bonjour, pourriez-vous mettre les traductions en français s'il vous plaît car j'ai du mal à tout comprendre. C'est dommage car ce que vous faites est très intéressant.
I came to traditional Chinese martial arts when I moved to Sweden from Ireland and met my teacher who had lived in Malaysia for a few years and is a direct disciple to a tai chi master. Apart from 7kg of muscles 😅 the most change for me has been on the personal level as well. I was a meek shy guy and I became someone not afraid to voice an opinion and stand for what I think. I hopefully never have to use the martial aspect of my training but daily I use the positive influence it’s had on me as a person to help others and not be afraid to raise my voice.
I think one of the over-looked benefits of traditional styles is politeness and respect. I can say with confidence that politeness and respect have gotten me out of more sticky situations than fighting has. In fact, fighting is more likely to you INTO a sticky situation. That's not something you would usually learn from a modern "self defense" class that gives you a hammer and tells you everything is a nail.
Always great to see and hear your thoughts on this topic. As someone who has done the same; started practicing in my home country and then lived in HK and China; I think traditional martial arts has a lot more going for it, than just "how good are you in a fight?" or "Your methods and sparring don't work." Chinese martial arts have added so much more to our lives and you make so many more connections and relationships than just rivalries. You develop yourself. Truly the meaning of 功夫. "功夫 = Hard work or skill." If you break down the characters to a more philosophical meaning, I know Sharif Bey likes to say, "Human Excellence." That's not to say you won't build community in an MMA or boxing gym. But those martial arts do lack the intertwined history and cultural aspect that come with Eastern martial arts. There aren't things like tea, calligraphy, archery, dance and lion dancing that BJJ or boxing offer. It's solely a straight path for them. I'm not knocking them at all, what I'm trying to say is that it depends on what you want to get out of it. Most people want simple self-defense and to exercise. For others, traditional martial arts can be an avenue to change your life in many aspects.
The multi-cultural understanding that comes from training traditional martial arts and living in their country of origin is definitely one of the great benefits of training. I am frequently annoyed by the politicians and journalists presenting themselves as authorities on China when it is obvious they don't speak Chinese, have never lived in China, don't have any Chinese friends or acquaintances, and obviously don't know a damned thing about what they are talking about. Understanding a culture may not solve all of its problems but at least it will help not to cause new ones.
honestly having another cultural lens (even taking a further step if you learn the languages too) it's like having the power of isekai. completely different world.
Toxicity in the martial community is very true. I posted a video years ago of a sword form I performed. It was my *first* time performing and I was nervous. I got a comment from someone telling me that it wasn't how *his* school did the form, I was doing it all wrong because I didn't do it the right way (the way his school did). He also called me "a disgrace to Chinese Martial Arts Everywhere". That really hit me hard because I had been practicing for over 20 years by this point and I finally felt comfortable to post something and here's this guy calling me a disgrace? Just because of a little stage fright and a different interpretation of a style? It took me years to be comfortable with myself enough to post anything ever again because of that comment but I didn't stop learning. I just stopped showing anything.
Kinda seems like they won that fight they got in your head, and you allowed them to shut you down. I'd post the video and turn off the comments if it bothers you that much, but to blazes with their opinion.
I know the feeling, I occasionally get similar comments from Mantis people who don’t want to accept the way my lineage does things is different from what they are used to seeing
@@BishopBrow I never took down the video, It's still up on my channel. I just haven't posted much since then. And then last year I broke my hip in an accident and have had to basically start over with most of my martial training.
If I wear u I would keep posting,your gonna make mistakes when it comes to martial arts..and u gonna have ppl who hate on u.ignore them,Kung Fu teaches u to master the Mind,Body and Spirit,Let them negative thoughts flow like water,there jus branches in the water passing by
This makes me really want to visit China! If not Taiwan, etc. Over the years I find myself becoming more interested in the diversity of these arts and your channel is a gold mine for that. If there's anything that frustrates me about the Martial Arts community, it's not that people do it "differently" or "more wrongly" relative to "my style", but that outside observers of these arts hardly put any effort into learning what these arts actually teach; for example Taijiquan is often dismissed as a slow health oriented exercise, but despite the terrible "masters" being beaten on the net, all the styles have very interesting and distinct methods that can be learned from, like other CMAs. These arts are so rich and I think your channel helps bring that out.
For me, after 17 years of practice, Chinese martial arts is not only about healing and self-defense skills. although it does work. it is also philosophy in a practical sense. style principles become so important that they are transferred to everyday life. As for the combat skills of hand-to-hand combat, many of the wushu players go into muay thai and bjj. mainly because they believed that a real fight was projected in the octagon. I'm a little sorry that you didn't catch Master Yang Fansheng, my Laoshi, in Shanxi Tai Gu. Only after meeting a man who has devoted his whole life to martial arts, you can "get sick" with the same love for style. And don't even ask yourself why. Thank you!
If they have to go to a another martial art shouldn’t wushu Kung Fu just evolve?bc that’s wat martial arts is mainly about,evolving into something more effective
@@AyeJordan7 I believe that if one studies Chinese martial arts out of the context of those conditions and introductory when they were created and for what purposes, it will be difficult to apply them. there were other times there was little information about the enemy, everything was decided by the surprise and virtuosity of a single, but thousands of times practiced action, as soon as it became public knowledge, a new technique was chosen for practice. now all the best wrestling and boxing techniques are known, so strength and speed decide. the old fighting schools of the far east were more like a duel in the wild west. mma took a lot from traditional styles. muay thai and bjj are modified but still traditional martial arts. I think mma is the inevitable kind of development of martial arts in the direction of sports. in other words, an mma athlete will be able to defend himself on the street, and a traditional master will not be able to win in the ring. I really love Xinyiquan and a couple of times I was able to use it both in sparring and in a free informal fight. works great!
What a story! Thank you for sharing. It's so impressive to me that you just decided to leave your home country to go on a 6 months backpacking trip on the other side of the world.
Well, as someone that has practiced traditional martial arts for decades, I have several reasons. 1. Same reason why people practice HEMA, working with muskets, archery and so on. It's fun! 2. Contrary to what the MMA fanatics say, the material is effective. For example, a musket may not be as deadly or accurate as a modern assault rifle, but I still would not want to be shot by one. 3. Traditional forms have a ton of practical applications in them, and they take the boredom out of simple drills. 4. You have the coolness factor like the staff, swords, forms, and three section staff. 5. The sheer amount of material that traditional martial arts has keeps your mind exercising. 6. It's so much better for health than modern combat sports such as boxing and MMA. Those guys get so bloodied up, it's ridiculous. Yeah, maybe they can win in the ring, but it's so not worth the damage to your health. 7. The training is effective for outside situations, like training and sparring around furniture, using everyday items like knives, pens, and so on.
Well I can't agree with number 6. You don't get bloodied up by training it, only by competing in it, which the average enthusiast doesn't do on a regular basis.
Agreed with the point no 1 that it's fun. I've recently tried competing kickboxing and I felt like everyday it's pushing for more and more intensity where it just felt like too much also especially I felt it's better for thelonger run because you can still keep doing it in older and your perspective keep changing as with your life experiences.
Excellent explanation on how traditional Chinese martial arts have affected you. Giving you the opportunity to meet real people and experience their real lives is something that doesn't first come to mind when people think of Kung Fu. I smiled when you said "go beyond the textbook." While I had studied Chinese history and culture in college, actually travelling to and living and working with Chinese people was eye opening. They either added layers to or completely disrupted what I had learned in university classes. Furthermore, training Kung Fu abroad really leaves indelible impressions of that place on you. Training Hung Kuen in Hong Kong gave me confidence and fitness. But training Hung Kuen also evokes memories of Kowloon Park, Victoria Harbour, and bits and pieces of Hong Kong history and culture. I'll always thank traditional Chinese martial arts for that.
I just recently found your channel and have slowly been going through your back catalog. I have been involved with Fu Jow Pai (Tiger Claw) Kung Fu since 1996 and now I'm a Kung Fu teacher by profession. Fu Jow can be seen as traditional as it gets. the Grandmaster is 86 years old Wai Hong Taishan, my teacher Sifu Shue Yiu Kwan was from Hong Kong, they, along with many of my Si Wings and Si Sooks have instructed me through the years with all there wisdom and knowledge and I have been made the better for it. Fake martial artists came up in this weekends training with GM Wai Hong. Back in the 1970's Fu Jow was involved in a few public displays of calling out some these charlatans and putting their bravado to the test with disastrous consequences on their part. This incident was filmed and documented in a recent documentary; Pui Chan: Kung Fu Pioneer by Mimi Chan the daughter and current head master of War Lum Kung Fu. Grandmaster Wai Hong had one of his students Paul Vizio answer a challenge by a rather loud Taiwanese kung fu master in a public forum. Grandmaster bet his shool and Chan Pui's new Wah Lum school, that Vizzio could win by two in under 10 seconds. The result was almost comical. Anyway great channel. Looking forward to more videos.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Likewise I studied and still study TMA and it soon became an introduction in Hakka culture. My chinese TMA teacher was as a second father, I became part of his family and traditions. There is so much more than just fighting in TMA. TMA is indeed practical for self defence and fighting but it is a different game in the ring. And the longer a fight takes the surprise effect of particular kungfu styles movements vanishes and a well trained fighter got far more fighting experience than a regular TMA practitioner. While we train al kinds of weapons and doing qi gong exercises the ring fighters are sparring. You can only spent your time once...
Back when I was training kung fu, I was told by my teacher that it’s good for three things: it’s beautiful art, it’s good exercise, and you can use it. Now I do taekwondo, but I still practice my tan tui and seven star forms from time to time, and honestly, I just love doing them. It’s a great time. I don’t really mind if it’s as effective as something like an MMA gym (I’m not planning on becoming a professional fighter), but I do occasionally pull out some CMA techniques while sparring. So I continue enjoying the art, getting good exercise, and it has even improved my sparring ability! Seems like my old Laoshi was right.
Thank you for your honesty, MSP. I grew up in North Yorkshire from 1980-89. What did you learn about Whiteness, Liberalism, Racial Capitalism, and 531 years of Western Imperialist world hegemony? I learnt about these by learning about Mao Tse Tung and WEB Dubois (and others). (FWIW, I'm an anoriginal communist and revolutionary pan-Africanist). Here's a properly researched essay and a book by scholar, Lu Zhouxiang, that you will find of interest, MSP. book - Politics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts (2018). essay - 'A Brief History of Chinese Martial Arts' (2020; In: The Routledge Handbook of Sport in Asia. Abingdon: Routledge). The reason I read Zhouxiang's work was to find out about the many anti-Communist and frankly Sinophobic Western specious narratives about the short period of the Cultural Revolution's prohibition of Martial Arts - 1966-68. For context, the Chinese Communist Revolution began around the end of WWI and ended after WWII! Aside from Zhouxiang's scholarly work about the post-revolution era of China and martial arts; it's important to remember that martial artists were connected to politics too. Many Chinese martial artists were communists, but the more wealthy and powerful martial artists were fascists working for (the Western Imperialist and Japanese Imperialist puppet government) The Kuomintang and training the "Blue Shirts" military; while other MA's were neutral, and some even switched allegiances throughout the 20th Century revolutionary decolonial period in China and Asia. Lastly, have you ever watched the German TV Xing Yi documentary on youtube? There's this hilarious moment at the end when the White European German is refused training/disciple-ship by The Chinese elder teacher (I refuse to translate as "Master" because I understand linguistics and dialectics) because he cannot speak Mandarin. The European's cursing and frustrated White Supremacist anger is hilarious at the end.
I think the only difference with tcma is that when those arts came from pretty much daily you had chances to use whats learned practically. Theres alot missing from tcma because of this. It is also obvious consequently groups need to develop people with collective virtues to maintain an art. Many things follow from groups needing to keep things a certain way.
It solely depends on the person. If the objective is purely for self-defense, then study FMA Escrima (sticks, blade, & bare-hands) coupled with Hand Guns... If the objective is not just defense but also the cultural aspect, the health benefits, and perhaps spiritual aspect as well; then perhaps study older systems such as CMA Daoism influenced such as Taichi or Buddhism influenced such as Shaolin or Islamic influenced such as Indo-Malay Silat.
Great Video as always, I would also be interested in how you perceived the relation between the Chinese population and the government, especially in the martial arts community. Cheers
What's your take on traditional martial arts evolving with time? Do you think the traditional ways should maintain how it is(methods, techniques, etc.), or should it evolve and change with the times?
Brilliant. Thanks for sharing! I'm planning to go to Shandong province in 2025 to join an amazing International Kung Fu Academy where I hope to stay. Began learning Mandarin in preparation aswell. Hopefully I can have just as much of a transformative experience myself.
One of the problems I think there is is the level of of teaching available. I haven’t been to regular tai chi lessons in decades. When I look at what’s available, I don’t see anyone teaching anything above the level I’m at
Very nice video. I'm starting Chinese martial arts at 2000/2001 , of course here in Italy. But when I was in China for only one month changing my view and idea about Gongfu. We have many different mistakes in our mind. My experience give me that awareness: "it's directly, concrete and tangible" . For me chinese martial arts give me more about physical, mindset and of course many tools for to improve my health. ☺️🙏Thank you for sharing your experience 🙏
There is a natural limit to boxing, to kickboxing and other western styles. At some point, usually 3-5 years in, nobody will know how you can progress in any way that isn't decades of repetition. Traditional martial arts has progression from advanced to advanced 2 and further further up. And the retention of those martial abilities is significantly higher than modern Western arts.
For some reason YT isn't letting me reply to your comment about setting up for Sat mornings. Are you in Syd these days? I vaguely recall some mention of Canberra.
Those of us who just love and admire, and those of us who both love, admire and actually Practice the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Understand completely that no matter what Foolish Naysayers say about the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts, the Truth is that these profound Chinese Traditions are, with absolute certainty, the most Powerful Self Defense or Fighting Skills on our Planet: Moreover, the Traditional Internal Chinese Martial Arts offer one a Powerful Path to both Health, personal development and Self Cultivation unlike anything else: Moreover, at its most profound, Traditional Chinese Martial Arts can form a powerful path to Spiritual Growth( even China’s own Communist Cultural revolution could ‘never destroy’ these profound Spiritual traditions) and Universal Harmony: So Will, don’t Second yourself, you have nothing to be apologetic about because on the contrary you can only hold your Head High by promoting interest and respect for these profound Traditional Chinese Treasures. this is from a Friend, Who goes by name of😉 Rafael
Sifu, I have trained Karate all my life. Of course I disagree with some ideas of my sensei/master and I have my doubts about karate joining the Olimpics Games. But Karate helped me to find my control and mental peace; also, I disagree with some ideas with the MMA because I do not disagree with mixing, I disagree with hurting another person.
Hey Will, great video. I listened to it all will making myself a cup of Lapsang Souchon (not at all like you do, just boiling water on the leaves et voilà). I wanted to address the format of the video : it's much more suited to taking info in, I find, as opposed to the "attractive" videos of Ranton or Damien. I can listen to this one and almost feel as if I'm having a real conversation or I can watch it and it's sparsely but fittingly illustrated with silent tidbits of other videos and it helps perfectly illustrate the point (you sitting with those people, smiling and chatting) without over burdening it. It may yave a simple appearance, no fancy editing or hypnotising sound effects, but I find it puts the emphasis on your words by doing so. Also, what's the reaction back in Tadcaster, when they see you brewing tea like that ? Have they all renounced you or do you secretly indulge in a hot cuppa' char smeared with milk to appease them ? 😉😂
Glad you like it, but I do wish I could do videos with the same quality as Damien. I guess it’s also topic dependent, something like this is more suited to a candid talk, but other topics are better properly scripted and edited
Regarding Tadcaster, my family have all moved away and I don’t talk to anyone I grew up with anymore. They would probably call me a posh twat for drinking tea without a gallon of milk and a whole bag of sugar haha
The more I learn about traditional martial arts, the more that I see the way that small changes in context, (wearing gloves, soft floor, point system) can make boxing/mma much harder to beat, in a way that obscures the actual purpose and strength of traditional martial arts. On the other hand, I see these excuses like "sports fighters can't eye gouge, therefore they can't beat me" that seem like a way for some practitioners to avoid hard truths about their training methodology, more than anything... Where should we look if we want to see traditional martial arts being used in live or even non-consensual contexts, that are still appropriate to the context of those arts?
Yea those excuses are tiresome. Traditional arts train the body to behave in a certain way, and so can be adapted for any format you want, as long as you prefer yourself properly. For some videos of people sparring with Mantis, have a look at Mantis Boxing Society, Tanglangmen (both the Polish and Finnish branches) and there’s others I can’t think of right now
It's great that you have benefited on a personal level from studying Chinese Martial Atys, but I think a lot of the debate is about the viability of Chinese Martial Arts in terms of combat effectiveness. I'm sure even the naysayers wouldn't dispute the value of studying Chinese Martial Arts as a form of cultural/spiritual immersion and fulfillment. Personally, I find that there are many insights/methods in Chinese Martial Arts that are not found or emphasized elsewhere, and that if nobody studied them and transmitted them, would be a great loss not only culturally, but to the overall knowledge base of Martial Arts as a whole.
Don't worry the propaganda it is hi still on traditional martial arts i am sure it will were of!. because money making sports are sucking all the air!. keep on the great work!. you are doing great!.
Can traditional martial artist actually teach you how to fight, it just annoys me that traditional martial artist are not honest that they are training for fighting
"Disillusioned" is an understatement. More ego-stroking, nepotism, & favoritism in TCMA than all the other arts I've trained, combined. I have yet to attend a TCMA event that included sparring/fighting. I've done some jianfa/daofa sparring; honestly, the weapons training is likely the only part of my Gong Fu training I'm going to spend any time refining. Nobody has the time to stay fresh on 30+ Forms, most of which is just re-combining the same techniques in different patterns. It's not an efficient mode of training in current society. If it was, the military would be contracting Sifu instead of weapons-specialists and grappling experts.
I love and practice traditional martial arts, Bajiquan and Goju Ryu specifically, because that’s where I gravitate to which made me learn more; I love the journey, the philosophy and how I can perfect traditional styles in order to apply them in modern ways
I am glad that you are mentioning that traditional Chinese martial arts is way more than just fighting and that there are many other meaningful aspects to training. It is a window to not only understand yourself but to understand Chinese cultural world view at a deep level and its relationship to the world. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work you do!
The way of the lone warrior is a path very few take. It’s a very hard path and yes, the hardships and the punishments are severe. But the rewards are great.
So I watched the reaction and the guy's video about being disillusioned and all and he has valid points but it comes from not doing enough research. Like we know from your many documentaries, Will, Shaolin is a library or college of collected martial knowledge from all around China. Each martial has a different purpose and function, most of it is either war arts or self-defense arts that will not translate to consensual combat because the purpose of each is different. But like you mean to tell me that he couldn't find any Sanda training anywhere or Chinese wrestling that was linked up with the Shaolin temple? I imagine it depends on the temple you go to but the one in Germany or where ever Master Shi Heng Yi practices seems pretty legit to me. But like if you want to make your kung fu work in the parameters of whatever sport you want to compete in, why throw the baby out with the bath water. Just look at all of Master Jiang Yu Shan's students who all look like killers, especially Master Jiang who has how many trophies and medals? The root of their success in the stuff most people think is all mystical woo - woo; the quigong/neigong and the hardening skill? The tools are out there now with the internet to refine what you have into what you want, it's just a matter of how much work and time you want to put in to get there.
Living with my Shifu taught more life lessons then growing with my own parents did. Living with a real shaoling monk (And i dobt mean soneone ob Ranton's level, i mean high level and legit) taught me work ethic and motivation like i never had before. Now im always training to push through further. Shaolin has saved my life, its made me strong, and showed what real strength is.
Nice video, if you have a chance, you may also want to visit Taiwan to experience the "alternative Chinese culture". FYI, we got some rare traditional Chinese martial art in Taiwan, such as Baoding Shuai Jiao.
I just came across you page and I must admit I liked what I saw. Having said that, in this particular video you mention “Taiji Mantis”. Could you tell me what that is? I practice Tai Chi Chuan and in two of my forms so far, there is a Mantis influence in the forms. One form is Buddha Fist and the other is Chen 84. I am curious, is there a Tai Chi Chuan style dedicated to the Mantis form?
I have studied traditional martial arts(Japanese, Chinese, etc.). Trust me with 30+ years of training it has value. I have also studied and researched western stuff as well. Trust me.....train everything!!!!!
Check out my new online store www.monkeyofferspeach.com and get 10% off your first shop!
bonjour, pourriez-vous mettre les traductions en français s'il vous plaît car j'ai du mal à tout comprendre. C'est dommage car ce que vous faites est très intéressant.
I came to traditional Chinese martial arts when I moved to Sweden from Ireland and met my teacher who had lived in Malaysia for a few years and is a direct disciple to a tai chi master. Apart from 7kg of muscles 😅 the most change for me has been on the personal level as well. I was a meek shy guy and I became someone not afraid to voice an opinion and stand for what I think. I hopefully never have to use the martial aspect of my training but daily I use the positive influence it’s had on me as a person to help others and not be afraid to raise my voice.
That's cool! Martial arts is about empowerment!
I think one of the over-looked benefits of traditional styles is politeness and respect. I can say with confidence that politeness and respect have gotten me out of more sticky situations than fighting has. In fact, fighting is more likely to you INTO a sticky situation. That's not something you would usually learn from a modern "self defense" class that gives you a hammer and tells you everything is a nail.
For sure
I had experiences when politeness and respect got me into trouble in the 90’s. On a few occasions it was mistaken for weakness.
@@indefenceofthetraditionalma yeah there's a yin and a yang way to approach any issue and one must have the wisdom to know what applies where.
@@catocall7323 absolutely
So don’t train in martial arts??martial arts is about learning combative skills and SPEAKING your way out of fights,but that’s not ALL wat it’s about
Always great to see and hear your thoughts on this topic. As someone who has done the same; started practicing in my home country and then lived in HK and China; I think traditional martial arts has a lot more going for it, than just "how good are you in a fight?" or "Your methods and sparring don't work." Chinese martial arts have added so much more to our lives and you make so many more connections and relationships than just rivalries. You develop yourself. Truly the meaning of 功夫. "功夫 = Hard work or skill." If you break down the characters to a more philosophical meaning, I know Sharif Bey likes to say, "Human Excellence."
That's not to say you won't build community in an MMA or boxing gym. But those martial arts do lack the intertwined history and cultural aspect that come with Eastern martial arts. There aren't things like tea, calligraphy, archery, dance and lion dancing that BJJ or boxing offer. It's solely a straight path for them. I'm not knocking them at all, what I'm trying to say is that it depends on what you want to get out of it. Most people want simple self-defense and to exercise. For others, traditional martial arts can be an avenue to change your life in many aspects.
For sure. The motivation for training is often quite different
The multi-cultural understanding that comes from training traditional martial arts and living in their country of origin is definitely one of the great benefits of training. I am frequently annoyed by the politicians and journalists presenting themselves as authorities on China when it is obvious they don't speak Chinese, have never lived in China, don't have any Chinese friends or acquaintances, and obviously don't know a damned thing about what they are talking about. Understanding a culture may not solve all of its problems but at least it will help not to cause new ones.
honestly having another cultural lens (even taking a further step if you learn the languages too) it's like having the power of isekai. completely different world.
Thank you for your take and honesty and sincerety---
Toxicity in the martial community is very true. I posted a video years ago of a sword form I performed. It was my *first* time performing and I was nervous. I got a comment from someone telling me that it wasn't how *his* school did the form, I was doing it all wrong because I didn't do it the right way (the way his school did). He also called me "a disgrace to Chinese Martial Arts Everywhere". That really hit me hard because I had been practicing for over 20 years by this point and I finally felt comfortable to post something and here's this guy calling me a disgrace? Just because of a little stage fright and a different interpretation of a style? It took me years to be comfortable with myself enough to post anything ever again because of that comment but I didn't stop learning. I just stopped showing anything.
Kinda seems like they won that fight they got in your head, and you allowed them to shut you down. I'd post the video and turn off the comments if it bothers you that much, but to blazes with their opinion.
I know the feeling, I occasionally get similar comments from Mantis people who don’t want to accept the way my lineage does things is different from what they are used to seeing
@@BishopBrow I never took down the video, It's still up on my channel. I just haven't posted much since then. And then last year I broke my hip in an accident and have had to basically start over with most of my martial training.
@@bladedth3sis sorry to hear that but I hope you keep going
If I wear u I would keep posting,your gonna make mistakes when it comes to martial arts..and u gonna have ppl who hate on u.ignore them,Kung Fu teaches u to master the Mind,Body and Spirit,Let them negative thoughts flow like water,there jus branches in the water passing by
This makes me really want to visit China! If not Taiwan, etc.
Over the years I find myself becoming more interested in the diversity of these arts and your channel is a gold mine for that. If there's anything that frustrates me about the Martial Arts community, it's not that people do it "differently" or "more wrongly" relative to "my style", but that outside observers of these arts hardly put any effort into learning what these arts actually teach; for example Taijiquan is often dismissed as a slow health oriented exercise, but despite the terrible "masters" being beaten on the net, all the styles have very interesting and distinct methods that can be learned from, like other CMAs. These arts are so rich and I think your channel helps bring that out.
Inspiration comes many different places, lucky that we find that inspiration. Once found run with it & don’t look back.
I love that this video is more about the people and culture you experienced more than the fight ability you gained !!! Nice work Will.
Yea, and I didn't even mention the friends I have made through martial arts too
my reason is to connect / reconnect with cultures, insight into the history and meeting new people, as well as just pure interest.
I always appreciate the ASMR aspect of making tea, so thanks for that bit.
Thank you. You are a super nice guy.
That was an excellent insight and chat...
For me, after 17 years of practice, Chinese martial arts is not only about healing and self-defense skills. although it does work. it is also philosophy in a practical sense. style principles become so important that they are transferred to everyday life. As for the combat skills of hand-to-hand combat, many of the wushu players go into muay thai and bjj. mainly because they believed that a real fight was projected in the octagon. I'm a little sorry that you didn't catch Master Yang Fansheng, my Laoshi, in Shanxi Tai Gu. Only after meeting a man who has devoted his whole life to martial arts, you can "get sick" with the same love for style. And don't even ask yourself why. Thank you!
If they have to go to a another martial art shouldn’t wushu Kung Fu just evolve?bc that’s wat martial arts is mainly about,evolving into something more effective
@@AyeJordan7 I believe that if one studies Chinese martial arts out of the context of those conditions and introductory when they were created and for what purposes, it will be difficult to apply them. there were other times there was little information about the enemy, everything was decided by the surprise and virtuosity of a single, but thousands of times practiced action, as soon as it became public knowledge, a new technique was chosen for practice. now all the best wrestling and boxing techniques are known, so strength and speed decide. the old fighting schools of the far east were more like a duel in the wild west. mma took a lot from traditional styles. muay thai and bjj are modified but still traditional martial arts. I think mma is the inevitable kind of development of martial arts in the direction of sports. in other words, an mma athlete will be able to defend himself on the street, and a traditional master will not be able to win in the ring. I really love Xinyiquan and a couple of times I was able to use it both in sparring and in a free informal fight. works great!
What a story! Thank you for sharing. It's so impressive to me that you just decided to leave your home country to go on a 6 months backpacking trip on the other side of the world.
Thanks, yea its pretty crazy when I think back on it
Well, as someone that has practiced traditional martial arts for decades, I have several reasons.
1. Same reason why people practice HEMA, working with muskets, archery and so on. It's fun!
2. Contrary to what the MMA fanatics say, the material is effective. For example, a musket may not be as deadly or accurate as a modern assault rifle, but I still would not want to be shot by one.
3. Traditional forms have a ton of practical applications in them, and they take the boredom out of simple drills.
4. You have the coolness factor like the staff, swords, forms, and three section staff.
5. The sheer amount of material that traditional martial arts has keeps your mind exercising.
6. It's so much better for health than modern combat sports such as boxing and MMA. Those guys get so bloodied up, it's ridiculous. Yeah, maybe they can win in the ring, but it's so not worth the damage to your health.
7. The training is effective for outside situations, like training and sparring around furniture, using everyday items like knives, pens, and so on.
Well I can't agree with number 6. You don't get bloodied up by training it, only by competing in it, which the average enthusiast doesn't do on a regular basis.
@@MonkeyStealsPeach Very valid point.
Agreed with the point no 1 that it's fun. I've recently tried competing kickboxing and I felt like everyday it's pushing for more and more intensity where it just felt like too much also especially I felt it's better for thelonger run because you can still keep doing it in older and your perspective keep changing as with your life experiences.
Same. I've travelled several times in China.
Excellent explanation on how traditional Chinese martial arts have affected you. Giving you the opportunity to meet real people and experience their real lives is something that doesn't first come to mind when people think of Kung Fu. I smiled when you said "go beyond the textbook." While I had studied Chinese history and culture in college, actually travelling to and living and working with Chinese people was eye opening. They either added layers to or completely disrupted what I had learned in university classes. Furthermore, training Kung Fu abroad really leaves indelible impressions of that place on you. Training Hung Kuen in Hong Kong gave me confidence and fitness. But training Hung Kuen also evokes memories of Kowloon Park, Victoria Harbour, and bits and pieces of Hong Kong history and culture. I'll always thank traditional Chinese martial arts for that.
That’s cool! I love Hong Kong
I just recently found your channel and have slowly been going through your back catalog. I have been involved with Fu Jow Pai (Tiger Claw) Kung Fu since 1996 and now I'm a Kung Fu teacher by profession. Fu Jow can be seen as traditional as it gets. the Grandmaster is 86 years old Wai Hong Taishan, my teacher Sifu Shue Yiu Kwan was from Hong Kong, they, along with many of my Si Wings and Si Sooks have instructed me through the years with all there wisdom and knowledge and I have been made the better for it. Fake martial artists came up in this weekends training with GM Wai Hong. Back in the 1970's Fu Jow was involved in a few public displays of calling out some these charlatans and putting their bravado to the test with disastrous consequences on their part. This incident was filmed and documented in a recent documentary; Pui Chan: Kung Fu Pioneer by Mimi Chan the daughter and current head master of War Lum Kung Fu. Grandmaster Wai Hong had one of his students Paul Vizio answer a challenge by a rather loud Taiwanese kung fu master in a public forum. Grandmaster bet his shool and Chan Pui's new Wah Lum school, that Vizzio could win by two in under 10 seconds. The result was almost comical. Anyway great channel. Looking forward to more videos.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Likewise I studied and still study TMA and it soon became an introduction in Hakka culture. My chinese TMA teacher was as a second father, I became part of his family and traditions. There is so much more than just fighting in TMA. TMA is indeed practical for self defence and fighting but it is a different game in the ring. And the longer a fight takes the surprise effect of particular kungfu styles movements vanishes and a well trained fighter got far more fighting experience than a regular TMA practitioner. While we train al kinds of weapons and doing qi gong exercises the ring fighters are sparring. You can only spent your time once...
Back when I was training kung fu, I was told by my teacher that it’s good for three things: it’s beautiful art, it’s good exercise, and you can use it. Now I do taekwondo, but I still practice my tan tui and seven star forms from time to time, and honestly, I just love doing them. It’s a great time. I don’t really mind if it’s as effective as something like an MMA gym (I’m not planning on becoming a professional fighter), but I do occasionally pull out some CMA techniques while sparring. So I continue enjoying the art, getting good exercise, and it has even improved my sparring ability! Seems like my old Laoshi was right.
Thank you for your honesty, MSP. I grew up in North Yorkshire from 1980-89.
What did you learn about Whiteness, Liberalism, Racial Capitalism, and 531 years of Western Imperialist world hegemony? I learnt about these by learning about Mao Tse Tung and WEB Dubois (and others).
(FWIW, I'm an anoriginal communist and revolutionary pan-Africanist).
Here's a properly researched essay and a book by scholar, Lu Zhouxiang, that you will find of interest, MSP.
book - Politics and Identity in Chinese Martial Arts (2018).
essay - 'A Brief History of Chinese Martial Arts' (2020; In: The Routledge Handbook of Sport in Asia. Abingdon: Routledge).
The reason I read Zhouxiang's work was to find out about the many anti-Communist and frankly Sinophobic Western specious narratives about the short period of the Cultural Revolution's prohibition of Martial Arts - 1966-68. For context, the Chinese Communist Revolution began around the end of WWI and ended after WWII!
Aside from Zhouxiang's scholarly work about the post-revolution era of China and martial arts; it's important to remember that martial artists were connected to politics too. Many Chinese martial artists were communists, but the more wealthy and powerful martial artists were fascists working for (the Western Imperialist and Japanese Imperialist puppet government) The Kuomintang and training the "Blue Shirts" military; while other MA's were neutral, and some even switched allegiances throughout the 20th Century revolutionary decolonial period in China and Asia.
Lastly, have you ever watched the German TV Xing Yi documentary on youtube? There's this hilarious moment at the end when the White European German is refused training/disciple-ship by The Chinese elder teacher (I refuse to translate as "Master" because I understand linguistics and dialectics) because he cannot speak Mandarin. The European's cursing and frustrated White Supremacist anger is hilarious at the end.
I prefer to keep my political views seperate from my channel, hope you understand
@@MonkeyStealsPeach I agree. Peace is more important. I made quite a lot of revisions to my original comment - only just finished, lol
I think the only difference with tcma is that when those arts came from pretty much daily you had chances to use whats learned practically.
Theres alot missing from tcma because of this. It is also obvious consequently groups need to develop people with collective virtues to maintain an art. Many things follow from groups needing to keep things a certain way.
It solely depends on the person. If the objective is purely for self-defense, then study FMA Escrima (sticks, blade, & bare-hands) coupled with Hand Guns... If the objective is not just defense but also the cultural aspect, the health benefits, and perhaps spiritual aspect as well; then perhaps study older systems such as CMA Daoism influenced such as Taichi or Buddhism influenced such as Shaolin or Islamic influenced such as Indo-Malay Silat.
Great Video as always,
I would also be interested in how you perceived the relation between the Chinese population and the government, especially in the martial arts community.
Cheers
What's your take on traditional martial arts evolving with time? Do you think the traditional ways should maintain how it is(methods, techniques, etc.), or should it evolve and change with the times?
That's another big topic, and something I want to address in a future video
@@MonkeyStealsPeach Look forward to it!
Change with times but done with good or better great understanding
Brilliant. Thanks for sharing! I'm planning to go to Shandong province in 2025 to join an amazing International Kung Fu Academy where I hope to stay. Began learning Mandarin in preparation aswell. Hopefully I can have just as much of a transformative experience myself.
One of the problems I think there is is the level of of teaching available. I haven’t been to regular tai chi lessons in decades. When I look at what’s available, I don’t see anyone teaching anything above the level I’m at
Very nice video. I'm starting Chinese martial arts at 2000/2001 , of course here in Italy. But when I was in China for only one month changing my view and idea about Gongfu. We have many different mistakes in our mind. My experience give me that awareness: "it's directly, concrete and tangible" . For me chinese martial arts give me more about physical, mindset and of course many tools for to improve my health. ☺️🙏Thank you for sharing your experience 🙏
Yea its very different training there to the west
That was very interesting. Many thanks :)
There is a natural limit to boxing, to kickboxing and other western styles.
At some point, usually 3-5 years in, nobody will know how you can progress in any way that isn't decades of repetition.
Traditional martial arts has progression from advanced to advanced 2 and further further up.
And the retention of those martial abilities is significantly higher than modern Western arts.
For some reason YT isn't letting me reply to your comment about setting up for Sat mornings. Are you in Syd these days? I vaguely recall some mention of Canberra.
Yea, I’m in northern part of Sydney.
Those of us who just love and admire, and those of us who both love, admire and actually Practice the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Understand completely that no matter what Foolish Naysayers say about the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts, the Truth is that these profound Chinese Traditions are, with absolute certainty, the most Powerful Self Defense or Fighting Skills on our Planet: Moreover, the Traditional Internal Chinese Martial Arts offer one a Powerful Path to both Health, personal development and Self Cultivation unlike anything else: Moreover, at its most profound, Traditional Chinese Martial Arts can form a powerful path to Spiritual Growth( even China’s own Communist Cultural revolution could ‘never destroy’ these profound Spiritual traditions) and Universal Harmony:
So Will, don’t Second yourself, you have nothing to be apologetic about because on the contrary you can only hold your Head High by promoting interest and respect for these profound Traditional Chinese Treasures.
this is from a Friend,
Who goes by name of😉
Rafael
Thank you
You seem to make good progress on your Praying Mantis technique. Can you do a video on Liuhebafa kung fu?
Do you teach Taiji Mantis here in Australia?
Yes actually, I’m currently doing some private lessons and been thinking of setting up a class on Saturday mornings
Sifu, I have trained Karate all my life. Of course I disagree with some ideas of my sensei/master and I have my doubts about karate joining the Olimpics Games. But Karate helped me to find my control and mental peace; also, I disagree with some ideas with the MMA because I do not disagree with mixing, I disagree with hurting another person.
So u don’t spar?
Hey Will, great video. I listened to it all will making myself a cup of Lapsang Souchon (not at all like you do, just boiling water on the leaves et voilà). I wanted to address the format of the video : it's much more suited to taking info in, I find, as opposed to the "attractive" videos of Ranton or Damien. I can listen to this one and almost feel as if I'm having a real conversation or I can watch it and it's sparsely but fittingly illustrated with silent tidbits of other videos and it helps perfectly illustrate the point (you sitting with those people, smiling and chatting) without over burdening it. It may yave a simple appearance, no fancy editing or hypnotising sound effects, but I find it puts the emphasis on your words by doing so.
Also, what's the reaction back in Tadcaster, when they see you brewing tea like that ? Have they all renounced you or do you secretly indulge in a hot cuppa' char smeared with milk to appease them ? 😉😂
Glad you like it, but I do wish I could do videos with the same quality as Damien. I guess it’s also topic dependent, something like this is more suited to a candid talk, but other topics are better properly scripted and edited
Regarding Tadcaster, my family have all moved away and I don’t talk to anyone I grew up with anymore. They would probably call me a posh twat for drinking tea without a gallon of milk and a whole bag of sugar haha
The more I learn about traditional martial arts, the more that I see the way that small changes in context, (wearing gloves, soft floor, point system) can make boxing/mma much harder to beat, in a way that obscures the actual purpose and strength of traditional martial arts. On the other hand, I see these excuses like "sports fighters can't eye gouge, therefore they can't beat me" that seem like a way for some practitioners to avoid hard truths about their training methodology, more than anything... Where should we look if we want to see traditional martial arts being used in live or even non-consensual contexts, that are still appropriate to the context of those arts?
Yea those excuses are tiresome. Traditional arts train the body to behave in a certain way, and so can be adapted for any format you want, as long as you prefer yourself properly.
For some videos of people sparring with Mantis, have a look at Mantis Boxing Society, Tanglangmen (both the Polish and Finnish branches) and there’s others I can’t think of right now
It's great that you have benefited on a personal level from studying Chinese Martial Atys, but I think a lot of the debate is about the viability of Chinese Martial Arts in terms of combat effectiveness. I'm sure even the naysayers wouldn't dispute the value of studying Chinese Martial Arts as a form of cultural/spiritual immersion and fulfillment.
Personally, I find that there are many insights/methods in Chinese Martial Arts that are not found or emphasized elsewhere, and that if nobody studied them and transmitted them, would be a great loss not only culturally, but to the overall knowledge base of Martial Arts as a whole.
For sure, that is the big debate, but I wanted to go beyond that and share my own benefits.
So, you didn’t answer the question . Why practice traditional martial arts
All that stuff is good, but there is nothing with being an ex-pat drinking beer everyday XD
If you like bitter tea you must to try mate (yerba mate). You could find very practical in your travels
Don't worry the propaganda it is hi still on traditional martial arts i am sure it will were of!. because money making sports are sucking all the air!. keep on the great work!. you are doing great!.
Can traditional martial artist actually teach you how to fight, it just annoys me that traditional martial artist are not honest that they are training for fighting
Exactly
❤❤❤
🎉🎉🎉
😊😊😊
"Disillusioned" is an understatement. More ego-stroking, nepotism, & favoritism in TCMA than all the other arts I've trained, combined.
I have yet to attend a TCMA event that included sparring/fighting. I've done some jianfa/daofa sparring; honestly, the weapons training is likely the only part of my Gong Fu training I'm going to spend any time refining.
Nobody has the time to stay fresh on 30+ Forms, most of which is just re-combining the same techniques in different patterns.
It's not an efficient mode of training in current society. If it was, the military would be contracting Sifu instead of weapons-specialists and grappling experts.
Thanks for sharing your story . It felt so wholesome . I'm tired of all the negativity in the martial arts .
Glad you enjoyed it Alex. It's far from all the benefits I have gained, just one aspect that is probably overlooked
@@MonkeyStealsPeachi do not practice for fighting but for self development and the comunity and of course it is fun
I love and practice traditional martial arts, Bajiquan and Goju Ryu specifically, because that’s where I gravitate to which made me learn more; I love the journey, the philosophy and how I can perfect traditional styles in order to apply them in modern ways
That’s amazing
I am glad that you are mentioning that traditional Chinese martial arts is way more than just fighting and that there are many other meaningful aspects to training. It is a window to not only understand yourself but to understand Chinese cultural world view at a deep level and its relationship to the world. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work you do!
The way of the lone warrior is a path very few take. It’s a very hard path and yes, the hardships and the punishments are severe. But the rewards are great.
Wonderful personal context, thank you for sharing!🙏
Everything one needs to read is here: Myths and blind spots in the fighting arts’ world”.
Can’t wait for part two.
He's talking about the benefits of traveling and learning about other cultures, not about martial arts.
So I watched the reaction and the guy's video about being disillusioned and all and he has valid points but it comes from not doing enough research. Like we know from your many documentaries, Will, Shaolin is a library or college of collected martial knowledge from all around China. Each martial has a different purpose and function, most of it is either war arts or self-defense arts that will not translate to consensual combat because the purpose of each is different. But like you mean to tell me that he couldn't find any Sanda training anywhere or Chinese wrestling that was linked up with the Shaolin temple? I imagine it depends on the temple you go to but the one in Germany or where ever Master Shi Heng Yi practices seems pretty legit to me.
But like if you want to make your kung fu work in the parameters of whatever sport you want to compete in, why throw the baby out with the bath water. Just look at all of Master Jiang Yu Shan's students who all look like killers, especially Master Jiang who has how many trophies and medals? The root of their success in the stuff most people think is all mystical woo - woo; the quigong/neigong and the hardening skill? The tools are out there now with the internet to refine what you have into what you want, it's just a matter of how much work and time you want to put in to get there.
Very recognizable. Going to China living among locals studying taiji, did benefit my growth as a person tremendously 😊
That’s cool we have similar experiences
Traditional vs Fad/Fashionable
Living with my Shifu taught more life lessons then growing with my own parents did. Living with a real shaoling monk (And i dobt mean soneone ob Ranton's level, i mean high level and legit) taught me work ethic and motivation like i never had before. Now im always training to push through further. Shaolin has saved my life, its made me strong, and showed what real strength is.
Nice video, if you have a chance, you may also want to visit Taiwan to experience the "alternative Chinese culture".
FYI, we got some rare traditional Chinese martial art in Taiwan, such as Baoding Shuai Jiao.
Have a look at my recent video series.....
I just came across you page and I must admit I liked what I saw. Having said that, in this particular video you mention “Taiji Mantis”. Could you tell me what that is? I practice Tai Chi Chuan and in two of my forms so far, there is a Mantis influence in the forms. One form is Buddha Fist and the other is Chen 84. I am curious, is there a Tai Chi Chuan style dedicated to the Mantis form?
Hi, I have actually done a video explaining what Taiji Mantis is a couple of years ago. I think it was called something like What is Taiji Mantis
Conversations over tea are just better
Tea or craft beer
By the way Will, what happened to your course?
Its still up, I released a trailer for a new one just before I went to Taiwan
Appreciate and love your content. Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom!
Nice man!
Thanks for sharing!
I have studied traditional martial arts(Japanese, Chinese, etc.). Trust me with 30+ years of training it has value.
I have also studied and researched western stuff as well.
Trust me.....train everything!!!!!
The way I look at it old is gold but the modern stuff has value too. Don't limit yourself.