tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post6732693414320348195..comments2024-03-21T18:54:06.548-07:00Comments on Old Enough to Know Better: Karate is Deadly, but ...Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-45847985928170951062007-05-25T15:24:00.000-07:002007-05-25T15:24:00.000-07:00Problem with an uneducated populace -- it's hard t...Problem with an uneducated populace -- it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff if you don't know what they one or the other is supposed to look like.<BR/><BR/>Because there is so little silat in the U.S. compared to a lot of other arts, most people don't have a clue as to what it is supposed to be or do, and generally can't tell hung gar from the hokey-pokey.<BR/><BR/>It has always been that way here in the states. When karate and TKD showed up, there were Judo guys who all of a sudden were experts in the new stuff.<BR/><BR/>When Kung-Fu aired on TV, all of a weekend, a lot of karate school signs got painted over with the yin-yang circle and we had scores of Quai Chang Caine clones.<BR/><BR/>Every time a new art arrives on the scene, people crawl out from under their rocks and claim it, whether they know it or not. No reason silat should be any different. <BR/><BR/>Sometimes they are outright frauds, sometimes they take a few lessons, and then distill the essence of the art from all that jumble stuff into the Real Deal (tm).<BR/><BR/>Then again, there are some oily characters in the old country, too, who are willing to give you a fancy certificate with lots of stamps and artwork proclaiming you an instant Pendekar if you show up, do a form, and then fork over a nice bit of change. <BR/><BR/>I suppose it is possible that they can see it in you, but one tends to look askance at such things. <BR/><BR/>We here in the states don't have a monopoly on charlatans ...Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-56674438048852902952007-05-25T15:04:00.000-07:002007-05-25T15:04:00.000-07:00Yes, that's the other problem. 99% of everything ...Yes, that's the other problem. 99% of everything is some rotten kim chee. Especially silat, where in the US, charlatans can get away with passing off an inferior article as reality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-46421335585296577742007-05-25T12:16:00.000-07:002007-05-25T12:16:00.000-07:00I believe this is largely true. However, no matter...I believe this is largely true. However, no matter how good a leathersmith you are, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. <BR/><BR/>Different arts offer different platforms, and some are better than others. If you want to learn how to use a knife, you don't take karate lessons; if you want to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow, you get into kyudo, not kendo ...Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-6771327251768637152007-05-25T08:07:00.000-07:002007-05-25T08:07:00.000-07:00Don't tell anyone I said this, but I've always had...Don't tell anyone I said this, but I've always had this niggling, heretical suspicion that it's the practitioner and not the style.<BR/><BR/>When people rice bowl guard or wave their silat e-peens, it always (always always) means that they're compensating for something. So much the worse if they have martial puissance, because in that case they paid for it.<BR/><BR/>Paid dearly in other aspects of their lives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com