The Jau fau yup mau of modernization

You know we tend to think that if the majority of people start going in one direction that there must be something right about that and to not follow would mean to be left behind. To fall behind the times.

I tend not to do that but the one time I really tried I have injured myself.


I do traditional Kung Fu. Yes I started off with Wushu... but in order to teach some kids I tried to learn this performance set online. It's a form made for kids. It's dumbed down as it were. It's supposed to be easy. The problem is the moves don't flow together.  A kid will get up there and just flail his and her arms out and hyper extend and end up fine, more or less, because of their rubbery constitution.

But if I get up there there has to be some sort of power behind the moves, otherwise what is the point of me doing it.

Tried to do the whole duk gu Gau heem thing of any technique should work... but you know what? They managed somehow to put perfectly good techniques together in a timed sequence to music that makes absolutely no sense. I Tried to make sense of them and the power and the foot work and the result is I pulled something in my elbow.

I remember my father always having to crack his elbow while reading his newspaper. An occupational hazard of restaurant work or something. Now I'm going to have that problem except it was because I tried to modernize my teaching methods.

Shoot the thing is, My wheels on the bus Kung Fu might look really silly and sound childish. But I could totally use all those techniques in a streetfight in that order. exactly as I do them in the form. In fact they are more practical in the way I teach them than some of the traditional forms because they are more raw. But Now if I ever had to do that it would have to be with one hand because I hurt my elbow trying to learn chidren's Kung Fu off of Youtube. Fantastic.

Look. Just because everyone is eating McDonald's doesn't mean it's better.  

I think it's important that I tried. But now that I have managed to injure myself, I think it's important that I stop.