Martial Arts & Fighting Forms | Asian American Poll

MARTIAL ARTS & FIGHTING FORMS
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:13:10 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

What is the most important benefit of practicing martial arts?
Improved health/conditioning | 63%
Ability to defend self and others | 24%
Building character | 2%
Increased self-confidence | 11%

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]

LKT:

Well, the thing about gangs is that they don't really teach kung fu there. They use the studios to recruit people, since they already know how to fight. Most kung fu places here have Triad/Tong ties. You know how they go to restaurants and do their lion dance, and expect money in return? That is a form of extortion. If they shop owner doesn't pay, there will be all hell to pay later on.

I mean a lot of kung fu kids act like they are in a gang anyways. They walk around like they are bad, causing trouble. They have their own name (the studio's name), and they have natural sworn enemies (other studios), so even if real gangs weren't involved, practicing kung fu in itself is a form of being in a gang.
TSJ Eric@KristinKreuk.net Friday, September 06, 2002 at 13:21:49 (PDT) [209.162.48.252]

LKT,

"OK, so what styles or systems of Kung-fu did these gangs learn before being initiated?"

None, its not a requirement to be acknowledge as a trusted member.

"Do the Triads have their own system of martial arts also?"

Not that I know of. They recieve martial art training from the outside. Orangized Crime is a business. It is about make money. Kung Fu plays very little part in that.

Youth Gangs are another story and are also motivated by money. Martial arts plays a very small part in it also. Lots of fighting though. Let's put it this way, I rarely make a national calibur fighter when I was in a gang. There were a few talented individual who had potential now that I look back.

Koean national martial art is TKD. So it is not surprising of Korean Youth Gangs to learn that martial art.

I don't know what you goal is in the martial arts. You want to be skillful enough to use the flashiest technique in a street fight against another skilled opponent. You want sparring experience. Or do you want to learn an old Kung Fu system.
AC Dropout Friday, September 06, 2002 at 10:43:02 (PDT) [24.90.98.143]

AC Dropout and TSJ:

OK, so what styles or systems of Kung-fu did these gangs learn before being initiated?

Was it Shaolin Styles or just come get a weapon and use it type deal? Do the Triads have their own system of martial arts also?

I found out that many of the Family organizations or fraternal family name Triads all had a Kung-fu master teach at their associations. Is that the same thing?

I still want to learn the real thing and I rather learn Kung-fu that was used effectively by these street punks than some Wu-shu looking good moves that you get from those washed down Kung-fu school. At least if the damn punks used it on people you know it was somewhat effective.

I remember in Queens, NY growing up that they had a Korean gang and they called themselves"Korean Killers or Tigers" and they were supposed to be a gang and they always wore a TKD jacket so I assume that they learned TKD as their martial arts. Personally I don't care for TKD and I can't see myself kiyoping to an opponent and saying TaeKwon after every strike. It's a martial sport not a martial arts. Like someone posted before as Watered Down Shotokan.

Thus I am still searching for the real Kung-fu. i don't want to join a stupid gang either because they would probably piss me off more than the authority figures. I just want to learn something authentic and useful that was handed down from father to son; probably the case thousands of years ago in Ancient China.
LKT Thursday, September 05, 2002 at 12:26:05 (PDT)

"You want the real deal? Ok then. Gang bangers are undisciplined thugs. They never will acheive true capabilities. Not to diss kung fu or anything but most of it is garbage."

Dude, there is a huge difference between a street thug gang banger and a member of the Triads.
TSJ Eric@KristinKreuk.net Wednesday, September 04, 2002 at 14:52:30 (PDT)

LKT,

Gang don't teach anything about martial arts. Usually gang member get martial art training prior to join a gang.

You can learn Kung Fu at a school. To join a established gang you need to get an introduction.
AC Dropout Wednesday, September 04, 2002 at 12:27:56 (PDT)

The Question,

I think that TKD has many aspects that are not taught in the USA. Weapons is an aspect of TKD not usually taught stateside. I'm sure the Korean military has a deadly form of TKD they use. TKD is afterall a fully functional martial art.

In the USA, TKD is mostly sparring and forms competition. So there are many aspect of the sport to make in non-lethal. No kicking to the backside, No grabbing, No delibrate falling to the ground, etc.
AC Dropout Tuesday, September 03, 2002 at 14:10:09 (PDT)

Could anyone tell me the reason for which the battle-axe was once so wide-spread as a weapon?

(Even peoples with a small and light-weight stature seem to have used it on the battlefield!)
question Monday, September 02, 2002 at 19:54:57 (PDT)

LKT

LOL. "Not that I want to join up any gang or anything but I am interested in learning real Kung-fu and if one has to join a gang to learn it, so be it."

You want the real deal? Ok then. Gang bangers are undisciplined thugs. They never will acheive true capabilities. Not to diss kung fu or anything but most of it is garbage.
SOG - Gangster hunter - Monday, September 02, 2002 at 14:10:00 (PDT)

I think we forget one very potentially lethal fighting art - Tai Chi.

Though when we think about Tai Chi what comes to mind is a bunch of white senior citizens wearing mandarin suits, one can't forget the devastating potential of internal martial arts.

The drawback, of course, is that one must be a practitioner of Tai Chi for decades in order to use it as an effective fighting style on the street, but I know from experience that a hit from a 100lb, 5'3", seventy-some Tai Chi instructor can hurt like Hell.
byk87 Monday, September 02, 2002 at 12:49:43 (PDT)

AC Dropout:

Since you know a lot about TKD, I want to ask if it's true that the TKD that is currently being taught in the US is different from that of Korea in a sense the US version is more sport oriented and the Korean has 2 versions, a sport oriented and another combat/military oriented (the ones being used by the South Korean Armed Forces). Is there a major difference?
The Question Thursday, August 29, 2002 at 22:33:45 (PDT)

"Not that I want to join up any gang or anything but I am interested in learning real Kung-fu and if one has to join a gang to learn it, so be it."

Well, you must realize that ancient martial arts were based on warring clans (gangs in the modern sense). Each group had their own distinctive style, and all vied for supremacy. Obviously, the warring clans don't exist today, but their traditions do. Most kung fu studios in the US are aligned with the Tongs and Triads in some shape or form. We discussed this awhile back, but it's probably too old to do a search for it.
TSJ Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 23:11:51 (PDT)

AC Dropout:

Did you guys have a Sifu then to teach you martial arts? or is it like the leader of the gang uses it on his members to toughen them up?

Also is the martial arts that the gang teaches is it different than the WUshu type of performance arts or is it more useful for actual combat.

And how does the martial arts taught by the Asian gangs differ from the more traditional Kung-fu kwoons taught to the public.

Not that I want to join up any gang or anything but I am interested in learning real Kung-fu and if one has to join a gang to learn it, so be it.
LKT Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 12:12:10 (PDT)

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