I need more time in the day so that I can spend it here with you lovely people
I need more time in the day so that I can spend it here with you lovely people
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
-Patanjali Samadhi
"Not engaging in ignorance is wisdom."
~ Bodhi
Never miss a good chance to shut up
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Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
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I studied both Xingyi and 7 Star mantis in Asia. In Xingyi it's easy to learn the forms but developing power takes time. If you use Xingyi with no power you are going to get clobbered. 7 Star mantis's forms are more difficult to learn as they are longer and not as repetitive as Xingyi's. But once you're doing the form correctly the power comes easily. Also to be effective mantis must be practiced at a very fast tempo and it is more of an aggressive attacking style. In my experience Mantis is not so good in a defensive mode but Xingyi can be.
I was once in a club in Seoul and I was having a roundabout discussion about martial arts with an army guy who asked if he and I could "go a few rounds". After about 40 seconds he threw numerous kicks and punches and a couple attempts at take downs he hadn't even brushed up against me. I never counter attacked once. This was NOT a real fight as we squared off and generally that never happens in a spontaneous real world fight. I basically used Xingyi footwork to evade him.
If you really know how to fight not too many people will mess with you because your body language will convey this.
And sometimes you have to break up the dirt before you shovel it.
I think that body type and aptitude do matter to a point. While I agree that a good style will produce results for any serious student, some styles do suit some people better than others. That isn't to say that some styles aren't garbage while others are relatively legit, just that if you recognize your strengths and limitations you can find legit styles that may suit you better than others. Give you that extra lil edge in your development.
For example, I wrestled in HS, moved into catch as catch can and then to BJJ. I was a slightly better than average wrestler, a decent catch wrestler, but I really excelled at BJJ because I'm lanky and flexible. It just worked for me. I could have worked harder on the other two and made progress, but I found BJJ played to my natural strengths.
Last edited by Syn7; 05-18-2015 at 11:52 AM.
That's an excellent point. I also think that the context of a person's particular situation plays a role. I had exactly the opposite experience with BJJ. At my school where fights were an everyday thing, if the fight went down you'd have every Tom, ****, and Harry coming in and taking shots at the dude on the bottom. No way even Royce would come out smelling like a rose in that one. Most of my fights never went to the ground and when they did I was usually the one on top. I had more call for stand up grappling sort if like when you are pressed up against a row of lockers which lent to Greco Roman more. I did two years in a BJJ school and learned lots of cool stuff but not much that I figure would benefit me in a street fight but with another person might just be what they need.
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Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
That's the point. The styles are very effective. Very good system. But are do they compatible to you? That's the ultimate question. It happens often that student pick up styles that are effective in a modern day street environment, but he is not compatible with them.
Regards,
KC
Hong Kong
Yes, style compatibility is extremely important. It sometimes happens that a person practicing a style is not physically or mentally compatible with a style. That doesn't mean the style itself sucks. Also, I'm not suggesting that someone should give up on something they love doing because they aren't 'ideal' for their art. But these things can and do affect how well a person can make it work.
As only one example, I remember once at a TKD tournament, one guy had a fairly long torso but very short limbs, especially his legs. Otherwise, he was normal-sized. His opponent was having an easy time landing kicks and staying away from him. At one point they clinched, and he tried an inside crescent/axe kick, but his legs were so short he could barely get his kick above the waist, it lacked power and harmlessly bounced off the opponent's hip. He also fell a couple times attempting some high kicks.
Unfortunately, this individual had chosen an art that works exceptionally well *against* someone of his physical build. He may have been better served with an art like judo that might play to his strengths.
Last 4-5 post were just excellent.