https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial.atomDynasty Clothing - Editorial2024-02-27T14:36:16-05:00Dynasty Clothinghttps://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/the-martial-arts-sales-pitch-exposing-the-im-too-deadly-to-spar-myth2024-02-27T14:36:16-05:002024-02-27T15:09:04-05:00The Martial Arts Myth of "I'm Too Deadly To Spar"Dynasty Team
If you had 100 guys that sparred regularly, 2-3 min. rounds, every few times a week vs. 100 guys who never sparred at all, and pit them against each other, 99 out of the 100 guys who sparred would win.
For the naysayers who contest this thought experiment, allow us to ask you the following. Do you really think the guys that never went past 3 seconds of live non-compliant action would win against guys who know exactly what to expect after that first 3 seconds?
Trying to argue against this idea would only expose you as both an inexperienced practitioner and teacher.
If you had 100 guys that sparred regularly, 2-3 min. rounds, every few times a week vs. 100 guys who never sparred at all, and pit them against each other, 99 out of the 100 guys who sparred would win.
For the naysayers who contest this thought experiment, allow us to ask you the following. Do you really think the guys that never went past 3 seconds of live non-compliant action would win against guys who know exactly what to expect after that first 3 seconds?
Trying to argue against this idea would only expose you as both an inexperienced practitioner and teacher.
It's Like Driving A Car Slow vs. Fast
Martial artists who never fought or sparred are like drivers who have never gone onto the highway and driven at 200km/h. You've been driving at 20km/h all your life on a local road with no other cars, how are you supposed to control your car when it's at 200km/h zipping by traffic?
You don't even know what that car / road feels like at 200km/h, much less know what that feels like when there's oncoming traffic in your way. Now add rain, snow, and foggy conditions. Then what?
Army Reserve vs. Combat Veteran
While Practical Shooting sports (IPSC / USPSA) can train a person to acquire deadly shooting skills, it is by no means a complete replacement for actual combat experience under live fire, and shouldn't be treated as such. If shooters can understand the difference, why can't martial artists understand this?
The same applies to a shooter or gunsmith who learned how to shoot static targets (who don't shoot back) at the gun range under perfect conditions vs. a military war veteran who's engaged in real-time combat in live environments.
Sure, the shooter may acquire good shooting skills, and may even shoot faster or more accurately than the combat veteran, but he has never applied these shooting skills in real life against real, moving targets who also are aiming and shooting back at him.
Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon: "Boards Don't Hit Back."
The same thing applies to a boxer who punches a heavy bag that doesn't punch back. The bag is merely a training tool. A fight is a completely different situation.
A shooter who is shooting a dead target that doesn't shoot back is the same idea. What would happen if the target was live, and they were returning fire?
Training in a static manner with no "aliveness" means there is no live feedback or element of danger involved. This means there is no guarantee the shooter can pull off the same kind of performance in a live environment when things are not going in his favour.
The combat veteran on the other hand, has to know how to shoot, fight, save lives, defuse explosives, and take out live targets (by incapacitating or killing) in the heat of battle, drenched in sweat or smoke, enduring heat or cold, dry or wet, while under real life threat of explosives, shrapnel, and live bullets wizzing by their heads.
Who would you trust to protect you?
Don't Be Fooled By The Sales Pitch and Fall Into Lazy Habits
Returning back to our original thought experiment - outside of a Francis Ngannou-type of gargantuan KO punch from a heavyweight thrown in the first 3 seconds, the guys who have never had to go past a 3-second engagement or violent altercation would start getting lit up and fall to the floor from fear, adrenaline, and exhaustion.
Martial artists who claim they don't need to spar because they're too deadly just say this because they're lazy and don't want to train hard. Plain and simple.
It's time to stop the Martial Arts Sales Pitch(TM) (mainly prevalent in non-pressure tested arts such as Chinese Kung Fu, but can also apply to other arts where the type of sparring is unrealistic or promotes bad habits, such as in some forms of Karate and Taekwondo, and nowadays even Jiu-Jitsu) of being "Too Deadly to Spar" and start training like real martial artists.
Judo practitioners were the original "Combat Sport Athletes" back in the days of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. Judoka stormed onto the scene and started mopping up traditional "self-defense" Jiu-Jitsu practitioners who trained "deadly" techniques, but ultimately lacked the experience and athleticism to apply them in actual combat. Judo eliminated all of these hard-to-apply, "deadly" techniques and refined the entire Jiu-Jitsu curriculum to train only moves that worked under full-contact, live-resistance settings, and thus Judo was born.
Real martial artists train technique, applications, sparring, and conditioning, and don't make excuses for not training them.
Just as the late, great Bruce Lee once said: "If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you."
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/why-do-men-who-have-no-fighting-experience-keep-proclaiming-they-can2023-04-01T10:30:27-04:002023-04-02T17:45:46-04:00Why do men who have no fighting experience keep proclaiming they can fight?Dynasty Team
Why do men who have no experience in actual fights, keep proclaiming they are good at fighting?
The internet has turned everyone into a fighting expert.
This question probably never existed in ancient times, or times before the internet (the invention of the world wide web). Often times in real life, if anyone thought they were good at fighting, they usually pick fights in public or social settings or end up provoking the wrong person.
A fight then breaks out, the winner is usually decided very quickly, and the person who overestimated themselves are beaten up and quickly humbled.
Not only was "reality" the ever present judge on who was actually good at fighting and "humble pie" kept everyone's egos in check - but coupled with how someone looks like in real life (as opposed to hiding behind an internet profile) and their perceived physical attributes (if your opponent was taller or larger), conventional wisdom tells us the one with the better physical attributes would likely be the winner of a fight.
The reality is most people in the modern city-dwelling world have very little to no idea how a real fight plays out because they largely live a sedentary lifestyle and serious martial arts training is more of an afterthought or fun hobby rather than a required life skill.
However, since the internet and social media became a standard part of every day life, men who fancy themselves a "good fighter" because they've had some form of martial arts training, begin to overestimate their own abilities because the "online world" has become their shield and protection from what used to be taught to everyone fairly quickly - fists to the face and being put into punishing positions as the fight eventually ended up on the ground.
Here are some of the most common reasons why some men who have no experience in actual fights proclaim that they are good at fighting.
Overconfidence
After training some form of martial arts for a little while, some men may have an inflated sense of their own abilities and believe that they are good at fighting without actually having any real life experience or competition experience facing off against other trained fighters. This can lead to them boasting about their skills even if they have no real basis for doing so.
A lot of men on the internet behave like overzealous internet trolls - acting like they are really good at fighting but would actually run at the first sight of danger or would never accept a fight against another person if/when challenged.
Lack of Knowledge
Some men may not have a clear understanding of what actual fighting entails, and may assume that they can easily handle themselves in a physical altercation based on their size, strength, or past experiences (such as playing contact sports or doing "friendly sparring" with their peers - but not actually fighting).
Many martial artists train casually and as a hobby, and don't actually spar hard or take full contact fights. This builds up a false sense of reality because they never actually put themselves in a non-compliant scenario where their opponent is trying to seriously hurt or inflict damage on them.
Need For Validation
Men may feel the need to prove their masculinity and toughness to others, and may use claims of being good at fighting as a way to gain respect or admiration from their peers.
Known for having real life fights during his time in prison, Danny Trejo is a pretty intimidating figure, and a symbol of fear and rugged masculinity.
Media Influence
Some men may be influenced by media depictions of fighting and may believe that they can easily handle themselves in a physical altercation based on what they have seen in movies, TV shows, or video games.
Most men probably fantasize or fancy themselves as someone like Achilles in Troy (played by Brad Pitt), a mighty warrior who could take on all comers no matter their size or strength or abilities.
It's important to note that making false claims about one's fighting ability can be dangerous and may lead to overestimating one's abilities in a real fight, potentially leading to injury or even death.
It's always best to seek out proper training under a reputable martial arts coach with actual fighting / competitive fighting experience - if one is interested in developing their fighting skills.
Not only that, but one should spar, spar, spar, and actually take competitive fights / bouts to build up your confidence, skills, and experience. Only then, may you stand a chance against someone in a real, non-compliant fight.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/how-to-deal-with-a-martial-arts-cult-leader2022-12-29T00:01:40-05:002023-04-02T17:45:50-04:00How To Deal With A Martial Arts Cult LeaderDynasty TeamCult leaders often have a great deal of influence over their followers and may use a variety of tactics to maintain control. It can be difficult for outsiders to intervene effectively in these situations, and it is important to approach them with caution and care.
Cult leaders often have a great deal of influence over their followers and may use a variety of tactics to maintain control.
It can be difficult for outsiders to intervene effectively in these situations, and it is important to approach them with caution and care.
If you are concerned about a martial arts cult leader or group, the best course of action may be to seek help and support from trusted friends, family members, or professional organizations.
These may include mental health professionals, law enforcement, or organizations that specialize in assisting individuals who have been involved with cults.
It is also important to remember that cult leaders are often highly manipulative and may use various tactics to recruit and retain followers.
If you are approached by someone who is trying to recruit you into a cult, it is important to be aware of these tactics and to seek out additional information and support before making any decisions.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/how-to-recognize-a-martial-arts-fraud-cult2022-12-28T23:38:56-05:002023-08-24T17:45:21-04:00How To Recognize A Martial Arts Fraud / CultDynasty Team
Martial arts is a lot like religion, and going to a martial arts school is a lot like going to a church.
You find your school / gym that you like, go inside and socialize with the teacher and the students, and if they seem like a good fit, you dedicate either a few months, or a few decades of your life spending time with them.
However, much like religion (or a belief system), martial arts can vary between quality, instruction, and practicality. Some martial arts schools can be great, while others are downright dangerous scams or cults.
Martial arts is a lot like religion, and going to a martial arts school is a lot like going to a church.
You find your school / gym that you like, go inside and socialize with the teacher and the students, and if they seem like a good fit, you dedicate either a few months, or a few decades of your life spending time with them.
However, much like religion (or a belief system), martial arts can vary between quality, instruction, and practicality. Some martial arts schools can be great, while others are downright dangerous scams or cults.
There are a few steps that can be taken to help identify and prevent learning from a fraud or cult leader in the martial arts. Here are a few suggestions.
Research the instructor and school
Before signing up for classes or training with a new instructor, do some research to verify their credentials and reputation. Look for information about their training and experience, and ask for recommendations from other students or instructors.
A reputable school should have positive reviews, recommendations, and experienced instructors. Try a free trial class just to make sure.
Check for credentials and certifications
Many legitimate instructors and schools have certifications or credentials from reputable organizations. These can provide some assurance that the instructor has received proper training and has met certain standards of knowledge and skill.
While some legitimate instructors may not have formal credentials or certifications, and certifications alone are just pieces of paper, they at least provide some sort of a base standard of quality assurance. A lack of any credible evidence of training or experience may be a red flag.
Watch for red flags
Be wary of instructors who make grandiose claims or promises, or who seem more interested in selling products or services than in providing quality instruction.
Instructors who make exaggerated claims about their abilities or the benefits of their training can be dangerous cult leaders if they have no proof to back up their claims.
Another obvious red flag is if the school doesn't allow any sparring or live practice of the martial arts you're learning. If you're not allowed to test the martial arts you're practicing, you're training in make believe la-la-land and will only fall into a false sense of security.
Seek out quality instruction
Look for instructors and schools that have a proven track record and a reputation for providing quality instruction. This can help ensure that you are receiving authentic and effective training.
One merit to look for is their successful track record in live competitions. If they can churn out high quality competitive athletes, they are in a much better position to teach you rather than a school that focuses on non-competitive practice.
Poor teaching quality
Fraudulent instructors may have limited knowledge or skill, and may not be able to provide effective instruction. Look to see if there are other high level students in the classroom, or is everybody just a beginner that's being conned for money.
Unsafe training practices
While good schools should encourage live practice and sparring, it can be equally dangerous if a school is not protecting its students adequately.
Fraudulent instructors may not prioritize safety, and may allow students to engage in dangerous or reckless training practices, or encourage too much "hard sparring" which only shortens the career and lifespan of the student.
Report suspicious activity
If you suspect that an instructor or school is engaged in fraudulent activity, consider reporting it to the appropriate authorities or organizations, such as local law enforcement or martial arts governing bodies.
Conclusion
It's important to keep in mind that not all instructors or schools without formal credentials or certifications are necessarily fraudulent.
However, if you are considering training with a new instructor or school, it can be helpful to do some research to verify their credentials and reputation. This can help ensure that you are receiving authentic and effective training.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/how-to-become-a-master-of-martial-arts2022-12-28T23:34:31-05:002023-04-02T17:45:53-04:00How To Become A Master of Martial ArtsDynasty TeamMore]]>
"How Do I Become A Master of Martial Arts?"
Becoming a master of martial arts requires a combination of knowledge, skill, experience, and dedication. Here are a few steps you can take to become a master of martial arts.
Find a martial arts style that resonates with you
There are many different martial arts styles to choose from, each with its own unique techniques and philosophies. Take some time to research and try out different styles to find the one that best fits your goals and interests.
Find a reputable instructor
A good instructor can make a big difference in your martial arts journey. Look for an instructor who has a proven track record, is knowledgeable and skilled in the martial art you are interested in, and has a teaching style that works for you.
Practice regularly
Becoming a master of martial arts requires consistent practice. Set aside time each week to train, and make sure to practice the techniques and drills you are learning.
Stay focused and disciplined
Martial arts training requires discipline and focus. Stay focused on your goals and stick to a regular training schedule to make the most of your time and efforts.
Keep learning
There is always more to learn in martial arts, even for advanced practitioners. Look for opportunities to learn from other masters and instructors, attend seminars and workshops, and continue to grow and improve as a martial artist.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/martial-arts-frauds-dominick-izzo-wing-chun2022-12-26T11:54:54-05:002023-07-05T18:18:56-04:00Martial Arts Frauds: Dominick Izzo Wing ChunDynasty Team
One of the worst examples of a fraudulent martial arts teacher is a YouTuber by the name of Dominick Izzo Wing Chun, who has been proven by multiple sources as a cult leader, liar, and fraud who made up an entire online persona just to make money off unsuspecting victims.
Frauds and charlatans have always existed in the world of martial arts.
In the largely untested and low-pressure, non-sparring training environment of traditional martial arts, especially in Chinese Martial Arts such as Wing Chun, frauds have been a growing concern among martial arts enthusiasts.
Thanks to Bruce Lee's influence in spreading the Chinese Kung Fu martial art of Wing Chun since the 1970s, reports of so-called “masters” claiming to have knowledge and experience in the art of Wing Chun have popped up all over the world almost year after year.
Unfortunately, these claims of "mastery" are often false and the people making them are deceiving their students out of thousands of dollars.
The deception usually starts when someone looking to learn Wing Chun finds an instructor who claims to be proficient in the art but does not possess any formal training, certifications from recognized organizations, or a clear lineage.
Further muddling the community is when these so-called masters fail to provide any video proof of their applicable knowledge in a non-compliant, live pressure environment such as in a competition or in a hard sparring match.
These frauds will usually fabricate or outright lie about their martial arts experience, their training, and even create an entire fake persona just to gain students, followers, and subscribers to their social media channels.
This individual will then proclaim themselves as a master, teach their own version of Wing Chun,and charge students high fees for lessons.
Some of these Wing Chun teachers are so shameless in their marketing and self-promotion that they become cult leaders in their communities, constantly bullying and censoring those who oppose them, and preying on the weak and unaware.
One of the worst examples of a fraudulent and dishonourable martial arts "teacher" is a former disgraced and fired cop turned YouTuber and cult leader by the name of Dominick Izzo Wing Chun who rants about all kinds of alt-right / far right politics just to rile people up for YouTube clicks / views.
Martial Arts Frauds: Dominick Izzo Wing Chun
Dominick Izzo first came into prominence by making videos talking crap and hating on the legendary late martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.
Criticizing someone's martial arts is one thing, but he goes on to rant so much about Bruce Lee that it just starts coming off as piggybacking, attention seeking behaviour. Not to mention, he rants so often about his hate-boner for Bruce Lee that it starts to sound like hate speech and discrimination, similar to Quentin Tarantino's hate obsession with Bruce Lee, as evidenced in his film "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood".
Quentin Tarantino's hate obsession with Bruce Lee was so strong, that he dedicated an entire scene in his movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood to show Bruce Lee (played by actor Mike Moh) being thrown around like a rag doll by his fictional protagonist Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt).
If you have to criticize and disrespect a legend, you're just trying to ride off of their success by being an attention-seeking, "edgy" controversial figure just for the sake of disagreeing with the mainstream.
Terry Crews understood what was happening: "Once upon a time... in HOLLYWOOD... ...pot smoking white boys dreamed of kicking Bruce Lee’s ass... ... so they wrote it, performed it and filmed it like it actually happened...! But Bruce... we love you and know the truth - God bless your soul."
It becomes even more ridiculous when you realize that Dominick Izzo practices the same martial art that Bruce Lee made famous, Wing Chun. Without Bruce Lee and Wing Chun, Dominick Izzo wouldn't even exist.
How ironically pathetic.
Dominick Izzo has been described on Reddit as an "Anti-Chinese White Supremacist who practices a Chinese Martial Art in Wing Chun but looks down on Wing Chun at the same time".
How Bad Is Dominick Izzo as a Wing Chun Teacher?
An anonymous testimonial of one of Dominick Izzo's Wing Chun classes can be found on Reddit:
I did Wing Chun with the infamous Dominick Izzo. I'd like to note that I am open minded and have tried a few WC and JKD places before finding a good one.
So he started every class by ranting about how he hated Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee was a brat, Bruce Lee quit Wing Chun because he couldn't handle it, etc. He then explained that JKD doesn't work, and pure Wing Chun is a complete system for any fight. He followed this up by explaining that his WC was a combination of WC and Wrestling. I thought this was odd because that is exactly Bruce Lee's philosophy, making his WC not pure, and more like JKD. I tried to be open minded and gave him a chance.
Then things got cult-like. Izzo started class late, due to his 20-30 min rants about Bruce Lee. This alone was baffling. I paid for a WC class, not a lecture about how stupid Bruce Lee is. It was odd how every student was totally cool with this. Then he ended class early to film commercials for these magic berry pills. So a 2 hour class was really 1 hour long. He claimed these berry pills made him bench 450lbs.
Again, his students were all totally fine with this, and I began to wonder if I was crazy. Then, all of his students bought a $200 box of berry pills after class. I was the only one who didn't, as I am aware that real berries cost far less than $200 per month.
During one class, Izzo and a student/brainwashed victim explained that the real secret to punching with power is not in the legs/hips, but in the manipulation of "force meridians".
They showed me that by placing your hands in a certain position you can channel the force into your punches! The student then hit a wall bag with very little force to show me his secret power. I hit the bag with basic boxing mechanics and clearly hit about 3x harder than him. He told me I was doing it wrong.
I left the gym shortly afterwards.
I have many more complaints about that WC cult, but they are simple, like they never ever spar there. Or the fact that he admitted to steroid use, which is illegal and he is a cop.
The real weirdness was the cult atmosphere, 30 minute lectures on Bruce Lee, pyramid scheme berry pills, and the mindless following of everything without question by his students, and of course, magic force meridians unlocking secret power that no one could demonstrate, but everyone believed in.
Dominick Izzo's Fake Cop Persona, Misogyny, Racism Are Exposed
Normally, these frauds are a dime a dozen and do not deserve any special mentioning.
However, Dominick Izzo is one of those rare cult leader/bullies where his hate speech and rants against people he doesn't like has cultivated a passionate following of equally morally corrupt people who agree with his problematic politics and views on women - as showcased in his misogynistic and racial rants on social media and YouTube.
He tries to cater to the far right, alt right, conspiracy theory, Republican / American crowd, and his marketing schtick has swayed no small amount of simple minded people (victims) into believing his lies and fabricated persona.
Normally we wouldn't pay attention and give any time to such a toxic individual, until Dominick Izzo decided to aim his rants at us and tag our Dynasty social media channels in an attempt to smear us.
We couldn't sit back and watch this injustice unfold. As members of the martial arts community, we had to take a stand and write this blog post for the internet world to see and document the truth.
A Fake News Story For Attention
Dominick Izzo first fabricated a fake news story / publicity stunt about how he is "against women's violence" - ironic, given all of his anti-female rhetoric posted online - stating how a member of the Kung Fu community, in this case, Hoi Wah Ho of Dynasty, threatened a woman with violence inside the Facebook group Kung Fu for Combat.
Izzo had first instigated a fight with his YouTube videos with Phillip Redmond prior to this new "antic", and was subsequently banned by the group admins for not following up on a challenge issued by Philip Redmond.
"It's sad some dude who got booted from our private community still has hurt feelings after months... hurt enough to try and fabricate a story about violence against women where no violence occurred. Such a dirty cop thing to do."
Unable to spew his dogmatic rhetoric in the Kung Fu For Combat group, he then tries fabricating a fake news story for social media attention and clout in an attempt to "cancel" the members of Kung Fu For Combat and gain more YouTube views / followers for himself.
A community member, Dan Seymore sees through this lame attempt at clout chasing with this comment: "Fake news - she's a troll who harassed [Hoi Wah Ho] for weeks and challenged multiple people to fights and terrorizes them online".
"You're despicable for trying to blow this up into domestic violence. No wonder you're a disgraced FIRED not RETIRED police officer".
Well done, Dan Seymore.
It's quite obvious to us that the fake, disgraced, disgruntled, fired police officer Dominick Izzo was pissed off because he wasn't able to join the Kung Fu For Combat Facebook group to further spread his religious cult.
He fabricated a story to start a rivalry with Dynasty in order to make himself more relevant to the current generation of combat sports / MMA communities, as he is an aging, irrelevant fraud well past his athletic prime who cannot spar or fight and is headed soon to a retirement home.
In all honesty he chose the wrong enemy and came up with a poorly formulated story, and thought he could get away with it unscathed.
Sorry folks, we at Dynasty just won't let bullies get away with something like that.
The other irrelevant troll woman he references in his fake news story goes by the name of Jenny Domingues, who is a certified "nut job" in the Kung Fu community.
She starts online fights with every member in the Kung Fu community and terrorizes everyone, despite having absolutely garbage level martial arts skills.
More users chime in on the allegations of "violence towards women": "Fake news. That lady was harassing him for weeks and challenged him and multiple people to fights. Biggest online troll. Now this loser is trying to make it look like domestic violence when he wasn't even serious. There's two sides to every story."
Another community member, Benny Hayes chimes in by calling Dominick Izzo's little clout-chasing song and dance act as disingenuous: "Isn't that lady supposed to be a so called master of Ving Tsun. If she is any good then why is it a problem? What happened to equal rights? If you say you can fight which I have seen this lady say. Izzo do you mean disgraced and fired former police officer, weren't you kicked out? Maybe not the best thing to use as an example of being morally superior. He [Hoi Wah Ho] is just a bloke that likes Ving Tsun but hates all the posers that say they can fight but don't."
"If you say violence is any hitting of women then you would be a hypocrite. Have you trained women, I have, they get hit just like anyone else. I train BJJ with women and they get tapped like everyone else. The whole point of martial arts training for women is they are supposed to be able to use it. If you say you can use Ving Tsun what does it matter if it is a women or if they identify as a carrot. I did security for 12 years so I know as a police man you would have arrested women and got physical. I agree that if you are a person that says they are a master, openly challenges people to fight and then hides, or anyone that says they teach fighting. You should either shut up or put up. Equal rights means you don't get to hid behind your sexualizing identity. Again maybe as someone who got kicked out from being a cop, don't use the fact you were a cop as some sort of moral code."
Great point, Benny Hayes.
If Jenny Domingues fancies herself a martial arts master / teacher, clearly she should accept a fair fight against the people she challenges, no?
Much like Dominick Izzo, Jenny Domingues goes around trolling, threatening, and challenging people to fights including other members of the Kung Fu community including Philip Redmond, David Blackley, and Alan Orr.
Hoi Wah Ho was the only one who previously responded to Jenny Domingues' constant delusional threats, harassment, online attacks, and challenges by stating he would gladly fight her.
Even old school Kung Fu teachers like David Blackley and Alan Orr have spoken up against Jenny Dominigues' trolling and thinks Dominick Izzo's fabricated story makes no sense.
Of course, she continues to terrorize others online as a troll and hide behind her gender and won't accept a match.
We won't further waste our time on covering this fake news story, but understanding the context of the fake stunt pulled by Izzo was important in order to understand the entire fabricated persona of Dominick Izzo.
A Certified Fraud
Dominick Izzo's entire "tough guy former cop" persona online was revealed to be fake, as evidenced here by martial arts community member Nathan Calvert:
"So I don't post often but I want to get back to posting at some point, but I've been hearing this guys name on law enforcement groups for years and now here too.
Izzo was a part time cop for a small town in Illinois. It's worth noting that small town has ridiculously low crime yet he claims all this experience in his career.
It is my understanding he was fired in disgrace after it was discovered he was sending pictures of a dead body at a crime scene to non law enforcement friends. So your right kinda, he was a cop that got fired cause he was trying to be a videographer.
He's tried to stay relevant in law enforcement by running for Sheriff in the Chicago area and taking every publicity stunt he can but by and large he's a joke in the law enforcement community."
Here's another piece of evidence found from an online discussion forum:
"Just read the entire piece and the names finally clicked. This "chief" who is writing the article was partners at one point with the other officer mentioned belittling rookies. The other person mentioned is Dominick Izzo. Izzo pretty much regurgitates movie quotes and B/S he learned across the way.
Funny story about Izzo is the guy passed out when he was in FTO stage when a huge melee broke out in front of him. Izzo has never been the real police ever.
He used to film YouTube videos as a part time cop in Round Lake Park. Him and Filenko the author of the article were inseparable. They used to polish each other's knobs on a regular basis until they had a falling out. The Chief (Filenko) was also never the police period, and was appointed chief because his buddy was the mayor.
So the fact Izzo is spouting about rookies being too young and naming Round Lake Park in his rant is no coincidence."
Starting Feuds For Attention / YouTube Money and Backing Out Of Challenges From The Elderly
Dominick Izzo, revealed to be fired from the police force as a videographer for sending pictures of dead bodies to his friends, understandably had probably lost his pension.
He then turns to YouTube, creates a fake persona about being a "retired" police officer (when he was really fired), and starts talking crap about everyone's martial arts as his modus operandi.
He lives off of his YouTube revenue, so the more talking he can do to create controversy and feuds, the better.
As mentioned earlier, he started a feud with one of the OG's of the game, Phillip Redmond, but once his trash talk was answered with a challenge, he laughed and ran.
This is the behaviour of a true coward who only says things and fabricates stories for YouTube views and revenue.
If you're a fan of Izzo, then you're just as morally corrupt or simply a low-IQ sheep. Either way, him and his followers are truly and utterly sad.
How To Deal With Cult Leader Frauds?
Dominick Izzo, a classic case of "small man's complex". His fabricated story, in an attempt at clout chasing into staying relevant in martial arts, falls pretty "short".
To summarize, toxic cult leaders and martial arts frauds are very dangerous to the martial arts community.
Dominick Izzo ticks off all the right boxes to be a divisive cult leader in the martial arts community:
Fabricates a larger than life online persona
Makes loud mouth rants and clout chases for attention
Pretends to be an "expert" in the space but shows no evidence of ones' own skills
Shuts down anyone who might know better by "canceling" them with his gained following / social channels
Plays off any criticisms against him by saying his distractors simply don't agree with his "politics" or divisive "opinions", when really he is just a garbage human being with very low morals
Runs away from any physical challenges or fights
Giving these frauds attention and YouTube clicks is just what they want, as they will fabricate any angle and follow up just to get you sucked into their clickbait rhetoric.
We advise to block their social media channels and just ignore at all their attempts to contact you, especially unwanted contact from their cult members who actively promote and regurgitate their lies and dogma.
The only reason we here at Dynasty got involved with these insignificant, out of shape, old frauds in the first place was because we felt it was our responsibility to stand up as martial artists, expose these frauds for justice for the Kung Fu / martial arts community, and to raise awareness for the unaware people out there who didn't know the true ugly colours of these cult leaders.
Meanwhile the likes of Dominick Izzo aren't "exposing" anyone to any kind of injustice, they're literally taking screenshots of people's conversations and fabricating cute little television dramas out of it for views.
If you buy into these kinds of clickbait YouTube content, we feel sorry for you.
Don't Let Evil Prevail
Kung Fu has long fallen off as being a martial art that cultivates pride and respect. It is specifically due to the evil men who use the martial arts to dominate the less knowledgeable and less skilled. Evil prevails when good men do nothing.
If we left these frauds alone, they would only keep harming others and brainwashing the weak into their cults.
But we at Dynasty will continue to fight the good fight and call these frauds out when we see them.
Especially 0-0 fight record frauds with no evidence of their sparring rounds or live fights who run away from fights.
Always do your own research. Don't just trust, but verify.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/be-wary-of-anyone-that-advertises-their-martial-art-as-brutal-deadly-or-not-for-sport2022-06-24T13:42:14-04:002023-08-24T17:45:25-04:00Be wary of anyone that advertises their martial art as brutal, deadly, or not for sport.Dynasty Team
One of the biggest red flags in martial arts is when someone tries to sell their art as exceptionally dangerous or violent. All martial arts are dangerous and violent when trained effectively.
This blog post is based on aReddit threadseen on the r/martialarts subreddit by u/mma_boxing_wrestling. It has been edited and modified by the Dynasty Team.
One of the biggest red flags in martial arts is when someone tries to sell their art as exceptionally dangerous or violent. All martial arts are dangerous and violent when trained effectively - that's the entire point.
Self defense type of martial arts such as Krav Maga may teach situational awareness, aggression, de-escalation, but it won't train you to become a flexible and highly skilled fighter which requires well rounded skills in all areas of martial arts.
So when you see someone talking about how brutal their art is, your first thought should be "What are you trying to compensate for?"
A basic right cross and a simple rear naked choke are two of the deadliest techniques in the world. The only things saving you from death when you get knocked out by a punch or caught in a choke are the padded surfaces, referee, and other safety precautions. But you don't see boxing gyms advertising themselves as deadly. They keep their mouths shut and keep developing effective techniques to deliver and avoid knockout power.
Combat sports trained at a high level is "deadlier" than any self defense focused art, because it can actually be applied with full force and resistance in training and in actual application.
Talking about a martial art being "brutal", "deadly" or "realistic" is like guys complaining that girls don't want them even though they're "nice guys".
Congratulations. That's the bare f*cking minimum, and if it was true they wouldn't have to try so hard to sell it.
In spite of it's name, there is absolutely nothing "real" about reality-based self defense. You trying to punch/kick/submit someone else while they're trying to do the same to you is much more "real" than you sticking out your arm and idly standing as your partner rehearses their 6-move palm/groin kick/eye gouge combo. It's much better to learn the techniques that you can practice, like right hooks and rear naked chokes, which are "deadly" enough if you can do them right.
Similarly, it's a red flag when someone says their art was used by some military force or based on warfare or real historical combat in order to validate its effectiveness. Fighting in war is about weapons, formations and strategy. Unless you're practicing your shield wall, me playing a war simulation video game is closer to a wartime art than your 12 person LARP classes.
Just as silly is saying an art is used to train a modern military force. "Krav Maga is used by the Israeli special forces". Guns are used by the Israeli special forces. If your martial art isn't taking place at the shooting range, it's not a modern military art. Advertising it as such is clever marketing for sure, but tells you nothing about whether or not it will teach you to fight.
You should also watch out for anyone who says their martial art is "physics based" or "based on human movement". They all are. We all work with the same human body and the same physics. Literally every technique ever created is based on the same body mechanics and physics because those are universal. That doesn't make an art special, and over-emphasizing those aspects is a great indication you're talking to a martial theorist.
Finally, be skeptical of the people who make a huge point of emphasizing that sport and street fighting aren't the same. No sh*t. No one ever claimed they are. The differences are obvious and well-known. When you hear that, it's usually the first step to someone excusing their lack of provable fighting ability or dismissing guys who would whoop their ass with basic, boring "sport techniques".
The reality is that the fundamental skills and attributes of fighting are universal, and sport vs. street fighting are different branches of the same tree. The harder someone looks to split hairs about them, the more skeptical you should be.
At the end of the day, you're either training effectively or you're not, and there's nothing very special or unique about what that entails so think critically when you encounter anyone claiming otherwise.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/your-art-is-too-deadly-for-the-ring-mine-is-too-deadly-for-the-streets2022-06-23T12:57:29-04:002023-08-24T17:45:27-04:00Your art is too deadly for the ring? Mine is too deadly for the streets.Dynasty Team
Generally, there's a myth that training with less safety equipment makes your training "more realistic".
The reality is safety equipmentactuallyexists to ensure you can train harder and more often without injury.
This blog post is based on aReddit threadseen on the r/martialarts subreddit by u/mma_boxing_wrestling. It has been edited and modified by the Dynasty Team.
The martial arts community on the internet loves to argue incessantly over what is truly "effective" and "realistic" martial arts training or training methods.
We've seen a lot of vocal people (traditional martial artists, self defense martial artists) dismiss combat sports for all their safety precautions - gloves, wraps, soft mats, padded walls, referees, banned techniques etc.
In fact, some people outright mock them:
"Is this the part where you challenge me to a "hard spar" or is it "medium spar" or sensitive spar? Do you need your pads, wraps, and gloves for your delicate little fingers? Do you need perfect lighting and a cozy building interior so you can see where to step and not trip on? My fists are honed on concrete, trees, and brick buildings, I'd fracture your skull like a hammer!"
Generally, there's a myth that training with less safety equipment makes your training "more realistic".
The reality is: Safety equipment actually exists to ensure you can train harder and more often without injury.
When you remove gloves and wraps, you can't hit a heavy bag and pads full power for 1-2 hours a day, 5 times a week. Sprained wrists and fingers are gonna take out half of your training partners.
Go ahead and spar hard with no gloves or head gear - broken bones and cuts are going to eliminate the other half of your training partners.
Feel free to compete in a ring with concrete floors, just get ready to bury the guys who hit their heads wrong on the way down.
By removing certain techniques from the resistance training part of the curriculum, you ensure that fighters can train hard with practical, fight ending techniques consistently.
"Self defense" martial artists / teachers obviously haven't done their research or homework, because that's exactly the evolution that Judo went through when it evolved from Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. Judo removed all of the "deadly", untrainable techniques from Jiu-Jitsu and turned the martial art into a combat sport. Once it evolved into a sport, sport fighters started beating the living tar out of "self defense only" Jiu Jitsu guys.
An eye gouge will very rarely end a fight or even ensure victory in one - just ask Yuki Nakai or Anthony Johnson - but it can leave a fighter blinded for life.
Groin strikes hurt and can cause permanent damage, but pain compliance is completely unreliable in real fighting where the adrenaline can block the pain.
Elbows to the back of the head actually can end fights, but they also damage the brainstem and will end your training partners' lives.
Yuki Nakai blinded during the 1995 Vale Tudo Japan MMA event.
Removing these techniques makes it possible to fight full-contact for years and even decades.
If you think your training is more realistic because you have less safety precautions, it actually means you're training with less intensity and probably a higher risk of injury.
Combat sports fighters need safety precautions because they'd be killing and maiming each other every week without them.
The techniques are too dangerous to be used without the proper gear and supervision.
A basic right cross only doesn't kill more people because padded floors protect the head. A basic rear naked choke only doesn't kill more people because the referee is there to enforce the tap.
These "combat sport" arts are in fact too deadly to be used outside the ring - they're too deadly for the streets.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/why-the-level-of-athleticism-required-matters-in-your-martial-arts2022-06-10T16:07:17-04:002022-12-26T21:50:35-05:00Why The Level of Athleticism Required Matters In Your Martial ArtsDynasty Team
Many people are often enamoured with the martial arts, and what they represent.
Little do people know, the generally accepted "idea" of the martial arts, which mostly come from fictional action movies, stage / fight choreography, or other forms of art or pop culture where martial arts are featured, are rooted more in make believe fantasies rather than in reality.
Often times, people who do not train seriously in martial arts or have a beginner's / low level understanding of them, assume that technique and skillwill alwaysovercome size, strength, speed, and athleticism.
Yet if that were true, there would be no such thing as weight classes in martial arts, combat sports, and in the Olympics, or gender divisions in professional sports.
Many people are often enamoured with the martial arts, and what they represent.
Little do people know, the generally accepted "idea" of the martial arts, which mostly come from fictional action movies, stage / fight choreography, or other forms of art or pop culture where martial arts are featured, are rooted more in make believe fantasies rather than in reality.
Often times, people who do not train seriously in martial arts or have a beginner's / low level understanding of them, assume that technique and skill will always overcome size, strength, speed, and athleticism.
Yet if that were true, there would be no such thing as weight classes in martial arts, combat sports, and in the Olympics, or gender divisions in professional sports.
The romanticized idea of an old, wise, and highly skilled "master" easily subduing a reckless unskilled brute with just a few moves is a stereotype/trope and doesn't always translate to real life fighting or self defense.
These "self defense focused" martial arts largely exist in a fantasy vacuum removed from reality, and only perpetuate this false idea that martial arts are somehow easy to learn and master, that "anybody can become a highly skilled martial artist / fighter" in just a short period of time, and no real live sparring or pressure testing is needed in order to validate whether your martial arts holds up against live, violent, fighting scenarios.
A Common Blind Spot
Real fights are not like the movies. Your opponents will not comply with your moves, nor will they attack you in the way you expect them to. The only way to know if you're truly ready to fight someone in real life is to become an actual competitive fighter (such as in a combat sport) with real fight experience.
How do you know if you've been potentially suckered into this romanticized idea of martial arts yourself? Simply ask yourself if you:
Regularly put yourself in uncomfortable situations during training where you're forced to work on your weaknesses or skill deficiencies
Are put into live drilling / sparring sessions where your opponents pressure you to defend, attack, and perform
Spar or fight regularly against non-compliant opponents or compete in a full contact combat sport against other martial arts practitioners
If your training doesn't consist of any of the above, then you may be practicing what we call a "self defense focused" martial art, or perhaps, not a martial art at all, but simply an "art" with forms and movements that look impressive but have very little practical application.
Whether self defense focused or not, these arts all have one gigantic blind spot in common: They do not train or account for, athleticism.
If your chosen martial arts style or system does not account for athleticism and/or if your martial art actively discourages athletic movements where speed, power, and explosiveness is required - as we will go on to explain - you are practicing a martial art that is not going to hold up in reality.
Romanticism Sells
Everyone wants to believe that with the right training, a smaller weaker person can overcome the larger stronger "bully" on the street or in school. This type of romanticism helps sell martial arts memberships and hides the ugly side of martial arts.
Before we go on to to explain why athleticism or athletic training in your martial arts system matters, we have to first dive into why many people ignore this aspect of training - and thus creates such problematic yet widely accepted narratives about martial arts - in the first place.
As mentioned earlier, "common sense" or "conventional wisdom" in martial arts tells us that a well trained, highly skilled individual (usually of smaller stature) can overcome a poorly trained, low skill level individual, even with a huge size / weight disadvantage.
That's basically the storyline basis for every martial arts tale, book, or movie, is it not?
Conventional wisdom often stops here.
What this "conventional wisdom" doesn't mention (or conveniently ignores) is that when two people who are relatively even in terms of skill, training, and experience meet in a fight - the person with the better physical attributes (size, weight, height, strength, speed) or athletic advantage (timing, coordination, explosiveness, cardio conditioning) - will win.
The "martial artist" can overcome a raw athlete, but loses easily to an athlete who also trains and has skills of their own.
In one of the most anticipated fights and rematches in martial arts and combat sports history - two very evenly matched fighters in Georges St-Pierre and BJ Penn, both champions in their respective weight classes, fought each other twice in the UFC. In the first fight, "GSP" won by a narrow decision. In the second fight however, Georges St-Pierre dominated BJ Penn and showed that when two evenly matched fighters compete against one another, the bigger and stronger one will prevail (GSP competes at Welterweight 170lbs. while BJ Penn competes at Lightweight 155lbs.)
Steroids and performance enhancing drugs aside, Jon Jones, regarded by many as the greatest Light Heavyweight MMA fighter of all time - is one of the most naturally talented, physically gifted athletes in UFC / MMA and all of combat sports history. He routinely beats other fighters in their own area of expertise, whether in striking, wrestling, or grappling. He out-struck Lyoto Machida, a lifelong striking specialist, out-wrestled Daniel Cormier, an Olympic wrestler, and submitted Vitor Belfort, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt.
This is why weight classes exist in combat sports, boxing, kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and in professional fighting such as in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Weight classes are implemented to offer a more level playing field for the athletes, even though the very nature of a competition is a test or fight between unequal individuals who are all different from one another.
Martial Arts Schools Need Students
This type of romanticized "thinking" or message passed on through generations in the martial arts community is almost actually perpetuated on purpose, as a form of marketing for martial arts schools.
This is because most martial arts are created by, have been used by, and will always be sought out by (and "sold" to) the weaker and less athletically gifted individuals of human society.
Gigantic strongmen and athletic freaks back in ancient times could and would probably have been able to kill several men with just one swing of a club, or crush a man's neck with just his hands. He wouldn't need to learn an arm bar from closed guard or a proper side control escape, he would just rip your arm straight out of its socket and proceed to beat you over the head with it, or bench press you off of him if needed.
Those who were born naturally strong or physically gifted, can often just beat up or toss around regular average Joes who have been training martial arts their entire lives, usually requiring very little training if at all.
If these giants wanted to focus on a martial art, they would be best suited at wrestling / grappling arts such as Sumo Wrestling, Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling), Mongolian Wrestling, Senegalese Wrestling, or any of the Greco / Freestyle / Catch As Catch Can wrestling styles. The reason being that wrestling is generally accepted as the most athletically / physically demanding martial art / fighting art that exists.
Physically gifted athletes do not need to focus as much on the details or intricacies of an art, often times they can rely on brute physicality to get most of the job done.
Senegalese Wrestling - a martial art / sport that combines wrestling takedowns, throws, and brutal bareknuckle punches to the head that often results in knockouts.
Should they do decide to focus on the details and intricacies of mastering the fighting arts, then how can the average person with average athleticism stop them?
Enduring Hard Training & Physical Suffering Doesn't Sell Martial Arts
Most of us are not born as 6-foot something, 200 - 300 pound heavyweight athletes that look like they walked out of the pages of a comic book. Becoming an athlete / fighter requires physical attributes as well as training, living, and eating like one. It is an entire lifestyle.
Why do most people ignore this athleticism "X" factor in their training or martial arts?
It's because becoming / training like a competitive athlete or a fighter requires a serious amount of time, effort, attention, energy, money, and commitment.
On top of that, you need some level of natural talent, and be born with natural physical gifts that will enable you to perform athletic feats.
Why become a high-level competitive martial arts athlete when you can simply be out of shape, pretend you know something, post some videos online and call yourself a "Master" / "Sifu" / "Sensei"?
It's also because actual hard training is not sexy or romantic - quite actually the opposite of your favourite motivational movie montage training sequence.
Hard training is stressful, painful, harsh, and takes an incredible toll both physically and mentally.
Hard training does not sell martial arts gym memberships, because most people do not like to be beat up, chewed up, spit out, hurt themselves, or suffer through pain, fatigue, and damage to obtain skills.
Why go through hard training and suffer silently when you can choose to participate in an easier martial art and earn belts and rankings you know you don't deserve but make you look and feel great?
That's why it is much easier to ignore the hard aspects of martial arts training if you run a school or are a martial arts instructor, and much more profitable to entice members to come into the studio for easy casual training instead.
He knows the invisible death touch technique. He cannot be touched so don't even try. He doesn't need to use any muscles at all, only his mind, cultivated from his 40+ years of dedicated training in the mountains somewhere deep in his mom's backyard. You too, can obtain these life changing secret deadly skills, by subscribing to his YouTube channel and ordering his online martial arts mastery course.
It's also much easier and much more appealing for phoney martial arts instructors to simply market themselves and their perceived knowledge and skills to deceive / swindle unsuspecting students, rather than become a skilled and knowledgeable coach that helps others progress.
At the end of the day, an easier martial arts program means everyone gets their next belt / rank promotion and everyone goes home happy - even if they didn't necessarily work hard for it or deserve it.
Why The Level of Athleticism In Your Martial Arts Matters
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or commonly referred to in short form as "BJJ" has become one of the most popular martial arts / sports to train in the world, and for good reason. It actively encourages athleticism / trains its practitioners to become more athletic (speed, power, strength, reflexes), forces them to train and compete at 100% resistance, and gives them a competitive outlet to test their skills against the best in the world - while remaining relatively safe due to its lack of strikes or high impact throws.
Now that we have gotten the psychological and economic explanation out of the way, we can finally get to why athletic training (or the level of athleticism required) in your martial arts matters.
Sanda Sanshou Kung Fu, a modern combat sport, requires practitioners to punch, kick, wrestle, and throw with full contact and resistance.
"True" martial arts, or martial arts that are effective in their application for real world pressure and violence, are martial arts that can be executed and showcased at a high athletic level (with speed, power, strength, explosiveness, timing).
This is because athleticism, or performing like a high level athlete would, acts as the fuel, the driving force, or quality indicator behind any physical activity, physical training, physical endeavour, or sport.
If your martial art can be performed by just about anyone at any level, with no "quality indicator" or threshold set at a certain athletic or skill level, or worse yet, you're told by instructors or classmates that you're using "too much muscle" or you're "being too athletic", then it is clearly not a very good martial art or system at all.
The reason for this, is that you are essentially practicing a martial art with a low bar of quality that any low level practitioner can hypothetically "master" / become a master at, as long as they keep showing up to the school (participation points) instead of showing real skill or progression.
Delusional Martial Arts Practitioners
"I can and will kill any professional UFC / MMA fighter! Real fighting isn't a sport!"
The sad truth is, martial arts styles and systems, and the practitioners themselves, are not all made equal, and people have a hard time coping with reality.
It's like saying a fresh university graduate who works at the reception desk with one year of work experience deserves the same importance, salary, recognition, and respect as an experienced, 10-year professional with a specialized education background doing highly skilled work.
Many delusional individuals or people who practice casual, self-defense oriented martial arts will not admit reality and will fight (read: argue, not actually fight, because they can't) to the death regarding the effectiveness of their martial arts training (instead of just showing us how good they are).
Casual Racing vs. Professional Racing
To use another analogy to explain, it would be the equivalent to an amateur driver who won a race at their local Go Kart track against other amateur drivers, who goes on to assume that they would be able to enter, drive, and win a professional sports car race against other professional drivers.
The speed, reaction, timing, and driving skill of a professional race car driver driving at break neck speeds would far exceed that of a casual driver, because the professional racer competes in a much more demanding sport that requires a much higher level of performance.
Casual Fighting vs. Professional Fighting
A great martial arts style or system of training is one where it trains and turns practitioners into athletic, skilled, and capable fighters who are effective at beating other highly trained, athletic, skilled fighters.
Using the random, low-level caliber opponent that would appear on the street in your average street fight to determine whether or not your martial arts training is effective or useful is highly silly and inaccurate, and not to mention just plain lazy and dishonest.
A much more accurate (and safer) way to determine if your martial arts training is effective is simply to spar more, fight more, and compete more.
If your chosen martial arts style doesn't allow for fight competitions, then branch out into open martial arts competitions that allow for any style or system to participate in.
A great martial arts style or system does not necessarily need to have answers for all situations and scenarios (that's why we mix them up and call it MMA), but it should at least strive to work or function at a reasonably high level (if not outright at the professional level) and be effective against high level opponents.
Naturally, this means the martial art can, and should encourage, to be trained athletically - with physical attributes in mind.
If a martial art only:
Trains the mind,
Only works in very specific scenarios or situations,
Has an over reliance on dirty techniques that cannot be trained effectively with full intensity or resistance (eye gouging, groin striking),
Or is only effective against the untrained or non-athletic opponent...
Then it is ultimately a weak martial art style or system (or perhaps even fake), because there are simply too many restrictions or limitations to the style or system for it to work in a no holds barred, real life fight.
A reliable martial art style or system is one that should work under a reasonable framework of reality, and not just hypothetical, highly speculative scenarios ("If he does this, I do this!").
The Choice Is Yours
Simply put - if "proficiency" or "skill level" in your martial arts is determined more by:
What historical / anecdotal stories you can share about your experiences, your teacher, and the art,
What terms and words you can recite like an encyclopedia,
How many "masters" you've learned under,
How many political martial arts figures you've shaken hands and taken pictures with,
What forms or techniques you can demonstrate,
How "great" and "revered" your lineage is...
Rather than how you:
Show your skills under live pressure in non-compliant sparring,
How you apply your techniques against real athletic resistance,
Or how your students do against live competition...
Then you are training a martial art that exists as more an art rather than as a martial art - which in some cases - is ultimately just dishonest and delusional.
Remember that in order for a martial art to be a martial art - it needs to be made for combative, fighting purposes.
Anything outside of that, is just a casual form of exercise at best, a history or cultural lesson in the middle, and interpretive dancing or LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) at worst.
Life is about choices after all, and we suppose there is something for everyone.
Train hard, and stay safe, everyone.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/the-problem-with-chinese-martial-arts-schrodingers-kung-fu2022-02-09T16:59:52-05:002022-06-15T17:45:53-04:00The Problem with Chinese Martial Arts (Schrödinger's Kung Fu)Dynasty TeamChinese Martial Arts / Kung Fu seemingly is never what it claims to be, especially when it has to be identified, defined, and quantified by Kung Fu practitioners themselves.
Chinese Martial Arts / Kung Fu seemingly is never what it claims to be, especially when it has to be identified, defined, and quantified by Kung Fu practitioners themselves.
The Schrödinger's Kung Fu thought experiment plays out like this:
If it looks good but can't be used, then it isn't Kung Fu.
If it looks bad but can be used, then it isn't Kung Fu.
If it looks good and can be used, then it certainly isn't Kung Fu - because it's not our lineage or the Kung Fu *we* practice.
But of course, if some famous pro fighter uses it by imitating Kung Fu / Ip Man movies, it definitely is Kung Fu, because we all want to claim it. 😉
This thought experiment plays out most prominently in the Southern Chinese Kung Fu style of Wing Chun - where there have been so many teachers and students since it exploded in popularity in the 1950's - 1970's thanks to Ip Man and Bruce Lee, that no one even knows what Wing Chun really is anymore.
In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment that illustrates a paradox of quantum superposition. In the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat may be considered simultaneously both alive and dead as a result of its fate being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur.
Thus, Schrödinger's Kung Fu assumes that everything we practice is in fact not Kung Fu, but yet Kung Fu at the same time (only when it suits our biases, interests, and perspectives).
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/ang-quan-ancestral-art-to-muay-boran-muay-thai-boxing2021-12-27T13:41:59-05:002022-06-15T17:45:55-04:00Meet Ang Quan, the ancestral art to Muay Boran / Muay Thai BoxingDynasty Team
A little known, ancient style of martial arts named Ang Quan has resurfaced on Chinese social media in recent years. We here at Dynasty are always passionate about the martial arts and history, so we have went and researched online about this subject, and will now cover this martial art in this blog post.
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There is a saying that goes, "天下功夫出少林" "All Martial Arts Originate From Shaolin".
Is this true, or is it just clever marketing by the Shaolin Temple or the Chinese martial arts communities?
When we dig a bit further into history, we recognize however that many centuries ago before there were countries or nations, there simply were ethnic groups who coexisted with one another.
One such ethnic group are the Zhuang peoples, who reside in Southern China, near Guangxi / Yunnan, bordering the South East Asian nations of Thailand and Myanmar.
Within this group of people, exists an ancient style of martial arts passed down by its villagers, known as Ang Quan. Ang Quan has resurfaced on Chinese social media in recent years and garnered renewed interest in its history.
We here at Dynasty are always passionate about the martial arts and history, so we have went and researched online about this subject, and will now cover this martial art in this blog post.
What Is Ang Quan (Ang Fist)?
昂拳 Ang Quan (壮拳 Zhuang Quan) or Traditional Fist of the Zhuang Peoples 壮族, performed by 郭靖 Guo Jing. Watch the video here.
The word “Ang” has the meaning of “cruel” and “foreign” in the Zhuang language.
Ang Quan is also known as one of the 古拳 old traditional styles of boxing, or “Ancestor of Southern Boxing”, tracing back to its usage in the military during the 明朝 Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The Zhuang are the indigenous peoples of 廣西 Guangxi in Southern China. They are a Tai / Dai speaking ethnic group. The Tai or Zhuang Tai languages are a branch of Kra Dai, which include Thai, Siamese, Lao or Laotian, Myanmar’s Shan language, and Zhuang, the language of Guangxi peoples.
This wartime military form of Kung Fu / martial art / boxing has been practiced and passed down by Zhuang villagers and was considered to be a lost art that was recently rediscovered and garnered public interest.
This style of boxing is related to, interconnected with, and perhaps the ancestral art to มวยโบราณ Muay Boran / มวยไทย Muay Thai, or Thai Boxing, due to the intermingling of southern ethnic groups.
The Zhuang, along with the Buyi, Tay-Nung, and Tai / Dai and their migration to South East Asia share common languages, ancestry, culture, and customs.
Are these just lofty claims from Chinese martial artists wanting to reclaim Thai martial arts or Chinese propaganda, or is there more evidence?
Well it turns out that in the popular Hong Kong documentary TV series, Season 3 of "Kung Fu Quest", in the episode "Muay Thai", they've already travelled to Southern China and covered Muay Thai's origins.
In a nutshell, the documentary shows that old styles of traditional Thai boxing, such as Muay Chaiya, or Muay Boran, have the same historical ties to the Ang Quan of the Zhuang peoples in Southern China.
The Zhuang peoples simply migrated down south to South East Asia over time through political and geographical needs.
Ang Quan on Film
In fact, Ang Quan was actually featured in the 2006 martial arts / wushu epic film, Huo Yuan Jia (A.K.A. Fearless), starring Jet Li, showing the 昂拳 Ang Quan of the Zhuang Clan and it’s shared history with 泰拳 Thai Boxing of the Siamese Clan.
In 李連杰 Jet Li’s 2006 film “Fearless” AKA 霍元甲 Huo Yuan Jia, he briefly crosses paths with a Siamese (Thai) fighter, when his journeys take him to a village in Southern China in the full-length uncut version of the film.
Huo Yuan Jia’s Kung Fu style is Mizongquan 迷蹤拳 or Mizongyi 迷蹤藝 (“Lost Track Fist” or “Lost Track Skill / Art”) or sometimes known as “Labyrinthine Boxing” - a style based on deception and mobility.
The Zhuang / Thai / Siamese fighter’s style is Ang Quan 昂拳 / 壮拳 Zhuang Fist, or Toi Muay ต่อยมวย or what is now popularly known as Muay Boran for the combat version or Muay Thai for the sport version.
The Siamese fighter is played by Somluck Kamsing สมรักษ์ คำสิงห์ who is a real life Thai kickboxer and Olympic gold medal-winning amateur boxer. Jet Li is of course a real life Shaolin Kung Fu disciple and 5-time national Wushu champion himself.
As mentioned previously, Ang Quan is the martial art of the Zhuang ethnic tribe. The Zhuang people are directly related to the Thai / Siamese people as they speak the same family of languages and share many similar customs and religious beliefs.
Thai people or Siamese are a Tai ethnic group dominant in Central and Southern Thailand. Part of the larger Tai ethno-linguistic group native to Southeast Asia as well as Southern China and Northeast India, Thais speak the Central Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kra–Dai family of languages.
A visit to the real life villages in Guangxi 廣西 and Yunnan 雲南 in China 中國 along with a trip to Thailand 泰國 would reveal the close relationship and historical ties of these ethnic groups, separated only by geography and migration.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/the-self-fulfilling-death-loop-of-self-defense-non-competitive-martial-arts2021-12-18T12:55:20-05:002023-04-02T17:46:00-04:00The Self-Fulfilling Death Loop of Non-Competitive Martial ArtsDynasty Team
There is an intrinsic problem that exists in many forms of non-competitive, "self-defense" martial arts - mostly older martial arts styles, butcan be applied to any martial art that does not contain or emphasize a competitive sports component.
There is an intrinsic problem that exists in many forms of non-competitive, "self-defense" martial arts - mostly older martial arts styles, but can be applied to any martial art that does not contain or emphasize a competitive sports component.
The problem is what we dub the "self-fulfilling death loop", where a martial art only exists to exist as an art form, and not exist because it is particularly useful (when compared to more evolved martial arts that exist - but more on this later).
A martial art that merely exists for artistic or self-defense reasons is usually a martial art that upholds traditions, culture, customs, and techniques / concepts from a certain time period of human history, but rarely provide any more value beyond this.
There's nothing wrong with this on it's own, but when practitioners of these said arts pretend there's more to it than it is (which is often), is when it becomes problematic.
The Problem With "Self Defense Only" Martial Arts
Self-defense only martial arts (styles that do not have a sparring or competitive component), such as (but not limited to) Aikido, Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, Systema, Krav Maga, and many old Traditional Chinese Kung Fu / Martial Arts styles such as Wing Chun, etc., are largely "static" styles or systems that exist in a vacuum.
Static styles exist to carry on tradition or a limited set of techniques first and foremost, focusing on form first, while function, practicality, and adaptability take a backseat.
Which is to say, they do not evolve with the ever-changing landscape of martial arts progress and human / sports science development.
The martial art may have been created and used to solve a specific problem or was deemed useful at one point in human history (Aikido to disarm attackers wielding swords and weapons, for example), but since that point, it has either lost much of its effectiveness or relevancy (nobody carries swords anymore, or nobody fights like they used to fight anymore), or other martial arts have simply popped up on the scene and became much more effective and efficient in comparison (full contact striking arts such as Boxing, Muay Thai, Sanda Sanshou, and full contact grappling arts such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Sambo, Wrestling, Shuai Jiao, etc. - which all went through phases of evolution themselves).
This does not mean these self defense only martial arts do not still contain value or viable teachings.
That is not what we are implying. In fact, far from it.
However, what we are saying is that many of these rigid or old styles are merely scratching the surface, or emphasize only the basics of human potential.
Due to the static nature of these old styles - these arts are largely "dead", unchanging, lack "aliveness", and thus are doomed to lose value and interest over time (and replaced by newer, better arts or training methods).
In order for a martial art to stay "alive" and relevant to human beings and societal needs, it needs to constantly attract new practitioners to the art to help it evolve over time, or at the very least, pressure test the art and take it to new heights.
"Traditional" martial arts that are stuck in its dogmatic past or martial arts that do not allow free sparring, simply do not provide this possibility.
The Self-Fulfilling Death Loop
Allow us to further explain using this 5-step infinite death loop that illustrates the self fulfilling doomed prophecy of "static" martial arts styles.
Most teachers emphasize only on teaching the art, the traditions, the history, and the concepts. There is a lack of / no emphasis on "aliveness" sparring or sports competition built into the martial art. It does not encourage creativity, but rather rigidity.
Practitioners make progress but have no public platform to test what they've learned or to prove themselves against opponents, thus creating a black hole or echo chamber, where the art cannot be tested against itself and/or with others, and results don't matter or do not exist.
Lack of a competition standard creates a stagnant training environment where quality or progress cannot be adequately measured. The incompetent are not punished and the competent are not rewarded. Practitioners may become frustrated at their progress due to lack of a high-quality, elite standard to aim towards, and/or may be confused about progression or start to question their own level of competency. (For example, training forms and compliant drills for 10+ years but never sparring, and realizing one cannot even fight with their martial art, is concerning to say the least)
The static nature of the art, combined with the wishful but ultimately fruitless promise of a dangling carrot that never materializes into true real-world results, drives away young, talented athletes as they are not incentivized to improve and would rather find something more rewarding / challenging to spend their time, with an outlet to showcase their skills.
Older, non-athletic practitioners stay and occupy the martial art, act as its teachers / gatekeepers, hamper progress and/or bring the quality of the art down, watering down and/or killing the martial art outright with either commercialism or phoniness, or both.
The cycle restarts only with less potential star pupils willing to take up the art due to its tainted track record and/or lack of quality representation.
As a result, the number of people who wish to join dwindles, as well as the quality of prospective students, as they flee to learn other better / higher perceived quality martial arts styles.
Therefore less and less people are willing to discover the martial art's true qualities or to elevate its status, thus ensuring the martial art's death.
Dedicated Cosplayers Rather Than Martial Artists
Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character.
"Most Kung Fu practitioners are super dedicated cosplayers. The way they train is like saying they are basketball players when they only practice dribble and shoot drills without ever playing a game, or saying they can drive a car when they never went on the road and only practice in a parking lot. The only way to fix Kung Fu is to make sports like Shuai Jiao and Sanda mandatory in schools like wrestling in America or Judo in Japan."
"Honestly they just need to spar a hell of a lot more and stop believing so much in "Oh my style is too dangerous for sport" and lineages and all that other crap. Stop deflecting to the bullshit excuse of "Well Kung Fu / Gong Fu / Gung Fu isn't just for fighting, it's for health as well." Obviously, but it is a martial art. If it didn't include methods to fight, it might as well be Yoga or Dancing."
Breaking The Cycle
The most famous example of a martial art breaking away from its own death loop is Japanese Jiu-Jitsu and Judo.
Summarized very briefly, a man named Jigoro Kano removed all the "deadly self defense" techniques from Japanese Jiu-Jitsu that could not be effectively practiced at 100% force / resistance, turned the art into a combative sport where only the techniques that could be drilled / used at 100% force were kept, creating a much more effective fighting style named Judo.
Judo practitioners were known as competitive combat sport athletes who could really fight and use their techniques under pressure, while Jiu-Jitsu practitioners were simply "self defense" martial arts practitioners who could not apply their moves once thrown into a "live fire" environment.
In a surprising turn of events at the time, the new Judo players beat all the old traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in sparring / challenge matches, signalling the dawn of a new era of sports science / combat sports fighting.
To put it another way - would you rather learn a martial art that was all theory, no application, and has stayed mostly the same for a very long time, or a martial art that has been through many hours of combat testing, refinement, can actually be used, and continues to get better?
Gordon Ryan is the best grappler alive on earth today. His success in grappling competitions is visible to the market / martial arts community and sets a new bar of what's possible with his martial art. Without his accomplishments in competition, we would all be worse off by being unable to see and learn from the evolution of his chosen martial art style(s).
Here's another way to look at this problem with "static" martial arts, and why they often fall flat in face of live resistance.
A martial art that is "alive" is similar to a society with a free market competitive economy with clear decisive winners and losers (and those in between) based on how hard you work and how much value you create or contribute.
A martial art that is "dead" is similar to an economy of non-competitiveness where everyone receives a participation medal for merely existing (but not contributing), and thus no human / societal / scientific / technological progress actually happens.
Love them or hate them, people such as Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos have done more to advance human society than most. The technologies / services / products they have created have changed the way we live.
In a competitive society or environment, even "losers" of said society can still benefit from the innovations, value, discoveries, and teachings provided by its "winners" or best representatives. For example: We can use services like Amazon or AliExpress from our Microsoft PC computers, and drive smart cars from Tesla, even though we never invented these things ourselves.
In a static, non-competitive society, no one benefits because no one is incentivized to win or contribute, and thus no one needs to actually work hard, so everyone equally loses.
Counter-Argument is a Non-Argument
The counter argument to this would be of course, "combat sports" are a sport, and they have rules!
JKD Waldo guy gets knocked to the ground by a Wing Chun Kung Fu teacher for telling him how to do his Wing Chun "properly". The JKD guy obviously has no fight experience because he performed poorly once the Wing Chun teacher defended himself from his taunts.
While true, this argument largely falls apart in practice because, as we know through video evidence, self-defense "experts" can't effectively use their so-called "deadly" techniques in a live environment, because they can't train / drill their "deadly" moves on a regular consistent basis anyway.
If you can't use your techniques in a controlled environment, what makes you think you can use them in an uncontrolled environment?
We won't waste any more time on this argument on this post but you can read our past post about this here.
"Dead" vs. "Alive"
"The best martial arts are ones that work on other martial artists, not just on untrained people." - Joe Rogan
Self-defense only martial arts (martial arts that don't promote sparring or any live resistance training) or "traditional" martial arts usually rely on a set number of techniques or moves as passed down by its teacher / forms, but are rigid and do not provide any further information or answers to deal with any circumstances outside of the very techniques presented.
For example, a static, rigid martial art may have answer 1, 2, or 3 to counter the opponent if they attack in 4, 5, or 6.
But if the opponent attacks in a 7, the "rigid" martial art may not have an adequate answer for it, and the limitation is capped at that point.
The "static" martial art will always place itself as the most important thing to pay attention to, rather than the practitioner who is using the art.
Conversely, a martial art that is alive, and open to evolution, promotes creativity and spontaneity, and encourages the practitioner (the individual) to respond accordingly to any scenario they may find themselves in.
This is why Bruce Lee, The Godfather of MMA, was so ahead of his time when he famously invented the philosophy of "Be Water" - "absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own."
Self Defense Martial Arts Are Marred By Their Own Political Dogma
Because they never need to be tested, bullshit artists run amok in non-competitive martial arts communities and hold the martial art back from its own potential.
As a practitioner, if you try to "fix" or "evolve" these old styles of martial arts to address their weaknesses or shortcomings, you will be met with heavy resistance from other community members or gatekeepers telling you that "it is not {insert martial art you were trying to fix/evolve}".
For example, if Joe Smith invented "Dog-Jitsu" in the year 2020, then by dogmatic "tradition", it can only contain X number of techniques / applications. If you try to modify anything, you are committing heresy and will be banned from the "Dog-Jitsu" community.
How many times have you heard some elitist traditionalist say, "That's not Wing Chun" or "That's not Kung Fu"? It doesn't really make any sense in reality, because martial arts is supposed to be using what works, not simply using what "someone" deems is part of the original martial art or not (which again, is completely subjective).
The practitioners of these self defense / "traditional" martial arts are limited only to the techniques they learned from someone at some point in time, and as soon as they modify the movements and/or techniques to deal with live pressure or resistance, they may no longer be "practicing" or "applying" the original "traditional" martial art, because they will be judged by how they've changed how it looks or how it is performed.
Doomed To Fail
That is why, static, rigid, self-defense only martial arts will always be doomed to fail, one way or another, sooner or later, because they teach students that the answers to problems are always buried in the art's past (your mileage may vary depending on how outdated its past is, especially if it promises "secret techniques" - which are often shrouded in mystery and bullshit mysticism), rather than in its future and forward facing potential (sports science development and statistical evidence).
It's non-competitive nature shuns away / naturally rejects serious practitioners and persistently makes it easy to reward frauds and pretenders.
You basically gain status or popularity points simplyfor being "traditional" for tradition's sake, even if you may suck at the martial art you claim to be a teacher / master of.
Meanwhile if you're good at it, you might be deemed a heretic because you made too many of your own discoveries and modifications.
Martial Arts That Evolve, Stay On Top
Sanda / Sanshou Kung Fu represents the natural evolution of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts / Kung Fu. It is alive, by welcoming techniques and adapting itself to the ever changing landscape and evolution of martial arts fighting.
Martial arts that continue to evolve year after year such as Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, Muay Thai, Shuai Jiao, Sanda / Sanshou, etc., thanks to their rich and regulated combat sports culture, promotion through live competition / competitive nature, and their ever-expanding collection of techniques and positions thanks to their openness / free market economy, will always continue to be the "kings" of the martial arts world and attract the best and most promising practitioners.
In other words, non-competitive martial arts are doomed to attract the worst martial arts practitioners, and competitive martial arts are programmed to bring out and develop the best martial arts practitioners.
That is, unless they go a few steps too far and turn it into modern sport Karate or sport Taekwondo where the only thing that matters is point scoring over dishing out actual damage, or modern sport BJJ (as opposed to submission only) where scoring points and stalling out positions instead of submitting your opponent grants you the win.
Sport point sparring, no matter how "unrealistic", is still better than no sparring.
However, we argue that because they are competing in a sports / athletic endeavour, it is still better than martial arts that do not promote competition at all.
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/people-you-meet-in-online-martial-arts-communities2021-12-14T15:25:14-05:002022-12-26T21:50:37-05:00People You Meet In Online Martial Arts CommunitiesDynasty TeamMore]]>
How many of these folks have you run into in the online martial arts community?
Online martial arts communities can be a scary place, where everyone has 30+ years of experience, a 300-0 unblemished fight record, has killed “multiple people” in a street encounter, who knows “secret, deadly techniques” because they are a “closed door” disciple of a famous master, and can deal with multiple attackers with just a pinky finger, or sometimes, all of the above.
While meeting and having discussions with a seasoned fight / competition veteran or a serious hobbyist can result in a great time, you'll likely run into the "Usual Suspects" instead, which usually are a bunch of trouble-making, sh*t-stirring wannabes.
In all seriousness, let’s talk less, and train more.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/jet-li-on-fake-masters-what-is-real-kung-fu2021-12-14T14:25:28-05:002022-12-26T21:50:39-05:00Jet Li on Fake Masters & What Is Real Kung FuDynasty TeamIn 李連杰 Jet Li's 2006 film “Fearless” AKA 霍元甲 Huo Yuan Jia, Jet Li gives a speech to his students, which doubles as a message to the entire Kung Fu / Chinese Martial Arts community (but can also apply to the entire traditional martial arts community as well).
In 李連杰 Jet Li's 2006 film “Fearless” AKA 霍元甲 Huo Yuan Jia, Jet Li gives a speech to his students, which doubles as a message to the entire Kung Fu / Chinese Martial Arts community (but can also apply to the entire traditional martial arts community as well).
“Do you know what is real Kung Fu? Real Kung Fu are skills obtained through hard work, through many years of dedicated training. Look at you - your 2-3 years of “Cat’s Claw” (low level) Kung Fu, against my 20+ years of real Kung Fu. You think you can handle this? Keep training!”
Internet commenters have pointed out that Jet Li used the words 貓腳 "Cat's Foot" instead of 貓爪 "Claw", referring to 三腳貓 "Three-Legged Cat", which implies weakness. Although in an earlier fight scene against the Nanquan / Hung Kuen stylist, Jet indeed used the word 貓爪 "Cat's Claw" to describe his opponent's supposed 虎爪 "Tiger Claw" attacks.
Many practitioners of the old arts today train for a few years, obtain some superficial or surface-level knowledge or understanding of the arts, and all of a sudden promote themselves as “teachers” or “masters”.
These so-called teachers / masters have never walked outside of their own schools and truly tested themselves, and yet they make dubious claims of skill, experience, and mastery - without demonstrating any quality evidence against live resistance or pressure.
The most sinister of these folks are charlatans who market themselves as know-it-all “Grandmasters” and build a cult-like following around them. They not only insult real martial arts practitioners around the world, but also destroy the legacy and legitimacy of the work of the true masters before them, and cheat many unsuspecting students of their time and money along the way.
These “fake” masters are content to remain at their low level 貓爪 “Cat’s Claw” / 三腳貓"Three-Legged Cat" form of Kung Fu (as opposed to a 虎爪 “Tiger’s Claw”), only seek fame / titles / money, and ride the coattails and mythical status of the famous masters who built these styles and systems before them. As a result, they’ve effectively killed their own communities with their laziness, complacency, and undeserved hubris.
When they are checked by others, they scurry away to hide and “save face” to avoid humiliation and to protect their egos / reputations in front of their cult believers like cowards, instead of stepping up to prove that their martial arts are indeed legitimate.
李連杰:你的功夫是貓爪功夫還是真功夫?
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/wong-shun-leung-a-real-fighting-kung-fu-master2021-06-08T06:26:11-04:002022-06-15T11:11:56-04:00Wong Shun Leung - Bruce Lee's Mentor & A Real Fighting Kung Fu MasterDynasty Team
What Rickson Gracie is to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mas Oyama is to Kyokushin Karate, Wong Shun Leung probably is for Wing Chun.
This is due to the fact that more than any other person (aside from Ip Man or Bruce Lee), Wong Shun Leung put the style of Wing Chun on the Kung Fu map as a fighting system to be respected, by beingan actual fighting Kung Fu master that fought and won against all challengers during his time.
Wong Shun Leung, is a true Kung Fu fighter of his time who went undefeated fighting dozens and dozens of rooftop challenge matches in 1950-1960's Hong Kong.
A rare breed who actually pressure-tested his Kung Fu skills and used his fighting experiences to better fine tune his style, he is known affectionately by the Wing Chun Kung Fu community as "The King of Talking Hands".
The King Of Talking Hands
Wong Shun Leung believed that if you wanted to know how good you were, you didn't need belts, sashes, or ranks. "Just go out and have a fight. Then you'll know how good you are."
What was left out of the famous Ip Man movies starring Donnie Yen was that Bruce Lee also received a lot of Wing Chun teachings from his Kung Fu "big brother", Wong Shun Leung.
A Kung Fu legend in his own right, Wong Shun Leung first started training in western boxing. One time, he accidentally struck his boxing trainer while training, which angered his teacher into an all out fight.
Wanting to retaliate for the humiliation, his boxing instructor came at him, but was instead knocked out completely by Wong Shun Leung, who left the gym immediately afterwards out of frustration.
Upon hearing about Ip Man, a master of a little known Kung Fu style named Wing Chun, he went to go meet this man and immediately challenge his students into a fight to see what it was all about.
Donnie Yen as Ip Man and Huang Xiaoming as Leung Sheung (Wong Shun Leung) in Ip Man 2.
After defeating a few of Ip Man's top students immediately, Ip Man, who was in his 60's at the time, stepped up to show Wong Shun Leung his moves.
Wong Shun Leung, who was only in his teens at the time, was immediately dealt with swiftly by only a few moves from the much older Ip Man.
Recognizing true greatness, Wong Shun Leung quickly converted to training in and dedicating his life to Wing Chun Kung Fu under Ip Man's tutelage.
A mere few months after starting his training in Wing Chun, he was already gaining notoriety for using this "woman's Kung Fu" style to fight and defeat dozens and dozens of challengers in illegal rooftop fights back in 1950-1960's Hong Kong.
After taking on all challengers in Hong Kong and remaining undefeated in over 50-60 fights, he earned the name "King of Talking Hands".
What Rickson Gracie is to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mas Oyama is to Kyokushin Karate, Wong Shun Leung probably is for Wing Chun.
This is due to the fact that more than any other person (aside from Ip Man or Bruce Lee), Wong Shun Leung put the style of Wing Chun on the Kung Fu map as a fighting system to be respected, by beingan actual fighting Kung Fu master that fought and won against all challengers during his time.
Bruce Lee's Kung Fu Mentor
Wong Shun Leung visited Bruce Lee on one of his movie sets, Enter The Dragon, and provided some fight choreography tips.
Despite the popular accepted story of Ip Man being Bruce Lee's only teacher, many sources verify that Wong Shun Leung was the person who Bruce Lee learned the majority of his Kung Fu and Wing Chun (Ving Tsun as it's known now under Wong Shun Leung's lineage) fighting skills from.
Wong Shun Leung was his longtime Kung Fu brother and friend, and they continued to share messages and talk about Kung Fu years after Bruce had left for Hollywood.
Wong Shun Leung even had disagreements with Bruce Lee and sparred / fought with him, later on convincing him that his martial art of "Jeet Kune Do" was merely his incomplete interpretation and understanding of the Wing Chun system, which Bruce never completed due to time constraints.
Eventually, Ip Man allowed Wong Shun Leung to improve upon the Wing Chun system with his more scientific approach (as tested by his combat experience), and thus he began to refine and teach the fighting style in a simple, direct, and efficient manner.
The Wong Shun Leung way of Wing Chun then became known as Ving Tsun Kuen Hok (Ving Tsun - The Science of In-Fighting), with many eventual notable students under its lineage such as Bruce Lee, Philip Ng, Stephen Chow, Nicholas Tse, Philipp Bayer, David Peterson, and many more.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/what-we-learned-about-asian-american-history-in-ip-man-42021-06-07T05:29:32-04:002022-11-28T18:54:10-05:00What We Learned About Asian-American History In 'Ip Man 4'Dynasty Team
At the time of the movie's release, many viewers came away confused at some of the parts and storylines of Ip Man 4, and thought that Ip Man 4 was an over-the-top action movie with an unrealistic storyline and cartoony villains.
It turns out it was much more than that, as we will explore, since Ip Man (and his star pupil Bruce Lee) were now on foreign soil, and the storyline sheds light on Bruce Lee's beginnings and his experiences in America.
This time around, everything the 'Ip Man' characters do in this movie didn't just represent Chinese / Asians back home anymore, but Chinese / Asian Americans (and history) as well.
Here is our analysis of the film's biggest themes,moments, and Asian-American history lessons to help better make sense of them for everyone.
Please read the first article before continuing to read the one below, as they are interconnected.
Note:This is Part 2 of our 7000+ word article analyzing the Ip Man movies, written by the Dynasty Team.
We are not paid by the Communist Party of China and we willingly wrote this blog for free in order to exercise our freedom of speech and to share our thoughts on Asian and Asian-American history.
Ip Man 4 (2019)
At the time of the movie's release, many viewers came away confused at some of the parts and storylines of Ip Man 4, and thought that Ip Man 4 was an over-the-top action movie with an unrealistic storyline and cartoony villains.
It turns out it was much more than that, as we will explore, since Ip Man (and his star pupil Bruce Lee) were now on foreign soil, and the storyline sheds light on Bruce Lee's beginnings and his experiences in America.
This time around, everything the 'Ip Man' characters do in this movie didn't just represent Chinese / Asians back home anymore, but Chinese / Asian Americans (and history) as well.
Here is our analysis of the film's biggest themes, moments, and Asian-American history lessons to help better make sense of them for everyone.
Did Bruce Lee Demo Kung Fu in America?
Fact. Ip Man 4's opening sequence started with Bruce Lee's famous Kung Fu demonstration at the 1964 Long Beach California Karate International Championships.
This was significant for many reasons as we will explain below.
It was the first time Chinese Kung Fu was introduced to the western world, and Bruce Lee was the one to do it in such an emphatic manner that surely opened the eyes of (and upset) many people, Kung Fu or Karate practitioners alike.
Remember that at this point in time, the western world only knew about arts such as Karate, Taekwondo, and Judo (due to the assimilation of Japan and South Korea to the west).
In reaction to his demo, Marines Karate Instructor Collin Frater (Chris Collins) called his Kung Fu demo "fake".
This was the sentiment at the time as other Karate practitioners immediately wanted to challenge this "cocky" guy named Bruce Lee and his mystical hokey pokey Kung Fu in a fight.
Bruce Lee'sSignificance As An Asian American Icon
Danny Chan as Bruce Lee in Ip Man 4
Bruce Lee's special fight scene appearance seemed silly and goofy on the surface, yet it came at a time when Bruce Lee fans sorely missed his onscreen presence.
Without going into detail, the portrayal of Bruce Lee in that film was disrespectful to the real life Bruce Lee, who contributed greatly to not just Asian American representation, but to Kung Fu culture and action movies in general.
Bruce Lee's daughter Shannon Lee and Bruce Lee's real life friend and student Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came out to criticize Quentin Tarantino's portrayal and defend Bruce Lee's real life character.
Donnie Yen and the film producers were clever enough to undo Quentin Tarantino’s caricature portrayal of Bruce Lee by featuring Bruce Lee in his own fight scene in Ip Man 4 as a way to honour how he should truly be remembered in modern times - as a real Kung Fu master and not as some buffoon who got manhandled by a 100% fictional white character of Cliff Booth played by Brad Pitt.
Even if the "funny" scene was based on "Judo" Gene LeBell's real life interaction with Bruce Lee, portraying him in such a clown-like manner would roughly be the equivalent to portraying Muhammad Ali, a heroic icon for the African American community, as a dancing, jiving, monkey or slave in a "fictional" movie.
Did Hartman Really Try To Introduce Wing Chun To The US Military?
Fact. Hartman Wu's (Van Ness Wu) character and storyline was actually based on the autobiographical account of real life US Marine Chris Collins (who ironically plays Colin Frater, the bad guy, in the movie).
In real life, Chris Collins wanted the Marines to incorporate Chinese Martial Arts, specifically Wing Chun Kung Fu, into the marines martial arts program. He was not successful at the time, and therefore he left to pursue training in martial arts in Hong Kong and the east.
Chinese Kung Fu Used As A Metaphor For Western Assimilation
To dive deeper, the openly racist / prejudiced military officers Barton Geddes (Scott Adkins) and Colin Frater (Chris Collins) thought that Chinese Kung Fu / Chinese Martial Arts was a bunch of 'hokey pokey' hogwash, and was only good for 'folding laundry' (a clever nod, if you will, to the late 1800's when early Chinese immigrants were regulated to working in traditionally feminine jobs such as washing clothes).
This was ironic, since these military officers used Japanese Karate in their martial arts program.
Karate was of course, of Japanese / Asian origin (and to go back further, was influenced by Chinese Fujian White Crane Kung Fu and the Okinawan / Ryukyuan martial arts), so it seemed that their racism towards Chinese in the movie did not make any sense.
This is where most viewers (and even film reviewers, bloggers, and professional film critics) got lost, due to the lack of historical and contextual knowledge of Asian and martial arts history.
Why Did The Bad Guys Use Karate?
Scott Adkins does a stellar job playing the over the top crazy bad guy Barton Geddes, no doubt modelled after the old school racist drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket.
In the 1960's (which matches closely with real life even today), Chinese Kung Fu was seen as "the other", and Chinese were "the enemy".
Because Chinese people at the time (and still) were not subjugated by the United States or any western country for that matter, thus, Chinese Kung Fu and Kung Fu culture itself have not yet been assimilated into western American society either.
This is also why old Chinese Kung Fu masters refused to teach foreigners at first, as memories of the Eight Nation Alliance, Boxer Rebellion, and Opium Wars still lingered.
Whereas Japan was fire bombed, nuclear bombed, and defeated at the hands of the United States, their subsequent culture and martial arts of Karate and Judo were absorbed into western culture and considered "American".
In an alternate reality, if China had been subjugated by the United States and Japan wasn't, then Japanese Karate could easily have been swapped with Chinese Kung Fu.
Karate would have been the 'hokey pokey' hogwash used by the mystical foreign enemy, and Kung Fu would already be considered "American martial arts".
Kung Fu As Asian Emasculation
Barton Geddes goes on to to emasculate Hartman Wu (Van Ness Wu) by telling him to go practice his Kung Fu on his "wooden girlfriend", implying he doesn't have a girlfriend and that Chinese Kung Fu was only practiced by non-masculine men, also interconnecting with the long storied history of Asian male emasculation in western media and movies.
This is punctuated at the end of the film when Hartman shouts out to Barton Geddes - "Look around you, we are the culture!" - meaning to tell him that without immigrants who contributed to and literally built American society (African slavery, Chinese coolie labour, etc.), America would not even have a culture of its own, as itsmodus operandiof survival is to take and absorb whatever it can get in order to assimilate other peoples cultures into its identity.
American Culture Itself Is A Constantly Moving Goal Post
At one point, the Germans, Irish, Italians, Jewish, and Blacks, etc. were not considered "American".
Then, in an attempt to racially segregate groups of people to make them fight each other, white Europeans were grouped into what was deemed "American", and only black people, Latinos, and Asians were not. Meanwhile, Native Indians (Indigenous Peoples) do not even have a voice.
Today, Asians in America are still not considered "American", often being asked where they "really came from" or told to "go back to China", even though they have been living in the west since the 1800's (this was reflected in Yonah Wan's scene when she was racially bullied by her school mates, and noted that Americans don't belong in the west either, since the land was stolen from the Native Indian Indigenous Peoples).
Ultimately, Chinese Kung Fu culture in Ip Man 4 is also a metaphor for being the perpetual foreigner in the west - not trusted and not "proven" as useful or that it works, unless of course, you teach "us" to do it.
Did Ip Man Really Fight The US Military?
Fiction. This part of the story was purely made up for the movie in order to pit our heroes against the cartoonish baddies in a showdown.
Similar to Ip Man 1 and 2, what these fight scenes meant for the fans of the Kung Fu series are to show that Kung Fucanbeat Karate,canbeat western Boxing, andcanmatch up with other martial arts styles (if you're as good as Ip Man, of course).
However, unlike the previous films like Ip Man 2 that was more just about Chinese nationalism, here in Ip Man 4, metaphorically speaking Kung Fu represented more than just the Chinese, but Asian Americans, and perhaps all immigrants fighting back againstwhite supremacy.
The real life minority underdogs get a chance to be able to beat back their aggressors and political oppressors (in this case, Chinese versus the Japanese and the Americans, respectively), but on a larger scope, beat back white supremacy as a whole for all minorities.
If you have a problem with the fact that a Chinese man beat the baddies who are American in one particular movie, and ignore the fact that plenty ofAmerican movies show Americans beating basically everyone else, then maybe you need to check your own bias.
Was Wan Zong Hua Actually Wong Jack Man?
Wu Yue plays Tai Chi Master Wan Zong Hua. Wan Zong Hua's Chinese name translates to "Everything Is Originated In China / Everything Has Chinese Origins" - which is an incredibly clever name for his character.
Wan Zong Hua is easily the most interesting and multilayered character in Ip Man 4 and deserves mentioning, because he is connected with the racism Bruce Lee himself faced at the hands of real life Chinese Kung Fu masters in America.
Wan Zong Hua is a racist Chinese Kung Fu master in the Chinese American community who disliked the idea of Bruce Lee teaching foreigners Chinese Kung Fu, and is basically the embodiment of Wong Jack Man in Bruce Lee's life in America.
In real life, Bruce Lee defeated Wong Jack Man in a challenge match, and thus was allowed to teach foreigners Kung Fu. In the movie, Ip Man is the one who accepts Wan Zong Hua's challenge and they fight to a tie.
Wing Chun vs. Tai Chi showdown.
Wan Zong Hua isn't afraid to admit he is biased / prejudiced, yet, his disdain for foreigners stems from the fact that he has lived and experienced life in America as a Chinese ("you don't live here, you don't know what it's like" was his line), and he along with the Chinese community, and many other minority communities, has experienced first-hand the racist treatment they get in the west (one of the Chinatown masters referenced how his family worked in building the railroads but were never recognized for their contributions by the US government).
Despite his flaws, he is a leader for the Chinese community, and works to protect his fellow kin from harm, and tries to educate his daughter in Chinese Kung Fu and Chinese culture.
Is he truly a despicable, hateful man, or is he simply protecting his family, his culture, and identity with a certain level of tribalism?
Much like Italian Mafia bosses in America who only hired other Italians into the family since they were the only ones with shared experiences / the ones they could trust at the time, is Wan Zong Hua really that bad, or was he a product of his time and environment?
"We Are All Chinese, We Must Help Each Other Out" - A Call For Pan-Asian Unity?
Another interesting line to note in the movie is when the Chinatown Kung Fu masters were assaulted by Barton Geddes, Ip Man found them shelter in his student Bruce Lee's Kung Fu studio, whom the Chinatown masters initially had beef with because Bruce was teaching non-Chinese students Kung Fu.
Ip Man went on to state the line, "We are all Chinese, we must help each other out."
Depending on who you are, you may take offense to this line from a political / Sino-centric standpoint, as it can be interpreted as a Mainland China / Chinese government message that no matter if you are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. or even an overseas born Chinese - we are still all Chinese (from the same family).
However, if we were to interpret this in a positive manner, it begins to make a lot of sense.
Perhaps Ip Man recognizes that in a foreign land such as America, despite our differences as Chinese people from different nationalities and walks of life - we are ultimately the same family because of our shared language, heritage, culture and ancestry.
This is even truer of the Chinese Martial Arts community, as almost everyone in the Kung Fu world love to bash and hate on each other's Kung Fu style, even though they all study and practice Kung Fu.
This doesn't seem to be a coincidence as there is a Chinese sign that hangs above the Chinese Benevolent Association main room that says "All Chinese Are One Family".
This happens to be a very significant message to all Chinese globally especially during a time when the west is playing political games and using divide and conquer tactics to spread Sinophobic hate amongst neighbouring Chinese / Asian nations against mainland China.
It is no surprise that a united Chinese community globally is something that the west wouldn't like, as it would make Chinese people harder to be bullied or manipulated as easily.
To take it another step further, it notes that in a foreign land, it doesn't matter what kind of Asian (Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai etc.) you are, because westerners just see Asians as one giant group of people, can't tell Asians apart, and treat them all the same anyways.
This is clearly evident even in recent times since the beginning of 2020, where there have been an extreme surge of anti-Asian hate crimes in the western / "Anglosphere" countries, most notably in Canada and the United States.
Asians are being harassed and attacked left and right due to the western mainstream media machine blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic.
This isn't much different from how the Chinese were treated in, or since, the 1800's.
In Colin Frater / Barton Geddes' case, whose characters represent American racism, they wouldn't suddenly "stop" being racist if they found out they were fighting against a Korean man, or a Thai man, etc. - as exemplified by Barton Geddes' line "I hate cowardly coloureds" - the system of white supremacy operates in the manner that anyone who isn't white or white-passing is discriminated against anyways.
The fact of the matter is, Asian Americans separating themselves between "what nationality / ethnicity of Asian I am" doesn't make a difference in the eyes of a hateful bigot or racist.
Perhaps the filmmakers understood this fact as well, and it was a message to the Asian diaspora community that they are better off uniting together and helping each other out rather than bickering and fighting amongst themselves.
It seems people are starting to understand this idea now, as the #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate movements were created in 2021 to raise awareness / combat anti-Asian racism and hate crimes.
Why Chinese Kung Fu Movies Are Necessary (Even If You May Not Like Or Relate With Them)
Ultimately, no matter how implausible the storylines seem, or how cartoonish the villains are, Chinese Kung Fu movies are very much inspirational "superhero" films primarily made for Chinese people, by Chinese people.
Bruce Lee fought a room full of Japanese martial artists in Fist of Fury (1972), Jet Li beat up foreign imperialists in Huo Yuan Jia (Fearless) (2006), and dozens of corrupt French cops in Kiss of the Dragon (2001), and Donnie Yen chain punched every guy he ever faced off with in the Ip Man movies.
Because of this fact,you just might not relate with them very much if you aren't Chinese, and even if you were, you still need to be a fan of Kung Fu / martial arts movies to enjoy (and appreciate) them fully.
The role the Ip Man movies play in Kung Fu / pop culture as well as many other Hong Kong action films are to celebrate these martial artists who existed in Asian history and to show their skills on screen.
To take that a step further, they represent Chinese pride and dignity in historically turbulent times when the country of China was in shambles due to foreign imperialism and colonization.
To the Chinese people, larger than life depictions of historical characters such as Ip Man act as heroic figures that represent the best of Chinese people and culture, and is something for the people to cheer for, relate to when they have no other hero to hang onto, and remember them and honour them by.
Chow Yun Fat as Li Mu Bai in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which introduced the genre of wuxia (Chinese Martial Arts Fantasy) films to the world. In Wuxia films, Kung Fu characters can often fly and use mystical magical powers.
Do these movies sometimes overdo it with Wire-Fu stunts and physics defying choreography? Of course, they are movies.
But are American movies also not over the top with Iron Man flying into space and Captain America dodging bullets? Of course, they are movies.
At the end of the day, these Kung Fu stories are mostly all fantasy yet carry important dramatic themes that reflect human conditions and lessons we can share with each other and pass to our children.
Lessons Learned
At the end of each movie, Ip Man and the filmmakers remind the viewer of the lessons he's learned:
Ip Man (2008) - Chinese Kung Fu / Martial Arts and culture teaches that we practice our martial arts and use them benevolently (in response to Japanese military aggression).
Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster (2010) - In competing with one another and sharing our martial arts, we hope to gain a better understanding of each other's cultures and gain mutual respect.
Ip Man 3 (2015) - It is better to spend time with your loved ones than worry about rivalries and fighting, for in the end, your loved ones are all you have (in response to the death of his wife).
Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019) - The most important thing in life is to have self confidence and self esteem (teaching his son to stay strong in response to racism and general hardships in life).
Is Ip Man Still Propaganda?
Your reaction to the Ip Man movies largely vary on how you feel about historical movies in general. Are you a patriotic person? You might love Ip Man. Are you a patriotic person on the other side of the fence? Then you might despise Ip Man.
In order to consider whether Ip Man, the movie storylines, or even Donnie Yen's political views as an actor have anything to do with "Chinese propaganda", we need to ask ourselves what we truly regard as "propaganda".
China's film censorship laws require that all movies carry out a certain storyline theme, that the good guys win, no glorification of evil deeds or corruption are allowed, and the bad guys must lose if they oppose China / Chinese people or interests.
Of course, this limits added layers of complexity or nuance in terms of storytelling.
However, are these movies any different than your average Hollywood / American blockbuster?
Furthermore, are we really expecting blockbuster Kung Fu action movies such as Ip Man to be judged in the same vein as high art?
Hypocritical Judgement
Western / American heroes saving the world, time and time again.
Are Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero movies, Rambo movies, Saving Private Ryan, Clint Eastwood movies, James Bond 007 movies, Olympus Has Fallen, Red Dawn, and other white-centric / western-centric historical / war / hero movies (sometimes completely fictional), considered western propaganda to you?
If you answered no, then what makes Ip Man any different?
American Sniper by Clint Eastwood starring Bradley Cooper. A pro-American, pro-war movie about how returning veterans suffer from PTSD by shooting the heads off of people in a foreign country. If they never went to war in the first place, would they still have PTSD?
Just because a movie doesn't align with your own political views or biases, does not make it automatically "propaganda".
Red Dawn remake starring Chris Hemsworth, depicting a fantasy scenario of North Korea invading the United States. The original enemy in the script was supposed to be China, but filmmakers had to change it because they realized Chinese people both in and outside of China actually watch Hollywood movies.
Olympus Has Fallen. A ridiculously silly politically charged film showing the White House being attacked by North Korea. When in reality, it was white supremacist groups and KKK members who stormed the White House in the 2021 United States Capitol Attack. How appropriately ironic.
We can't "pick and choose" what we judge to be unacceptable to us in one circumstance, only to allow it and let it slide in a different circumstance, because one is convenient, while the other is not.
That is called hypocrisy.
Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 books, and later movie franchise, are massively popular and successful. The stories are purely fictional, but they nonetheless depict a "tall, dark, suave" British English secret agent undertaking espionage missions across the globe, killing bad guys in foreign lands and scoring many exotic "Bond girls", often treating them as mere sex objects. Is this not White / Eurocentric propaganda at its finest?
Double Standards Of The West
The Interview (2014) with James Franco and Seth Rogan. Is it just a movie? Or is it a politically-charged film with anti-Asian undertones disguised as a "comedy"?
When have we as human beings ever complained when we watched Hollywood / western media produce and spin stories of their own characters whether real life or fiction (such as with their comic book superheroes) to prop up their legacies and storyline angles to make them the heroes / look superior to everyone else?
We don't need to remind readers that America was built on African / black slavery and slave labour, as this has been documented in many films already.
Native Indians / Indigenous People forced into public schools systems that stripped them of their culture, language, and identity, so that they would forget about who they were and be ashamed of themselves.
Would they make the same movies about the horrors they caused others in war or the people they sidelined, and characters they erased / whitewashed (and they do quite a fair bit of that) along the way?
Unlikely, because it wouldn’t be commercially viable and it wouldn't fit the mainstream narrative that they want to promote.
Captain America wouldn't look very "righteous" if he had to explain to the American viewers and global audiences that America was actually stolen native land, now would it? Ouch...
If we want to judge one side of entertainment (Ip Man movies in this case) being released as historically inaccurate or politically incorrect, but then choose to not bat an eye and instead hold other movies to a lower standard as “popcorn entertainment”, then we fail to see that it isour own brainwashed bias that is the problem, not the entertainment that is being presented to us.
Case in point: Many people consume Japanese anime / movies or Korean pop music / culture / dramas, but you don't see them complaining about their nationalism or overly prideful depictions of their peoples or countries.
Ahh, Japanese anime culture is so kawaii (cute)! Why is it not hated as "propaganda"? Because the country of Japan is demilitarized since WW2 and no longer the enemy of the west.
But all of a sudden when it comes to Chinese media, because China doesn't have a recognized brand or product or commodity, anything positive said about their country or people is all of a sudden "communist propaganda".
Are you a bigot? Because one would only feel this way if they were a bigot.
A Critical Lens For All
Sylvester Stallone plays Rambo. Is this a pro-war movie franchise?
If you don’t want to see people led astray by propaganda, then the same critical lens should be applied anywhere, anytime, across all mediums, not just media from countries that you have decided to not like because of your own political agenda (or perhaps because you consumed too much Hollywood media).
Frankly for many Asians and Asian Americans, we are tired of seeing the same old western tropes of Asians being the bad guys in movies and vilified in history as the ones who deserved being bombed, the ones who deserved being beat down, always playing the loser / nerd / sidekick in movies, and always the ones incapable of leadership, self-governance, and needing help or "saving" from "white saviour" westerners.
Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine. He comes to Japan on vacation to go on a massive Asian-male killing spree while using Asian women as his sexual conquests. He even "saves" a Japanese man from the atomic bomb that of course, his own people (the west) dropped. Totally. Not. Propaganda.
It is solely because of theblatant negative Hollywood representation (read: propaganda and brainwashing)that Asians today are the recipient of massive hate crimes and constant gaslighting (ie. your movie is "propaganda", ours isn't) from not just other communities but from even within our own Asian communities.
Hollywood films constantly push this narrative of Asians as being “the other” and that either they’re the barbaric enemy or that they’re the subservient assistant (but can't decide which one it is, so Asians must be both at once).
In the west, Asian men are largely portrayed in the media as emasculated beta nerds or one dimensional Kung Fu masters, and Asian women are seen as toxic "dragon ladies" or subservient prostitutes / sex slaves / sex robots.
We are constantly dismissed and told that our lives, our feelings, our thoughts somehow don’t matter, because we "all look alike" and are subhuman.
Japanese Americans in Japanese Internment Camps during WW2. When will Hollywood put this in their next superhero blockbuster?
When Hollywood retells its historical tales, they gloss over the fact that they’ve put Japanese Americans in internment camps during WW2, that they’ve exploited Chinese coolie labor to build the railroads to open up the west coast, that they have carpet bombed Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and used nuclear bombs and Agent Orange in Japan and Vietnam respectively, amongst many other wrongdoings.
Also don't forget The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. Many Americans on the West Coast attributed declining wages and economic ills to Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation's population, Congress passed the exclusion act to placate worker demands and assuage prevalent concerns about maintaining white "racial purity."
Chinese railroad workers built and opened up the entire west coast in both America and Canada. They are uncredited for their labour, and won't be appearing in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie anytime soon.
Until movie industries in the west such as Hollywood decide to make a movie talking about Asian American history, or about the Native Indian indigenous peoples - why should we be expecting 100% faithful historical accuracy from other movie industries?
Thought Exercise: What If Everything Was Propaganda?
Jet Li as Chinese folk hero Huo Yuan Jia / Fok Yuen Gaap. Huo is considered a hero in China for defeating foreign fighters in highly publicized matches at a time when Chinese sovereignty was being eroded by foreign imperialism, concessions and spheres of influence.
Imagine if Jet Li’s Fearless a.k.a. Huo Yuan Jia film came out in today’s political climate instead of 10+ years ago - everyone would call it "Chinese propaganda".
When in reality, Huo Yuan Jia actually defended the dignity and pride of the Chinese people by accepting highly publicized challenge matches from foreigners.
If we think Ip Man and Huo Yuan Jia, or even Wong Fei Hung are propaganda characters, then are we going to go full-on revisionist and say Bruce Lee's Chen Zhen character in Fist of Fury was also Chinese propaganda too?
Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen in Fist of Fury.
Maybe Chen Zhen was "racist" against the Japanese in the movie, who were only trying to help "save" China and the Chinese people?
As for Bruce Lee himself, when he came out to represent Kung Fu and Chinese / Asians in 1960-1970’s era, he brought balls to many Asian men who never had a hero to look up to before he came around.
Tony Jaa as Ting in Ong Bak.
Speaking of corny storylines or cartoonish villains, why aren't we scrutinizing Tony Jaa's Ong Bak?
Tony Jaa's Ting character was elbowing skulls andteepkicking cartoonyfarang(foreigners) for calling Thai women hookers, harassing the Thai people, and disrespecting the art of Muay Thai. Is that considered drumming up Thai nationalism?
Or maybe, people will say the movie Tom Yum Goong (The Protector) was pro-Thai propaganda because Tony Jaa went to Australia and killed about 300 Australian gangsters with his elephant-style Muay Thai dubbed "Elephant Boxing".
Or furthermore, people can say Tony Jaa was "anti-Chinese" or "Sinophobic" in the movie because he was going up against the Chinese Triads in The Protector's storyline.
Or maybe, because he fought and defeated Johnny Nguyen in the film, he's "anti-Vietnamese", and "disrespecting the Vietnamese people".
Tony Jaa in Tom Yum Goong (The Protector).
See how silly it all sounds when this hypocritical standard is applied to other movies?
Since when did celebrating your own heroes, characters, and culture considered propaganda?
And by who's standards are we judging these movies by? The western standard?
More often than not, the guy on the internet forums / Reddit complaining that something is "Chinese / communist propaganda", will typically look like this.
Remember that anytime we point a finger at someone, there are always three fingers pointing back at ourselves.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/are-the-ip-man-donnie-yen-movies-chinese-propaganda2021-06-05T07:05:40-04:002023-08-23T17:45:43-04:00Are The Ip Man Movies 'Chinese Propaganda'? (Fact or Fiction)Dynasty Team
Ever since the release of Ip Man 4 in December of 2019 - the final martial arts / Kung Fu franchise starring Donnie Yen as legendary Wing Chun master Ip Man and Bruce Lee's Kung Fu teacher - there has been a fair bit of controversy and mixed reactions surrounding the movie. But are these movies Chinese propaganda?
While this is a martial arts blog and we do not wish to engage in political discussions or debates, it has come to our attention that due to our current political climate, and how the Ip Man movies mixes its storylines with historical events and deals with themes such as racism, oppression, colonialism, imperialism, and national pride and dignity, it is inevitable that we must share our thoughts about the role that these Chinese Kung Fu movies play in our ever increasingly politicized and polarized society we live in.
TL;DR: The 'Ip Man' movie franchise is no more or less political propaganda than that of your average western superhero movie - a hero answers the call when his people are bullied by an enemy, and rises to defeat the enemy and teach them a lesson.
The only 'issue' critics have is that the 'hero' here happens to be a Chinese man who battles against anti-Asian racism, amidst a time when anti-China and anti-Chinese sentiment are at an all-time high, and having disdain for anything Chinese-related is considered socially acceptable, and even encouraged by mainstream / western media / society.
The American west has always found an enemy to vilify - whether it was the Russians or the Japanese. Now it's China's turn.
If 'Ip Man' was any other ethnicity or a movie from any other country other than China- would anyone even care?
If we equally love characters such as Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, or even John Wick, then what is wrong with loving Ip Man?
Note: This is Part 1 of our 7,000+ word article analyzing the Ip Man movies, written by the Dynasty Team.
We are not paid by the Communist Party of China and we willingly wrote this blog for free in order to exercise our freedom of speech and to share our thoughts on Asian and Asian-American history.
Timing Is Everything
Ip Man (real life) and Bruce Lee.
The Ip Man movie series stars Donnie Yen as the legendary Wing Chun Grandmaster, who was also the real life Kung Fu teacher of Bruce Lee.
Since the release of Ip Man 4 in December of 2019 (the fourth and final entry from the decade-spanning Kung Fu franchise), there has been a bit of controversy surrounding the movie from moviegoers who like to view their films from a political lens.
Ip Man 4 had the lucky (or unlucky) timing of being released when political criticisms against China / Chinese government were (and still) at their highest.
Propaganda?
We live in strange times where almost anything and everything of what we hear in the news is politicized or weaponized with politics (or maybe, it has always been this way).
This is especially true when it comes to China, as over the last decade (and to be honest, the last century), the American and western mainstream media has promoted no small amount of Sinophobia against China / Chinese people.
The western media has done such a good job at spreading anti-China propaganda, that if you tried to speak up or say something positive about China, you will be largely met with dismissive responses such as labeling you a "communist" or a "shill" for the Communist Party of China (and usually from folks who've never even traveled to China or been outside of their home country).
We won't attempt to recall every incident, movie, TV show, or news story here, as there would be too much to list.
What we could all agree with is that if the Ip Man 4 movie came out 10 or 20 years ago, China would have not been the prime target in the average westerner's eyes and the world at large, and we wouldn't even be having this discussion or writing this blog post today.
Back in the day, Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, and Bruce Lee Kung Fu movies were actually quite popular and considered cool and edgy, and no one thought they were "Chinese propaganda".
But alas, here we are.
Critics have claimed that Donnie Yen, Danny Chan, and the filmmakers' political stance in being supportive of the Chinese government, as well as the subject matter of Ip Man 4 (Chinese people vs. American racism), equates the subsequent movie (or Donnie Yen's involvement in another film, Disney's Mulan) as a "pro-Chinese / pro-China propaganda" film.
That assertion is quite misleading, as Ip Man 4 is more indicative of an Asian-American history lesson, than it was a pro-China movie.
It certainly has even less to do with the Chinese government itself, as Ip Man 4's real life main characters lived the majority of their lives in Hong Kong and America (Ip Man and Bruce Lee, respectively), they speak the Guangdong dialect of Guangdonghua / Gongdong Wah / Cantonese, which is the dialect used in Hong Kong, and they represent the Chinese people rather than any political entity.
While this is a martial arts blog and we do not wish to engage in political discussions or debates, it has come to our attention that due to our current political climate, and how the Ip Man movies mixes its storylines with historical events and deals with themes such as racism, oppression, colonialism, imperialism, and national pride and dignity, it is inevitable that we must share our thoughts about the role that these Chinese Kung Fu movies play in our ever increasingly politicized and polarized society we live in.
Fictional Movies But With Real Themes
First of all, let's get this out of the way:
None of the movies based on Ip Man are 100% fact nor 100% historically accurate - in case this wasn't obvious already.
As indicated by the filmmakers Donnie Yen and Raymond Wong in past interviews, their idea behind the Ip Man movie franchise wasn't to create a documentary or autobiography of the Wing Chun master's life.
If they had done so, the movie would be very boring, and no one would want to watch it, as Ip Man was just a regular guy much like any one of us.
Instead, the filmmakers wanted to create a new martial arts franchise (similar to Jet Li with Wong Fei Hung / Once Upon A Time In China) that would be able to showcase Ip Man, a real life Chinese Kung Fu master, the struggles he overcame, the values he stood for, and his martial arts style of Wing Chun to a whole new generation of audiences.
One of the biggest draws to these Hong Kong martial arts movies are to watch their signature Hong Kong style Kung Fu action choreography and sequences, while absorbing a few history lessons along the way.
Knowing that martial arts movies, much like any other movie, are made mostly for entertainment / commercial reasons and to tell a story for moviegoers to relate to, let us take a look at what is fact and what is fiction in the Ip Man movie storylines.
We will save the deepest analysis for arguably the most significant movie of the franchise - Ip Man 4 - for last.
Ip Man (2008)
Did the Japanese invade China?
For those not well versed in Asian history, this was 100% fact.
The Imperial Japanese Army at the time invaded many Asian countries including China.
We will not go into gruesome details, but just know that this happened and the Japanese military killed millions of Chinese and other Asians at this time.
Did Ip Man fight the Japanese military / General Miura?
Both fact and fiction.
While the actual fight between Ip Man and General Miura was fiction, it was based on real events.
The Imperial Japanese Army at the time had heard of a great Chinese Kung Fu master who lived in Foshan (Faatsan), China, and wanted to scout and recruit him to train the Japanese military in Chinese Martial Arts.
They sent out a team to seek out this man named Ip Man, but Ip Man refused to teach the Japanese army any Kung Fu.
Shortly after, the Japanese army returned and sent a captain to challenge him in a fight.
By historical accounts, Ip Man defeated the Japanese captain who came to challenge him at his home within 30 seconds and sent him back with his tail between his legs.
After then, the Imperial Japanese Army no longer bothered Ip Man.
Ip Man 2 (2010)
Sammo Hung vs. Donnie Yen in Ip Man 2
By film producer Raymond Wong's account, he wanted to create a sequel to Ip Man (which became a box office hit and solidified Donnie Yen's career as a household name at the time) that focused on Ip Man and Bruce Lee's relationship in British-ruled Hong Kong (Hong Kong was colonized for 100 years under British rule after China lost the Opium Wars against Britain and had to sign the Unfair Treaties - an event again instigated by foreign powers wanting to invade and imperialize China).
Ip Man and his student Leung Sheung (Wong Shun Leung) in Ip Man 2.
But because the rights to Bruce Lee's character weren't finalized at the time, he instead focused the film on Ip Man's struggles in opening up his Wing Chun school in Hong Kong (after moving from Foshan, China), explore the treatment of Hong Kong people under British rule, as well as the western perceptions of Chinese Kung Fu / Martial Arts.
Ip Man Fought A British Boxer?
Fiction. Ip Man 2 needed some sort of a villain in the movie to fight with Ip Man, so the plot progressed from Ip Man's rivalry with Hung Gar master Hung Chun-nam (played by Sammo Hung) into a "Rocky 4"-esque combat sports showdown with a caricature of a villain at the end of the movie.
Due to this movie largely being fictional as the British boxer villain was never based on real events (as opposed to the Asian-American historical events of Ip Man 4 which we will explore below), depending on your mileage for national pride, you might have enjoyed Ip Man standing up for Chinese Martial Arts and Wing Chun Kung Fu by defeating the British boxer known as "Twister".
Ip Man 3 (2015)
In this film entry, the filmmakers decide to drop the national pride / political focus and center it instead on Ip Man being the friendly neighbourhood Kung Fu master, the beginnings of Ip Man's relationship with his student Bruce Lee, as well as his rivalry with fellow Wing Chun master Cheung Tin Chi / Master Z, who was based on real life Wing Chun master Sum Nung.
Ip Man Fought An American (Mike Tyson)? Ip Man Fought Another Wing Chun Master?
Both are fiction. Mike Tyson's character and the character of Cheung Tin Chi were part of Ip Man 3's plot to provide antagonists to Ip Man's protagonist to fight against.
Why did the filmmakers hide the racism Bruce Lee endured? Weren't Bruce Lee's Kung Fu brothers racist towards him and didn't want him to learn Chinese Kung Fu?
While Ip Man's Kung Fu students were racist against Bruce Lee (who was 1/4 German on his grandmother's side), Ip Man decided to teach Bruce Lee in private anyways despite the disdain and disapproval of others.
As evidence of their fond relationship, Ip Man and Bruce Lee took many photographs together, and Bruce Lee even purchased an apartment for Ip Man as promised once he returned from Hollywood as a successful film star, and attended Ip Man's funeral upon his passing.
Ip Man (real life) and Bruce Lee.
This shows that despite this part being left out in the movies, their real life relationship wasn’t tainted by racism and Ip Man never discriminated against him personally.
The filmmakers did not deliberately omit anything "negative" regarding Ip Man or Bruce Lee's relationship.
Wong Shun Leung - Bruce Lee's Kung Fu Mentor
Wong Shun Leung, a true Kung Fu fighter with dozens of rooftop fights under his belt, is known affectionately as "The King of Talking Hands".
Since the movies needed to focus on Ip Man's story, another detail that was left out was that Bruce Lee also received a lot of Wing Chun teachings from his Kung Fu "big brother" Wong Shun Leung (played by Huang Xiaoming in Ip Man 2 as the character of "Leung Sheung", Ip Man's first student in the movie).
A Kung Fu legend in his own right, Wong Shun Leung first trained in western Boxing, but converted to training Wing Chun when he met Ip Man.
A mere few months after starting his training in Wing Chun, he was already gaining notoriety for using this style to fight and defeat dozens and dozens of challengers in illegal rooftop fights back in 1950-1960's Hong Kong.
What Rickson Gracie is to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mas Oyama is to Kyokushin Karate, Wong Shun Leung probably is for Wing Chun, because more than any other person (aside from Ip Man), he put the style of Wing Chun on the map as a fighting system to be respected by being an actual fighting Kung Fu master that was willing to take on all comers.
Despite the popular accepted story of Ip Man being Bruce Lee's only teacher, many sources verify that Wong Shun Leung was the person who Bruce Lee learned the majority of his Kung Fu and Wing Chun (Ving Tsun as it's known now under Wong Shun Leung's lineage) fighting skills from.
Wong Shun Leung visited Bruce Lee on one of his movie sets, Enter The Dragon, and provided some fight choreography tips.
Wong Shun Leung was his longtime Kung Fu brother and friend, and they continued to share messages and talk about Kung Fu years after Bruce had left for Hollywood.
Wong Shun Leung even had disagreements with Bruce Lee and sparred / fought with him, later on convincing him that his martial art of "Jeet Kune Do" was merely his incomplete interpretation and understanding of the Wing Chun system, which Bruce never completed due to time constraints.
Once again, this shows that Wong Shun Leung wasn't a racist, and didn’t hide any Kung Fu from Bruce Lee, and both Bruce Lee and Wong Shun Leung went on to teach many other foreigners Kung Fu.
What We Learned About Asian American History in Ip Man 4
Due to the amount of historical knowledge we are about to share regarding the final Ip Man film, we decided to split this write up into a Part 2 and dedicate an entire post to Ip Man 4.
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/kung-fu-a-love-hate-relationship2021-06-04T23:20:51-04:002022-12-26T21:50:40-05:00Kung Fu: A Love / Hate RelationshipDynasty Team
Hoi Wah Ho of Dynasty details his experiences with Chinese Martial Arts (Kung Fu) and shares why he loves Kung Fu, but hates Kung Fu at the very same time.
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Hoi Wah Ho of Dynasty details his experiences with Chinese Martial Arts (Kung Fu) and shares why he loves Kung Fu, but hates Kung Fu at the very same time.
He rants about the aspects of Kung Fu styles, folklore, historical legends, and Kung Fu movie culture that he loves and should be preserved, celebrated, and passed down worldwide.
But he also goes on to express his hate for the Kung Fu people, geeks, freaks, the martial arts "gate keepers" who are incessantly negative and talk down on others, and the Kung Fu cult community that prop up fake teachers and fake techniques and are generally so full of fake crap and garbage that these people effectively ruin Kung Fu and Chinese Martial Arts for the rest of the world to enjoy.
This is part of our Real Talk series. What should we have a "real talk" about next? Comment below.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/the-dunning-kruger-effect-in-the-bjj-community2021-01-17T14:56:52-05:002021-02-03T13:39:55-05:00The Dunning-Kruger Effect in the BJJ communityDynasty Team
As defined and modified for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or grappling community: The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or abilityregarding the effectiveness of their grappling skills in a real fighting scenario, especially when it comes to training in "sport" Jiu-Jitsu versus training in self-defense focused Jiu-Jitsu.
This tends to occur because of the generalsport BJJ practitioners' lack of self-awareness in a real fighting scenario, which comes fromthe lack of training with strikes, wrestling / takedowns / throws / slams, and / or ground and pound, which preventssomeBJJ practitioners from accurately assessing their own skills.
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Disclaimer: This isn't an article that bashes the martial art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. BJJ is an amazing martial art that is incredibly effective and a must-have in any modern martial artist's arsenal. We are simply taking a deeper look at the "hidden" or dark side of Jiu-Jitsu that isn't often looked at, talked about, or explored.
As defined and modified for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or grappling community: The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability regarding the effectiveness of their grappling skills in a real fighting scenario, especially when it comes to training in "sport" Jiu-Jitsu versus training in self-defense focused Jiu-Jitsu.
This tends to occur because of the general sport BJJ practitioners' lack of self-awareness in a real fighting scenario, which comes from the lack of training with strikes, wrestling / takedowns / throws / slams, and / or ground and pound, which prevents some BJJ practitioners from accurately assessing their own skills.
Why Do Some People Think They Know More Than They Do?
Here is a graphic that illustrates the Dunning Kruger effect:
Overconfidence in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will happen most often at the White Belt and Blue Belt levels, where a practitioner has trained just enough to think they are invincible, but not enough to know that they lack knowledge and training in many other areas.
Once a practitioner reaches Purple, Brown, and Black Belt levels, they will begin to understand that BJJ, like any other martial art, is not the end all be all of martial arts, and begin to appreciate cross-training in other disciplines or styles of martial arts to compliment their grappling skills, if they have not done so already.
Common Pitfalls of Modern Sport Jiu-Jitsu Training
Let's identify the types of overconfidence or possible pitfalls in typical modern, sport-focused Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training:
1. Lack of focus in strikes or dealing with strikes.
Modern BJJ training is focused on the grappling aspect of Jiu-Jitsu, but do not train against any form of stand-up based striking, or address the danger of ground and pound strikes / stomps / kicks that can be employed while floor grappling is happening.
Jorge Masvidal infamously knocks out Ben Askren with a highlight-reel, "viral" flying knee strike before the fight could be taken to the ground.
They do not train in a scenario where punches, kicks, elbows, or knees are thrown before the fight even reaches the ground, which is where BJJ's specialty is.
This can create a false sense of security for the pure BJJ practitioner, who may be conditioned to think that they only require floor-based grappling skills to win any fight.
Matt Hughes ground and pounds Royce Gracie into submission.
2. Lack of focus in stand-up grappling, throwing, wrestling, or takedown training.
In modern, sport-focused Jiu-Jitsu, BJJ practitioners often pull guard, or start sparring at their knees, or otherwise agree to start rolling with each other on the ground with the focus of only grappling or tapping each other out with submission techniques.
Sport-focused BJJ practitioners are not fully aware that against someone with superior wrestling abilities, throwing / takedown skills, or takedown defense, that they either cannot even take the fight to the ground in the first place to use their Jiu-Jitsu, or that they will end up on the ground in a dangerous, vulnerable position.
Supreme wrestler and grappler, Greatest Of All Time candidate, and UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has used his superior wrestling and takedown skills to nullify every opponent he has ever faced in MMA with relentless top pressure and ground and pound.
Why Do Some People Overestimate Their Competence?
Sparring or "rolling" in BJJ and making people tap out to submissions is the primary (and usually only) way that BJJ practitioners spar and practice their skills. While this is often considered enough, most BJJ practitioners will never train in or come across actual full-contact sparring with strikes and other attacks.
Especially in the realm of self-defense or street fighting, the ground is the last place you want to be, as you can be attacked with ground and pound, stomps, kicks, body slams, weapons, or even ambushed by multiple opponents.
Strikes Matter
There is an old saying in BJJ from Carlson Gracie that goes like this:
"Punch a Black Belt in the face, he becomes a Brown Belt. Punch him again, Purple."
This saying means that a grappler's skills become less and less effective the more damage or punishment they receive in a real fight.
Receive enough damage, and their skills deteriorate to that of a White Belt, eventually becoming unable to defend themselves in a fighting scenario.
Size, Strength, and Weight Matters
Another common myth (or outright lie) that is ignored when marketing the martial art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to unsuspecting, prospective students / practitioners is that "technique overcomes size and strength".
BJJ overemphasizes (and romanticizes) the idea that if you know the right techniques, you can submit or beat any opponent of lesser skill, regardless of their size or strength.
This idea is problematic because in reality, weight classes, gender categories, and age brackets in sports exist for a reason.
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to engage with this Mongolian wrestler in any fight or have this man on top of me in any kind of situation at all.
People often forget that in a real fighting scenario, there are no weight classes, and you have no idea what the other guy is capable of!
Physical attributes such as size, strength, and weight play a huge factor in determining who wins in a fight.
Not to mention other "X" factors such as toughness, athleticism, and aggression, that can really ruin your day.
People who ignore simple laws of physics and overestimate their own fighting abilities will find themselves in harmful situations with dire consequences.
How To Avoid The Dunning-Kruger Effect in BJJ
To avoid falling prey to the Dunning-Kruger effect, BJJ practitioners should honestly and routinely question if their grappling would work in a real fighting scenario with strikes, wrestling, and even slams involved, rather than blindly flopping onto the ground on their backs, or accepting that "all fights will somehow end up on the ground" (another commonly used / heard BJJ marketing tactic).
BJJ practitioners can challenge themselves and start to practice sparring:
By starting from a standing position, so that takedowns are a must
By rolling with light strikes / slaps / kicks / stomps allowed
Semi-contact or full-contact / MMA sparring with other martial arts practitioners from different disciplines to test their grappling techniques outside of BJJ-only scenarios
Individuals could also escape the trap by seeking others whose expertise can help cover their own blind spots, such as turning to a non-BJJ practitioner for advice, sparring, or constructive criticism.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/the-dunning-kruger-effect-in-the-kung-fu-community2021-01-17T13:09:39-05:002021-02-03T13:39:57-05:00The Dunning-Kruger Effect in the Kung Fu communityDynasty Team
As defined and modified for the Kung Fu community: The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or abilityregarding the effectiveness of their Kung Fu in a real fighting scenario.
This tends to occur because of the general Kung Fu practitioners' lack of self-awareness, which comes fromthe lack of real, non-compliant sparring training, which preventssomeKung Fu practitioners from accurately assessing their own skills.
As defined and modified for the Kung Fu community: The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability regarding the effectiveness of their Kung Fu in a real fighting scenario.
This tends to occur because of the general Kung Fu practitioners' lack of self-awareness, which comes from the lack of real, non-compliant sparring training, which prevents some Kung Fu practitioners from accurately assessing their own skills.
Why Do Some People Think They Know More Than They Do?
One type of overconfidence, called "my 師父 Sifu says", occurs when someone is exaggeratedly certain that their answers are correct, only because the Sifu they are learning from, said so - but have no concrete, scientific, or empirical evidence otherwise.
These individuals may seem highly competent and persuasive due to their apparent confidence. They are often driven by a desire for status and power and the need to appear smarter than the people around them.
Why Do Some People Overestimate Their Competence?
Chi Sao training is a semi-compliant drill, not a real fight.
Chi Sao culture in Wing Chun Kung Fu, for example, has overtaken Wing Chun training methods and has become the de facto judgment of one's Kung Fu skills, rather than actual full-contact sparring.
Chi Sao or sticky hands training when applied in other martial arts terms is simply the act of drilling pummeling such as in wrestling or jiu-jitsu.
Becoming a "master" at Chi Sao is equivalent to saying you are a master at pummeling over or under someone's arms or shoulders.
Being good at Chi Sao is a kind of overconfidence, and refers to the discrepancy between someone’s skills and their perception of those skills.
If someone overestimates their capabilities, they may take dangerous risks and overextend themselves beyond their limits, like thinking Chi Sao experience equals fighting experience, instead of actual full-contact fighting experience against competitive, non-compliant opponents.
Why Do Some People Believe They Are Better Than Others?
Anytime someone believes they are more skilled or knowledgeable than others, they are engaging in overplacement.
This form of overconfidence can lead a person to take unnecessary risks (e.g., challenge real fighters who have competitive fighting experience) because they believe they possess superior knowledge of Kung Fu forms or Chi Sao skills, but not actual fighting skills.
Overplacement occurs most frequently in people with low abilities who lack the competence to judge their skill level accurately; it is associated with an egocentric perspective and narcissism.
Self Awareness
On the flipside, true martial artists or masters of the styles they've studied, know that even with many years of dedicated training, sparring, competing, etc. - it doesn't automatically mean that they are invincible or unbeatable in every single fighting or self defense scenario.
Truly skilled martial artists have self awareness, thus they know that even with great fighting skills, if they had a choice, they would avoid fighting or violent confrontations altogether.
This is because they understand their own skills, have spent decades working on their crafts, and have nothing to prove.
How To Avoid The Dunning-Kruger Effect in Kung Fu
To avoid falling prey to the Dunning-Kruger effect, Kung Fu practitioners should honestly and routinely question their knowledge base and the conclusions they draw, rather than blindly accepting them.
They can challenge themselves and start to spar full contact with other Kung Fu practitioners as well as Boxers, Sanda Kung Fu practitioners, Muay Thai fighters, Jiu-Jitsu fighters, and Mixed Martial Arts fighters to pressure test their skills.
Individuals could also escape the trap by seeking others whose expertise can help cover their own blind spots, such as turning to a non-Kung Fu practitioner for advice, sparring, or constructive criticism.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/what-is-a-kung-fu-larper-live-action-role-player2021-01-01T21:10:19-05:002021-12-14T15:18:31-05:00What Is A Kung Fu LARPer? (Live Action Role Player)Dynasty Team
Thanks to the overwhelming number of LARPers in the Kung Fu community, Kung Fu is dying a slow and steady death.
No one who trains seriously wants to be associated with LARPers, and people from other martial arts communities can't take Kung Fu practitioners seriously because Kung Fu's reputation has been all but eroded by Kung Fu LARPers.
Traditionally, Live Action Role Playing (LARPing) is when a bunch of nerds get together in a field or pasture and beat each other up with foam core swords.
In the internet sense, it refers to people who put on a façade and lie about having lives that are far more interesting than they really are.
A word that describes a live action role player or someone who enjoys acting out fantasy adventures.
What is a Kung Fu / Martial Arts LARPer?
A martial arts LARPer, in the most basic sense, is the same as a "wannabe".
He / she is a poser and a charlatan of sorts.
A LARPer is someone who copies or imitates all or most of the aspects relating with their martial arts idol or martial arts style, and usually lies about their skills and knowledge in the process.
They may wish to have or buy all the uniforms / clothing, wish they had the high level skills, belt ranking, or competition medals of the martial arts discipline they study, but don't actually have them / cannot achieve them due to laziness, lack of actually putting the time in to training hard, or just plain incompetence / lack of talent.
Instead of working hard to achieve their martial arts goals, a LARPer would rather fake their knowledge (act like they know more than they do), fake a belt rank or certification that they were never awarded with, lie about their training experiences or who they've trained with, lie about competition results / records, or any of the combination of the above.
A Kung Fu LARPer is one of those guys who has barely trained hard for even a single day in their life, but will make tons of lofty claims or produce other online spam content, self-promoting their so-called amazing feats or skills, but can't win a real fight if their life depended on it. Usually, these guys are the same guys that brag that their "internal energy force" can beat anyone / anything.
A regular LARPer is usually a wannabe who is sometimes lacking in self confidence, however with a martial arts LARPer, they more often take form in much more devious and annoying ways, such as having an extreme overconfidence in their martial arts skills.
Martial arts LARPers can be highly toxic individuals, egotistical, self centered, and delusional folks who have an overinflated sense of their own martial arts abilities and little to no friends as a result.
You can find LARPers just about anywhere and in any martial arts style, but they are especially common and a huge problem in the Chinese Martial Arts / Kung Fu community.
Because most practitioners in Kung Fu / traditional martial arts often practice forms or drills only, there is a huge quality control issue due to the lack of real pressure testing / sparring / fighting in their curriculums or systems they practice.
Let us take a closer look at how Kung Fu LARPers behave and how to identify one:
Common Traits of a Kung Fu LARPer:
Only theorizes about Kung Fu techniques or concepts ("Qi" force, "internal" mechanics, perceived application of techniques). Will talk a lot in real life or write long essays on the internet fantasizing about said theories, but only trains casually or at a very low intensity.
Will tell everyone who disagrees with their theories or "knowledge" that they’re "wrong" (but will provide no further evidence or sources).
When questioned / challenged by others to provide proof, they can’t / won’t produce real evidence showing applications of said theory or theories either in sparring or fighting, and will immediately result to ad hominem attacks of anyone questioning.
Will ride the coattails of their Kung Fu lineage or Sifu or some other famous master in order to use it as leverage, defense, or to make themselves look good by association, even though they're actually no good themselves.
Only talks or trains forms, compliant drills, but never spars or fights. This is okay if you are just a casual practitioner, but for a Kung Fu LARPer, they will claim that this type of training is the only training they need.
When asked why they never spar or fight with their Kung Fu, they will claim their techniques are "too deadly", or that their "art is not designed for sport fighting, but for killing". This absolves them from any responsibility to prove that they are any good.
Will claim that any form of fighting such as the fighting that occurs in combat sports such as boxing, or MMA, etc. isn't "real" fighting.
Considers drills and compliant demonstrations to be the ONLY "real" "true" displays of Kung Fu.
Considers non-compliant sparring or fighting to be NOT real displays of Kung Fu.
Doesn't realize their own incompetency or inadequacy and that any real martial artist or trained fighter would absolutely destroy them in a real fight (a frog in the well).
Living In Denial
If other Kung Fu practitioners have video evidence of them applying their Kung Fu in sparring / fighting, a LARPer will fake superiority (otherwise known as "gatekeeping") and go into an insecure and defensive mode.
They will deflect real world evidence, the performances of professional fighters / athletes, scientific studies and respond with comforting lies to reassure their worldview by making statements such as:
“That’s not Kung Fu.”
"That’s not “real” Kung Fu.”
"That's not what "real" Kung Fu is."
"That's not "real" Kung Fu technique."
"That's not what a "real" Kung Fu practitioner does."
"Find a “real” Sifu”.
"Go learn "real" Kung Fu."
"Go learn "real" Kung Fu from a "true" master."
When all else is lost, they will always end the engagement or conversation with something silly such as:
“Study harder, train longer, you’re not qualified to talk to me yet”.
"MMA is a sport, not a real fight."
"You're an MMA fanboy / bully!"
"You're not a "real" martial artist!"
"We can agree to disagree."
Kung Fu Is Dying A Slow Death
Thanks to the overwhelming number of LARPers in the Kung Fu community, Kung Fu is dying a slow and steady death.
No one who trains martial arts seriously wants to be associated with LARPers, and people from other martial arts communities can't take Kung Fu practitioners seriously because Kung Fu's reputation has been all but eroded by Kung Fu LARPers.
LARPers often gather together with other LARPers, in order to help protect each other's faked reputation (if they are fake martial arts teachers) and / or bask in each other's shared mediocrity and fake humility.
This is why you often see fake Kung Fu masters being praised or supported by other fake Kung Fu masters, because they all need to make money off of unsuspecting students.
In order to avoid dealing with actual martial artists or trained fighters who would easily see through their facade, LARPers only seek out other LARPers to talk or hang out with, instead of doing what any quality or serious martial artist would do, which is to seek challenges and higher learning.
Because the number of LARPers outnumber the number of good martial artists who take their training seriously, the Kung Fu community is largely misrepresented in a very negative light as there is a greater number of LARPers who are always interested in showing how poor their Kung Fu is (bragging that it is good and thinking it sells them as a master), whereas real practitioners or masters are less interested with showing off real skill as they understand it's nothing that needs to be bragged about.
We Must Do Better
Those of us in the Kung Fu community need to do better and set the bar higher.
If we are to preserve real Kung Fu for the next generations to come, then we must all work together to raise the bar higher to show quality Kung Fu in real, live scenarios.
The seniors of the Kung Fu community should be promoting more sporting competitions that show real Kung Fu techniques, and the younger Kung Fu practitioners should compete (and win) in more fighting tournaments that aren't specific to Kung Fu styles in order to show that Kung Fu indeed can be effective in modern times.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/top-15-signs-your-martial-arts-teacher-is-fake2020-11-07T19:21:04-05:002021-12-14T14:33:51-05:00Top 15 Signs Your Martial Arts Teacher Is FakeDynasty Team
Let's cut the crap and get right down to it - we hate fake martial arts teachers.
The reason why we're calling out fake martial arts teachers is because they promote unsafe training environments that could get their students seriously hurt or even killed, scam innocent people out of their hard earned money, and contribute to a cult-like culture that is scummy and predatory.
Not only do these fake martial arts teachers profit off of unsuspecting students, they ruin the legitimacy and image of real martial artists who practice their art seriously.
Here is our list of the top signs or traits of a fake martial arts teacher. If your teacher or some other teacher you know matches most of the signs on this list - run away - as they are most likely a fake!
Let's cut the crap and get right down to it - we hate fake martial arts teachers.
At least with pseudo-fake (casual / McDojo) martial arts / schools, arguments can be made that these arts or schools are there for business and money making purposes, and your judgement may vary.
But meeting an actual fake martial arts teacher? As in, fake personified?
It is one of the worst things that unfortunately does exist in the world of martial arts.
The reason why we're calling out fake martial arts teachers is because they promote unsafe training environments that could get their students seriously hurt or even killed, scam innocent people out of their hard earned money, and contribute to a cult-like culture that is scummy and predatory.
Not only do these fake martial arts teachers profit off of unsuspecting students, they ruin the legitimacy and image of real martial artists who practice their art seriously.
Here is our list of the top signs or traits of a fake martial arts teacher. If your teacher or some other teacher you know matches most of the signs on this list - run away - as they are most likely a fake!
1. They Peddle Some Form Of "Woo Woo"
The biggest and most obvious sign of a fake martial arts teacher, right off the bat, is if they are a snake oil salesman type who teaches their entire martial arts curriculum based on some type of "woo woo" (unconventional beliefs regarded as having little or no scientific basis, especially those relating to spirituality, mysticism, or alternative medicine), such as:
Cultivating mystical energies or "internal" energies such as Chi, Qi, or Ki, that has never been proven by modern sports science that it exists.
They perform feats of science fiction magic like pushing a person back 10 feet, getting out of an armlock or grappling position with no effort, or simultaneously defending oneself from 10 attackers at once with "Qi" force.
Mythology or unverifiable story of origin such as selling a story of a fictitious martial arts master or lineage that cannot be verified as historical fact.
They'll make up tales of Ng Mui, Miyamoto Musashi, or some other historical story, and say they were the "secret" "descendant" or "successor" of that "lost" art.
Way of movement that is highly strange, theoretical, or impractical for real world applications.
If this martial arts teacher constantly operates or talks about something that is only theoretical and cannot be accurately reproduced in the real world (ie. against resisting opponents, sparring, or any non-compliant scenario), or otherwise be proven as true, they are a fake martial arts teacher.
2. They're Out Of Shape / Abnormally Frail
Now, we know not to ever judge a book by its cover, as famous and legitimate martial artists like Sammo Hung or UFC / MMA fighters like "Big Country" Roy Nelson are of the larger variety.
But, sometimes appearances do matter and can be a legit indicator of your martial arts teacher's skill, knowledge, and / or level of dedication.
If your martial arts teacher / coach / instructor looks relatively out of shape, or if they look completely frail, this can be a red flag.
Observe them closely in action, and if they can't even walk up a flight of stairs without panting heavily, or they're so skinny and frail (and not because of their age) that they can barely do any technique with any convincing energy, how do you expect them to teach you properly?
If they don't even take care of their personal fitness / physical health, how can you trust that they'll take care of your personal development?
Not all martial arts teachers are equal. If your martial arts teacher is severely overweight, or not in great physical shape, there might be a limit as to how much they can help you, especially if you are in much better shape than they are.
Or worse, if they cannot physically fight off an opponent or attacker themselves (practice what they preach), then how good of a martial artist are they really?
Exceptions are given to martial arts masters of advanced age (40+), of course, but if you had a choice, you should probably try and learn from someone who can actually kick your butt (at least a little and within reason), and not from someone who can only demonstrate moves on you but cannot actually do them to you for real.
3. They Don't Allow You To Touch / Spar Them
Fake martial arts teachers or "touch-less" masters will never allow you to touch them or spar with them.
At most, they'll allow you to spar one of their students instead.
The reason is obvious - if you actually tested their skill or did something they didn't expect, they would immediately be exposed.
4. They Never Spar, Only "Demonstrate"
Any class that a fake martial arts teacher teaches, or video that they film and release online, always only consists of them teaching a technique, demonstrating on a compliant partner or student, or showing a drill on a compliant opponent, or showing themselves being attacked in slow motion in a "self defense" scenario.
They never, ever, have any moment or video evidence of them doing actual non-compliant training or sparring, much less even fighting.
If they never have footage of them doing any non-compliant attacking / defending or sparring, chances are it's because they're no good to begin with (cannot apply anything they're teaching).
The only legitimate reasons why a teacher cannot spar are either if they are advanced in age, or have a debilitating health condition and / or injuries.
If they do happen to have sparring footage of themselves, they look like a complete beginner, like it was the first day they ever stepped foot into a kickboxing gym, or they immediately get knocked out cold in a fight against a real fighter.
5. They Have Never Competed In Anything Of Reasonable Difficulty (Or At All)
A martial arts teacher is suspicious if during their whole martial arts career, they have never competed or won any notable martial arts tournaments, championships, or titles.
Or they may have competed, but in a very small / shallow / local type of tournament where there were virtually no quality opponents available (win one match in your bracket you'll win Gold, and the loser automatically gets Silver, or show up and win a Gold by default due to no opponents).
Or, they competed and won a relatively easy to win competition like performing a form or fight a semi-contact point fight that every kid or teenager has done so at some point in their martial arts career.
If they've never proven themselves against any legit competition (at least medaled or won a fairly large tournament at the city / provincial / state / national level), then they may suffer from being a "Frog In The Well" - someone who's martial arts skills are only "good" relative to the people around them (usually hobbyists or people who train casually but not competitively).
If a teacher has never competed in anything or never been tested in a high pressure situation or realistic environment, it means their skills have never been verified truthfully and thus they may not be teaching you the most reliable information.
6. They Don't Have A Fight Record / Never Fought
Fake Tai Chi "master" gets knocked out in an actual fight.
They don't have any evidence of having ever fought (streets, bouncer, bodyguard, military), competed in fighting, or have a verifiable fight record.
This means they have no legitimate track record that shows that what they are teaching actually works in a real life / real fighting scenario.
They'll usually use this list of excuses to justify why they never fought or "don't fight".
And please remember that we are talking about martial arts.
Those who say their martial arts "isn't for fighting" are lying - the word martial literally means "military fighting" or "war", and the only reason martial arts were invented was to fight / defend oneself.
If what you're teaching isn't applicable to fighting, you're not teaching martial arts, you're teaching performance art or interpretive dancing (which is okay, as long as you market it as such).
Just don't market a performance art done primarily for health / meditative benefits in a way where you're implying you can defend yourself with it, because that is simply untrue, dishonest, and dangerous.
7. They Never Produced Any Good Students
Even if a teacher has never competed themselves due to whatever reason, a good sign of a legit martial arts teacher is to see what kind of students they have produced.
If they have no verifiable track record of producing great, or even good students who have gone on to win championships, tournaments, or become famous as a result of their skills, then they might be fake.
8. They Act Like They Own You, And Are Insecure And Jealous Of Other Teachers
Fake martial arts teachers will act like they own you and will try to make sure you only belong to them and their teachings.
They will try to:
Discourage you from learning from other teachers or schools or sources
Dissuade you from visiting other schools
Not allow training with other practitioners that don't train at the same school / style
Prevent you from cross-training other martial arts
If they sense you wish to leave them or their school, they will cry and beg for you to stay.
Whereas real martial arts teachers are secure in their own knowledge and system, and won't mind and may even encourage you to seek out training from other styles or schools, in order to help you achieve a better understanding and appreciation that maybe their teaching is already the best and that you may not need to go learn from others.
9. They Hide Behind Their Style / Teacher / Lineage
Instead of representing themselves through their own personal accomplishments in martial arts, fake martial arts teachers will constantly brag about how their style or discipline of martial arts is the best, and that their style / school is better than all the other styles / schools out there.
They will incessantly name-drop, make reference to, or use other more famous names, mythical figures, their teacher, their lineage, or otherwise leverage some other person they never met or don't have close ties to, to represent their martial arts or to prop themselves up as important or legitimate.
For example, they might constantly brag about:
Who their martial arts teacher was ("my teacher was Ip Man / Ip Man's disciple!")
The fact that they trained with or knew of [insert famous martial artist] ("I trained with Bruce Lee's disciple / classmate!")
That their lineage is highly sacred, regarded, and revered
If all they can do is reference / piggyback other people but have otherwise shown no proof or value that they are a quality martial artist themselves - then they are most likely weak, soft, and a fake teacher.
10. Their Martial Arts Is A "Brand" (They're A Marketing Guru / Branding Expert)
Note: The following is a tricky one. There are many legitimate instructors who have went on to create their own systems and rankings. That is totally fine. But watch out for the cult leaders.
If a martial arts teacher has successfully marketed their own "style" or "brand" of martial arts, given it a modified or distinct name, or broke off of their original style or lineage and renamed it something else, beware, they could be running a cult (complete with a cult following) and their martial arts could just be fake (something they made up).
Examples include adding adjectives to their martial arts like:
Applied, Practical, Realistic, Reality, Real, etc.
Internal, Spiritual, Mindful, Flow, Graceful, etc.
Animal, Tiger, Snake, Crane, Eagle, Bear, Gorilla, etc.
Thug, Jail, Brutal, Violent, Extreme, Deadly, etc.
Or personalized brand / terms:
Fighting (Joe's Fighting Arts)
System (Joe's Flow System)
First or Last Name (Joe's Fighting Systems, Joe Jitsu, Johnson Jitsu)
Or modifying the name, abbreviation, or spelling of a martial art to stand out:
Wing Chun, Wing Tsun, Ving Tsun, Wing Tjun (watch out for made up terms - these are different English romanization spellings to differentiate their lineage, but in Chinese, it's all the same word)
Hung Kuen / Kyun (they're the same thing)
Boxercise (Boxing + Exercise)
Tae Bo (Taekwondo + Boxing)
Tae Kwon Dance (Tae Kwon + Dance instead of "Do")
Or making something up by themselves and / or peddling it as an ancient art or mythical "lost" martial art form:
Snake Crane Tiger Wing Chun / Tai Chi
Ng Mui Secret / Original Wing Chun
Some kind of "Secret / Hidden" Kung Fu
Jailhouse Rumble Rock 82 Blox Revenge Style Boxing
Also, if a martial arts teacher is more known for the fact that they are well known, instead of their actual skills or accomplishments, then they might be a "marketing guru" and most likely a fake.
11. They Have A Fake Belt or They're Highly Ranked... In Their Own Style
Note: If the instructor has created a new system that is legitimate - they have combined several styles or refined their style into something new or made it more effective, then this is okay.
A martial arts teacher is most likely fake if they cannot tell you where they got their martial arts rank / lineage from.
They're also most likely fake if they have a 10th "Dan" "black belt" in "Kyoukuten Karate" (an example of a style that doesn't exist) or if they are a "Level 18 Master" of a "system" of martial arts they created for their own school.
In reality, martial arts that are the most realistic, do not have that many ranks or levels anyway (and it's better that way).
In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you have White, Blue, Purple, Brown, and Black belt levels, and that's it (later on they've added stripes to give students more of a progression level to work towards, but ultimately are meaningless in the grand scheme of things).
In fact, many martial arts such as Boxing or Muay Thai don't have ranks or belts at all.
The only reason fake martial arts / martial arts teachers invent so many levels of progression is because they want to force their students to train longer (but progress slower), pay more tuition fees or belt grading fees in order to achieve a perceived higher ranking in their respective martial arts discipline.
The longer they can hide things and make their students train longer with the false idea that they are progressing somewhere, the better (and more profitable) for the fake martial arts teacher.
12. They Give Themselves A Title... And Demand You Call Them By It
If a martial arts teacher gives themselves the title of "Sifu", "Sensei", "Kru", "Master" in front of their names, especially in front of their social media names or handles, then this is a red flag ("coach" is acceptable).
Real, legitimate martial arts teachers do not need to give themselves these fake titles and demand that people address them by it.
The ones who feel they need to shout it out from the rooftops that they are some sort of "Sifu, "Sensei", or "Master", instead of being called that title naturally by their own students, are the most insecure of their own skills and likely a fake.
13. They Don't Teach Classes Themselves
They are never seen in the actual school or cannot be bothered to teach classes themselves.
They have a "black belt" student or some other kid / teenager student on minimum wage teaching their classes.
What this means is if the class is bad or poorly taught, they don't have to be responsible for it, as they can always deflect it as their student's fault.
They probably don't even care, as their school is just a money making tool and they're usually off somewhere slacking off anyways.
14. They Charge Exorbitant Fees For Seminars Where They Teach Basically Nothing
They travel and teach seminars at martial arts schools around the world, where at best, they teach "white belt level" basics of their martial arts, or at worst, use really ambiguous or vague terms when teaching their martial arts.
They might grab a compliant student to perform a demonstration, but ultimately is more of just a party trick or planned choreographed demonstration rather than real skill or technique.
They trick gullible students into thinking what they're showing is real or that it really works, even though the demonstration might just be an exploitation of the students' lack of knowledge.
Their "seminars" are basically glorified talking sessions, philosophical talk, or "motivational speeches" with very little actual practical application or physical practice involved.
They charge hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for a chance for students to "practice" with them, and maybe touch them lightly ("touch hands", "feel my energy"), but never, ever are they allowed to spar them.
15. They Only Teach / Attract A Certain Type Of Student
Another sign of a fake martial arts teacher, is that because others know they are fake, they are usually only capable of attracting a certain type of student that would be willing to learn from them (get tricked by them).
For example, their classes might be exclusively toddlers / children / kids / teens, or out of shape moms / dads / retired pensioners "looking for something to occupy their time" or "looking to train for health / meditative reasons".
A fake teacher is usually only able to attract "Walter Mitty" types as students. A "Walter Mitty" is described as a mild, meek, submissive man who is easily imposed on and spends his time daydreaming about his (fake) abilities and adventures.
Why is this a red flag?
It is because any able-bodied, young, athletic individual who has the potential to actually achieve some level of proficiency in the martial arts world, probably wouldn't be wasting their time with such a low level, low quality teacher in the first place.
A person with potential (or seeks to train at a higher level of quality) would be seeking out a higher level teacher or school with much more verifiable signs of quality.
A person who just wants to take things easy and isn't looking to train very hard or even compete at all, would most likely settle for "any teacher", including teachers of questionable quality or credentials to train under.
Bonus Sign: They Never Give You A Clear Answer To Your Question
Another sign of a fake martial arts teacher is that if you ever asked them a question to clarify a technique or its proper applications, they will give you some long winded, abstract answer that doesn't actually answer your question directly.
If they cannot give you a clear, direct answer to your question, then they are likely making things up as they go along to hide the fact that they do not know it or never learned it properly themselves.
Real martial arts are simple, effective, and direct. Fake martial arts are mystical, shrouded in secrecy, and confusing.
Conclusion
Did we miss any other signs that you think should have been included on this list? Sound off in the comments below.
And remember - if you meet or see anybody who matches most of the red flags on this list - they're a fake teacher.
Steer clear and ignore at all costs.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/top-12-signs-your-martial-arts-school-is-a-mcdojo2020-11-04T15:59:03-05:002022-03-22T14:00:55-04:00Top 12 Signs Your Martial Arts School Is A McDojoDynasty Team
The definition of a "McDojo" is a martial arts school that is solely established to make money instead of genuinely teaching martial arts.
Are you concerned that you, someone you know, or your child may be stepping into a McDojo to learn martial arts?
Read on to find out the top signs of a McDojo, and if your school has checked off the majority of these boxes, your school might very well be a McDojo!
The definition of a "McDojo" is a martial arts school that is solely established to make money instead of genuinely teaching martial arts.
Due to the widespread popularity (watering down) and commercialization of the martial arts in the last half century, a huge percentage of McDojos have popped up in the United States, North America, and around the world.
While McDojos exist everywhere (as well as in their countries of origin), the chances of these McDojos popping up and staying for a long time in their native countries of origin are less common, as it is more difficult to be "fake" in a country where the martial art originated from, as there would be much more competition and scrutiny both from a sports performance aspect as well as pressure from a cultural / societal aspect (although there are exceptions).
For example, if you opened a pastel de nata bakery in Portugal, it better be amazing. But if you were the only pastel de nata bakery in Alaska, you wouldn't have any competition to be compared to.
But let's focus on the topic at hand: Are you concerned that you or your child may be stepping into a McDojo to learn martial arts?
Read on to find out the top signs of a McDojo, and if your school has checked off the majority of these boxes, your school might very well be a McDojo!
1. Weird Name
The school has a wacky, gimmicky, or vague name that was likely made up, or it references a martial art but isn't actually a martial art that exists.
Can you tell which word / words don't belong?
For example: Joe's Garage Fighting Systems, Snake Crane Boxing, American Jiu-Jitsu, Irish Karate Fu, British Barjitsu Wing Chun, Korean Kenpo Taekwondo, Capoeira Jiu-Jitsu, etc.
2. No Young Adults (Age 15-35)
Wait, what? There's literally a toddler on the left and right hand sides that have black belts. That's not a good sign.
A McDojo is usually a "safe", harmless training environment that tries to cater to the lowest level of student or customer by offering very easy (and unrealistic) training.
If classes are mostly comprised of kids and teens, or older aged out-of-shape mom / dads / granddads / grandmothers, this can be a red flag.
If no young adults or adults train at the school in a serious manner, it may be because able-bodied adults would rather train at a higher level school that actually proposes a realistic challenge.
A low-level training environment is okay for beginners, but that is why classes are split up between beginners, intermediate, to advanced.
If the school offers nothing to the intermediate or advanced levels, this type of training environment likely won't benefit you much longer.
3. "Black Belt" Fast Track Program
If the school offers a "black belt program", where you pay one fee and you will be fast tracked to the rank of black belt in a few years or less, then this is a sure sign that this school exists to make money (as a first priority) and teach martial arts only as a backseat priority.
4. Overused "Black Belt" references
Everyone can be a black belt in our dojo! If you pay enough, you may even get to hold the special rank of red belt!
In the school, either in its name, or the environment, there exists an overuse of the words "black belt". On the walls, there are motivational messages that everyone is capable of reaching "black belt" status, you will become a "guaranteed black belt" at our school, etc.
Trying to cater to the clueless casual customer that anyone can become a "black belt" is one of the biggest signs of a McDojo.
The reality simply isn't true. Becoming a black belt in any martial art takes time, dedication, and serious effort and commitment. Not everyone will achieve black belt status, and even fewer will continue to train after they've obtained their black belt.
5. There Are Fees / Costs To Literally Everything
Belt Stripe #230, After School Pick-Up, Tutoring / Homework Class, Summer Camp, Winter Camp, Valentine's Day Camp, Christmas Camp...
Look, we get it. If you run a school, you have to make money as a business. You have to come up with ideas for extra classes and summer camps for kids and whatnot to pay the bills. As long as the martial arts programs are of quality, then this can be forgiven.
However, it starts to get tacky when everything is slapped with a price tag on it.
While most schools charge fees for belt gradings / testings and private lessons, if they are commercializing every single thing in a martial arts school as an extra fee, this could be a red flag.
A McDojo might charge extra fees for purchasing equipment that only the school sells, in order to participate in a special members-only class.
Or they might be keeping beginners in a beginner's only class, and only if you pay more, do you get "access" to the regular class or sparring class, or open mats.
We can understand if there's a skill gap difference and keeping students injury free, but if this is done deliberately to make beginner students stay at a beginner's level for a set period of time rather than basing it off of their individual skill level, this is a red flag.
If you must pay a belt grading fee and there is a disproportionately large number of stripes of belts that you must pay for, this is also a red flag.
6. No Applications / Sparring
Sparring is the most simple, direct way of testing your martial arts effectiveness in a live but safe and controlled environment.
If applications of martial arts techniques or moves are never taught or shown, only talked about or theorized through compliant demonstrations - this is a red flag.
A McDojo is a place where most classes consist of just technique, drills, and / or forms practice - and no live sparring ever happens.
Sparring is never allowed or there is no sparring component built into the classes.
This is a red flag for good reason.
This class structure ensures that every student stays as clueless as possible about real, effective applications of moves, and the instructor can (potentially) continue to swindle these students without ever needing to prove that they can actually make their moves and techniques work in a real, live, environment.
Unless your martial arts coach is injured or a senior citizen, he / she should be able to show you how techniques work in live scenarios, and not just hide behind demonstrations.
The instructor / coach / master / Sifu / Sensei / Sabumnim never engages in free sparring with his students.
While there are exceptions such as accumulation of injuries or advanced age (40+), an instructor should still be able to light spar or light roll with their students.
If the instructor insists that they cannot be touched or cannot spar, or if / when challenged, deflects it to one of their students to accept the challenge, then this is a red flag.
8. No Competitions Allowed or Participation Trophies
If the school never competes in competitions or allows students to compete, this is a red flag.
A McDojo or fake martial arts school will always stay away from competitions because they know they would likely lose every single one of them.
Or conversely - they might compete in every single tournament possible and every single student receives a participation trophy no matter their performance, so that they can scatter it all around the school as a sign that their school only produces "winners".
In martial arts, just as in reality, there is no such thing as a participation trophy. You either win the fight / self defense encounter and escape with your life intact, or you lose and get seriously hurt or even killed.
9. Certifications / Lineage Cannot Be Verified
This is a tricky one, but it mostly rings true.
If your instructor is asked where he / she got their black belt from, or what teacher they studied under, under which lineage or organization, they should have a clear answer, and a quality answer.
This factor is obviously more important for traditional martial arts styles, where importance is placed on authenticity, tradition, terminology, culture, and history (although arguments can be made here that authenticity and traditions are subjective and useless in the real world - but that is a different topic altogether).
For more modern martial arts styles such as combat sports or Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), then the lineage or certification / belt rank is less important, and more importance is placed on sports / competition performance (fight record / experience) and how many champion students a coach has produced.
If a martial arts coach has verifiable in-ring combat experience, titles, or championships, and / or has produced championship students, then their rank or lineage is not as important as they have already proven their experience in the real world.
There is a flip-side to the lineage argument, of course.
If your instructor can ONLY rely on name-dropping and / or throwing around his / her lineage as a means of respect or "authenticity" or "symbol of quality", but has shown no real world skills of his / her own, then watch out, this ones a fake one!
10. Everyone Is Eventually Promoted (Participation Belts)
If your school promotes every student on a timely basis, regardless if they did well on their belt grading or how skilled they actually are, then they are likely a McDojo.
If students get promoted quickly by the school to the next belt or stripe in a matter of months, without actually competing or sparring regularly, then they've essentially earned a higher rank just by participating and showing up to class, rather than show / prove their knowledge and skill level (worse yet, they earned their belt or certification virtually, ie. online).
We all know martial arts is a physical activity, and you cannot trade real training and hard sparring with theoretical knowledge and drilling practice.
Anyone who believes martial arts can be practiced and mastered without real live resistance or fighting is in for a rude, ugly awakening should they find themselves in a dangerous scenario.
A belt rank (or equivalent title of recognition) should be earned through blood, sweat, and years (possibly tears), not just given away by paying money for it or just by "showing up" to class.
11. School Is Top Heavy (Everyone Is A Black Belt)
If almost every student is a black belt (or worse, if in the kids / teen department), then this school is likely a McDojo.
While it may make sense to have a team of high level black belts that compete in a large established gym, it is impossible for any real, quality gym / school to have more experts than there are students (unless it was a professional fighter's gym).
It is because for advanced students, they usually will have gotten as much as they could out of that martial art and either quit / moved on, leave to train at another school, or end up teaching classes or opening their own academy.
Thus, a successful school requires constantly fresh new students to join the gym. Therefore, it is only natural (and normal) that the majority of students are beginners or intermediate level students.
It is rare for a large number of advanced students to stay and continue training at the same place for extended periods of time, for they would most likely be the teachers or instructors already.
If almost every member of the school is advanced, or if there is a large team of instructors who are all black belts, then there might be something fishy going on.
This usually means that their ranks / belts are inflated, and that not all of them could possibly be real black belts.
12. There Are Made Up Ranks / Belts
If the school advertises a certain martial art that traditionally (or at least officially recognized) does not have rankings or belt levels, then watch out, they may be a McDojo.
In arts such as Kung Fu, Muay Thai, or Boxing - there does not exist any known rankings, coloured shorts, sashes, or belts.
Belt levels are largely a modern, commercialized aspect of martial arts schools or coaches looking to establish some sort of a system of progression to encourage students to keep training and to not quit (which is okay).
If the rank within the system can clearly define what a practitioner is supposed to know, and the rank is enforced through quality testing, then it may be okay for it to be employed.
However, if the rank is nothing but a phoney or fictitious way of differentiating between low and high, or ranking students who have paid more / stayed more loyal to the school rather than by actual knowledge or skill, then the rank or belt system is useless and fake.
Especially if the made up ranking system has 10 levels or more - that is a sure sign of making a student pay their way to get to the top.
Can you imagine saying you are a "Level 25" practitioner of this style? If it sounds ridiculous - it probably is!
Beware of instructors who have "black belts" in Kung Fu or Muay Thai - they do not exist!
Conclusion
Do you agree with our list? Let us know in the comments if you think we missed any!
- Dynasty Team
]]>
https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/top-5-lies-fake-martial-artists-keep-telling-everyone-and-what-they-really-mean2020-10-31T15:00:00-04:002021-12-14T14:31:32-05:00Top 5 Lies Fake Martial Artists Keep Telling Everyone (And What They Really Mean)Dynasty Team
Have you ever met someone who claimed they practiced martial arts, or that they were a master of a certain style, but you weren't quite sure if they were legit, or just full of crap?
Or are you tired of the constant lies and excuse making that fake martial artists keep telling themselves, and other people, when their martial arts fails them during sparring / fighting?
We know we are.
Here are the top most commonly seen / heard lies that fake martial artists will peddle in order to protect their fragile egos, and what they really mean when they say this.
Have you ever met someone who claimed they practiced martial arts, or that they were a master of a certain style, but you weren't quite sure if they were legit, or just full of crap?
Or are you tired of the constant lies and excuse making that fake martial artists keep telling themselves, and other people, when their martial arts fails them during sparring / fighting?
We know we are.
Here are the top most commonly seen / heard lies that fake martial artists will peddle in order to protect their fragile egos, and what they really mean when they say this.
1. "My Art Is Too Deadly To Spar / Fight With. I Would Kill You."
Translation: "I never practice real live sparring, I can't actually use my martial arts in a fight, so I choose not to spar / fight because I know I'll get beat up / embarrassed / killed."
This isn't a jab at Chinese Kung Fu, but just take a look at this book cover. Do you really think you can conjure up some kind of energy field and just throw somebody into the air like this?
Martial artists who claim their art or style is too deadly to spar with, are full of crap, and everyone who fights knows this.
They may only practice forms, do compliant drills, and talk theoretical / philosophical babble but never spar using their martial arts.
The reason they don't spar or pressure test their skills is because they're not very good and don't want to be beat (get their egos crushed) in an actual non-compliant sparring scenario.
This type of scenario (excuse) is quite similar to the mid-autumn festival fight scene in Ip Man 4 between Colin Frater (Chris Collins) and the Monkey Fist Master Law (veteran Kung Fu actor Lo Mang).
Master Law responds to Colin Frater's challenge, "you're forcing me to KILL you then?"
Once the fight actually starts, Master Law gets beat to a pulp in two blows by Colin Frater, an actual fighter.
And this is how 99% of fake martial artists are when they get into a real fight.
This is because practicing "deadly" techniques are not reliable in real fights, because they cannot be practiced in sparring with full resistance.
The history of how Japanese Jiu-Jitsu evolved into Judo, and eventually Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has proven this. Judo removed most of the "too deadly to be trained" techniques from Jiu-Jitsu, and as a result Judo fighters started mopping up all the Jiu-Jitsu fighters because they could train their techniques with full resistance during sparring.
Now, arts such as Japanese Jiu-Jitsu or Aikido are more of an art form and self defense art, rather than martial arts that can be used for realistic, full contact fighting scenarios.
2. "My Art / Style Is Not Meant For Sport / Ring."
Translation: "I can't compete with actual trained fighters and athletes who compete at a high level. I'll stick to demonstrating my techniques on beginners or untrained hobbyists."
This one is a common one, and while an argument can be made with some martial arts styles and what they were originally designed for (warfare, weapon disarms, military, street fighting), this is mostly just another excuse for fake martial artists to use to get out of having to prove their worth in a real fight.
Trained, professional "sport" fighters can use the exact same techniques you use, except they're much more capable of using them because they actually practice fighting, unlike fake martial artists.
Fake martial artists who overly rely on this excuse forget the fact that "sport fighters" can do the exact same thing they're doing, ie. illegal street fighting techniques, but with the full force that they've trained for inside the ring.
3. "I'm [insert lofty claim of fight record, training experience, knowledge of hidden / secret techniques], But I Will Not Show You Because You're Not Worthy!"
Translation: "I know nothing of value, but I like to be a negative condescending pretentious a**hole, so I'll just spread negativity by telling you that you're no good, and that I'm better, but I won't / will never prove this to you because you're not good enough to see my secret hidden deadly techniques that my master taught me."
This is probably one of the worst excuses of all time.
At least with the first two excuses, you might give them the benefit of the doubt that they truly believe they are too deadly, and won't fight because of it.
But with this sort of excuse, there's no doubt at all that they are blatantly lying, and saying something even they themselves don't believe is true.
When asked to produce evidence (such as photos or video), they never provide any actual proof of what they're saying, and keep pressing forward about how their technique / knowledge is superior to yours, and continue on with their mental masturbation of how much greater they are than you.
Actually, never mind.
If they actually believe and behave this way consistently, then they're actually completely delusional.
4. "Your Technique Is Wrong, It Wasn't At The Right Angle. This Is How You Should Have Done It, At This Angle, With More Relaxed Structure, blah blah..."
Translation: "I want to act like I'm a much more knowledgeable "master" and I want to gate keep others from being popular or right, so I'll step on others to put them in their places. I'll type out long paragraphs of nonsense over-explaining what you're doing wrong, but I have no video proof that I can do what I just said either, so you'll just have to take my word for it."
This type of behaviour usually comes from pretentious, snobby, possibly old or bitter (or maybe both) pretenders who have trained martial arts for a long time, but (most likely) never actually got good at any of it, so they feel the need to make up for it by instructing others incessantly.
Knowing that they're likely average martial artists who never actually achieved anything significant themselves in the martial arts world, they desperately hang around forums / the internet seeking attention, and peddle their "knowledge" on unsuspecting or younger martial artists in hopes that someone, somewhere out there will lend them an ear to listen to their fake philosophical babble or take their words seriously.
Instead of giving others, or the newer / younger generation compliments and guidance, they try desperately to cling onto "old glory" by propping themselves up on a high horse, instructing others and giving others unsolicited advice in a condescending way on how to train better or fix their techniques.
5. "Nice progress! Much improved!" (When said in a disingenuous way)
Translation: "I can now see that you're no joke, you have legitimate skills, and that my childish assumptions about you were wrong.
I always knew you were better than me, but I just didn't want to publicly admit it until now, now that ignoring acknowledgment of your skills has become impossible.
In order to save face and not admit to my wrongdoings or admit that I am in fact of a lower skill level / quality of a martial artist than you, I will give you a backhanded compliment such as complimenting you for your progress in your skill / technique, but also not fully complimenting you in order to deflect admitting that you are in fact better than me in order to protect my own shattered ego.
I am also secretly jealous of your skills and progress that you've made so quickly in a short period of time, practicing the same martial art as I have done for many years. Whereas you’ve made improvements leaps and bounds, I have not.”
Enough said.
This is without a doubt the worst martial artist you can be.
If you cannot give compliments to others genuinely and admit that someone else is simply better than you in the same martial art that you both practice, you are just a sore, bitter loser, and you will never be good at martial arts with this type of piss poor attitude.
Conclusion
Did we miss any other excuses that you think should have been included on this list? Sound off in the comments below.
And remember - if you meet or see anybody who sounds like some of the excuses included on this list - they're a fake martial artist.
Steer clear and ignore at all costs.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/why-fake-martial-arts-teachers-exist-and-why-they-always-will2020-10-30T11:17:38-04:002022-12-08T18:02:48-05:00Why Fake Martial Arts / Teachers Exist (And Why They Always Will?)Dynasty Team
In the world of martial arts, most of us were first exposed to it through movies and media - such as Kung Fu classics made by the Shaw Brothers' studios, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, the Karate Kid movies, or some similar combination of the above.
The romanticized idea of martial arts was always presented to us more or less in a very classical way: Learn martial arts, defeat the bully, exact revenge on the bad guy, win the tournament, and become the hero.
To us, martial arts was about training as hard as you could, winning the most amount of competitions as you could (in forms or fighting, or both), becoming a tough, hardened bad ass with world class martial arts / fighting skills, and becoming the best version of yourself that you possibly could be in the process.
Former Two-Division UFC Champion Georges St-Pierre, the definition of a model martial artist and champion.
The mindset of a true martial artist was to continue to train for life as an eternal student to keep bettering oneself on the path of perfection (perfection of course, doesn't exist), and continue to seek new challenges, conquer new plateaus and reach ever new heights - as long as the body was able and the circumstances allowed it.
We had always thought this was the way of the warrior, and the "hardcore" path that everyone took to mastering their martial arts.
Then we realized, we were in the minority that held that mindset or belief.
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Disclaimer: This article aims to provide a truthful view of the world of martial arts. It was not written to bash any one particular martial art style, way of training, or family of martial arts styles / systems. It was not meant to bash any individual, or martial arts practitioner. If you are easily offended, please do not read this article. For those seeking truth about the martial arts, please read on.
This article is part of our series on the subject of "Fake Martial Arts". Read more:
In the world of martial arts, most of us were first exposed to it through movies and media - such as Kung Fu classics made by the Shaw Brothers' studios, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, the Karate Kid movies, or some similar combination of the above.
The romanticized idea of martial arts was always presented to us more or less in a very classical way: Learn martial arts, defeat the bully, exact revenge on the bad guy, win the tournament, and become the hero.
To us, martial arts was about training as hard as you could, winning the most amount of competitions as you could (in forms or fighting, or both), becoming a tough, hardened bad ass with world class martial arts / fighting skills, and becoming the best version of yourself that you possibly could be in the process.
Former Two-Division UFC Champion Georges St-Pierre, the definition of a model martial artist and champion.
The mindset of a true martial artist was to continue to train for life as an eternal student to keep bettering oneself on the path of perfection (perfection of course, doesn't exist), and continue to seek new challenges, conquer new plateaus and reach ever new heights - as long as the body was able and the circumstances allowed it.
We had always thought this was the way of the warrior, and the "hardcore" path that everyone took to mastering their martial arts.
Then we realized, we were in the minority that held that mindset or belief.
In reality, the lifestyle of a warrior was more of a thing of the past, an outdated ideal that existed only because fighting and war was a common daily occurrence in the olden days of ancient warring civilizations.
Most people who practice martial arts nowadays actually don't fall into this category of a "fully dedicated" practitioner at all, because in today's world, martial arts is largely a sport or hobby, and not a necessary component for daily survival.
Most People Are Hobbyists (And That's Okay)
While for a select few, martial arts may be their lifestyle, most people who try martial arts today often quit in a few months time or stick around for a few years at most.
In arts such as Karate or Taekwondo (the generic kind, not the Kyoukushin branch or the Olympic level Taekwondo), the average practitioner nowadays takes about 3-5 years to achieve their "black belt" (at an average school), and then they quit. We know that a "black belt" in your typical Karate or Taekwondo school doesn't mean very much most of the time, as black belts are handed out quite easily in these martial arts disciplines, and represent only the "beginning" of one's martial arts journey.
In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, most people quit after receiving their blue belt, which can take anywhere from 2-3 years, on average. Achieving the rank of blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not an easy feat, but at the same time, in the world of Jiu Jitsu, it's the approximate equivalent to achieving your "black belt" in an average Karate or Taekwondo school. A blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu means you're good enough to handle a bigger, stronger, but untrained opponent - but that's it. It doesn't mean you can defeat skilled foes.
Just like with any hobby, sport, or game - in the world of martial arts, the majority of martial artists, are casual ones.
Why Do We Train Martial Arts?
Most people nowadays train martial arts for one, or maybe for a few of the following reasons:
Health / Exercise
Learn A Tradition / Culture / Spirituality
To Be Social
For Hobby
Their Parents Made Them Do It
Self Defense
Most people do NOT train for the following reasons:
To become a professional fighter (full time career)
To become a master of martial arts (train for more than 30+ years in multiple styles or disciplines)
To become a martial arts instructor (train for more than 10-20 years in one style)
Not All Schools Are Equal
For the longest time, it also didn't occur to us that, the toughest, grimiest, "hole in the wall" gyms with the best fighters, often have the least amount of students training there. The only other people who train there are other fighters, which means there won't be a whole lot of people.
Whereas schools with more relaxed instructors, where the skill level or difficulty is lower, might actually have more students (mostly catering to children or older dads and moms) in their classes.
Which begs the question: If we know that hard training and competition takes us to new heights, and easy training without any pressure makes us soft, then why do people choose mediocrity instead of greatness?
Or maybe we phrased that incorrectly.
Maybe we don't have a choice.
Maybe the sobering, bitter truth is that for most people no matter how hard they try, not everyone is capable of being "great" martial artists or fighters.
By "great", for all intents and purposes of this article, we mean achieving a high level of technique both in understanding and in practical use in the martial arts whether through many hours of live sparring, personal competitive achievements, or through successfully coaching championship level students / fighters.
At the time of this writing (in the year of 2020), it is suitable to use the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a baseline symbol of a quality martial artist.
Perhaps in the 1970's, a Karate or Judo black belt would be used as a baseline symbol of quality.
Just having amassed a large "knowledge" of the subject of the martial arts but without practical "pressure tested" experience either through winning competitions, fighting, or coaching others to success, does not count in this case.
We'll get to why "just having theoretical knowledge" isn't enough later on in this article.
Not All People Are Made Equal, Either
We like to tell ourselves that "through hard work" anything can be achieved, and that "skill beats size", or "technique beats strength", but that's only because we suffer through survivourship bias.
The truth is, many people have quit because of, or aren't naturally gifted enough to endure hard martial arts training.
Cody McKenzie, a man who most likely had to work hard every single waking moment of his life to get to the level of martial arts skill that he obtained, exemplifies the "everyman".
We have to admit to ourselves at some point that, not all of us are born (or going to be) A-level athletes, tough as nails, with top of the food chain genetics, and possess the mindset needed to succeed as a "great" martial artist / fighter.
Brock Lesnar (steroids aside) is a freak athlete and a former NCAA Division I Champion, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Conference Champion, and 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Champion, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Brock Lesnar without a doubt has an insane work ethic, but you cannot ignore his genetics as well.
When two people put in the same amount of effort / work, the one with the better attributes will win.
It's A Numbers Game
Out of the entire world population, there can only be so few that dedicate their lives to training to becoming great at martial arts. Probably 10% of people that start martial arts actually stick with it (although that number could probably be even lower).
Kids train martial arts as a form of discipline / physical activity, but few stick around to become dedicated martial artists. Most kids move on to school, and pursue other interests and hobbies.
Most adults have jobs, need to work and provide for their families, have other people they must take care of, or have other interests or hobbies.
Other people, cannot afford martial arts lessons or live in an area where there are no legitimate martial arts teachers.
But, what does all this have to do with fake martial arts? Hold on, we are getting to that part.
What we need to point out is that, if we remove the romantic lens on martial arts, the truth is not everyone is cut out for, or will decide to dedicate their every waking moment in pursuit of martial arts "mastery".
Habits / Attributes For Success
In order to reach a high level of competency in anything, or martial arts "mastery", one must:
Sacrifice their time
Sacrifice their money
Sacrifice their bodies
One must also typically have the following attributes or "gifts":
Physically gifted / athletic
Mentally talented / quick learner
And the following personality traits or mentality:
Hard working attitude / work ethic
Perseverance through adversity / challenges
Not giving up after failures, injuries, or setbacks
Not making excuses
Thus, because most people are average, they aren't looking for, nor will ever reach "mastery" even if they wanted to, and that's okay.
Levels To This Game
Not all of us can become a "Greatest Of All Time" candidate in undefeated professional MMA fighter and former UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
What is becoming "great" anyway? How do we really define "mastery"? How do we really know if a martial artist is "legit"?
Is being "great" in your local community of practitioners enough?
Your town, city, province / state, country?
How about being a UFC World Champion, or Olympic champion?
Or how about becoming a cultural, international icon?
All of this is in theory possible and can be defined as great.
You can become "great" or be considered "legit", but just know that there are always levels of greatness, and one person's definition of greatness will differ from another.
Can You Be "Legit", Without Concrete Evidence?
We didn't cite one particular type of "greatness" or legitimacy in the above list, because this question requires special attention:
Would you consider personal mastery, mastery of an art, showing a high level of skill and knowledge, without having ever competed or be tested against other practitioners, or trained great students, as greatness or legitimacy?
Many people would answer "Yes" to this question, and they would be right... but only to a certain extent.
There are indeed, many martial arts masters who do have great knowledge and mastery of their art and do not need to compete with others to prove it, or pass it onto someone.
There are many martial arts masters hidden around the world, who don't necessarily need to fight or compete in a ring, in order to have great knowledge or skills.
With that said however, there exists a dark side to this coin.
If you're a secret secluded martial arts master, but no one is really around to verify if this was true or not, then how good were you really?
When we say "mastery of an art", we should take note, that the keyword of importance here to emphasize is "art", and less on "martial".
Martial implies fighting (on the street, in the ring, or in military), and that the master must have verifiable and actual experience in using their martial art for fighting OR have trained students that have proven themselves as fighters.
This master has both trained for a lifetime, fought / competed, AND coached students to fight in tournaments. That looks like a legitimate master.
We understand that not every martial artist can have both teaching skills and fighting skills together - as some fighters are terrible teachers and some teachers are not good fighters.
Therefore, if a martial artist has done at least ONE of those things, then bravo, they can be considered legitimate.
If they can do BOTH, then they're considered a true master.
A great example of a legitimate master who isn't known for fighting himself is John Danaher. He has an unbeatable track record in producing high level, World Champion students without being a notable BJJ champion himself.
But, if this "martial" component cannot be proven by anyone else other than:
The master claiming it, or
The students believing in it
...but no objective evidence exists (either with testimonials from quality people who've trained / sparred with them, fight experience, or consistent quality students), then they might be a Frog In The Well, or suffer from "Frog In The Well Syndrome".
"Frog In The Well"
The subject of greatness or legitimacy as we've established, is completely objective.
So, what if hypothetically you are "great" according to some, but in reality you're just a "frog in the well"?
"The Frog in the Well" is a Chinese idiom that refers to a narrow-minded person who doesn't see the larger world around them. The story is about a frog who lives happily in a well. He has no idea what's outside of that well.
What if you're a self-proclaimed "master", or "Sensei", or "Sifu", or "Kru", or "Coach" of martial arts, but in reality, once you step outside of your own bubble (your school, your community, your group of friends), you're just a below-average martial artist?
Enter the world of fake martial arts, where bluntly put, bottom of the barrel "martial artists" pretend to have great skill or knowledge because they have nowhere else to go to or hide.
Most Martial Arts "Styles" Are Not Made Equal Either...
We can all objectively agree that a great martial art / martial artist is one that is constantly tested, competes against both itself and against outside styles, and evolves through time, staying "alive" instead of becoming stale.
Speaking of levels, it would be incomplete and dishonest to not address the fact that martial arts styles / systems also have varying levels of quality.
While we hate to talk about and compare "styles" because we don't believe in dividing them, human beings will always like to simplify, generalize, and compare.
Just like there will always be different classes (objective and subjective) of food, cars, clothing, etc.
That's just how we as humans operate to make sense of things in our world - we divide them and give them classifications or labels.
We cannot avoid comparing martial arts styles, either.
And to be as honest and blunt as possible, not even martial arts "styles" (if we are to believe in such a label) are created equally.
As long as there continues to be people of different sizes, shapes, body types, cultural / geographical / historical backgrounds, and abilities - there will exist different martial arts styles, disciplines, and ways of fighting.
Throughout history of humankind, better and more efficient martial arts styles have evolved, emerged, and come to be known year after year, while some have faded into irrelevancy (turned into more of an art form or tradition).
Some martial arts styles, systems, or disciplines are much harder to learn, grasp a hold of, or achieve a high level of skill in than others.
The harder a martial art is to train whether it is due to its:
Level of physicality required (Anything full-contact or requires full resistance, such as Boxing, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Kyokushin Karate, Judo, Sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sanda, Shuai Jiao, etc.)
Level of difficulty in its learning curve or return on investment versus effectiveness ratio (Kung Fu / Wushu / etc.)
Level of accessibility (obscure styles that no one knows about or styles you cannot find a good teacher in, heavy duty weapons fighting, or requires a lot of money to participate in such as Kendo with its expensive protective gear)
Level of truthfulness required (you're constantly being tested on your knowledge and skills in live sparring in every class, leaving no room for "fakery")
Level of talent pool / competition available (The deeper and more well-known or prestigious the martial art system, the more athletes / competitors it will attract depending on geographical location, making it harder to become the best of the best).
...then the likelier it is that people won't train in that direct style, and / or people will find an "easier", more "casual", or less intense martial art to train in instead, including the following but are not limited to:
Cardio / Fitness Boxing or Kickboxing or Muay Thai (Exercise to lose weight without the sparring or fighting)
Self defense focused arts such as Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, Aikido, Krav Maga, Systema (theory and self defense technique training, but no live full-resistance sparring or fighting)
Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or "Internal" Kung Fu styles (slow moving, forms training, theory and philosophy without any actual fighting), or any Kung Fu that does not involve real live sparring or pressure testing
Anything commercialized / watered-down (geared towards kids or families with very little sparring, or no-contact point fighting)
Casual Weapon Arts such as Stick Fighting / Fencing (Popular amongst cosplayers, anime / video game fans as a form of casual martial arts, but largely practiced without the physicality or serious sparring of that of other weapons fighting arts such as Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) or Filipino Martial Arts (FMA))
Any other martial art that has a low barrier of entry and is friendly to casuals
The point of having this comparison is that the easier it is for someone to get into a martial art, and stay untested against other practitioners or reality, the higher the likelihood for that martial art (or similar art) to harbour and cultivate pretenders and fake martial artists / teachers (ie. The Frog in the Well scenario).
Do you think someone with the skills, talent, and physical gifts as Mike Tyson would need to train an "easier version" of boxing, or an easier art in general? Maybe, if they were curious, but unlikely. "Easier" martial arts tend to attract those who are less capable, because they couldn't excel in a harder martial art with higher level competition even if they tried.
There's A Martial Art Out There For Everyone (Choosing The Easier Path?)
Now, we're not saying that less physically demanding or non-competitive martial arts are necessarily easier to get good (achieve a high level of skill) at.
Using Mike Tyson or Brock Lesnar as examples again, just because they're good at boxing or wrestling respectively, doesn't mean they will be able to skillfully wield a sword, shoot an arrow, perform Wushu Taolu (forms), or Karate Kata with beauty and grace, or do a 720-degree Taekwondo spin kick.
Rika Usami, Queen of Karate Kata. Not many people can achieve her level of mastery with Kata.
We recognize that different people, who all have different attributes, will gravitate towards different martial arts, because they all require a different set of skills or cater to certain tastes (and that's totally fine).
However, what we can generally agree on, is that on average, if people were given the choice, most would compromise and take the easier road by going to an easier martial arts school, with quicker belt rank promotions and a lighter training atmosphere as opposed to a difficult one.
Most people in general want to have a more "fun" time where they get to train and learn in a comfortable environment, get hurt / beat up less, and don't have to train as hard (in order to achieve a higher perceived rank or belt) - ie. the path of least resistance - except in this case it would do you more harm than good because you wouldn't be able to carry your ranking in real fighting (or some other realistic test of your skill).
Few however, purposefully choose the path of hard, suffocating, gruelling training, where their skills, respect, and applicable rank or belt is earned legitimately through honest, hard work.
Firas Zahabi on the Joe Rogan Experience talking about the watering down of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Even nowadays, the belt system in BJJ is starting to become watered down and mean less than it did 10-20 years ago (the 1990's - 2010's).
Everyone Wants To Be The Hammer, But Not The Nail
Simply put, the harder a martial art is, the higher quality of a martial arts practitioner it will generally develop.
The easier a martial art is, the lower quality (and perhaps faker) of a martial arts practitioner it will allow to exist.
It's like being a big fish in a small pond.
Or being a "champion" in a martial arts competition that no one of quality actually practices or competes in.
Or medalling at a tournament where no one even showed up to compete in your weight / gender / age division.
Winning a "Chi Sao" (Sticky Hands) competition is not the same thing (level of difficulty required) as winning a full-contact fighting competition like a Sanda tournament, a Boxing match, a Wrestling match, or a Muay Thai fight.
In general: The worst practitioner of a difficult martial art system or environment, will almost always beat the best practitioner of an easier martial art system or environment, simply because the level of skill and attributes required are higher and more competitive.
For example: A fighter who has lost every round of every single wrestling match training with Khabib Nurmagomedov in Dagestan, Russia, is probably still much more prepared and equipped to beat a fighter who has won every single Tai Chi push hands grappling match at a national level in China.
Please let the "but"'s and "if"'s slide, it just makes logical sense.
We know McDojos (extremely watered down or easy martial arts schools) exist as a business.
They largely operate as a daycare center for kids, churning out teenage "black belts" month after month, year after year.
It's marketed to the general masses and when done correctly, it's an effective money maker.
The belt rankings are systemized and easy to obtain (just show up to class and participate, basically) and there's very little to no hard training whatsoever.
"McDojo" schools are like a diet version of fake martial arts schools. Safe and good for kids and moms / dads, but offers not much more beyond that.
But at least inside a McDojo, the head instructor may (or may not) still have legitimate martial arts skills or fight experience, and is just doing what "needs to be done" to manage a profitable business.
Maybe the instructor takes it a few steps further and becomes a savvy businessman or marketer, and have hundreds of students made up of kids that have their parents pay thousands of dollars on their path to becoming a "black belt".
All the power to them for being successful, and as long as they're not deliberately harming their students or giving them false confidence if they have to go compete in a fight or find themselves in a self defense situation (because then, that would be bad), then it's a free country.
If there's a demand, then they'll be the supply.
To take this to the extreme however, a surprisingly significant group of people out there in the world may choose the way of cowardice, and start training in fake martial arts schools or fake martial arts systems to make up for their lack of self esteem or skill.
"You saw the Tai Chi, the self defence … well, I hate to tell you this. If you were there, Jesus, we were so embarrassed,” Lee said.
"Joe Frazier is a man who is capable of using his tools and who is very determined in his savage, relentless attacks. Whereas those son of a b***** are cowards, turning their heads and swinging their punches. After the second round they’re out of breath. I mean, they’re really pathetic looking, very amateur."
"I mean before they contact each other, they do all the fancy stance and all the fancy movement. The minute they contact, they just don’t know what the hell to do. They slip and they fell on their a****."
Truly Fake Martial Arts / Fake Teachers / Schools Are A Complete Scam (And Dangerous)
A fake, "energy" / "force field" martial arts "master" being knocked out cold.
Fake martial arts / schools / teachers are a completely different ugly beast altogether.
There are teachers out there who aren't only running McDojos, but their school is completely based on swindling their students out of their hard earned cash by teaching them something that completely, absolutely, 100% doesn't exist and doesn't work in the real world.
They include the following completely fake "techniques" or "concepts" but are not limited to:
Deliberately misusing vague terms like "internal", "Qi", "Chi", or "Ki". Teaching their students that there is some kind of mystical life force energy that they can tap into, such as "internal" arts or "internal Kung Fu".
They perform feats of science fiction magic like pushing a person back 10 feet, getting out of an armlock or grappling position with no effort, or simultaneously defending oneself from 10 attackers at once with "Qi" force.
"Death touch". A concept where touching someone at a certain hidden secret place on their body will render them unconscious (knocking them out) or even death.
“No touch" / mind trick / hypnosis. Some kind of art of suggestion where one can have control over an opponents thoughts or actions by just using their brain, or a concept that suggests one can manipulate or defeat their opponent in a fight without touching them.
What do all of these concepts have in common?
They're not real, and none of it has ever been proven with modern science, sports science, or real live non-compliant testing.
Martial Arts Cults And The World Of "Woo Woo"
Fake martial arts teachers are great at lying.
These types of snake-oil martial arts are defined in the dictionary as "woo woo":
woo-woo / ˈwo͞oˌwo͞o
INFORMAL • DEROGATORY
noun
1. unconventional beliefs regarded as having little or no scientific basis, especially those relating to spirituality, mysticism, or alternative medicine. "some kind of metaphysical woo-woo"
adjective
1. relating to or holding unconventional beliefs regarded as having little or no scientific basis, especially those relating to spirituality, mysticism, or alternative medicine. "quartz crystals that were so popular with the woo-woo crowd"
Joe Rogan talks about fake martial arts and how they're essentially cults:
At best, fake martial arts schools give some really sad (or just plain delusional) people something to do with their time, but is ultimately not only a waste of time but a waste of money, wrapped under the guise of "spirituality", "self defense", or "exercise".
At worst, fake martial arts schools put peoples' lives in serious danger and drag the legitimacy of real, actual martial artists (who train in a similar style or system) down with them.
Why Do People Believe / Train It If It's Fake?
They Believe In Their Cult Leader
A leader of a fake martial art, is perhaps convincing, suave, or knows how to market their fake martial arts in a clever and unassuming way. They use ambiguous terms and techniques that may have some grounds in reality but are ultimately wrapped up in a bunch of fake nonsense mysticism or claims that simply are not true or real. They may have been an actual martial artist and trained seriously at some point in their lives (doubtful), but how they operate today is by peddling fake martial arts for pure commercial profit and self gain.
Make Believe Is Fun
Star Wars is one of the most popular Kung Fu science fiction franchises of all time. People love it when martial artists (Jedi) fight it out with swords (Lightsabers) and do Wuxia Kung Fu things in space like blast Force Lightning (Qi Gong) out of their palms.
Fake martial arts are popular for the same reasons fictional literature, fantasy novels, and science fiction movies are popular - most people are either tricked into or want to believe something magical and out of this world exists.
Simply Not Good Enough / Don't Want To Work Hard
As we've established earlier, most people aren't gifted or talented or athletic enough to be legitimate martial artists, so instead of working hard and dealing with actual competition, pressure testing, and sparring, they choose a lower level "fake" martial art to be "good" at, and call themselves a "Sifu" or "Sensei" or "Master" at it, and swindle people to believe them.
Most people have average levels of patience or determination and don’t want to actually spend the time, effort, and energy to get good at anything difficult so they choose to peddle a fake martial art, or choose to study a fake martial art so they too, can make believe.
Much like real life, you only get what you put in. And most people don't want to put in any kind of work or effort.
Most people just want the magic potion, the short cut, the junk food version of martial arts (tastes great or looks cool, but bad for you in every way).
Living A Lie
Nothing wrong with cosplaying or live action role playing as a form of fun, by the way. It just gets weird when you actually believe you ARE the person you're PRETENDING to be, and make other people PAY YOU to PRETEND ALONG with you.
Fake martial arts allow teachers and students alike to live in a fantasy world they've constructed themselves.
Or live their life as a "live action role player" (LARPer).
Fake martial arts exist because it allows people to stay inside their bubbles without judgement, real challenge, adversity, or actual pressure to perform.
If you want to believe you're a martial arts master, you can do just that by creating a fake martial art or persona, and actually living in that fantasy by opening a martial arts school and accepting "students" or cult members into your fantasy club.
We don't know if these fake martial arts teachers truly believe they have skills and are simply delusional, or if they're just incredibly smart business people.
It might actually be a bit of both!
Dragging Real Martial Artists Down
Many fake masters are so crafty with their marketing and use of terminology that they've largely got the world fooled.
By mixing up Eastern words or hard to grasp / foreign concepts with martial arts marketing, they peddle this "woo woo" and hook clueless people off the street to train in their "deadly" martial art where they can literally produce "mystical energy force" from their bodies.
This is not only harmful to everyone involved in this racket (except for the fake masters themselves), but it actually drags down the legitimacy or recognition of certain martial arts styles or practitioners who actually train it seriously.
For example, real Kung Fu (not the fake "woo woo" stuff) is extremely difficult to train and learn, hard to grasp a hold of, highly repetitive, and relatively boring.
The majority of real, legitimate Kung Fu training is learning to breathe properly, learning to relax and contract your muscles, hold isometric positions for hours, build conditioning and strength through stances and forms, and drill techniques and movements thousands of times.
The learning curve of something like traditional Chinese Martial Arts or Kung Fu styles are extremely steep and the applicable results generally come slowly (depending on the practitioner), and this is why either no one learns it (the real stuff), or a bunch of pretenders show up to peddle the fake stuff (pretending to have energy shooting out of their palms) and tell others they know some "hidden secret technique" or "lost art" with murky, pseudo-science language and made up myths of old masters who never existed.
Turning A Blind Eye?
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Many practitioners of the martial arts opt to turn a blind eye to fake masters and schools and choose to focus on themselves and "lead by example" and "spread positivity" instead.
While that is a noble (and civil) approach, as we can never truly stomp out bad martial artists, in some martial arts communities where fake (bad) martial arts have outnumbered or outweighed the good, there may not be much left to spread around or salvage if we keep allowing them to exist (and be our representatives).
Fake masters have done so much damage to certain martial arts that, without some heavy housecleaning at a government / state level, will never reclaim the legitimacy or prestige it might have once had generations ago.
Even when a governing body (such as an organization that hands out belts or certifications only after you've officially tested with them) or a sporting organization that regulates tournaments exist, fake masters can still find loopholes, play political games, use their status, or avoid them altogether and operate their schools on the fringes of their martial arts community (and hide behind the computer and keyboard).
This is why, we believe as a martial arts community, we can only stomp out fake masters at an individual level, and as a collective whole.
Take Action
Xu Xiao Dong, an MMA fighter who has done a little bit of clean up work within the borders of mainland China. We think there should be more people like him in all parts of the world, not just China, stepping into martial arts schools and giving some notable "fake masters" a real test.
Action is needed to stomp out the frauds that are plaguing the martial arts styles that we truly love and enjoy.
More martial artists in the community that care about how their martial art is represented or passed down should start calling out each and every fake master there is, and demand video evidence of their "woo woo" claims, or ask how their teachings can actually be applied.
If any excuse is given, challenge them to a friendly sparring match and get it on video.
Pay a visit to their school / dojo / kwoon and ask to spar with them, and get it on video.
Unless some measure of authenticity or honour is restored in certain martial arts circles, it won't get any better for these martial arts and it will only get worse as fake masters keep inventing clever marketing ways to deceive clueless bystanders.
If allowed to peddle their fake martial arts, then these fake masters and schools will never truly go away, as if there is money to be made (commercialization or commodification of an art form) then there will always be slimy, low quality opportunists, and the weird pocket of people that follow them.
If we personally don't take action in stopping the evil, immoral spread of fake martial arts, then not only are we ourselves failing at upholding martial arts values and virtues such as honour, respect, dignity, honesty, and good etiquette, we are effectively complying with the reality that we, too, may be okay with being "fake" ourselves, and thus, what we pass on will be filled with fakery, and the generations that come after us may not be able to enjoy real martial arts ever again.
"Do you remember the good ol' days when black belts actually meant something?"
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/8-legit-reasons-not-excuses-why-you-dont-see-kung-fu-in-modern-fighting2020-10-06T16:49:55-04:002021-02-03T13:40:14-05:008 Legit Reasons (Not Excuses) Why You Don't See Kung Fu In Modern FightingDynasty Team
Continuing with our trend of analysis into the Chinese Martial Arts world, we decided to share our insight into just whyis it that you don't see Chinese Martial Arts (A.K.A. Kung Fu) in modern fighting.
But wait a minute - is what you're about to read a list of excuses on why Chinese Kung Fu "doesn't work" or be presented with the overused simplified explanation of "it's not the system but the practitioner" (even if it is partly true)?
No, we're going to try to share exactly why, with legitimate reasons, you simply don't see Chinese Kung Fu in modern fighting arenas or combat sports.
Continuing with our trend of analysis into the Chinese Martial Arts world, we decided to share our insight into just why is it that you don't see Chinese Martial Arts (A.K.A. Kung Fu) in modern fighting.
But wait a minute - is what you're about to read a list of excuses on why Chinese Kung Fu "doesn't work" or be presented with the overused simplified explanation of "it's not the system but the practitioner" (even if it is partly true)?
No, we're going to try to share exactly why, with legitimate reasons, you simply don't see Chinese Kung Fu in modern fighting arenas or combat sports.
"Practical is not pretty, pretty is not practical." (“杀人的勾当,岂是好看的?”) - Ming Dynasty General Qi Jiguang (戚继光), 1561
There are many Chinese Martial Arts techniques that cannot be found in Sanda Sanshou Kung Fu, or modern combat sports for that matter.
These techniques fit into one or more of the following categories:
1. They're Not Practical (Fraudulent)
Chinese Martial Arts (and other traditional martial arts) have a long history of fraud that, as we all know, continues today.
We've already spent a large amount of time and attention retracing the history of Chinese Martial Arts and its knack for fraudulence and disappointment in an old article we wrote: Where Are The Chinese Fighters?.
So let's cut to the chase quickly: the reason why so many Kung Fu styles or techniques seem to be so ineffective or "fake" is because most "masters" either:
Don't know what they learned,
Never learned the full system,
Only learned from a subordinate student / assistant teacher,
Completely faked their lineage / knowledge,
or otherwise don't know what they're teaching,
or how they're applied.
Of course, fake martial arts "masters" exist in all corners of the world and are not exclusive to Chinese Martial Arts.
Here's a classic example:
Similar to the watering down of martial arts in the western world (Karate and Taekwondo McDojos and McDojangs are common), a significant portion of martial arts teachers simply lack the real skill and knowledge to teach real effective martial arts, or worse, trick students into coughing up their hard-earned money in exchange for fake martial arts.
However, due to the absence of built-in sparring or pressure testing of most traditional Chinese Kung Fu styles, there exists a large, subjective gap between who is deemed a beginner and who is considered an expert, or even "master".
Without a widely accepted model of quality control that is built into the martial art system itself like rolling in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or sparring in Boxing / Muay Thai, anyone can "fake" their Kung Fu skills and pretend to be a "master", without actually being battle tested or needing to spar.
2. Lost In Translation / Misunderstood Techniques
There are also more innocent reasons for ineffective techniques, such as the inaccurate communication/transmission/preservation of techniques that have occurred over generations of being taught from one person to another (i.e. the broken telephone effect).
Again, this type of "lost in translation" is largely made possible by the decline of pressure testing (sparring), and also perhaps the mistranslation of terms from one dialect or language to another such as when taught to a non-native speaker or foreigner.
In addition to language or cultural barriers - actual techniques can be misunderstood as well. Grappling techniques can easily be misinterpreted as striking techniques, and vice versa.
Meanwhile, some techniques are purely there for strength and conditioning (breathing, stances), while others are there just to illustrate a scientific concept (low sinking stances, push hands drills, sticky hands drills, etc.).
This reap could easily be mistaken for some kind of palm strike.
3. Better Alternatives Have Emerged
Chinese Martial Arts / Kung Fu dates back thousands of years, and it has largely remain unchanged, while other martial arts styles have evolved and become more efficient and straight to the point in their usage.
Therefore, there may be a plethora of techniques that aren't necessarily useless but due to changes in technology, environment, and lifestyles, have lost relevance due to the emergence of far better alternatives.
In fact, even martial arts like Boxing and Muay Thai used to look quite sloppy by today's standards - if they can evolve to become better (and in fact, they're still continuing to evolve today), why can’t Chinese Martial Arts?
Boxing and Muay Thai have both evolved significantly over the past century.
4. Kung Fu Has A History Of Being Associated With Performing Arts
Much of Kung Fu has been modified (or are purely there) for performance purposes, in both ancient (for performance) and modern times (due to martial arts being mostly banned for a time in China by the Communist Party).
Chinese Martial Arts has a long history of being closely associated with performing arts, as it provided martial artists with an extra source of revenue and advertising.
Martial artists would often do performances on the street, perform lion dancing (as a traditional, cultural, or religious way to bring good luck and fortune), and qi gong demonstrations as a form of busking, as well as advertisement for their herbal medicines or martial arts lessons.
When we consider the low literacy rates in China for much of its history, it becomes unsurprising that flashy performances and carnival tricks would indeed be effective tools for these purposes.
When the Communist Party of China took over, martial arts were mostly banned from being practiced by civilians, and Kung Fu was turned into Wushu (the performance art).
The military on the other hand, was developing Sanda Kung Fu - the modernized combat sports form of Kung Fu.
5. Real Kung Fu Was Hidden From View, Because They Were Used For Rebellion
The Red Boat Troupe (红船) was an anti-government rebel group during the end of the Qing Dynasty that used Cantonese Opera (粤剧) to conceal their martial arts skills.
Kung Fu styles and techniques were also hidden from view at least at one point in time, because they were used by anti-government rebels to conceal their martial arts skills (a la Capoeira in Brazil).
This association with performing arts continues (and is arguably even greater) today in the form of Kung Fu movies and Wushu taolu (forms).
Many Chinese Martial Arts were simply invented or practiced during a time that was not relevant in today's combat sports atmosphere - because spectator sport fighting with protective equipment did not exist back then.
Martial arts were used back then mostly as a means of self defense from bandits, thieves, or in the military (more on this later).
Therefore, many old Kung Fu techniques include disarming an armed opponent, stopping an opponent from seizing your weapon, assassinating or apprehending an unsuspecting target, and low-intensity scuffles (pushing and shoving as opposed to an actual fight).
7. Kung Fu Styles Emerged From Weapons Fighting, Not Empty Hand Fighting
What many non-practitioners of Chinese Kung Fu seem to not know at all (because many people only judge Chinese Kung Fu on the outside, without actually having studied any Chinese Martial Arts) is that many Chinese Martial Arts styles or systems originated from warfare / military use.
What do we wield during war in ancient times? Well weapons, of course!
A Chinese Martial Arts practitioner explains why Kung Fu stances are the way they are:
Weapons fighting was a part of every day life in ancient times - Wing Chun with Baat Jaam Do (Eight Slashing Knives / Butterfly Knives), Xing Yi with the Qiang (Spear) - as wars, battles, or assassinations that broke out almost always used weaponry.
Qin Na (Chinese Grappling), Eagle Claw Kung Fu or Japanese Aikido / Jiu Jitsu are great examples of this in action. Most of these systems focused on wrist grabs / locks and small joint manipulations to disarm your opponent's weapon, as if you allowed them to unsheathe their sword or knife, you would surely be dead.
8. Kung Fu Techniques Are Illegal
We're deliberately leaving this one to last, as too often it’s used as an excuse for why Chinese Martial Arts often loses against other styles.
MMA allows many Chinese Martial Arts techniques that are banned in Sanda, such as elbows, joint locks, and chokes, yet even then the excuses continue, with eye pokes and groin strikes being most commonly brought up.
The "deadliness" of Kung Fu techniques is an excuse often used by the so-called Chinese Martial Arts "masters" when they are confronted with the reality of fighting.
The reality however, is that "deadly" techniques can't be used in sparring, which means that one can't acquire the skill to apply them effectively under live, resisting pressure. Over-reliance on these techniques, therefore, spells disaster in combat.
This is the same reason why Judo has evolved past Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, because it eliminated almost all of the "too deadly but untrainable" techniques and only left the usable techniques that can be trained with full fighting resistance.
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/sanda-when-kung-fu-created-a-solution-to-its-problems-then-threw-it-away2020-08-05T16:08:00-04:002021-02-03T13:40:16-05:00Sanda: When Kung Fu created a solution to its problems - then threw it awayDynasty Team
Many modern martial arts practitioners or combat sports pundits have critiqued that Sanda / Sanshou (Chinese Kickboxing), a modernized combat sport form of Chinese Kung Fu practiced by the likes ofUFC Women's Strawweight Champion Zhang Weili, orSanshou Kung Fu & MMA Legend Cung Le, as just… Muay Thai kickboxing with Judo throws and western wrestling takedowns.
One such YouTuber in Ramsey Dewey calls Zhang Weili a bit of a "pretender" in that while she may practice Tai Chi, Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling), or Sanda - when she fights, she just uses Muay Thai.
Many people tend to believe this narrative - that Sanda ("Free Fighting" in Chinese) is simply a mashup of techniques 'stolen' from non-Chinese martial arts, and that Sanda isn’t in fact, Chinese Kung Fu at all.
Which begs the question, is Sanda actually a modern culmination of Chinese Martial Arts, or not? And even if Sanda truly came from Chinese Kung Fu - why does no one seem to know or believe this?
It turns out, that somewhere along the timeline of the development of Sanda (Chinese Kickboxing), even Chinese Kung Fu / Martial Arts practitioners stopped believing that it was Kung Fu themselves.
Many modern martial arts practitioners or combat sports pundits have critiqued that Sanda / Sanshou (Chinese Kickboxing), a modernized combat sport form of Chinese Kung Fu practiced by the likes of UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Zhang Weili, or Sanshou Kung Fu & MMA Legend Cung Le, as just… Muay Thai kickboxing with Judo throws and western wrestling takedowns.
One such YouTuber in Ramsey Dewey calls Zhang Weili a bit of a "pretender" in that while she may practice Tai Chi, Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling), or Sanda - when she fights, she just uses Muay Thai.
Many people tend to believe this narrative - that Sanda ("Free Fighting" in Chinese) is simply a mashup of techniques 'stolen' from non-Chinese martial arts, and that Sanda isn’t in fact, Chinese Kung Fu at all.
Which begs the question, is Sanda actually a modern culmination of Chinese Martial Arts, or not? And even if Sanda truly came from Chinese Kung Fu - why does no one seem to know or believe this?
It turns out, that somewhere along the timeline of the development of Sanda (Chinese Kickboxing), even Chinese Kung Fu / Martial Arts practitioners stopped believing that it was Kung Fu themselves.
"Ultimately, the biggest obstacle preventing Sanda from solving CMA's [Chinese Martial Arts] problems is CMA practitioners themselves: if even we don't own it as Chinese Martial Arts, why should anyone else?"
Abstract:
In the 1980s, China modernized Chinese Martial Arts (CMA) to create Sanda (translation: "free fighting").
CMA practitioners have long dismissed Sanda as not being CMA.
Almost every Sanda technique can be found in CMA.
While Sanda has foreign influence, saying Sanda isn't CMA is like saying Sambo isn't Russian.
More work needs to be done to educate ignorant CMA practitioners.
So... what is Sanda?
For a long time, the Chinese government banned the combative practice of CMA among the civilian population, instead only allowing the practice of Wushu Taolu (武术套路), i.e. forms.
While some degree of combative training was maintained in the military and police, it was not until 1979 that the General Administration of Sport of China (国家体育总局) initiated a project to greatly expand and further develop such practices into a modern combat sport for the civilian populace.
After much research and experimentation, this project ultimately culminated in the creation of Sanshou (散手), later renamed Sanda (散打): a full-contact combat sport primarily characterized by punches, kicks, and throws.
After learning Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling) (摔跤) as a child, Chinese National Sanda Team head coach Zhang Genxue (张根学) received his martial arts training in the military while Sanda was still in its early experimental stages.
Given its adoption of the same modern, scientific training methods used by martial arts such as Boxing and Judo, Sanda really should have solved the issues of unscientific mysticism and dogma plaguing CMA by now.
Yet, 40 years on, this clearly isn't the case, otherwise, no one would know who Xu Xiaodong (徐晓冬) was.
Sanda evolved CMA by adopting modern, scientific training methods.
As it turns out, Sanda has struggled to present a CMA identity to the world since its very inception, including towards CMA practitioners themselves.
From the outset of its early development in the 1980s, Sanda was dismissed by CMA practitioners as being "merely kickboxing" (“拳击加脚” - literally boxing plus feet, i.e. kicks).
As UMBC Wushu Club Coach and Jiayoo Wushu writer Matthew Lee pointed out, such a notion is still prevalent throughout the world 40 years on, with labels such as ‘a copy of Muay Thai’ and ‘Muay Thai mixed with Judo’ being commonly used.
In particular, this notion continues to persist in China and the CMA community.
This Google Search result says it all. The translation is as follows:
“Does Chinese Martial Arts still have combative ability? How is it only Sanda and boxing [that can fight] now?”
“What you see right now isn’t even real CMA at all. Firstly, let’s talk about the problem you mentioned in Sanda, Boxing, etc: actually these combat sports/styles are all the same. Sanda is just boxing plus kicks plus…”
As an amateur Sanda athlete, Xu Xiaodong trained under Mei Huizhi (梅惠志), a Shuai Jiao coach and early Sanda pioneer often credited as being the “father of Sanda”.
Ironically, recent years have seen some CMA practitioners conveniently (read: shamelessly) do a complete volte-face in light of the Xu Xiaodong-related incidents, bringing up Sanda to ‘defend’ traditional CMA. As one netizen lamented:
“Tsk tsk, back in the day when Sanda was dismissed as not being CMA, that's not what certain people [i.e. traditionalists] said. How is it that now Sanda has become an excuse to cover up some CMA’s lack of combat effectiveness?”
“啧,当年散打被开除传武籍贯某些人可没有这么说。现在散打怎么就变成有些传武不能打的遮羞布了?”
The Hong Kong Sanda team's head coach calls Sanda a compilation of boxing, Taekwondo, and Judo (in Mandarin).
Finally, as a piece of anecdotal evidence, I personally know Chinese people, including a martial artist (a CMA practitioner in fact), who believed Sanda (and even Shuai Jiao believe it or not) was "Western".
"The basic offensive movements of Chinese martial arts are Ti [踢] and Da [打]; kicks, sweeps, knees, punches, palms, elbows and forearms. Too many minds have been clouded with myths and legends, and with superstition. These basics are in fact “kickboxing.” What else do we call kicking and striking? Attempting to say Chinese Martial Arts is not “just kickboxing” and using the term in the pejorative sense has blinded the basic student to the reality of combat and is one of the reasons why Chinese martial arts is no longer functional for so many."
What most CMA practitioners, including so-called ‘masters’, don't even realize is that almost every single technique in Sanda can be found in various CMA styles. Let’s have a look at some examples.
Furthermore, throat punches, eye pokes, and countless other straight strikes to the head/neck can easily be adapted into jabs and crosses.
Many CMA techniques can be adapted for Sanda via the slightest of adjustments.
Hooks (including check hooks), overhands, uppercuts, spinning back fists, and superman punches are the bread and butter of Cai Li Fo (Choy Li Fut) (蔡李佛).
As permitted by Sanda rules, various parts of the fist are used as the striking surface. This is different from boxing, where only the knuckles may be used.
The last example above involves using the free hand to control the opponent's head. Further examples of dirty boxing can be found in Tan Tui, Yang Style Taiji (杨式太极), and Xingyi (形意).
Round kicks, including leg kicks, are found in Choy Li Fut, Chuo Jiao (戳脚), and Northern Praying Mantis (北螳螂) (0:22, 0:36, 0:47). Although less powerful than Thai-style 'sweeping' kicks, the snappier motion of these kicks makes them harder to catch, making them more suitable for Sanda.
People also tend to overlook the importance of pushing and counter-pushing: a critical skill when fighting on a Lei Tai (擂台), which for real-life application acts as a proxy for all sorts of ledges and tripping/slipping hazards.
Amateur Sanda bouts are fought on a raised platform known as a Lei Tai, continuing a tradition that dates back to at least the Song Dynasty.
I won't even bother with examples for straight punches to the body, parrying, checking, front kicks, sidekicks, oblique kicks, axe kicks, or foot sweeps.
In fact, the only Sanda technique I can think of that cannot be found in CMA is covering/shelling up using the gloves.
Found in countless CMA styles, the side kick (侧踹腿) is one of Sanda’s most characteristic techniques.
Of course, there is still room for improving Sanda’s ability to represent CMA, e.g. by allowing elbows and adopting open-fingered gloves, in addition to a cosmetic repackaging.
However, given that the discussion of educating CMA practitioners about ‘aliveness’ and scientific training methods has already been repeated countless times, perhaps more work also needs to be done to convince them that virtually all of the techniques already used in Sanda are in fact CMA techniques.
So… Sanda is 100% Chinese then?
It is Sanda’s adoption of modern, scientific training methods that sets it apart from Traditional CMA.
Not quite. Sanda has also been significantly influenced by foreign martial arts: its modern training and instructional methods; competition format that allows for efficient pressure-testing; adoption of modern sports science and medicine; and use of protective gear and modern training equipment were all influenced by foreign sources such as Boxing and Muay Thai.
Despite his prior experience as a military combatives instructor and initial successes as a provincial Sanda coach, current Chinese National Team head coach Zhang Genxue still undertook five years of full-time study at the Xi’an Physical Education University in order to continue improving his knowledge and skills as a coach.
However, coming from numerous CMA backgrounds themselves, these developers also knew that the vast majority of the techniques they ended up adopting already existed in various CMA styles (as illustrated previously), hence why they even utilized traditional CMA terminology in naming many of these techniques in their training manuals for a period of time.
China's first Sanda superstar and current professor and head coach at Beijing Sports University, Chen Chao (陈超), continued to use traditional CMA terminology when commentating for the World of Sanda (散打天下) professional tournament.
Additionally, it is known that some teams directly took their kickboxing techniques from indigenous CMA disciplines, rather than foreign martial arts such as Boxing or Muay Thai.
The Guangdong Sanda Team was founded by Choy Li Fut practitioner Zeng Qinghuang (曾庆煌).
Furthermore, even the very concept of referencing other martial arts is not a new concept in CMA: Boxing and Judo were already being introduced to the CMA community during the Republican era; and even before China was a unified nation-state, the Hans, Manchus, Mongols, and other ethnicities often exchanged martial arts ideas with each other.
Thus, to say Sanda is not CMA due to the guidance provided by foreign martial arts would be the equivalent of saying Muay Thai is not Thai and Savate is not French because they were both influenced by English boxing, or Sambo is not Russian and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not Brazilian because they were both influenced by Japanese Judo.
As a friend of mine lamented: “Sanda is truly a mere tool/pawn [of Traditional CMA]. When they have a use for it, they drag it back. At all other times, they kick it straight out.” (“散打真的是[传武的]工具人:用的时候被拉回来,不用的时候他们一脚踢出去。”)
Ultimately, the biggest obstacle preventing Sanda from solving CMA's problems is CMA practitioners themselves: if even we don't own it as CMA, why should anyone else?
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/body-hardening-training-should-you-do-it2020-04-16T15:08:00-04:002022-11-30T18:21:25-05:00Body Hardening Training: Should You Do It?Dynasty TeamLet’s face it. Many of us first stepped into a martial arts school or gym after watching guys in cool uniforms break cement blocks with their hands, feet, and heads. You wanted to learn how to transform your body into an indestructible weapon.
Pretty bad-ass right? But does board breaking and destroying cement blocks actually help for practical self-defense and sport purposes?
This article was contributed by David Liang, MD. You can follow him at@fightingdoc.
Let’s face it. Many of us first stepped into a martial arts school or gym after watching guys in cool uniforms break cement blocks with their hands, feet, and heads. You wanted to learn how to transform your body into an indestructible weapon.
But does board breaking and destroying cement blocks actually help for practical self-defense and sport purposes?
Many striking disciplines certainly seem to think so.
In Chinese Martial Arts / Kung Fu, certain styles incorporate Iron Shirt Kung Fu and Iron Palm training, such as Shaolin, or Praying Mantis Kung Fu.
Karate has Kote Kitae.
Muay Thai fighters spend time conditioning their shins.
Even boxers like the great Manny Pacquiao think body hardening is worthwhile.
I have never heard the man curse before watching this video.
The theories behind these exercises usually involve some combination of “deadening nerves” and “causing microfractures”. And it makes sense at first glance. But aside from anecdotal evidence, is this type of training actually supported by science?
Disclaimer:The following content was created for informational purposes and is not intended to serve as medical advice. Please seek the assistance of your medical doctor or another qualified healthcare provider if you have legitimate health concerns.
1. The practice of martial arts/combat sports will strengthen your bones by increasing your bone mineral density (BMD) as a whole.
There’s plenty of evidence for this in the literature. But what about targeting specific parts of the skeleton? We already know that bone is stimulated to grow when it is put under mechanical strain via muscle contraction (i.e. weight training), impact loading (i.e. plyometric jumps, which have been shown to increase BMD at the hip), or gravity. Benefits have also been noted from low-intensity/high-frequency strain (i.e. vibration exercises which may help bone health in women with osteoporosis).
For our purposes, we can look at the repetitive striking of heavy bags, Muk Yan Jong / Mu Ren Zhuang 木人樁 (Wooden Dummy), and Makiwara Boards as a form of impact loading exercise targeting whichever extremities are being used.
The great Ip Man (Bruce Lee's teacher) practicing with the Wooden Dummy. Note the impact he is placing on his radial forearm bones.
Research has shown that elderly Wing Chun practitioners have stronger radial bones compared to their non-training counterparts. There is also a Russian paper from the 1980s which documents “more intensive development” in certain hand and forearm bones of Karate practitioners compared to boxers and football players (unfortunately I was only able to access the English-language abstract). I was also able to find two studies that compared arm BMD between amateur boxers and non-boxers. Unfortunately, results here were inconclusive, as only one of the studies found a significant difference between the groups.
2. Too much of this type of training may not be the healthiest for you in the long run.
A common theory behind body hardening is that it causes small breaks in the bone which will then stimulate a repair process leading to stronger bones than before. Is this true?
Well, during the first weeks to months after you sustain a fracture, your body starts to create immature bone at the site in the form of a callus. This affords some temporary protection to a vulnerable bone but is still weak at this stage. Eventually, the final repaired product should theoretically be as strong as, or stronger than, the original bone. This is probably why we can see the types of adaptations mentioned previously.
However, the continued accumulation of this micro-damage may actually lead to decreased bone stiffness and strength down the line. As you continue to damage targeted areas of bone, you risk further destabilization as subsequent remodelling cycles will start taking away even the surrounding undamaged regions.
It is unclear exactly how long it would take for this process to occur in humans undergoing body hardening training. But as you can see from the diagram above, the balance between strain that is productive and damage that causes bone destabilization can be a tricky one. Bone micro-damage has also been linked to the development of osteoarthritis.
On that note, I did manage to find one interesting article (again from the 1980s) which found no X-ray evidence of arthritic changes in the hands of 22 karate instructors whose training consisted of Makiwara striking and daily knuckle push-ups. It goes without saying that newer studies looking at this would be welcome.
3. The real key to body hardening may be in your head.
Another common theory is that regular body conditioning “deadens nerve endings”. Let’s first take a step back here.
“Nerve endings” in this situation would refer to the small pain-sensing nerve cells located in your soft tissue called nociceptors. Pain signals are picked up by these cells and transmitted to the spinal cord, where they then travel up to your brain’s sensory processing region.
Techniques that attempt to dampen or desensitize these receptors are currently used by doctors to manage chronic pain. That’s part of the mechanism behind capsaicin cream, a medication which initially causes an unpleasant burning sensation before (hopefully) providing relief.
There is also evidence that norepinephrine, a hormone released when your body is in a “fight-or-flight” response, can inhibit pain. Perhaps this is what’s going on when Manny Pacquiao has his coach repetitively whack his abs with a bamboo stick.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find any studies establishing a solid connection between body hardening and long-term pain desensitization. More research will need to be done in this area... if they are able to find enough willing subjects, that is.
“Deadening nerves” can also relate to the thickening of skin and callus formation along striking surfaces of experienced martial artists and fighters. There is evidence that mature skin cells in a normal outer layer of skin are able to pick up and transmit pain signals. Calluses, on the other hand, are made up of immature/undifferentiated skin cells which may be less responsive to outside stimuli.
However, despite their intimidating appearance, calluses are less elastic than normal skin which makes them prone to tearing if they get too large.
In the end, the answer may just reside inside the mind of the martial artist. It’s known that practitioners and fighters have higher overall subjective pain tolerance than the general population. Perhaps this is due to increased pain thresholds as a result of tough physical training. However, the mental aspect of regular training also cannot be understated. Martial arts teaches mindfulness, proper breathing, and how to stay calm in stressful situations. All of these skills may then improve the ability to cope with pain.
Conclusion:
Should you do body hardening training? There is plenty of reasoning behind it which certainly sounds good. But if you really look into it, the actual scientific evidence is limited. There are not many controlled trials out there that look specifically at targeted body conditioning exercises and whether they are associated with their intended effects. There is also evidence of potential long-term harm.
With that being said, a strong mind is arguably the most powerful weapon a superior martial artist or fighter can possess. If an individual truly believes that body hardening has produced an iron-clad physique without injury, and if that mentality subsequently gives him/her an edge in competition, then by all practical purposes that training has been effective.
However, my recommendation, especially for the newer practitioners, is to just focus on proper striking technique, controlled sparring/drilling, and overall conditioning.
You will be improving bone strength and pain tolerance throughout your entire body simply by practicing your art.
Until next time, keep training hard!
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/kicking-it-old-school-benefits-of-the-kung-fu-horse-stance2020-02-22T13:37:00-05:002022-11-30T18:09:24-05:00Kicking It Old School: Benefits of the Kung Fu Horse StanceDynasty Team
Horse Stance (馬步/马步, or 騎馬立ち, or 주춤 서기) is a pillar of many traditional martial arts (TMA) training regimens.
The concept seems simple. You step your feet out a bit more than shoulder-width apart. Then you lower yourself downward until your thighs are parallel to the ground and your knees are flexed 90 degrees. Keep your torso straight and up, looking straight in front of you. You can hold your arms statically by your sides, or you can throw alternating straight punches. All while remembering to control your breathing. You then proceed to hold this position for as long as your instructor tells you (or when you fall over in pain, whichever comes first).
So what is going on when you perform this exercise?
This article was contributed by David Liang, MD. You can follow him at @fightingdoc.
Don’t look now, but traditional East Asian martial arts have been making somewhat of a comeback over the past several years.
After a span of dominance in combat sports by prototypical MMA styles such as striker-grapplers (Muay Thai & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and wrestler-boxers (Wrestling & Boxing) in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), we have witnessed the rise of more unorthodox fighters who had good success implementing aspects of martial arts such as Karate (Kyoji Horiguchi, Lyoto Machida, Stephen Thompson), Taekwondo (Conor McGregor, Anthony Pettis, Edson Barboza), and even Kung Fu (Zhang Weili, Li Jingliang, Song Yadong, Zabit Magomedsharipov, Tony Ferguson).
In this spirit, we will be discussing why it can be beneficial to incorporate an age-old exercise into your modern combat sports conditioning training: The Horse Stance (and as an extension, all Kung Fu stance training in general).
Horse Stance (馬步/马步, or 騎馬立ち, or 주춤 서기) is a pillar of many traditional martial arts (TMA) training regimens.
The concept seems simple. You step your feet out a bit more than shoulder-width apart. Then you lower yourself downward until your thighs are parallel to the ground and your knees are flexed 90 degrees. Keep your torso straight and up, looking straight in front of you. You can hold your arms statically by your sides, or you can throw alternating straight punches. All while remembering to control your breathing. You then proceed to hold this position for as long as your instructor tells you (or when you fall over in pain, whichever comes first).
So what is going on when you perform this exercise?
The horse stance is an isometric exercise, meaning it generates static contractions of the muscles involved without changing their lengths or the angles of the joints they cross.
Because there is less potential for shearing forces across joints, there is a lower risk for soft tissue injury when compared with the dynamic isotonic exercises (where muscles shorten and lengthen) used in most combat sports training regimens.
Isometric holds can also increase the stiffness of your tendons. The significance of tendon stiffness in athletic performance remains a subject of debate. But it is thought that stiffer tendons may help prevent injury, reduce energy costs of movement, and make it easier to transfer elastic energy from muscles to joints (think of a thick, stiff rubber band vs a flimsy, thin one).
With the horse stance, you get the benefit of working both strength/stability AND flexibility. Your glutes will be firing hard to resist further hip flexion, preventing you from collapsing to the floor in a sweaty heap, and will work with other muscles in the vicinity to rotate your hips outwards. Your quadriceps will be firing hard to resist further flexion of your knees, also preventing you from collapsing in a sweaty heap.
Sports Benefits:
Strong stances improve hip stability, flexibility and muscle endurance. Training stances burn calories and stabilize the human body from head to toe if practiced correctly with diligence and attention to detail.
In a practical aspect, strong stances make your center of gravity lower, and your base harder to knock off balance. Both your ability to throw your opponent and resist takedowns will become greater. Your ability to transfer weight from your feet to your hands when punching as in a cross or hook will noticeably increase.
Holding this position will have good carryover if you train a grappling sport which requires you to maintain a similar squatted position. Meanwhile, your hip adductors, the muscles which bring your legs together, will be getting a great stretch which will help you with your kick flexibility.
In this video clip, Charlene Ho (Houghton) shows us some of the more advanced stances from the Hung Kuen (Hung Gar) style of Chinese Kung Fu:
Aside from the sport benefits, there is evidence that it can be good for the population at large.
A 2019 study by Dr. Zhao and his group showed decreased levels of inflammatory proteins in the joint fluid of elderly subjects with knee osteoarthritis after 1 year of daily horse stance training.
The subjects randomly selected to join the horse stance group also reported statistically significant post-exercise improvements in pain, function, strength, and knee range of motion at 12 and 24 months out when compared to their counterparts who did not perform such training.
Whether you are a serious combat sports athlete, weekend warrior, or just someone looking for a refreshing new way to work some commonly neglected muscles, give the horse stance a try. Stay consistent with it and you are bound to see some kick-ass results!
- Dynasty Team
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https://www.dynastyclothingstore.com/en-ca/blogs/editorial/kung-fu-on-the-cusp-of-a-modern-fighting-resurgence-mma2020-02-15T17:45:00-05:002022-11-08T14:18:31-05:00Is Kung Fu On The Cusp of a Modern Fighting Resurgence?Dynasty Team
In recent years, the combat sports landscape has started to feel the influences of Chinese Kung Fu.
But is it just a ripple, or will it become a wave?
We take a look at some of the most prominent combat sports athletes and fighters that are doing their part in "Making Kung Fu Great Again".
We also give a refreshed outlook on Chinese Martial Arts in the combat sports landscape as it stands today in 2020.
Zabit Magomedsharipov, a Wushu Sanda UFC Fighter (now retired).
Kung Fu Is Back?!
In recent years, the combat sports landscape has started to feel the influences of Chinese Kung Fu.
But is it just a ripple, or will it become a wave?
We take a look at some of the most prominent combat sports athletes and fighters that are doing their part in #MakingKungFuGreatAgain #MKFGA.
We also give a refreshed outlook on Chinese Martial Arts in the combat sports landscape as it stands today in 2020.
Key Players
UFC Women's Strawweight Fighter Zhang Weili has become UFC's first Asian-born / Chinese Champion by knocking out Jessica Andrade in the first minute of the first round back at UFC Fight Night on August 31, 2019. With a nation of 1.4 billion strong behind her, she is a one-woman-army in leading the wave of interest back into Chinese Martial Arts.
Tony Ferguson has made it known publicly on social media that he trains Wing Chun Kung Fu, a southern Chinese / Cantonese style of close range Kung Fu made famous by Bruce Lee and Ip Man. Having the record of most consecutive wins in UFC lightweight history (with 12),Ferguson is widely regarded by pundits as one of the best lightweights in the history of the UFC. He was the interim UFC Lightweight Champion and he will get another chance to become the undisputed UFC Lightweight Champion when he takes on Khabib Nurmagomedov this April in 2020.
Zabit Magomedsharipov, a Shaolin Kung Fu, Sanda / Sanshou, and Wushu Kung Fu practitioner, is unbeaten in the UFC and quickly rising up the UFC featherweight rankings.
But what about Xu Xiao Dong, a retired MMA fighter in China famous for exposing fake snake-oil Kung Fu "masters" by beating him down with his MMA techniques who threatens to derail Kung Fu legitimacy forever?
Can the success of these fighters really be attributed to their Kung Fu training or backgrounds? Dynasty investigates.
A Blueprint: Karate's Resurgence Came First
We remember it wasn’t too long ago that Japanese Karate (derived from the mixture of Chinese Fujian White Crane Fist Kung Fu and Ryukyuan Okinawa Martial Arts) was considered a joke until then-undefeated UFC Light Heavyweight fighter Lyoto Machida knocked out then-champion Rashad Evans to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and made Karate into a serious martial art again.
Lyoto famously shouted: “KARATE IS BACK!” and with that historic win - Karate schools around the world enjoyed a huge resurgence in acceptance as a real legitimate combat art.
Soon enough, everyone started adding Karate training to their MMA game.
Vitor Belfort (UFC LHW Champion), Mauricio Shogun Rua (UFC LHW Champion, PRIDE Champion), Henry Cejudo (UFC FLW Champion, BW Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist), and last but not least, Conor McGregor (UFC FW Champion, LW Champion) all incorporated Karate training into their regimen either to know how to defend against the style or to utilize its attacks to devastating effect.
Many fighters started using the in and out, bouncy, point / precision fighting, one shot one kill style that Karate was known for.
After Lyoto Machida paved the way for Karate in MMA, Karate is now normalized as a legitimate martial art to train in as a combat sports / mixed martial arts fighter.
Other notable Karate fighters in UFC / MMA include Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, Michael "Venom" Page, to name a few.
Even Taekwondo Is Kicking It
While Taekwondo does not have its "definitive" representative like Karate does with the Japanese-Brazilian in Lyoto Machida, Taekwondo's spinning, high flying, flashy kicks are embodied in Raymond Daniels' fighting style, and is also instantly recognizable to the average martial arts fan.
Fighters such as Anderson Silva, Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis, and the aforementioned Raymond Daniels, to name a few, have all brought Taekwondo kicks to combat sports to devastating fashion.
"Whatever Comes From My Fist Is Kung Fu"
We know that the precursor to almost all Asian martial arts is Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu.
No matter if its Karate, Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, etc. - all of their techniques originated in the many forms of Chinese Kung Fu styles that predate them by thousands of years.
So what's holding Kung Fu back? The answer is Kung Fu itself.
We take a deeper look at how Kung Fu holds itself back from modern development - without repeating what we've already covered in our previous blog post Where Are The Chinese Fighters?.
We've refreshed our observations and criticisms of Kung Fu and provided an updated set of solutions to tackle these problems.
Problem #1: Kung Fu is "Fake"?
Our first problem on the list is: Why does Kung Fu seem to always get such a bad rap?
The short answer: Fake snake-oil Kung Fu masters looking to make easy money off unassuming practitioners with their watered-down garbage has ruined Chinese Kung Fu for the rest of the world to enjoy.
If there is no good representative for your martial art, then that martial art style is forever laughed at by others, even though they may never understand the intricacies of the art.
And nobody is ever obligated to find out more about anything, really.
It's up to the art / artist to prove themselves worthy of being paid attention to / taken seriously.
A quick Google / YouTube search and 30 seconds later the average naysayer can be validated in their thoughts that so and so martial art style is weak or "doesn't work".
Especially for Chinese Kung Fu styles, when there is a guy named Xu Xiao Dong (and his training partners) who makes quick short work of supposed Kung Fu "masters" in China in highly publicized beat downs.
These (fake) Chinese Kung Fu masters are being embarrassingly knocked out left and right with ease by a fighter in Xu Xiao Dong who isn't even considered elite level.
On one hand - it's great that Xu Xiao Dong is exposing fake Kung Fu masters for the fraudsters that they are and waking people up to the truth.
On the other hand - this paints an overwhelmingly broad picture that ALL Kung Fu masters / practitioners who practice Chinese Martial Arts must be fake too.
That of course, cannot be true, because of traditional Kung Fu practitioners such as Tim Cartmell, who has applied his knowledge of internal Chinese Martial Arts into the development of his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game.
Tim Cartmell is a BJJ Black Belt and a highly respected author and martial arts instructor. He is known for having a deep understanding of internal Chinese Martial Arts styles including Baguazhang (Eight Trigram Palm - The Art of Circles), Xing Yi Quan (Shape Intent Fist), Taiji Quan (The Ultimate Fist), and more.
Just because a fake Karate master in America is exposed, doesn't mean all Karate fighters are fake.
Similarly, just because one exposes a handful of Kung Fu masters in China, doesn't make Kung Fu fake either.
Ultimately, however, this embarrassing situation in the Kung Fu world brought on by a guy like Xu Xiao Dong, can definitely put a nail into the coffin in discussions surrounding whether or not Kung Fu styles / techniques are legitimate or just fantasy fighting that only works in movies.
Add on the language and cultural barriers at play - and it becomes nearly impossible to decipher and figure out really what's real and fake in Chinese Kung Fu.
Most people take the easiest and quickest assessment - is it being used in combat sports / MMA / UFC? If it's not, we can all collectively assume Kung Fu is not worth looking into altogether.
Problem #2: A Lack of Fighting Intent
What is perceived on the internet will always remain true, even if what is perceived is based on a small scope of extremely bad examples of Kung Fu being demonstrated, yet enlarged with a magnifying glass with the help of the internet.
For the record, we at Dynasty hate fake Kung Fu masters as much as anyone out there.
We jump for joy when a guy like Xu Xiao Dong picks out phony Kung Fu masters that give Kung Fu such a bad name and beat them out of their minds.
However, with that comes a price - and the real Kung Fu guys and girls are the ones paying.
That price - hurts the real Kung Fu styles and techniques from being recognized, developed, respected, and spread to the greater combat sports world.
Let us take a step back at sensationalist headlines on YouTube and other clickbait articles, put on our Devil's Advocate hat and look at things from a different perspective for just a moment:
Xu Xiao Dong is mostly beating up some old, unathletic, untrained martial artists that don't train to fight.
Xu Xiao Dong is using a combination of martial arts (MMA), which when combined, is obviously going to have an advantage over one traditional style of martial art. This is a no brainer.
When a younger individual has shown up to fight in the ring representing Wing Chun or Tai Chi or whatever, they lose to a full contact Muay Thai fighter which is absolutely not surprising considering that these traditional Kung Fu guys lack fight training (not martial arts training) whereas Muay Thai fighters always train to fight as the main component of their martial arts training.
The comparison between styles in these types of scenarios is always going to be apples to oranges.
If we take a young, athletic Mike Tyson-type of guy and put him in a combat Wushu (Chinese Martial Arts) program where he does nothing but extremely hard training consisting of punching and kicking bags and lots of full-contact sparring, and pit him against an average Napoleon Dynamite-type of guy who does nothing but Taebo (no disrespect to Billy Blanks) cardio kickboxing training, the Mike Tyson Wushu guy is bound to clean Napoleon Dynamite's clock out 9 out of 10 times.
Case In Point: UFC newcomer Khaos Williams knocks out UFC Veteran Alex Morono at UFC 247. Little did we know, he studies Wing Chun Kung Fu with his trainer Jeff Wagner. Jeff Wagner shares his backstage chat with famed MMA coach Greg Jackson, the same trainer of UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and Greatest of All Time - Jon Jones.
This is a big difference between how each respective martial arts style differs in their training, conditioning, andintent.
Chinese Martial Arts as a whole suffers from this "intent" problem or a lack of it.
When these Kung Fu practitioners lose in the ring at the hands of the likes of Xu Xiao Dong, it's because they don't train with theintentto get their skills to be good enough at competitive fighting (which is the real problem), not because their style is "weak" or that it "doesn't work".
Sure, some fighting styles like western boxing and freestyle wrestling get to the "fighting solution" faster than others, but it doesn't make something like Taekkyeon or Judo "useless".
It just takes a different path of development - sometimes longer, sometimes shorter depending on the practitioner, the teacher, and the method of training - to get from training (point A) to the application (point B) to sport fighting (point C).
This means these Xu Xiao Dong deathmatches are more telling of these martial artists' training regiment than their actualstyle of fightingsuggests.
Xu Xiao Dong, while beating up old Kung Fu masters and proving that their fighting skills are truly lacking in the world of combat sports is great, this is not much different than taking any average MMA fighter in America and asking them to go to your local strip mall Karate McDojo or Taekwondo McDojang and beating down their head Sensei / Sabumnim instructor.
It's almost a foregone conclusion that your average strip mall martial arts instructor is going to lose to a fighter who fights regularly, and trains to fight regularly.
Xu Xiao Dong beating up old Kung Fu "masters" in China is about as impressive as an MMA guy going to a Rex Kwon Do soccer mom dojo and beating up their Sensei. It's not that big of a deal - and it doesn't automatically mean Karate or Taekwondo doesn't work or isn't effective either. Context is everything.
Problem #3: The "Self Defense" / "Health Benefit" Argument (Excuses) Need to Die
As mentioned earlier, the majority of these Kung Fu schools / styles simply do not train with the intent of sports fighting in mind - which depending on who you ask either isn't a problem or a huge problem.
For our intents and purposes, since we are talking about fighting, we do consider this a huge traditionalist problem - one that fundamentally poisons the integrity and legitimacy of Kung Fu training.
If you're going to train a martial art just for the purposes of art, or for health benefits only, and not the martial part of it, then forget martial arts training, what we're really subjecting ourselves to then is just learning a form of dance.
Why go through all that trouble? Just take up Yoga, or acrobatic / stunt martial arts or something, and quit pretending we're training a martial art for "fighting".
Just learn sport wushu or movie martial arts. There's nothing wrong about performance martial arts, they look great, you still get all of the health benefits, and it looks like you could kick a whole lot of ass while doing it.
Another one of the most common if not most common "reason" given by Kung Fu practitioners in losing real fights is of course - the "my art is too deadly" excuse.
We don't buy that, of course.
Sure, the intent of training most types of Kung Fu is for self-defense, but good or even great self-defense should directly translate (and be a reflection) of fighting effectiveness for combat sports.
Chinese Martial Arts prides itself on being "used to kill", "not to fight".
Again, while that is ideal and all, and most certainly true during the time they were first invented... we're talking about the modern martial arts landscape here.
Claiming that the old arts were "perfect for what they were at the time" doesn't mean there cannot be a modernized version of it that exists today. Not wanting to modernize something is just pure laziness or admission that the martial art probably sucks.
Case in point: Japanese Jiu-Jitsu and Judo.
We've already learned that the development of the "Judo" branch of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu actually went on to become more effective and beat the old "traditional" Jiu-Jitsu when it came to fighting.
Jigoro Kano - Founder of Judo
Specifically, because the style of Judo was allowed to develop itself through sparring / fighting with full resistance as a sport, their techniques refined themselves through trial and error, and its practitioners became not just martial artists but combat athletes that were fight-ready.
What this ultimately taught us was this: A great "sport" martial arts equated to a great self-defense art (most of the time anyway - sport Taekwondo for example, on the other hand, went too far on the other end of the spectrum and is a lost cause).
Chances are, if you can't use it in a real fight with a 100% resisting opponent who's out there to take your head off or kill you, you can't use it for the "street" either.
Don't get us wrong, however, a sport is just a sport. It's not like you're allowed to grab a man's genitals while in full guard.
Yes, in a real fight there are no rules unlike sport fighting - we're highly aware of that.
Yes, there are eye gouges and groin attacks in self-defense oriented martial arts / Kung Fu and you can get very good at them and be able to fight off many threats.
However, those types of attacks only consist of maybe 10% of any martial art style or fight scenario. How many ways can you "self-defense" someone to death?
At the end of the day, you still need to cover the other 90% with real fighting skills.
And what's stopping a well-rounded combat sports athlete from putting you into a bad position and eye-gouging / groin attacking YOU?
The answer is none, so you "better train every part of your body" - as Bruce Lee once said.
Problem #4: No Sport / Self-Correcting Mechanism (Sparring / Fighting) In Kung Fu Perpetuates Fake Masters
Sparring or competitive fighting isn't encouraged in many Kung Fu styles due to some of these lesser-known reasons:
Kung Fu is an umbrella term that means "all martial arts". But particularly for Wing Chun Kung Fu, this style used to be a "gentleman's" martial art that was practiced by the rich or noble who had spare time and money only.
The rich wouldn't want to hit each other in the head or face and cause unnecessary injury or visible harm to themselves as they still need to go out and appear at public functions and parties.
Thus, Wing Chun masters created an easier way to spar without hurting each other - Chi Sao (Sticky Hands) drilling - which mimics the techniques and hand sensitive movements / hand fighting you would use for sparring / fighting but at a controlled state - similar to "randori" in Judo or "rolling" in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
The problem with this, however, is that Chi Sao over the years has overtaken "real" sparring in Wing Chun and creates a false sense of security since practitioners only do Chi Sao training but not real sparring.
Bareknuckle Techniques: Most forms of Kung Fu are practiced without protective gear / barehanded.
In fact, it is often difficult to practice the same barehanded / bare-knuckle techniques effectively and use it with full force and killing intent if one uses protective gear or gloves.
Not only that, it would "sportify" (Judo) it's originally deadly techniques intended to kill (Jiu-Jitsu).
While these reasons are legitimate, because sparring isn't that commonly encouraged in Kung Fu aside from Sanda / Sanshou, fake Kung Fu masters can exist in any corner of the world because they can always choose not to fight.
As long as they're good with their forms, know a few interesting Kung Fu "magic tricks" like Chi Sao / Sticky Hands or Tai Chi Push Hands, they never have to prove any of their stuff even works in live combat.
Unlike a martial art such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for example where sparring happens in every single class (although maybe not for long as it is being watered down today as well) - Kung Fu or Chinese Martial Arts does not promote a sparring / fighting culture where fraudsters eventually get beaten up and weeded out of the community.
As a result, these fake masters linger around, open their own schools to make money, and perpetuate "fakeness" and mediocrity in the Kung Fu community.
The solution?
Get modernized sparring gear designed for bare-knuckle fighting like a Kudo (Karate and Judo) astronaut helmet and start sparring each other harder / with aliveness.
Furthermore - there is too much "respect" or "face-saving" culture within the Chinese Martial Arts world in that practitioners aren't encouraged to go full contact with each other - and this needs to change.
If Kung Fu can be more widely promoted as a national combat sport under an organized body - such as by the Chinese government - we would start seeing these changes happen.
But until that happens, the only way Kung Fu can get its shine and recognition worldwide is most likely in modern Mixed Martial Arts.
Kung Fu Awaits It's Big Modern MMA Star
For the last few years, Tony Ferguson is (and has already begun) on the cusp of making the same resurgence happen for Chinese Kung Fu as Lyoto Machida did for Karate.
He is helping to garner renewed interest in a Southern Chinese close-range striking style known as Wing Chun.
He has been the only fighter so far to utilize Wing Chun in modern combat sports - at the highest level in fact - in the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
With his mix of western boxing, Wing Chun trapping hands and elbows, an amateur wrestling background, plus top of the food chain No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the 10th Planet Eddie Bravo school, Tony Ferguson is a force to be reckoned with.
Master Wong Shun Leung (student of Ip Man, Kung Fu brothers with Bruce Lee) a.k.a. "The King of Talking Hands" showing Wing Chun elbows in the Biu Tze (Darting Fingers) form.
Wing Chun is also being made famous by celebrity practitioners - most notably Robert Downey Jr. of Marvel / Iron Man fame.
He recently appeared on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and talked about how Wing Chun Kung Fu saved his life and gave him mental focus.
Joe Rogan & Robert Downey Jr. video clip talk Wing Chun Kung Fu.
Before Tony Ferguson made Wing Chun work in the UFC Octagon, however, there came arguably the greatest Asian combat sports fighter of our time in Sanshou Kung Fu legend Cung Le.
Cung Le was undefeated in Sanshou Kung Fu kickboxing and was the former Strikeforce Middleweight World Champion in MMA.
He proved pretty early on the effectiveness of Chinese Kung Fu. For it is not the style, it is the man behind the style.
Or as Donnie Yen in Ip Man said: "It's not the style. It's you."
While Cung Le first blazed a trail for Sanshou Kung Fu, Zabit Magomedsharipov is now the one continuing that trailblazing for Sanshou with his in-ring work inside the UFC Octagon.
Kung Fu Techniques Are Everywhere, Just Unnoticed or Unattributed
As Lyoto Machida showcased to the world, a martial art style is only as good as it's representation / best representatives. If it weren't for Lyoto Machida, Karate would not have made a resurgence in modern combat sports today.
The same goes for Kung Fu and Kung Fu techniques.
Kung Fu techniques are actually utilized in the combat sports world / MMA every day by fighters such as UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and former two-weight division UFC World Champion Conor McGregor, except no one knows they are Kung Fu techniques.
Jon Jones is the Greatest Kung Fu Fighter of All Time. He is the Grandmaster of trapping elbows, knee stomp kicks, shoulder strikes, shoulder and elbow busting locks, and finger jabs (eye pokes). This is not a joke or sarcasm - Kung Fu really works in real fighting when done correctly.
Jon Jones' stomp kicks can be found from Wing Chun Kung Fu and his fist to trapping elbows, shoulder / elbow breaking clinch techniques can be found in Feeding Crane Fist Kung Fu.
Conor McGregor's slapping hand counter left punch (Pak Sau / Da) is Wing Chun Kung Fu, his darting in and out stance is Fujian White Crane Fist Kung Fu, and his shoulder strike technique can be found in Kung Fu styles such as Ba Ji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) and Feeding Crane Fist Kung Fu as well.
Even the Cuban Olympian and UFC Middleweight contender Yoel Romero arguably uses Kung Fu techniques. His "broken rhythm" striking style where he lulls you into a false sense of security (slow speed) before he explodes without warning (fast speed), and from different awkward angles, is reminiscent of the Drunken Boxing Kung Fu style where having no rhythm and no pattern is the key.
This was especially apparent in his recent fight against Paulo Costa, where he was displaying arguably the "modern" version of the Drunken Boxing Kung Fu style (also made famous by Muhammad Ali) - the "rope-a-dope" technique. Yoel Romero was making Paulo Costa miss a lot of his shots with his awkward movement and rolling of the punches.
Or how about taking a look at the Drunken Master himself, Emanuel Augustus:
Until famous combat fighters come along and claim they've used Kung Fu techniques in the cage, the general mainstream public will still cling onto the primitive thinking that belonged to the year 2000's - the belief that MMA only consists of Boxing, Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, and Muay Thai.
Oh, how far we've come since The Ultimate Fighter Season 1.
In the case of people like Xu Xiao Dong, instead of using "MMA" (which itself is not a style, but a mix of styles) to beat up old non-athletic, non-competitive useless snake-oil Kung Fu masters (which is extremely easy to do), we would actually like to see him do something more challenging:
Which is to take young, athletic kids into various Kung Fu styles (Wing Chun, Hung Gar, Tai Chi, Ba Ji, Xing Yi, Bagua, etc.) and bring those techniques into the modern age and make it applicable for MMA, so these arts can finally get recognition for their techniques that they deserve.
Doing that would be doing a much bigger service to Kung Fu / Chinese Martial Arts, and the global martial arts community in general, instead of kicking it down.
Kung Fu Needs To Evolve
Bruce Lee, the Godfather of MMA, was the first to mix all martial arts styles together along with his Wing Chun Kung Fu base, to create the MMA of its time - Jeet Kune Do (JKD) - The Way of the Intercepting Fist or Foot.
Let this be a message to all practitioners out there of Chinese Martial Arts / Kung Fu:
We must do better. We must be better.
We must train the arts with the intent to fight with it, with the intent of killing with it, and train with the intensity and purpose of that of a professional combat sports athlete.
We must spar full contact, learn to adapt, evolve, and use it effectively for the modern era of fighting.
That is the only way we can keep Kung Fu alive, relevant, and real.