Martial arts discussion thread

[Sam]

I once had lunch with some friends, and a friend of a friend was boasting about how being a champion Taekwondo fighter and all the trophies won and having just come back from overseas and smashing the competition etc. I tried to ignore it, but our lunch conversation just became dominated by this person's boasting. So I offered a friendly challenge -- we went back to our mutual's friend's house, in the garage... as soon as the fight started, I just waltzed right in, grabbed the throat and dropped my opponent to the ground. Fight was over in one move. And even after being dropped, I kept gripping the throat and continued squeezing -- my opponent got so desperate the counter technique was to dig finger nails into the back of my hands to try and scratch me off. It didn't work. Silly bugger wouldn't tap out or anything either... so I eventually let go. I don't necessarily mind arrogant fighters, so long as they have the skill to back their arrogance! (like say Mohammed Ali!)

Your story reminds me of one a friend once told me. His friend was the senior student at a place that taught Wing Chun. At times when the instructor was away he'd fill in and teach the class (because he was also the oldest student). One day a young man in full Tae Kwon Do uniform turns up.

My friend said his friend knew it the guy was here to cause trouble, but decided to ignore him to see if he'd lose interest and leave. But the guy kept trying to "spar" with the other students, so eventually my friend's friend told him he could spar with him.

Almost as soon as it started, this guy he his nose broken by the Wing Chun student.

I've found that most of the time, the people that are arrogant and go looking for fights are the ones with all style and no substance.

A lot of stuff that's published and said about Bruce Lee is positive, or presented with a positive spin. But sometimes you need to try and look past the glamour of his idol-worship in order to seek the truth. What I find ironic is how some Wing Chun Kung Fu schools hang up massive posters of Bruce Lee; possibly as a marketing gimmick to attract new students... but the irony is that Lee rejected his traditional/classical Wing Chun training when he made Jeet Kune Do!

It may also be the case that those who promote Wing Chun via Bruce Lee posters were actually ignorant of his less-than-noble past.

From what little I read, Donnie Yen originally had a slightly similar background to Bruce, but perhaps not to the extent that Bruce was (and certainly didn't go around trying to tick people off).