Sifu Lee on East vs West

In the West, people love striving towards goals. The West is very extroverted. An entrepreneur can become rich simply by setting up goals for others to achieve. In the West people love to feel that inner pride for what they do. The organizer for the Chicago Marathon may not even be able to run the marathon himself, but he set up the event with the goal, he provides the medals & the money rewards. Now thousands want to join to try to reach the goal he has established. The organizer of a certain ring fight may not know how to fight himself, but he has arranged an event & established goals to achieve. Now thousands want to achieve this goal & even more are paying to watch. People will pay another person money so that, that other person will create a goal for him to achieve. That is what tournaments are all about.

Now in the East, we set our own goals to achieve, we do not look towards another to set a goal for us. When you come from the East to the West, you can then become the leader that sets the goals for those in the West to achieve. There is a lot of yang energy in the west, all they really need is to be guided in the proper direction. People simply have a strong wish to be recognized for doing things that they are good at. The West is not the way of the Tao, but the emphasis on Tao reminds the man with the Western mind to not forget, when you do not forget, it is much easier to come closer to a balance. It is interesting when you come from the east & you start to understand the Western mind. It is a mind with constant activity, constant movement. It does not want to sit still. Rather than forcing it to stay still, many times it is best to simply guide it towards a healthier direction & set it free.

Sifu Freddie Lee

[via FMK’s Facebook]

Sifu Lee on Online Martial Arts

In order to learn Martial Arts online, you must have great self-motivation. Online Martial Arts training is similar to home schooling.  Many people will learn more effectively in public school because of the learning environment that is created. Public schooling is extroverted, home schooling is introverted. If you have self-discipline, training online can be very effective & possibly more effective than learning directly. Learning directly may not be an option for many because when you learn directly, you must pay for the time from your Sifu.  Also, the Martial Arts require thousands of hours of training.  Paying for each hour can easily become too expensive. A Sifu who teaches online can provide lessons at a very low cost to make it affordable for many. Training directly with a Sifu is like attending a University; it will cost thousands of dollars in order to graduate. Training online is like going to your public library & learning from all the books available that is relevant to your development in the Martial Arts.

Now in order to learn effectively at the library, you must be self-directed, you must have discipline, otherwise it will be ineffective. Most people in society need to attend a University to obtain a higher education, few people in society have the self-discipline to obtain a higher education without motivating factors that the University provides. The University provides you with the learning environment & it provides you with certifications & certain goals to obtain in order to motivate you to excel. They have standards set that you are expected to achieve in order to graduate. When you step into the library, there is none of this; you have to set your own goals & standards.

There are benefits of online training; there are benefits of training directly. If you have the opportunity & the money available to train directly, then of course that is the route to take. If you have no direct Sifu to train with & you do not have the money, online training can be effective. Online training can be very effective for the self-motivated individual, the introvert. Direct training will be very effective for those who are genuinely open to learn. Extroverts tend to favor direct training because of the training atmosphere, environment, & the benefits of learning within a group.

Online training at FMK can be just as effective for the self-motivated individual as direct training can be. The body & spiritual development is publicly taught through the FMK YouTube channel. Over 1400 videos are posted that are relevant to your advancement of the Body & Spirit. The only missing component to complete you as a Zen Martial Artist would be the combat training of FMK. That would be conducted via private lessons. Most of the lessons are designed for your advancement through self-training with or without equipment. Once money is saved, valuable equipment’s such as the Bob training bag, wooden dummy, weights, pull up bars, mirrors, etc. can be purchased to enhance your development. Your form, technique, physical abilities, & spiritual understanding can all be evaluated by Shi zu. Sharing private or public progress videos with Shi zu will provide Shi zu the opportunity to provide you with valuable feedback. Visiting the FMK kwoon based out of Chicago, IL before you become promoted to the rank of Sifu will provide you with all the sparring experiences you will need to become fully certified as a Sifu.

Those who train online can realistically advance quicker than those who train directly. Those who train online are more likely to be more spiritually advanced in FMK for the simple fact that they may have a greater appreciation for the spiritual teachings offered online at the FMK YouTube channel. Most of the spiritual teachings of FMK are not shared to Todai’s during direct training as it would take a vast amount of training time away. Direct Todai’s of FMK are responsible for keeping updated with all YouTube & Facebook postings so that they continually train their spirits throughout the entire day & continually develop a deeper understanding of the philosophies of FMK & Eastern Philosophy. Todai’s who train directly may tend to not keep updated with FMK teachings online; this ends up becoming their downfall. Online Todai’s are more likely to keep updated with all online postings & thus have an advantage in their Body & Spirit development. Direct Todai’s obviously have an advantage in combative development as they receive immediate feedback on their performance.

Sifu Freddie Lee

[via FMK’s Facebook]

Tim Larkin Banned in the UK? Is this for real?

Yes, it is.  Just recently, while trying to board his Las Vegas-to-England flight, self-defense expert Tim Larkin was denied entry to the country passed on him being deemed a “security risk.”

♦

“I have a 12-year history of doing such seminars in the UK without incident,” he said.

Nevertheless, he was now prohibited from entering the country because of what the seminar attendees might do—specifically, use their newly acquired skills in riots.* (Black Belt Magazine)

Here on the Alex Jones Show, Tim discusses the details.

A big question, how are the self-defense instructors in the UK dealing with this and how might their business be affected? 

There are many great teachers there such as: Geoff Thompson, Lee Morrison and Richie Grannon to name a few.

We welcome your thoughts on this matter.  The lines are open!

RELATED LINKS:

10 Questions with Tim Larkin

The London Story : with Tim Larkin

Roundtable Discussion 016: Favorite Videos

For our 16th Roundtable Discussion I asked our Combative Crew,

“If you had to choose, what’s your favorite online video?”

Brandon Vaughn  |  Sanshinkai Karate

(Part 2) & (Part 3)

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Johnny Kuo  | I Liq Chuan

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Michael Joyce  |  GTS  / ChenCenter

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Robert Lara  |  Four Winds Aikido

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Freddie Lee  |  Freddie’s Modern Kungfu

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T.J. Kennedy  |  Hybrid Fighting Method

-The Combative Crew

Sifu Lee on Giving & Pain

I love giving, but the problem that I constantly encounter is that it teaches a person to become spoiled. For many years I have always had a problem with spoiling others. If you spoil others you do not teach them. They never learn how to wash a dish b/c you always wash it for them. They never learn to do their own laundry b/c you always do it for them. They never really learn to be self-sufficient b/c you have always babied them. People have a very hard time going backwards in life. You give them something they like, they will become very upset if you then take it away.

If you never gave it to them in the first place, they would not know how to be upset b/c they have not become attached. If you have never smoked before, it is easy to stay away. But if you have been smoking for many years, it will be hard to let go. We have all been so accustomed to the internet, if they take it away, it will cause pain for many. Understanding both sides is not easy. A child may have to go through many decades of life before he understands the actions of his parents in the past.

Sifu Freddie Lee

[via FMK’s Facebook]