Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Ego

Martial arts Teachers are some of the nicest people I have ever meet. I would say just about everyone I have ever known in the arts has been a perfect gentleman or lady. However, there are those who only seek to be famous in the Arts and those few are some of the most devious people I have ever meet. I am glad to say the percentage is very low, but they do exist, and you should be aware of them.

You should be able to tell if you meet a Teacher who seems to be trying to prove how great he or she is. If you spot one of them just leave the school because your in for nothing but trouble and extremely bad teachings that do not agree with our Kung Fu ethics which 99% of us believe in and live by. A True Master is a pure gentleman in every sense of the word. But there are those who only want to be recognized as the Best in the arts. They will claim they have privy information no one else has or special skills nobody else processes. Or they will boast of being the toughest and unbeaten fighter there is. They will lie and cover the truth so as to get you to think how great they are, and how lucky you are to be able to join their school.

However, a true master is modest, caring and has a gentle nature. They have nothing to prove to anyone. They stand by their well earned reputation and associations which will verify their skill level. Once you meet a true Master you will feel his or her warmth and good character. On the other hand when meeting a egotistical so called Master their ego will be easy to see. But beware, some of them can be very cunning as well, and will do most anything to make you believe theirs is the best system and they are the only ones who have such a high rank or status in the arts.

It is sad for me to say this, as most all the people I know in the Martial Arts are really wonderful people who have shed their ego and have come to realize their own shortcomings and are always at work to make themselves better yet and do all they can to help those who seek true martial arts training.

Just like any other profession there will always be the bad apple in the group, just because someone claims to be this or that does not make them good people. So when thinking of joining a school ask to see the head Master, if he/she makes you feel welcome and has what appears to be a gentle and kind personality then chances are they are just fine and you can learn from them very well. But if that person seems gruff and mean or boasting about his title or skills and putting down others Masters or schools you should head for the door and find another school.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Yes, we are Dinosaurs, and we are Proud of It!

The commercial Martial Arts associations call us Dinosaurs, and we do love it, that's just what we want to be, the Old School. They say we should wake up and treat our schools a business and back away from the old way of doing things. But the truth of the matter is we are not a Business we are a Family of devotees that love the old ways of teaching and dealing with all aspects of our ancient arts.

Commercial schools would have you believe their way is best to earn tons of money and hundreds of students. But a Traditional School does not think that way. Money has never been our goal in teaching but rather finding people who have a love for this art and its old ways of doing things, which in my opinion has a quality about it that commercial schools have lost along the way. They tell you we have our head buried in the sand of time and refuse to change with the times. And I agree with that and love it. Traditional Martial Artists are not interested in the number of students as much as they are interested in the quality of students, not how much they can gain from ripping people off for every little thing the offer.

Now commercial schools have many big name Martial artists behind them, and to this I say they Sold Out the Old Ways, and more then likely it was for some monetary gain. I would rather close my schools then ripe people off. I love teaching, so I can help people find their way through the hard road we call life. Money was never a motive for my Master nor is it for me.

ACCS is a unique school that focuses on quality of teaching and helping people even those with little or no money. You can not buy anything from us you don’t earn, that means rank. Where as in many commercial schools if you got the money you will get the Black Belt after they take you for all they can. In traditional schools we don’t even charge for promotions that you earn, but you wont get it if you don’t meet the standards no matter how much money you offer.

Commercial associations contact me almost on a daily basis trying to get me to join in their associations telling me how much money I can make if I follow their prescribed way of doing business. My answer is always the same NO Thanks! I would rather close my schools then submit to ripping people off for every penny I can get from them or having collection agencies going after delinquent students. In a Traditional School this never happens. If you don’t pay we try to help you and work with your finances so you can continue in your training without worry. It is always The Students Word of Honor and Our word of Honor that is the basis of the relationship between the student and the Master.

As I have always told my up and coming Black Belts, which we call Laoshr Levels in Kung Fu, " If you want to be rich then don’t become a Teacher of this Art." Money is never the objective rather, it is a means to preserve what we hold near and dear to our heart, namely passing the arts and all its traditions on to the next generation of people. It has survived that way for thousands of years and I am not about to change what I have been taught from my Masters. I can sleep at night knowing I have never cheated anyone out of money, but rather have given them the gift of our art to help them in develop the Mind Body and spirit development.

Yes, I am a dinosaur, and I love it and those that train in a traditional schools will say the same. There is a love there between the Master and his students that money can not buy. There is a respect there for what our Masters taught for generations and remains the same to this day. We are not progressive, we are constant in our approach to teaching and spreading the Real Meanings of this art and one of them is not ripping people off.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Can Martial Arts Books Teach You?

I can say the answer right off with ..NO! books can not teach you how to do a Martial Art. Books don’t teach only human can do that. But books can help you in many ways to better understand the vast world of Martial Arts. Bruce Lee had an extensive library, and I also have a hugh library I have collected over the years, but I can say it was my Teachers who showed me the moves and corrected my errors, not the books.

If you are now training with a Teacher then books can be useful to read and better understand history, or theories of movement. I wont say that books are useless because they are not, they can be great help to better understanding of styles and systems. It like when you go to high school, you have to buy the books, but it is the Teacher not the books that grades you and corrections you misunderstandings.

However, having said all that, there are some wonderful martial arts books out there that have be written that can very enlightening while in training with a legitimate school of learning. Some of these books titles I will mention in future writings for those who may be interested in which books are well worth reading. Some books are pure garbage and a waste of your money to buy, believe me own a few of those myself, these books served me well in starting a cozy fire in my fireplace on cold nights.

I am often asked, What if there is no schools near me then what?, can books be of help? I still hold to my comment, not really. Books can not correct you and to learn Kung Fu skills you need the presence of a Teacher to correct the many error new practitioners have in starting out. I have always told my students, If your Kung Fu is Bad, don’t use it, it would be better to fight the way you always fought, because bad kung fu will not work against a polished street fighter.

I love books so please don’t get me wrong, I am an avid reader and much of what I have read has illuminated my thinking in many ways. But this does not have anything to do with actual fighting skills which I learned under the eye of my Masters criticism and corrections.

I always tell me students to study which means reading, because knowledge is good and can certainly help in better understanding of complicated theories and or Kung Fu history which can become clouded at times. Books do have a place in the Arts but not for teaching a beginner basics, Absolutely nothing replaces a Teacher standing there looking at your moves and making the adjustments to your errors. Books will never correct your mistakes, and it is these mistakes that will cause you to lose in an encounter.

If there is no school near you may have to travel as I did over my years of training. I went as far as China and Taiwan to find the best Teachers of the day. Oh by the way, my last Master Chang Tung Sheng had little or no library to speak of. He was not a book man, as most great masters are not, they learned the old fashion way, Hard work, sweat and injuries under the eye of their Masters.

Some will argue books can teach you, well maybe some things for sure, but the arts requires a certain type of movement that can only be taught by hands on experience under the eye of your Teacher. So if you serious about learning the true Art don’t expect him/her to come to you, you must seek out the Master if you really wish to learn...... then read all you want..........

Monday, July 20, 2009

People Just Don't Know the Truth

I don’t like to mention names, so I wont. I could easily point to names of so called Masters who are nothing but failed students who wish to make a name and money for themselves. I have had many so called instructors come to my school asking for instruction which is not unusual, having taught Teacher levels before, so this was not unusual, but when I saw the skill level of these so called instructors I thought my eyes failed me.

The basics of our Art were almost totally absent, and after asking them to take a simple stance I proved it to them by dropping them in their tracks. The very core of our teachings was absent, yet they were out there somewhere teaching unsuspecting students who would not know one stance from other unless taught properly. It is sad to think how our Art could be so badly represented, yet it is, and the newly inducted into the Arts suffer the loss of learning the true skills that comes with years of practice under the eye of a qualified Master.

I often tell beginners, you can learn the Art, even a child of two can learn this Art, WITH 50 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. True skills are not instantaneous, it is knowledge gained and nurtured with years of experience, making the moves true to form. But if you really love what you doing then you don’t worry about how much time anything with take, you simply enjoy the journey, loving each passing year.

I started this Blog to get the attention of the public, for as a devoted follow of the Arts, my only wish is to see our Art spread to the public in its true form. Let the public beware and choose carefully if you really wish to learn the Arts as they were intended to be learned.

Check out the school thoroughly and ask for references and their lineage. Then make the effort to check it out what you find. If they are good you will find out and if bad you will find that out to.

If you find the right Master, they can change your life for the better, if you find the wrong teacher you gain little in the way of true skills, but for sure you will lose money and your precious time......


As they say, a True Master is like a candle, he exhausts himself in shedding the light of knowledge...

Low Level Instructors

With the advent of Kung Fu in American along with that came many low level teachers. Some are becoming so called Black Belts in four to five years. If you got enough money just about anyone can now attain rank and call themselves Teachers. But the truth of the matter is it takes many years before one can call them self a Teacher. Reaching a Black Belt level is really just the start, not the finish of learning. In traditional schools it can take up to Ten Years before one is called a Teacher and even then they are not fully qualified in there teaching methods. In traditional schools a Teacher is made after many years and even then they stay with their Master until he or she feels they are ready to take on students of their own. Only after the Master sees just how they are teaching and passing on the Arts will they truly be acknowledged as qualified Teachers. If a person tells you they are a Teacher, always ask how many years have they been teaching and how long it took them to archive the level of Teacher, look for long periods of time, a few years just don’t make it in the Arts. Teaching is so much more then just showing moves, anyone can do that. Never settle for some young kid in the Arts, look for the Teacher who has years behind him or her and can be verified with their Master.