit longer .

PS I love you all ... anyone want a hug

so anyone think chinese martial arts can be used to kick ass ? ,a nd can be an efficeint way to do so ?

anyone think Uechi can ?

[Laird2]

PS I love you all ... anyone want a hug

Better get back on conversation guys, first he offers a hug, next thing you know he's going for dominate position.

[Stryke]

yeah but you dont know who I am Laird , I`m positng under a secret Alias

[Laird2]

Hmm, he’s right he is a nameless faceless stranger from…”in transit”….oh no he’s coming for me!


I guess I’m in for another sleepless night with my backside pressed tight to the wall.


I can only hope this nameless faceless stranger gets waylaid on the way to Banff!

[hthom]

Just thought to pay a visit to the Forum after an extensive absence. It's almost like paying a visit to an old friend's dojo after a long absence. I am happy to see that Van and all the folks are making the Forum as popular as ever.

A friend sent me the link to this thread and told me to check it out --wow---interesting! Too bad that I could not listen to the "interview" due to computer problem. The voice sounds like the chipmunks talking fast and annoying as heck so I gave up.

The posts are very interesting. I am not here to attack or defend Darin. I would just like to express my view and hopefully put a little more balance into the situation.

I am basically a Uechi guy but I had about 3 years of Kungfu training in Boston Chinatown back in the late 60's, probably the same kungfu school where Darin attended but I didn't know him then. Us "older" guys didn't talk to the "young kids" back then. About 6 years ago I met Darin in a Summer Camp and walked into him in every Camp since. He has always been courteous and respectful when I saw him. I know that he is the owner of a successful construction firm, a large sports complex, a dojo, and he spends more time and money on martial arts than anything else. He has been flying all over the place teaching martial arts on his own money. As a matter of fact, no offense to Darin but I think he is obsessed with the stuff.

I am no historian on anything. I just do the physical stuff when I have time. Yes I fought in several tournaments back in the late sixties but never won anything. The little I know about kungfu history is what I heard and read since childhood. As we all know, often "history" or whatever "facts" written on papers or on the internet are not necessarily the real deal, quite often there are different version of "written"histories" or "facts".

A lot of "written history" started out as folklores or fairy tales, then got on to papers. Certain amount of common sense must be used before taking them too seriously. For example, was Marshall Dillion really the fastest gun of his time? Did Oyama really killed a bull with a karate punch? Did Kanbun Uechi (with my complete and full respect) really left China because he felt guilty due to one of his students killed someone? I went to a Catholic high schol in Boston and I remember I used to argue with the priest (sorry Father) in religion class about the Bible-- it is certainly well written and documented on tons of papers but----.

So, was kungfu created as a physical fitness exercise by a travelling Indian monk who was concerned of the physical weakness of the Chinese monks in the old days? ---ummm--- one stranger-monk in a foreign country with millions of Chinese monks in millions of temples---- umm----, and, Did Kungfu originated from Greece you say? --- another ummm---

I have been involved in quite a few construction claims and litigations in my career. For every "expert witness" who argues for one side with well documented and researched materials, you can be sure that there are numerous "expert witnesses" who argue otherwise and with equal amount of documents and researches.

So, was Kungfu created for fighting or for physical fitness to begin with? My view is: Who the heck cares?

I myself started studying the stuff for fighting. Then as I got older, and older, sh^#, and older, I began doing it mainly for physical fitness purpose. But if I only teach a student the non-fighting part of Uechi because of the student's own age or physical condition or preference, and he later teaches his students the limited version he learned, then one day in the future someone would say that Uechi is just for physical fitness wouldn't it? Isn't that what some or many Tai Chi people are saying nowadays about Tai Chi?

As to the words "Kung-fu", I can't believe that there are still misunderstanding of the words, especially by my fellow Chinese-Americans (sorry about using the dreaded uncool hyphenated word). "Kung-fu" are two separate Chinese words and are meant to be used together for no other purpose and no other meaning than to express the words "martial arts". Don't take the meaning out of context and forget about how each word is literally translated and what the two words meant literally. I have never heard or read the use of the words "kung-fu" for any other meaning than "martial arts". This is a "given" and universally accepted. There are also numerous other Chinese words being used that do not mean what they literally mean.

And, how the world does dog poo-poo got into the discussion? The different Chinese dialects sometimes make some words mean in another dialect (or even in the same dialect) what they don't mean to mean. Aren't there some English words mean different than what they sound? Twisting the meaning based on similarity in sound to another word is sometimes used to express a point or feeling and I guess that's what Darin did.

As to underground fighting in Asian countries, I am sure that there are such events. Asians, especially Chinese, have a large proportion of population who are, well, let me use the word "addicted", to gambling. If they have underground dog fighting, cock fighting, grasshopper fighting, why not underground mano-to-mano fighting?

I travelled to Thailand many times (Yes, Van, keep your mind clean all right? I was on business ). There was, and still is I think, a bar on Pattaya Beach called the Marine Disco where they have a kickboxing stage. Every night they would have this bunch of hoodlum-looking Thai kickboxers doing their thing for money (they walk around the bar and intimidate customers for money after each fight). They also do challenge matches on stage-- if paid. The dummies who pay the Thai kickboxer for challenge matches are usually the British or Australisn young toughs who had a drink too many. I was once being "challenged" by one of those kickboxers (because I declined to pay him repeatedly) to fight him on stage. I was too smart for that (one lucky punch and I would've landed in a Thailand gutter and rot forever) but if I had taken him on, I could've legitimately claimed that I have fought a challenged match in Thailand, so why not Darin?

I spent 6 months doing a construction project near Beijin two years ago. Going to the bars every night got to be a little too much so I watched the Kungfu challenge matches on TV every Wednesday night. Apparently it is a very popular thing there because the audience was always large and rowdy. The fighters usually are very unskillful and no more than big guys throwing ridiculous punches and kicks. Most of them can't survive a one-minute sparring match in any Uechi dojo if I may say so myself. My point here is, there is at least one challenge match event in China that I know of and if I had participated, I could've legitimately claimed that I fought a challenge match in China, so why not Darin?

Oh, almost forgot, as to whether gungfu guys can fight any good or not, heck, it is almost silly to mention the subject. A big and strong guy can give a weaker guy a hard time any time regardless of the weaker guy's training. Anyone can throw a lucky punch at any time and finishes the fight. Is he any better than the other? If a Brazillian Jujisu guy beats a Grazie Jujisu guy, does it mean the Brazilian style is better? The subject doesn't even worth the time to talk about. But, I do know that quite a lot of kung fu schools stress more on self defense techniques than sparring-type training, and a lot of kung fu schools do sparrings as part of the training. It all depends, my friends.

All right, enough blabbing from me. I can really understand why a lot of folks rather not got on the Forum. It sures takes a lot of time.

Respectfully to all,

Henry Thom
www.selfdefense-lessons.com