Confessions of a chunner

**MBriefcase** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 2:28pm

So I got in a fight three years ago and decided to learn martial arts to kick that guys ass. Being young and enamored with early Jackie Chan, I thought kung fu was the end-all-be-all. So I joined a local chun school.

A year later, joined Bullshido. Discovered the truth about the chun, but stuck with it. After all, we did weekly sanshou sparring, hard contact with gloves and head gear, so I still thought I was the ****.

A week ago, we had a seminar with the top dude in our system. I learned some pretty slick moves, some "submission holds," joint locks and the like. Now, I'm a 22 year old recent college grad living at home until grad school starts. I have a 14 year old little brother. I wanted to demonstrate some of the sweet moves I learned to him, so I had him punch at me. My attempt to catch his hand and get him in a lock failed miserably. But it worked so well at the demonstration.

"Hold on," I tell him. "Punch a little bit slower and leave your hand out there so I can...." It finally dawned on me. ****.

Moral of the story: end of this summer, I'm moving to Springfield, Illinois. Instead of continuing my chunnery, I've decided to enroll in Gracie Barra Springfield.

tl;dr - it took me three years to experience the fail myself.

**Lebell** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 2:54pm

you're a college grad?
wow...

lol!

**waxeater** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 3:09pm

Better to learn from your younger brother than in an actual fight, no?

**OiScout** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 3:44pm

Ignoring the chunner part ... let's take a look at these:

You're trying to catch a punch.
You are trying to do something that requires multiple steps and movements while someone is doing something basic.
You've had little training using an advance technique.

**jeffphansen77** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 6:50pm

Good for you. You're intellectually honest enough to admit the truth when it reveals itself. You'll get what you're wanting out of martial arts with that attitude.

**shelbydeth** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 6:53pm

Good for you man (or woman, I didn't see a specification in the post). I'm starting MMA/BJJ again in 2 months and I can't wait. At least you didn't suffer through Kuk Sool Won first like me. RIDGE HAND!

Also:

What an awesome place to move to.

**Jcbal93** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 8:51pm

Hey it can't be THAT bad. I mean you did weekly hard contact San Shou sparring and from what I have heard San Shou is pretty good.
It's better than most Kung Fu I have heard about in the site...
But... you seriously thought you could do KF submissions on an unresisting opponent even after joining bullshido?

Also, please tell Homer I said hi.

**bdang** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 8:55pm

Originally Posted by MBriefcase

So I got in a fight three years ago and decided to learn martial arts to kick that guys ass. Being young and enamored with early Jackie Chan, I thought kung fu was the end-all-be-all. So I joined a local chun school.

A year later, joined Bullshido. Discovered the truth about the chun, but stuck with it. After all, we did weekly sanshou sparring, hard contact with gloves and head gear, so I still thought I was the ****.

A week ago, we had a seminar with the top dude in our system. I learned some pretty slick moves, some "submission holds," joint locks and the like. Now, I'm a 22 year old recent college grad living at home until grad school starts. I have a 14 year old little brother. I wanted to demonstrate some of the sweet moves I learned to him, so I had him punch at me. My attempt to catch his hand and get him in a lock failed miserably. But it worked so well at the demonstration.

"Hold on," I tell him. "Punch a little bit slower and leave your hand out there so I can...." It finally dawned on me. ****.

Moral of the story: end of this summer, I'm moving to Springfield, Illinois. Instead of continuing my chunnery, I've decided to enroll in Gracie Barra Springfield.

tl;dr - it took me three years to experience the fail myself.

Hi,
You did sanshou sparring every week? Did you train to grab hands during these sanshou sparring sessions?

After the seminar, did you practice diligently on the timing of grabbing hands etc etc...

I'm not saying that the action of grabbing a punch is not ridiculous (it is), what I am saying is the way you came to the conclusion is not conclusive. You say you were unable to grab your brother's hand, therefore, what you've been learning in the past 3 years is b.s.

What you've been learning and practicing for the past 3 years, is not what you learnt at the seminar. Just because you see someone doing something and them teaching you how to do it, does not necessarily mean you can do it straight away... having said that, some techniques should never be taught or learnt for that matter - trying to grab a punch would probably fall into this category.