Defeated by Chi

Hello,
I have been practicing extenal martial arts for nine years now, since i was in second grade. I have fought in many tournaments and never lost. This year i lost. I fought someone unlike anyone i had ever encountered before, someone stronger, quicker, and i hate to admit it but smarter than me. I came out of the fight with a large quantity of injuries and a very bruised ego. I asked him after the fight was over what his training was, he told me to develop my chi. I have heard the word "chi" many times before and respected the meaning of it, but never knew what it really was. I respect the gentleman that told me about it very much, but alas i was taken to the hospital before any further contact could be made. I come here wishing to learn how i can contol my power more efficiently, and how i can focus my mind and body into all that i wish to achieve. If you can teach me or send me some material or ANYTHING, I am very eager to learn and will be forever grateful. thank you very much.
Protius

__________________
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the
frost.
-Gandalf

In my experience, chi or internal power is best deleloped through many years of practising the slow forms one finds in the internal arts. Your best bet is to find a competent teacher and study with him for a long time.

Chi gung excersises are also an option to supplement your current training, as are certain meditation techniques - look around in your area and see who's for real (again, true results from this training will only be experienced after a good few years).

That competition you fought in sounds pretty hectic (if you had to be taken to hospital afterwards). Do you know what style your opponent trains in What style do you train in

I train in MANY styles of kung-fu. As i s said i have been training for a very long time and although i have learned much about the arts I am still just a beginner. Agianst this opponent I used my most powerful form. Whirlwind. I know many people will not have heard of this form, for it is a form known very little of in the broad spectrum of the martial arts. My opponent was very quick in changing styles every few secends. He would start an advance with one style, i would identify and begin to thwart the attack, and he would quickly change styles and continue the attack. It was all i could do to manage to damage him as much as i did! He used 5 animals and Elephant style(a style which i do not know but can identify and defend decently), he also used monkey in small spurts, and sometimes he would switch to a stance or position with which i was completely unfamiliar. He was the most powerful and strange opponent i had ever encountered! Thank you very much for your reply.
Protius

__________________
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the
frost.
-Gandalf

So you're about 16 now, right

First of all, you don't attack with "forms", it is more or less gymnastics used for developing basic body skills, endurance, moving and agility. For developing real fighting skills, you need some more practice, not necessarily "sparring", but at least partner exercises.

If you practice so many different styles, I think this means you don't have a teacher, no Perhaps looking for one would not be a bad idea. Or, purchase videos on real stuff from REALLY respected persons, and do a few of that practices regularly. Of ONE style. Just doing Bagua circle walking and some very basic Baji stuff would really pay off for you.

For me, I don't really "analyze" what an "opponent" (on a tournament, you have sport PARTNERS) does, I wait for an opening to my own strategies, and then do my own regular stuff.

Wether or not this "incident" really happened, there are some "strange" guys, really seldom on tournaments, namely those who really practice Kung-Fu and do what that supposes to do. Applying REAL Kung-Fu should hurt as much that regular Kickboxer type tournaments player realize it is different. It really makes pain. Nothing about Qi, just strength from doing REAL forms and practices.

There is nothing bad about fantasy, as long as you realize from inside where you have to come to the real world, as needed by your own real feelings. I did this very late, and had to care for a lot of pain I tried to forget on the way to not face it.

Don't forget yourself.

Hello Nik,
Thank you for your reply, But it seems as if you doubt either my knoledge of martial arts, or the truthfullness of my post. Let me explain something to you. First of all, this was not a "sanctioned tournament". This is not one of the jka, aka, ata, or so on tournaments which im sure you have bravely participated in. This was a full contact, no gear, 6 div. prize tourney. Second of all, I was simply answering a question posted by another dragonlist subscriber, and it is ENTIRELY possible to attack with forms. Also, if you are well versed at all in the forms or at least thier basic stances/attacks you can identify these widely used styles. Although i do admit that most participant in these tournaments do not use any stlye... I do. And i also have a very skilled teacher, this does not mean that i do not train in many styles. This means that I, as one wishing to be on top of my game, train in many styles so as to know what to expect from my opponent. Also, i never claimed to "know so many styles", I said I train in many-never said I mastered or even claimed to be skilled in any of these many in which I train. What I did say is that I know how to identify a great number of stlyes. Just thought i would inform you on a couple of the uninformed comments in your post. Also, if you dont analyze your opponent, he is going to defeat you. I guess while you're waiting for an opening to use your technique he, after analyzing the way that you fight in an earlier round will give the illusion of that opening. And you will realize while lying bloody on the floor(or sitting comfortably removing your pads in one of your tournaments) that this is truly an experience fight and that your little left right left didnt work this time. Thnaks for your reply.
protius

__________________
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the
frost.
-Gandalf

So you are a 16 years old practicing many Kung-Fu styles to a level that makes you able to analyze behaviour on the fly in the no-holds-barred bare-knuckle tournaments (illegal ones, of course) you participate in.

Protius, could it be that you have your name from the greek mythological sea-sage Proteus, who had the ability of predicting the future, protecting himself on the land with the ability to change his shape and appearance, meaning, you are yourself a shape-changer, aka TROLL

Just asking.

Greetings,
Hyperion

Nik,
First of all, thank you again for your reply, I dont understand where you were going with you first statement, therefor; I am unable to reply properly. If you want me to either deny or agree with any of these statements please be more direct.
Secondly, I am quite impressed with your second statement, because many people do not know or understand my name. And yes, it is quite closely related to the greek figure you have mentioned, but again i do not see the relevance of this statement... and it is not related at all to a troll of any kind. Thank you very much for your reply although I am unable to see how your post is related to my problem. Thanks very much
protius

__________________
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the
frost.
-Gandalf

I've read through this and I think there are certain misunderstandings. I have studied for 12 years (since I was 6) In a variation of Snake style, I would like to point out that you can master one particular kungfu style to the point of using it ably if you train 6 hours a day for 3 years. I've also done Tiger, nearly as good as my Snake and I'm alright on the other styles I've got pounded (metaphorical) into my body. I can also recognize the style a person fights with, there are clear distinctions, merely one sweep of an arm is enough to identify the style. In exception to the various offshoots of the same style as happens in Karate.

Also the definition of Forms is in doubt. Some Sifu's consider each techniques a Form. Others consider the entirity of the sequence of moves as the form, if the first you may use any form you like in combat, and win, the second you need to change slightly and can't follow it like in training.

Maybe that might clear up some things.

__________________
Sanity is merely the delusion your normal.
GungFu in Street Fighting Dragonslist Featured Site

Thank you very much snake. It is refreshing to hear a voice of true knowledge and reason in a sea of ignorance.

__________________
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the
frost.
-Gandalf

protius, though you've been extremely polite, it still bothers me that you insult nik, though they may be veiled insults, there are still there, you have already judged him just as you see he judged you, prematurely and with assumptions, from the experience i've had reading posts, nik is most often the voice of knowledge and experience, and i just find in bothersome that your ready to insult him after a simple attempt to put a humbling tone to your post. I am not saying he is right, or that you are ignorant, i am just saying, vieled threats are sometimes worse than outright ones. always respect others, we have had many people come in with "a lot of knowledge" and arrogance, and because that is not uncommon, nik may have judged you rashley and prematurely, or not, as of now we cannot tell, but anyway, i've made my point

__________________
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana

Thank you for your reply also Cheetaur, i understand your point of view; however I have read over almost all of Nik's posts and while at times he may seem to be the "voice of reason" many times he speaks much too quickly on matters which he is unprepared to address. He will make a long and seemingly knowledgable post telling someone what to do with thier problem or explaining something to them ect.. Then the next post often comes from a sifu or one of the like stating that his points of view or solution is grossly misdirected or wrong. This is why i became annoyed when Nik decided to insult me by stating that my post was lacking truthfullness or something similar to that...
Also, his "humbling tone" was nothing more than an insult to my intelligence and my honor. I understand that Nik may be well versed in SOME of the arts. Though not in many that he addresses on the discussion board. Nik, I apologize for my veiled insults... Next time I will flat out insult you. Just kidding. But i was angry at the fact that instead of giving me helpful advice he insulted me. Anyway I have found a teacher and have been practicing for two weeks thanks guys!

__________________
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the
frost.
-Gandalf

... original posting deleted ...


Well, finally, I came to the conclusion that this was just a joke, and I didn't manage to just take it as such. My apology. I just have dealt with too many persons who didn't mean their stuff as a joke.

Off on a tangent here, a person who constantly changes shape isn't actually a troll.

“	you are yourself a shape-changer, aka TROLL	”

Trolls according to myth and legend, were always big, ugly and blunt, their idea of sublty was to beat their prey over the head from behind. They never were shape chagers, especially involving disguises.

__________________
Sanity is merely the delusion your normal.
GungFu in Street Fighting Dragonslist Featured Site

I meant 'troll' with the meaning in bulletin boards, not the mythological character. Often this is someone present on the board by another name (hence "shapeshifter"), creating an artifical person to either 'complain' about such a characters ideas by mimicking them in a exaggerated fashion, or just playing around stirring up discussion. Not really bad in intention, just kind of joke.

I apologize again, for taking it too serious. Thanx.

Hey guys,
Don't argue, I know that alot of you have put alot of heart and soul into developing your martial arts skill and it feels good when you share some of that advice you feel you've gained the right to share.
But different people learnt differently, not saying you don't already know that but, some people like the idea that there is a mystical energy controlling us and if you enhance it you become magic and powerful, mabye these people really just learn extreme awearness and focus from concentrating on this visual goal of "Chi" and energy that they are "building" the mind is powerful and sometimes things you believe come true..
not saying wether Chi is or isn't valid I wouldn't know, it does tend to be very secretive.. when I learnt Wing Chun my Sifu could do tricky things like the one inch punch and iornshirt and he would tap peoples stomaches and they would have a huge palm mark on them.. and I mean he just lightly tapped them with a heavy kung fu shirt over their bodies and there would be a white hand mark with red everywhere else.. know the relevance of things like that in real street no rules combat is very tentative.. mabye if you had a way of focusing at the speed and height of your emotions yes but even my Sifu would down play it.. I would say "teach me that!" and he would say "thats nothing, try and hit me!" and you'd by flung around like a baby.
I've spent a long time working on martial arts, all aspects especially physcological, i've attained the results I wanted I understand the phylosophies behind things well and I am equilly as effetive in the ring..
I don't believe in martial arts as sports like tae kwan do, not to downplay them at all, because it's individual.. for me I want to learn the most efficiant effective fighting art to protect myself with and gain personal insight and physical creative expression..
Martial arts is very personal and I believe that one should try not to fight in styles because you can never truly react completley and truthfully as yourself if you limit yourself to a "way" of fighting, having said that I wouldn't really know because i'm sure that does work for some people, but for me I learnt the style I respected it's roots and phylosophies and then I moved beyond it and just trained my body to move as best it could in the simplest most effective way, and i've found it's worked against martial artists of many styles and "ranks" and the average street fighter,
but thats just me, and I would love to hear from other people and how they view it and learn because i'm not where I want to be and i'm open to anything!
also I never actualy went through a ranking system or belts or anything I became a sort of "desciple" of my sifu so thats my little martial arts fantasy there for ya! grasshopper!
these days I just train in my back yard with my own thoughts and theories and i've found it to be the richest time in my martail career, but thats the way I learn!
take care guys really hope to hear all your stories soon!
p.s. much has been said and oversaid about the man but Bruce Lee shunned the so called development of Chi in favour of speed and real world techniques, but in his own notes he mentally trained in meditation every day and was very interested in developing Chi! so there you go even the man with the "strip away all the tradition and magic rubbish attitude" had secrets and tradition.