Throwing Out The Garbage (and classical messes)

Asl I look bak on my many, many years of involvement in martial art's, combat arts, combat sports, and athletics in general (46 years and counting), I have finally concluded that the only training that was truly functional and useful in the real world was when I boxed, trained in Muay Thai, learned elements of Non-Classical Gung Fu, and the glimpse into JKD (that I received in California at the old Filipino Kali Academy), and the filipino stick, blade and fist arts.

The time I spent in deep involvement with Tae Kwon Do, Japanese Karate Do, Kyokushinkai Karate Do, Kung fu, and other sidelines, was time I would have been better off spending in refining my boxing and Muay Thai, Krabi-Krabong, and FMA skills.

I spent a good number of years trying to get to the roots of the Wing Chun system. The confusion it engendered in me can be summed up by checking out the seemingly endless number of Wing chun techniques, skills, strategies, etc. presented by Randy williams in all of his books and videos. Functional combat skill is not that complicated! No wonder Bruce Lee called it a great style, but a flawed style. Wing Chun is much ado about very little. That is not to say that it doesn't work, or that it is not an effective system of self defense. But, my friends, good basic western boxing skills are just as effectiv (if not moreso) on the street and in the ring. Add Muay thai elbows, knees, and shin kicks, and what more do you need?

Hey, if you have a lot of time, and a lot of money to spare, you, too, can travel the world in search of the "secrets???" of Wing Chun, or any other Kung Fu or Karate system. It's your time, and your money. But if you want to get to the heart of hand to hand fighting, master boxing, Muay Thai, and FMA. Once you have that stuff down pat you will be a formidable warrior who also has a few bucks in his pocket. Classical martial arts training has it's place, but it is not worth the time or money that some individuals are led to believe it has. Trust me.

Also, remember that you don't have to involve lyourself in the competitive aspects of western boxing, Muay Thai, FMA, etc. in order to evolve as a fighter. You do have to spar with a lot of folks in order to refine your skills, but that beats shadowboxing and endless forms that most martial artists indulge themselves in on top of non, light, or moderate contact sparring. It's no wonder that martial artists get their butts handed to them in Muay Thai rings, boxing rings, and back-alleys every day of the week (it is even worse for female martial artists who quite often find out just how ineffective their "brown(???) and black belt(???) skills are in the real world).

More on this subject soon. Suffice to say that most martial arts training avaliable in the west (or in the east for that matter) is bull when it comes to being true "martial" arts. Just my opinion.

P.S. A classical budo practicing friend of mind once asked me if I thought I would fare well in a matchup with a skilled swordsman. I told him, OF COURSE I WOULD FARE WELL PROVIDED MY TRUST "TWELVE GUAGE" DIDN'T MISFIRE, AND MY "COLT 1911 OR GLOCK" DIDN'T JAM!"