My wife and I made our trip to the Philippines to bring our children home, but the rules seem ton have changed while we were in the process, so we had to leave without our children, which sucks. I do not have the words to express the anger I still feel over the way that…
Day: April 2, 2008
More Psuedo Masters
Okay, maybe this is a knee jerk “shoot myself in the foot” type of reation, but I cannot let some stupidity go. I have been trying, for just over one year to begin a kung fu club at the Watauga Community Center. I have been unable to get their highly qualified staff to show the…
Those were the days!
I was going through some old pictures, and I came across a picture taken the moment I got home from my test to move from “Probationary” 1st degree black belt, to “Decided” 1st degree black belt. Now, there are many and more organizations who do not divide up the black belt ranks to this extreme,…
Modern Students and Instructors
There are many modern martial artists who love nothing more than to speak ill of modern martial arts students. I do not like to follow this line of thinking. But, for the purposes of discussion, (feel free to email and discuss any topics with me, as some of you already do), I am going to…
Methods of Generating Power
When one decides to follow the path of the martial arts, as a beginner, there are many false notions which will usually fall away with time. One of these notions is the idea of one style being superior to another style. While this attitude is to be expected, it is immature. Advanced martial artists can…
Fraud
Most martial arts instructors have their hearts in the right place. They are teaching the martial arts out of a genuine love for the martial arts, and a heartfelt need to share this wonderful gift with others. There are, however, many frauds out there. If one is not careful, these people will rob you blind….
The Bottom Line
I posted this a while back on a kung fu forum. I found it again, and it moved me so much I decided to transfer it here.First, and probably most important – Never sacrifice family for any amount of skill in any art or system. Skill in the martial art of your choice is a…
The History of Hung Gar, pt. 2
Picking up where we left off…However, there are two books, written around the time of Bodidharma, and history has attributed authorship to Bodidharma. One is called the Yi Jin Jing, and the other is called the Xi Sui Jing. The Yi Jin Jing, or “Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic” is a book detailing a series of exercises…
The History of Hung Gar, pt. 1
History for me has always been something that I love. So, after years of studying and training Kung Fu I searched for the history of my style only to find a lot of nonsense, and too many lies and legends. There is no way for me to write the authoritative and accurate account of the…
Random thoughts
I began my martial arts journey, really as a child. I saw TV rasslin’, and thought it was real. I remember thinking that those guys must be the toughest guys in the world, to take that kind of a beating every day. I wanted to be that tough. My brother and I were always rough…
Soft Serve
In the world of martial arts, there are some pretty funny ideas. In the 1970’s, there was not a lot of Chinese martial arts (authentic) to be had. Most of what was out there was of the Northern Shaolin variety. The Southern Shaolin martial systems are very different in structure, philosophy, and execution. The common…
Old and New
Many martial artists use the categories of “old school” and “new school” to build themselves up, and put others down. It is usually the people who are putting the others down who will label themselves as “old school”. Another term used frequently in putting down a martial arts school is “McDojo” or “McKwoon” or “McDojang”….
My Support
Every once in a while I need to get all mushy… I owe all that I have to one person. My Wife. My wife is the one person, more than anyone else in my life, who figures in all that I do. She makes me stronger than I really am, and better than I really…
Our Future
It is often said that “children are our future”. I work with youth, almost exclusively. The organization I work for teaches martial arts to at-risk youth as an alternative elective, or PE credit. We are a part of their regular daily class schedule. They see us as often as their math teacher. I ran, and…
Basic Training
Most martial artists claim some form of stance training as part of their daily routine, but few really practice it. I had a student show up early for a class, and they caught me in the early stages of my daily stance training. Here is how I go through it – I assume a low…
Wallace Smedley 