Another year of improvement!

This year has been amazing for me, I had my first child in April, and our first holidays with her have been so blessed.

As I am always striving to improve, here is the latest

video of my revised empty hand form. This year in training, my movements have become more focused, precise and powerful. Any constructive

criticism is always welcome. Happy New Year to all!

-Tanulis

New music; Progression

Star Wars!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Yes, yes, I know that was a tremendously clichéd decision to open a Star Wars post like this, but I just couldn't resist!!!

Okay, okay, okay, (I'm excited) let me tell you why I'm writing about Star Wars. Considered to be "a phenomenon like none other", Star Wars is a sci-fi/fantasy/space opera series of movies that has gone far beyond the walls of the cinemas. It is like a great big tree with many branches. These branches or extensions of the story that include television series, comic books and novels. All Star Wars media that isn't a movie 'Episode' is considered to be part of what's known as the 'Expanded Universe' or 'EU'. Star Wars has also spawned an empire of merchandise that ranges from, well, anything that you could imagine. However, if you are unacquainted with Star Wars and wish to explore this amazing world of imagination, I advise starting with the movies, the stem of the tree.

Assuming you haven't seen any form of Star Wars media and you want to investigate Star Wars, I recommend watching the movies in chronological order starting from 'Episode 1: The Phantom Menace' (1999), then to 'Episode 2: Attack of the Clones' (2002), and then to 'Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith' (2005). Once you have seen the prequel trilogy, you will need to go back to the original trilogy starting with 'Episode 4: A New Hope' (1977), then to what is often considered to be the best of all the Star Wars movies 'Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back' (1980). After that you will need to see 'Episode 6: Return of the Jedi' (1983). Alternatively, I suppose you could watch the original trilogy and then backtrack to the prequel trilogy. This should ensure that many of the twists in the original trilogy are not spoiled. If you manage to see the 6 movies relatively soon, then you might be lucky enough to see the first movie of the sequel trilogy 'Episode 7: The Force Awakens' (2015) while it's still in cinemas. I'm not much of a 'Movie Gower' but I did see 'The Force Awakens' yesterday. This movie had me on the edge of my seat and I was choking back tears throughout the film. Many people predict that Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens will overtake 'Avatar (2009)' and become the highest grossing movie to date. The Force Awakens LOOKS REAL. While computer generated imagery were used to enhance some effects, the movie heavily relies on practical effects to create the desired impact. Just see for yourself in the official trailer...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnE

As you know by now, I love Star Wars. I love Star Wars because it has so many elements that are true to life and Martial Art. This is because Star Wars sprouted from seeds of real world phenomena including historical periods such as samurai orders and nazi imperialism, the nature of politics, culture and religion, mythology and philosophy; predominantly Eastern (as I interpret the essence of the 'Force' to mirror our own concept of Tao). The Eastern way of thinking plays a big part of defining Star Wars through the conceptual essence of the Force. The reason for this goes back long before the first movie was released. At this moment I only know the basic outline of the story. In the mid 20th century, there was a Western philosophical mythologist called Joseph Campbell (1904-1987). Campbell was at a university where he met an Indian man (don't know his name unfortunately) researching Eastern religion, mythology and philosophy. The two became very good friends and educated each other about their respective areas of knowledge. Unfortunately, the Indian man fell ill a year after their initial meeting and sadly passed away. Joseph Campbell carried on his friends research and and educating himself about Eastern religion, mythology and philosophy. Fast forward to the 1970s and there was a young film director named George Lucas. Lucas met and befriended the now old Joseph Campbell who taught Lucas much of what he had learned from his deceased friend and his studies of the East. George Lucas combined what Campbell had thought him and combined these concepts with his own inspiration from classical space opera movies. The end product was a movie released by LucasFilm (George Lucas's self made film company) in 1977 that broke all box office records called, 'Star Wars'. As a side note, I see many similarities between Joseph Campbell and Alan Watts.

So, almost 40 years on, why do people such as myself love Star Wars so much? I believe it's because there's something in Star Wars for everybody. The characters, especially in the original movies are so relatable and believable. I personally get emotionally invested with the characters, even those in the prequels. The concepts explored, whether it be political, philosophical, romance, cultural or even if it obviously takes inspiration from history or religion, all of this truly engages me. When I first got into Star Wars at the age of 9, the action alone, whether it be battles in space, inside spaceships, on fascinating and exotic planets and of cause, the epic lightsaber duels, were all enough to entertain me at that age. As I move through life Star Wars appeals to me in different ways. The continuity in Star Wars is immaculate. The movies link to each other so well. Even the comic books, novels, video games and TV programs are clearly connected to the theatrical movies. However, you don't need to explore the expanded universe to understand and enjoy the movies.

One thing I must also mention is that the the music for all the Star Wars movies is conducted by John Williams. His music for Star War feels so grand and spectacular that I get goose bumps when ever I hear tracks including 'Duel of the Fates', 'Across the Stars', 'Order 66', 'Yoda's and the Force', 'Imperial March' and especially the introduction theme at the start of every movie. When ever people hear this theme, most often, they automatically this of Star Wars.

While I'm on this topic, I'd like to state that I like ALL Star Wars movies. I'm well aware that the prequel trilogy has been received very negatively by the majority of the Star Wars fandom and even the general public because it's "not as good at the originals" and "they're just special effect reals" and so on and so forth as Bruce Lee would say. I see it very differently. I believe While the original movies focused on a smaller group of people, the prequels tell their part of the story from more of a societal point of view. I believe that all media, whether it be comics, novels, TV programs or movies in this franchise has something brilliant to contribute to the one, ongoing story millions know and love, Star Wars. I don't want to get into a debate with myself so I'll move on. Although, I might revisit this topic one day because I feel passionate about it and it is really mentally stimulating.

Back on track now. As I have mentioned, Star Wars is so true to all realms of life, including Martial Art. Yoda's teachings are a perfect example of this. I could have gone deeper into this, but I'd rather save this subject for another blog post. I predict the post to be long because this is such a diverse subject. I also don't want to spoil anything of the story of Star Wars for anyone who hasn't been introduced to it. If you haven't seen the Star Wars movies before, I highly recommend seeing them. From my perspective, you will only be enriching yourself by watching them. If you have seen the Star Wars movies or any related media, please, tell me what you like about Star Wars? Why is Star Wars so special to you?

Relevant websites...
Official Star Wars Website: http://www.starwars.com

Wookieepedia: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

As always guys keep up the good work, thank you for reading and...

May the Force be With You.

Wushu vs MMA

The real science of efficient unarmed combat is the science of street survival, where the law will allow you to do whatever necessary to stop the threat if it is a justified threat. The rules of MMA are minimal when compared to other combat sports but for someone who really studies the science of efficient combat on the streets, those minor rules will make huge differences. Look at people in the Olympics run the 100m dash, what makes the difference between first and 2nd place is a matter of milliseconds.

I'm sorry to say but MMA does not have the top athletes of the world, because they are not focused on any specific discipline but claim to be the competition for all disciplines, they essentially are rounding up the 2nd hand athletes of all disciplines.

MMA has not provided any answers on what really works in a real fight because MMA is still not a real fight. Real fights occur on the streets, not in the cage. Real street fighters will test their abilities on the streets, Real Wushu Artists will conduct their own research and studies in their own controlled environments and come upon their own discoveries.

How can anything possibly be real when you are only fighting people of your own weight class, how can any fight be real when it is all planned out and prepared for, real fights are spontaneous and clearly there are no weight classes. Even though the gloves are smaller than boxing gloves, the gloves they wear make a huge difference than fighting with bare fists. Having no mouth guards will also make a huge difference. People fighting with shoes on will make a huge difference. The fighting surface whether or not it is no the streets, sidewalk, grass, gravel, or snow will make a huge difference. Fighting outside or indoors will make a huge difference.

There are many spontaneous variables in a real fight that are not exemplified within that cage and people who truly study the methods of real survival will know this. One eye jab can make a huge difference, one kick to a persons knee can make a huge difference. Like a gun fight or a knife fight, in a real fight with someone who is highly trained, there is no room for mistakes. That is why Bruce was studying fencing before he died, he knew how real efficient combat is. You can try to grapple all you want, but if you are getting demolished by someone who has perfected his kicks or straight jab, you have no chance.

MMA rules are designed to make it appear that ground fighters are more effective than they really are. MMA is not the combination of the most effective fighting techniques, they are the combination of the most effective techniques specifically for fighting within that octagon. An eye jab for example is an extremely effective technique, but it is disallowed because apparently it is too effective. Hitting someone with your bare fist that is highly trained in iron fist is an extremely effective technique, but it is disallowed because apparently it is too effective.

MMA will have the ground and pound as long as the law will allow. If these law makers end up seeing many deaths occurring in MMA and even one of the lawmakers children ends up dying in MMA, then you can be certain that they will eliminate the ground and pound and potentially ban MMA across the nation. It's all about what the law will allow and will not allow. Laws change, so you can never say that things will never change.

MMA thrives off of the brutality in order to set themselves apart from Boxing, Kickboxing, San Sau, and Thai Boxing. But just because they allow ground and pound, it does not mean that the athletes of that sport are more talented, all it means is that they are more dirty, that they cannot fight clean to win, they have to fight dirty to win against the clean fighter. A truly great fighter can demolish anyone in any field. You wrestle with him, he wins, you play judo with him, he wins, you play boxing, he wins, you play kickboxing, he wins, you play thai boxing, he wins, you play tae kwon do, he wins, you play dirty fighting, he wins, you play street fighting, he wins, you play paintball, he wins, you play chess, he wins, no matter what you come at him with, he wins, he is a true Master because he has mastered everything. He never needs to fight dirty, because he can always win fighting clean, but if you fight dirty, then he will respond and beat you anyway. That is a true Master.

True Wushu Artists would never need a referee to intervene, they know when enough is enough and they stop out of respect and compassion. Masses of people are not meant to see this whole sparring session occur, no Master of the Arts is meant to be humiliated the way these fighters are being humiliated. This entire spectacle is a disgrace to the integrity of the Martial Arts. Imagine if your own father trained you to become one of the best in the world, would you beat the shit out of your own father for the whole world to see to get some more fame and fortune? Will you almost kill your father for fame and fortune? Everybody gets old and will eventually lose their physical abilities, people who take advantage of the old and weak is not what Wushu is all about. Wushu is about honor, respect, integrity, peace, love, and compassion, and absolutely none of that is being displayed in that cage.

You have left many lengthy comments to defend MMA and really there needs to be no defense, you are free to watch and participate what you choose to as long as it is allowed by law. I am not the law, I'm not here to tell people what they should do and should not do, I just want to share my perspective and connect with people who share my ideas so that we can grow together.

You seem like a very intelligent person that is capable of making his own decisions. I'm not a Sifu to anyone online here, so I have no say on anyone's choice of development. But I will say for my own children and for my own students, they will need to understand my perspective otherwise they will not learn Wushu from me. But as for everybody else, it is their parents jobs, their Wushu Master's job to make sure that they are representing Wushu with integrity.

I do not approve of Boxing, I do not approve of MMA, I do no approve of Football, I do not approve of Thai Boxing, I do not approve of Wrestlemania, I do not approve of any forms of unhealthy competition, I don't approve of many things. But these are the standards that I live by and the standards that I will hold my children and students by, but as for all others, they need to establish their own standards and guidelines.

I'm sorry for all the disrespect that I have done in the past, now my aim is not to criticize but to simply share my ideas in a respectful way. Take it for what it is, if I'm not an Expert, if I'm not a Master, then who really cares what I say? Nobody needs to prove to me that MMA is positive contribution to this society and the Martial Arts community, my heart feels the way it does and I do not see that it will ever change. I do my best not to speak about MMA, but that's like telling a Master chef not to comment on what can be improved upon in a certain dish. I just see a lot of room for improvement in regards to how the "Martial Arts" is currently being expressed here in America and other areas of the world.

Arguing towards the justification for MMA can be the same justification used to legalize prostitution across the nation. Women can get paid to have sex, so why not? All women of this nation can aim to become prostitues, they don't need to go to college, they don't need to get an education, all they need to do is have sex for money. Sure it is a dangerous occupation but they know the risks that are involved. But with these same arguments, why haven't the government allowed this to occur? Well, there just seems to be something wrong with that, something where we are heading backwards as a humanity and not forwards.

Not only is MMA bad for ones health but the fact of them mass producing it to children and young adults to follow in the footsteps of these Fighters is part of the overall problem that I see. It is like encouraging a young child or man to deal drugs for a living, not just privately encouraging them but blasting it all over mass media in which to push that lifestyle onto them with maximum effort.

In my opinion, MMA fighters are not true professionals, Mayweather is a true Master, not many boxers that have ever lived will ever compare, ameteur boxers get destroyed in the ring, Masters just don't get hit. A true Master, if he did fight in MMA would not take much damage, there cannot be true Masters if already there are 194 or so UFC fights already logged. True Masters don't come back often, a Michael Jordan, Mayweather, Ali, Tiger Woods, Bruce Lee, they just don't come by often. Mayweather has been boxing his whole life, none of these MMA Fighters will ever compare, it is completely different. A person who has been practicing Wushu his entire life would never even go inside the cage, so the cage really will never see a Real Wushu Artist, unless you force him into it with a UFC video game!

Well it seems I am set in my ways and you are set with yours, lets just respect that. When I think about it, I may not be an expert or Master but the fact of me taking so much time to write about this and make videos about this shows that I really do care about Wushu and what it is meant to represent according to my eyes, and I just wish to share these ideas with the public.

It really depends on the fight, I can say that clearly not all fights respect is being shown. RR for example didn't even want to touch gloves with HH. Any time anyone is fighting out of Anger, that is not respect, and I know for a fact a lot of these fighters are fighting out of anger. Beating someone to a bloody pulp while they are laying on their back is not respect. If this is considered a sport, I will say it will be the sport that has the least amount of respectful athletes out of all sports, because the more violent you are, the less respect you will have.  Respect and anger do not really go hand and hand.  

They have competed in the Olympics in other sports, not in MMA, because MMA is not in the olympics. They are great athletes in other sports that have been suckered into fighting for money and fame through the expression of excessive violence, they have fallen from grace.  

A Mayweahter who stops being a Boxer and becomes an MMA fighter has fallen from grace. A Bruce Lee who stops being an Actor and becomes an MMA fighter has fallen from grace. An MMA Fighter to stops fighting in the cage and starts fighting in the streets has fallen from grace. Somebody who is in the NBA who quits and joins an ameteur Basketball Association has fallen from grace.  

There are people who move forwards and there are people who move backwards in life. Those who train in the Arts and then turn into just another MMA Fighter are Martial Artists who have fallen from grace. Like a Police Officer who becomes corrupted, he has fallen from grace. 

Actually I see a lot of corruption in the sport, they are not really genetically gifted in my eyes, they are simply dehydrated, on steroids, and performance enhancing drugs. In my opinion it takes a lot more skill to compete in Football, Basketball, Boxing and pure Olympic Wrestling, those who cannot make it in those fields end up settling for MMA.

Weak Legs

over the past 3yrs i mostly stretched, because i like to kick high sure kicking high and doing splits is awesome, but having weak chicken legs is not lol. Ive quit stretching for last two weeks ive notice a slight difference but two soon to tell any real difference. One thing thats noticeable is my hamstrings and calves feel tighter. I hope to also achieve a higher vertical leap so jump kicks are easier.

Reflecting On and Clarifying Myself

Reflecting On and Clarifying Myself

I noticed that a comment I left and information in my previous blog post may have generated some negativity. This was never my intention. Recent material that I feel was probably a response to the content I posted, has led me to reflect upon myself and where I stand in the world of Martial Art. I wish to clarify what I meant and explain how recent (probable) feedback has realigned my perspective.

Bruce Lee has become a big inspiration to me, perhaps even more than I realise. I have a friend from school who was passionate about the communal expressions of MMA and traditional Goju Ryu Karate. I couldn't understand how he liked MMA and why he was so deeply into the tradition of Goju Ryu Karate because it is another system that is crystallised like ice rather than spontaneous like water. One time, I sent him the photograph below that I found on the Internet. He seemed to be almost offended when I sent him this picture. This didn't damage our friendship or anything. When we graduated high school, I bought him a copy of Bruce Lee's book Artist of Life, because this book has such a strong emphasis on liberation. On the front page of the book, I even wrote: "Any Martial and/or physical fitness facility can be a great way to enhance your overall human experience without question. However, you will never find True/Pure Martial Art from any external source. The only place you will ever find Martial Art in it's absolute purest form is within yourself." Now that I reflect on this, I think I was reiterating Bruce Lee's teachings in my own words. Looking back, I see the extent of Bruce Lee's influence. As you will read in the below paragraphs, hopefully you will see that for me personally, training in traditional Martial Arts hasn't been the ideal experience one might hope it would be. Because of this, I can now see why Bruce Lee's philosophies were so appealing to me, because he was promoting "no way". I'll get to what I am referring to shortly. Here is the photo that I was referring to...

When I left my comment on another bloggers post, I was more so expressing the point of view popularised by Bruce Lee. I saw and of corse still do see a lot of beauty in it. However, I didn't mention and haven't been expressing the beauty of communal expressions in my publications over the past number of months. I didn't realise this at the time I left the comment in question, but I currently believe that I was representing only half of my view. I did mention that there is beauty in both sides of the topic, but I went more in depth as to why there is beauty and benefit in the individualistic approach and not the communal approach. I think this is why some people may have got the impression that I'm completely against communal expressions. I can now understand how people received this impression but it is simply not true.

I have been training at a local Taekwondo club for seven years. Classes only run for one hour each and there are only two classes a week available to me. There are also two, one hour junior classes a week. I have assisted my instructor in teaching the clubs curriculum to children of primary school age for four years now. One of these nights is volunteer work that I do out of passion for teaching and also to have more time in the Martial Art class environment, the other night I'm fortunate enough to get payed a bit for teaching. I find that training 4 hours per week just isn't enough for me to effectively progress in all areas of Martial Art. By this point I've also learnt most of what I can learn at my school. I know almost all of the forms in WTF Taekwondo. My instructor has forgotten the last few forms in the curriculum so I have to learn them from books and YouTube videos. I also asked my instructor (who I'm not naming out of respect) "Why don't we practice meditation?". His response was "People don't have time for meditation in this modern day and age so we don't bother practicing it." I spoke to him about the philosophies (Tao) associated with Martial Art but he quickly said "The problem with these old philosophies are that they are old and out of date. They are impractical for today." I don't wan't to disagree with my instructor but I feel I must because I know that Tao is eternal. The problem with my Taekwondo school is that it's availability is very limited and the approach isn't holistic enough for a student like me to become a well rounded human being. When it comes to the other students, I've tried to build a family like environment but to them, Taekwondo is just like a side hobby. They don't take it as seriously as I do. When commencing running drills, they often walk, they often don't do exercises like push ups properly. I have tried to push them but the just make excuses and disrespectful faces at me. I eventually decided to stop trying so hard in getting them to do Taekwondo properly. They are only cheating themselves. How can there be a Martial Arts family environment here? I think the idea of a Martial Art or Wushu Family is beautiful and I know they do exist out there. From my observations though, it's a rarity and although I've tried to make it a reality in my own life, it's just not my reality. This saddens me. Now there is a BJJ and a Shito-Ryu Karate club that have opened up in recent years, but rolling around with sweaty men all the time isn't what I seek in Martial Art and well, I explained all about the Shito-Ryu Karate school here: http://freddiesmodernkungfu.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/my-experiences-in-shito-ryu-karate.html

Due to all these reasons I started Tai Chi. I say with confidence that my Tai Chi instructor is inline with the Tao. His ambitions are to keep the club of a relatively small size to ensure the highest quality in his students. At the moment, a full class is about three students including myself. My Tai Chi instructor is open minded, has a great sense of humour and teachers completely out of passion; a few months ago he mentioned that his Tai Chi business is nearly paying for itself. For him, business is a very low priority because it tends to corrupt the traditional teachings. There's also no point in trying to make the business bigger because the local population of this country town isn't big enough for large amounts of people to be interested. My instructor and I have spoken about this topic and we both agree that the small percentage of Martial Art instructors who can make a living off teaching the Martial Arts have that right. They are humans who need to eat just like everyone else on earth. If they can generate enough money to live off, then they are blessed. From a practical point of view, I currently don't see this ever becoming my circumstances unless I relocate to a city. At the moment, Tai Chi is just brilliant and I doubt I'll ever stop it because every time I do a form, and infinite amount of things are happening. I won't live long enough to observe them all. Every time you do a form, it is different to the last time and that's what keeps it interesting.

This is my current reality with traditional Martial Art systems. It works out to 5 hours of training per week. I believe a Martial Artist should train something like 29 hours per week. So, because I'm not making much progress at Taekwondo and Tai Chi only goes one hour (which for something slow like Tai Chi is extremely unrealistic), I am forced to venture beyond what these local part time Martial Art businesses provide. For example, I obtained the knowledge of how to do the splits at Taekwondo and I obtained this physical achievement by putting in my own work at home. My Taekwondo school has given me a foundation to work from but now I must research my own experiences. A funny thing is that sometimes I discover a new technique, people at Taekwondo see me use it and then they start using it themselves. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a Martial Art family where members of the group all have similar views and are on the same page, but I have to be accepting of people's competitive natures at Taekwondo in order to get along. I also need to accept that they display no interest in the spiritual development of Martial Art. The only person I can talk to about Tao and Zen in the context of Martial Art is my Tai Chi instructor. We get along so well at this time and I feel truly blessd to have met him. The Internet provides me with another means of communicating with people who see Martial Art as I do. During this year I have developed a strong friendship with Lxeon through our correspondence over Skype. I feel that this friendship is truly great and I hope it endures in decades to come. Also, when I train at home, my motivation is intrinsic. There's no one there that motivates me. My immediate family members have no interest in Martial Art or any desires to physically exercise. They are very sedentary. This is a contagious behaviour that I have to resist. I don't make much money at the moment, but whatever money I do get that I can spend goes towards this...

I am not showing you this training space to show off in any way. I'm only showing you this picture so you can see the environment I train in. I am grateful for the space that I have. One day, I wish to teach what I have learned from Martial Art directly. Yet, I have no desire to create any type of world wide phenomenon. Also, I wish to mention that my Taekwondo instructor is in no way a 'bad' instructor. What he does teach he teaches very well with lots of detail. Although I feel dissatisfied from time to time, I have a lot of respect for him.

I hope this post has helped my readers gain a better understanding of my stance on Martial Art. I am NOT a rebel to Martial Art systems. Even though my written expression hasn't been focused in it of late, I believe Martial Art systems are beautiful even though they haven't worked as well as I would have liked them to recently. Although, I do understand that the way I was writing may have given people a certain perception of me. For this reason, I am going to be much more careful about how I express myself through writing. I am going to do my best to be as clear and very importantly, as balanced as possible. If you ever misunderstand any thing I write, please leave a question in the comment section or just email me. I hope that my rapport with everyone in the future will remain balanced. Now that I think about it, I and almost everyone I know that practices Martial Art get caught up with theorising and sometimes even debating how we should conduct our practice. Sometimes how we get there, distracts us from actually getting there. When this is the case with me, I need to consciously recognise this, take 2 steps back and do some deep breathing to centre myself. I can't let fine details of the journey totally distract me from the ultimate outcome... peace.

I sincerely thank you for reading this post.

New beat; Ballad for the forgotten ones

My way of fighting

School is Over, Life is Moving on!

Hello FMK!

Firstly, congratulations Freddie! I think it's great you were able to reclaim your YouTube channel. I think you're balancing your online expression very well. I'm viewing and 'liking' as many videos as I can because I'd like to see your channel grow even more. I also simply like your content because it's interesting watching your ideas develop as you pioneer your expression of Martial Art.

I'm very happy to announce my return after a two month hiatus. I needed time away to complete high school once and for all. I don't mind whatever entry score I get for university. Never before had I worked so hard for something so deeply engrained in this Matrix or world of perceived reality as I like to call it. Considering I strive to live by the Tao (ultimate reality) this seems kind of ironic when I think about it. Anyway, It's all in the past. I know I did the best I possibly could with the opportunity I had, thus I have no regrets.

After completing exams, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a holiday in the warm and sunny city of Sydney. It was nice to get away for a bit. One big reason as to why I drove 857 kilometres (532 miles) up and back with my father and younger brother, was so that we could meet members of the production crew of my favourite show at the Doctor Who festival. The festival was a fantastic experience. There were props and costumes from the TV show that were on display, writers and directors and special effects people were giving talks about their contributions to this 52 year old science fiction/drama program. The most exciting part was being able to meet some of the actors, notably Peter Capaldi (at a panel) who plays the current incarnation of the Doctor, and Sylvester McCoy who played the 7th incarnation of the Doctor between 1987-1989. I got to meet Sylvester McCoy in person and he seems like such a lovely man. He has a naturally comedic personality. Notably, he played a wizard known as Radagast the Brown in the recent Hobbit movies.

I felt humbled that these talented people had come all the way from the United Kingdom to give people like me the opportunity to get up close and personal with the program that I have loved and been inspired by for many years now. If your at all interested in learning about the 52 year old television phenomenon 'Doctor Who', you can take a look at the official website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006q2x0

Personally though, I think this site is much better: http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk

Anyway, keeping on track I noticed that living in the nations biggest city for a few days gave me a valuable contrast to the environment I'm used to at home. For a city, I think Sydney is very nice. It's a lot more colourful than Melbourne in my opinion. One thing that Sydney doesn't have is a phobia of trees like Melbourne, where trees are commonly cut down for no apparent reason apart from the usual 'oh we wouldn't want to risk the one in a million chance of a tree branch falling on someone and being sued as a consequence', laugh out loud! The only negative I can think of about the city lifestyle I experienced is that there was the constant noise of traffic coming from a main road just out side the apartment building which made it difficult to sleep sometimes. Another thing I noticed was that no one ever really spoke to each other on the buses or in the fast paced streets. People were always using their iPhones. I understand that nowadays there's nothing strange about seeing people use iPhones and Androids, but when 98% of the population (seemingly) seem to be using these electronic devices at every moment, it just seems a bit strange to me. In my town, I rarely go out without seeing someone I know and engaging in short conversations. I suppose it's just what your used to really. If you were ever thinking of taking a holiday in a city, Sydney is one I recommend from experience. Sydney is also very multicultural. There were lots of tourists from places all over the world including North America, Europe and Asia. Actually I might mention the amount of tourists from Asia, particularly from China and Japan was truly astonishing. From a national perspective, I think it's good to see Australia maintaining strong relations with our neighbours from Asia. You can figure out that I was a tourist when these were the types of photos I was taking.

Sydney is quite pleasant compared to Melbourne in my current opinion. Please don't think I'm trying to make Melbourne out to be a terrible place though. I shouldn't be so harsh on Melbourne. It's not a rough place, otherwise it wouldn't have been ranked as the "worlds most livable city" according to the Monocle's Quality of Life Survey. (http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-named-worlds-most-liveable-city-for-fifth-year-running-20150818-gj1he8.html)

Lastly, I'd like to say that you can expect many more blogs in future from me. I have many ideas drafted from earlier in the year and now that my schooling responsibilities are over and that I've had a rest, I feel a lot of creative energy returning to me. I expect I'll have new posts up here fairly consistently for the remainder of this month and in January. Soon I will need to find employment but right now, the present moment is mine to train, learn more about Martial Art, philosophy and life. For my next tally of publications, I intend to upload 5 expository essays about language that I did in my English Language class. Two of these essays were assessment pieces and the other 3 were created as a means of exam preparation. I wrote the essays in question at a time when I would have rather been blogging. I want to give you what my creative energies were told to produce at the time. I worked really hard and put a lot of resurch into them. For these reasons I think it would be silly if my teacher be the only person to read them. I also think you guys might get something out of them. Until then, maintain the brilliance you are contributing to the world in your respective endevers my friends. It's good to be back.

Post Script: My above commentaries about Sydney and Melbourne are completely over exaggerated. Please take them like a grain of salt!

Thanks for Reading

Right after work kicks

Beauty in Fighting Systems

I once agreed with Bruce Lee in saying there is no such thing as a Chinese way of fighting, Korean way of Fighting or whatever. I still agree with him but I see now there is a beauty in sticking to one fighting system. In a society that we are living in, we are forced to play a role. We cannot play every role because your energy will be dissipated all over the place. What I realize now is that when people tell me: "If you learn any type of Martial Art, you have to learn grounfighting too. " That is the most stupidest thing I have ever heard of. First of, I do not even fight on the ground. I fight standing up because I believe that is what a human being should focus on primarily when it comes to fighting. The problem when people think if they go to different schools of self-defense they can get to a high level is they do not learn anything at all and they lack any type of loyalty. You think I am talking crap? Let's take an example for Basketball, why are Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan the best players NBA ever had? Take a wild guess. They stick to one team and decided to move forward with it. That way, they are loyal to the team. Their work ethic is the most impressive ever. There is another sport I want to mention. In boxing, Mayweather is pretty much the greatest in his weight class because he chose to focus on it and became the best at it! I also want to mention soccer also because I play that sport myself. Lionel Messi is pretty much the best soccer player alive right. This year, he will probably earn the best player of the year again because he is just too much. You can google him if you want to but the point that I am making is that part of the science behind becoming the greatest lies in loyalty, and having a specialty. You can never be the best at everything. It is impossible. Even in a game like basketball, soccer, and football you have to focus on playing one position and be the best at it. Sure you can try to play different positions but there will be one that you like the most. Now when it comes to Martial Arts, whatever school you are practicing in right now, keep doing it. Dedicate yourself to make the best out of it. At the end of the day, it is not the style that is the problem, the problem is you. I totally agree when Ip Man said that. When people are saying things like: "Oh you practice Taekwondo? Why don't you do boxing too?" Then you go practice boxing. Another dumb ass said: "Practice BJJ." Then your dumb ass start practicing it too until you realize that I have not even learn about what real Martial Art is. You were just too concerned about what the outsiders think of you so you were trying to fill gaps but actually you got gaps all over your ass! Shit, you really fucked up!! What are you gonna do? Cry to your Taekwondo master to get you back? Why should he even teach you anymore? If he is a profit jackass, he will get you back but a real Master will reject you.
Well, finally all I am saying is stick to a Martial Art teacher that you admire, and I guarantee you; you will be the best human being that you can possibly be. Do not listen to outsiders who tell you to train in this and that. They are leading you astray. Figure out the kind of Martial Art teacher that you want and once you find him, stick to him. Learn his ways, do not give up. Peace.