Taking Martial Arts Classes Online Good Or Bad?

July 24, 2014 By admin 2 Comments

Martial Art Classes All Over The Internet

Image displaying an arm triangle choke (side choke) from a standing position (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I remember back around 2006 I started noticing more and more martial art videos on YouTube. Even back then I was wondering if martial art classes online was a good thing or a bad thing. I saw some really good videos and I saw some pretty bad videos.

The thing that stuck out the most to me though was how amazing it was that for the first time in history a person could literally learn from someone on the other side of the planet. So, is taking martial art classes online good or bad?

To answer this question you first have to ask yourself are you the type of person who can be self motivated or do you require someone standing over you telling you what to do and when to do it.

There is no right or wrong answer to that question. It’s simply a matter of what works best for you. If you are the type of person that works best with someone constantly looking over your shoulder and making sure you are doing things right. Maybe taking martial art classes online isn’t for you.

However, if you happen to like me you have been watching martial art youtube videos and have been practicing the information you have learned. I have been training for the past 26 years in martial arts. With instruction and without.

I can say that if you are the type of person that will go practice on your own than you can absolutely find value in martial art classes online. As in most things in life. Make sure that if you do decide to start training online that you find a teacher that has lots of experience. [Read more…]

Fake Kung Fu Vs Real Kung Fu

April 23, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Knowing The Difference Between Real Kung Fu And Fake Kung fu

Recently I was trolling YouTube looking for interesting martial art videos and I came across some that made me sit back and really re – think if something is real or not. First realizing just how powerful our minds are. Our mind does exactly what we tell it to do. I’ve been looking at different clips of people who are getting slammed for teaching what they are teaching because some martial artists call it fake. I disagree, none of it is fake. It’s really a matter of perception.

For example this clip

While I will totally agree that what this person is doing will never work on a real fighter who is out for blood or anyone who refuses to let their mind become open to suggestion. What I think people are missing is the reality that some people not only buy into it. It actually works on them.

Therefore to call it fake isn’t 100% accurate. What has me concerned more than anything about these video, is he clearly has a school of students that are buying into his mumbo jumbo. I feel bad for his students who go out there and try and use those skills in an actual fight.

A good example of the same thing being done is in this video. [Read more…]

Chi Sao Demo, Lesson On Chi Sao Understanding Sticky Hands

February 11, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

In many Wing Chun circles there is much talk about what is proper chi sao vs what is not proper chi sao. If we look on YouTube we find tons of samples of people doing bad chi sao or worse people thinking chi sao is actually sparring.

In a previous article I talked about What Is Chi Sao.

In this article I want to show you what I feel chi sao should look like. I am not a big fan on filming myself doing kung fu. However, my sifu did a really good lesson on it and I wanted to do the intro to the the lesson justice.

Chi Sao Is Important For Stress Testing Your Skill

While Chi Sao isn’t exactly fighting if you are practicing with an aggressive partner you can experience a real adrenaline dump. These things are nasty. Your body locks up in many cases you even get scared.

Essentially when an adrenaline dump happens your chi sao skill goes out the window. Chi Sao training can help teach you breath control and pressure control. Only a novice practitioner thinks chi sao is actually fighting. Besides the fact that in Chi Sao you start with your hands connected, in a real fight you are not connected.

Chi sao has fixed patterns, therefor depending on your partner you could be training repetition rather live energy. So there are many factors that go into chi sao.

Make no mistake though, a person who is very good at chi sao is also more than likely a very competent fighter.

There is a saying:

Don’t box a boxer

In order for Wing Chun to work, a wing chun practitioner has to use their skill vs using brute force. Wing Chun is a counter attacking system. I know you see lots of videos online where wing chun fighters are doing the attacking. I don’t believe it’s how it was meant to be used. Wing chun is devastating from a counter attacking position.

The skills you learn in chi sao can be applied the moment the energy calls for it. As Bruce Lee said, when it attacks it attacks all by itself…….