Sifu Freddie Lee Safe Sparring Kung Fu Demo
http://www.FreddiesModernKungFu.com
Email: FreddiesModernKungFu@live.com
Blog: http://freddiesmodernkungfu.blogspot.com
Music by Steve Caissy
Before meeting Jun, he was already pretty fit. He is about 6’3”, fit, with some combat experience. He is also a Marine. He had high interest in sparring; he was mostly interested in combat sport. After leaving the school, he joined a Thai Boxing Gym. He has the mentality of a fighter, he wasn’t too interested in learning the Martial Arts, he mainly just wanted to spar. Normally I don’t work with people who are just in it for the fighting but he entered the school for a little while to train with us and he sparred with a few of the students and myself.
He was not used to the safe sparring that we do, he’s used to wearing gloves and just hitting as hard as you want with the gloves. But in our school, we do not wear protective equipment; the protection is entirely dependent on your skill of evasion and your ability to control your techniques and emotions. Because we didn’t wear gloves, he hurt his finger pretty bad from blocking improperly. That is one of the most common injuries from students not experienced in safe sparring, injuries with the fingers and thumbs.
He was a pretty strong guy, he could knock out over 20 pull ups no problem, he could bench press about 275 lbs at the time. He was strong, he was tall, and he liked to fight. With all that combined, he served to be a good person to help develop the skill level of the students I had at the time. But, without proper control of techniques and emotions, it could be a great liability to the school. Without technique and emotional control, serious injuries could result. Other students can quit because of injuries as well.
Although someone may be strong, fit, and have a great desire to fight, it is not necessarily a benefit to the school unless he surrenders to the Sifu and accepts his authority. But without that, it cannot work; it’s like an untamed wild animal, which can be very dangerous. People don’t understand how different it is in a Martial Arts school compared to a Fight Gym. In a fight gym, nobody has a Master, everybody is in it for themselves and they are just there to beat on each other with sparring equipment.
In a Martial Arts school, it is a small little family. The Sifu is the father, and all the students are brothers and sisters. The family works together to help one another grow, not out of anger but out of compassion. No Martial Artist should ever love to fight, he should only love to spar safely to further develop his skill and technique. Safe sparring is more likened to an aggressive dance than it is to fighting, there is supposed to be a certain kind of beauty and grace to it.
Somebody can be very fit, someone can be great at fighting, but if he does not embrace the meditative spiritual teachings of the school and does not respect the authority of the Sifu of the Martial Arts school, it just does not work. That’s what fighters, boxers, and wrestlers are. They can be fit and they can know how to fight but without that spiritual component, they can never be considered Martial Artists.
You can’t be a real Police Officer without following the law. You can’t be a Real Martial Artist without following the way of Zen or Tao. A Fighter builds his ego to be stronger, a Martial Artists destroys his ego as time passes, spiritually speaking, they are diametrically opposed.
As far as physical fitness and combative training, they may seem like they are the same or very similar, but spiritually speaking, they are diametrically opposed. But it takes much experience in training in the Martial Arts to be able to properly identify the difference. Bruce Lee and Mayweather for example are completely opposite, they are not the same.
They both might be fast, they both might be fit. But combatively, Bruce Lee has no limitations. Mayweather has many limitations combatively. Spiritually Bruce Lee is grounded in the teachings of Zen and Tao aimed towards expressing oneself as a Real Human Being. Mayweather on the other hand is just here to make as much money as possible Boxing in a ring. Bruce Lee is a True Martial Artist, Mayweather is just a Boxer. Mayweather may be financially rich but Bruce Lee will forever be a legend that has the power to change the world. Bruce Lee was never financially rich, but neither was Jesus. When it comes to guiding the world towards spirituality, it is never about being financially rich, it’s all about being truly authentic and real.
