[quote]Vash wrote:
Elaikases wrote:
Sifu wrote:
There is a few more I could get into. Basically as the old guard had died off it has caused new fractures because their successors were way junior to guys who actually studied with Shimabuku. Plus there have been other guys who were senior students of American teachers.
Plus there are some other masters who were a little less senior but veritable encyclopedias of the system and have fighting reputations.
And I thought Shotokan had it bad with the splits. I’d always thought of your style as one that had less fracturing, being newer.
lulz. The more ego, the more self-agrandizing is going to occur.
I prefer to work out with anyone, regardless of style, who can teach me something.
A sad thing about the Isshinryu splits is the style changing so much from what Shimabuku intended, not so much in technique, which is a natural morphing, but in learning style. His stuff was presented in a modern way, but hinted at the older, pre-1900 traditions.
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The worst thing that has happened to Isshinryu has been the influx of people from other philosophies like Tae Kwon Do people and the tournament scene. Long ranging kicks and punches like the TKD people favor is not what Isshinryu is about. The deep heavy stances that get trophies at tournaments are an abandonment of Isshinryu’s most important core philosophy, which is natural body positioning and movement along with shorter lighter stances that allow faster movement and manueverability.
To be blunt there has been a lot of crap that has crept in from other sytems. This is why those original students of Shimabuku and some of their students are important to study from, because they represent the system before it got bastardized. Preserving that original philosophy is important. It’s why a certain amount of tradition can be a good thing, because you don’t lose something important to fads or fashion.
The system as originally designed was meant to be right on top of the other guy. That is why there is so much joint locking and counter grappling moves in it. It’s also why kicks never went above the groin, because we were supposed to be too close to go higher and taking the other guys base out from underneath him makes him powerless. Also when used in combination with hands it results in a high low high low attack which is more complicated for the brain to respond to.
The groin kicks which we do use as a normal part of our in class sparring would have a lot of people in MMA crying foul. This is one of the things that I find real offensive about the attitude of the MMA cheerleaders on this board. A swift kick to the nuts is street fighting 101. A lot of people don’t know how to do a sukaraba or an omaplata but they know hit him in the nuts. Keeping a guy in your butterflys may work in the octagon but that groin is a very inviting target in a street fight.
Personally I have nothing against MMA. I really enjoy watching a good fight. What I don’t like though is the attitude. Especially all the kids who think that just because they do MMA they all of a sudden are Fedor or Rampage. Those guys are who they are because they have talent.
Another important thing is this. It was TMA people who brought MMA to the US. The first article I ever read about Gracie Ju Jitsu was an article in a magazine about Chuck Norris and how he was studying Gracie Ju Jitsu. This same article is where I learned about the Gracie challenge where they were going to take on all comers in a competition called The Ultimate Fighting Championship.
So what gets old is the retarded mentality of the MMA people and the constant dissing of any style that isn’t their style. MMA never would have come to this country if it wasn’t for TMA people bringing it here. The first MMA competitions never would have happened without TMA people to compete in them. The first MMA competitions never would have gone anywhere without TMA people to form the audience. TMA is the foundation that MMA, UFC, WEC, etc… is built upon. It wasn’t boxing or wrestling that brought MMA here, it was TMA.
To get back to the original point of this thread. Healing arts were a traditional part of martial arts. Four of my teachers were naturopathic doctors. They had all kinds of neat treatments for martial arts injuries. The Shaolins were the ones who perfected accupuncture. The Shaolin accupuncture is way more advanced than the basic accupuncture they teach in the medical schools in China and over here. Another thing the Shaolins were good with was herbs.
It’s too bad the traditional gets such a bad rap around here, because it has a lot more depth to it than something that is so narrowly focused as MMA. It’s really pathetic too, because I don’t see the MMA guys coming up with anything to contribute to this thread even though the ability to treat martial arts injuries should be something they need as much as anybody.
