Fang Shen Do

[PeterPantsless]

Askari. I did read the other thread about the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and my jaw dropped. I want to hear how the people at FSD will defend it.

[Askari]

Shawarma,
The Canadian MMA scene is very internet happy. And small. No one has ever heard of the event they spoke about.

It is entirely possible that it was a toughman competition, hence proffessional and paid, and maybe with low rules as well. Just not pro-MMA in 2003 in Canada and no-one hearing about it.

PeterP, ok, now I get you, I too am interested in that.

[Simon McNeil]

Heheh... that figures.... he just joined this month....

Hell! I joined this month and I know Bullshido is full of Assholes. :ohyea7qh:

I just realized that the IChokeYou types can be ignored easily enough and the Thaiboxerken types aren't much different than your average troll anyway so what the hell? And a few guys here are quite alright. :ninjadanc :sniperdan

[TKD Black Belt]

Oh yah, and we all know how ligit 'TuffMan' events are!

I'm confused though, to me (and this is just my humble opinion) is FSD Kung Fu or Grappling or what? Seems to be that if you try to do too much you end up doing nothing at all.

TKD

[Jaric]

Its a poor take on Wing Chung. Which is to say that it is garbage.

[TKD Black Belt]

I dunno, personal opinion here (how long will I have to type that before people realize that that's all we really type for the most part?) but with the advent of MMA style fighting and events like the UFC, KOTC and numerous other events that for the most part are starving for fighters you'd think it would be very easy to step up and then say:

"Wow, this sh*t works." or "Damn, I wasted 12 years on this?"

Just my thoughts.

TKD

[Jaric]

Shall I be the first to say:


Hello pot.
Hello kettle.
Looking a bit black today.

[TKD Black Belt]

I see myself as more of a grey colour really ;) or off-white, or maybe a lighter shade of pale.

Jaric, I agree with your statement but I think the more blunt:

"Put up or shut up." Would be more applicable.

TKD

[Old Wolf]

I haven't been on this site in sometime. I haven't heard nothing really good about feng shen do.
-rumors of cult like status
-teaching students to swing metal pipes at knee caps
-something about smelling dog shit
-uncomfirmed fights with no evidence
-ridiculous amounts of $ to become a member
-forcing students to pay $ to leave the school
-keeping students isolated from other martial arts practitioners
-bad promo videos that show poor skill, but very expensive and tooled out dojos

There is a book out which I'll just read at a Chapters instead of buying it. I'll review over it and see what is so special about this Kung-fu style. This ain't my complete opinion of this Feng Shen do and will give it some consideration to prove its' worth. But right now...it don't look good.

__________________________________________________ _____________
...silence

[Haru_the_larger]

old wolf: swinging metal pipes at knee caps? where did that come from?

[Haru_the_larger]

• What exactly were the circumstances of Jacques Patenaude's departure from Wing Chun Do? Was it amicable? Did he leave or was he "kicked out"? Was there a particular event or incident that was the catalyst?
• Does Fang Shen Do have forms or not? If it does not, then what are things like Lin Sil Die Dar, Advanced Doan Chi, and the Mook Jong? How does Fang Shen Do define a form?
• Why can't senior students assist junior students?
• Why are there no black belt students attending classes?
• When a program includes "all test paid for", what exactly does that include (itemized list, please)?
• What are the circumstances surrounding the school "evictions" (e.g. Dino, Brian, and Dan)? Why were these schools shut down / taken over?
• How has Fang Shen Do served the community?
• What kind of leeway do fanchisees have in how they run their schools? Can they offer different seminars or invite instructors from other arts as guest instructors?
• Why is it so expensive? Really.
• Why have none of the other sifus participated in this discussion, or better yet, where is Jacques?

:dontknow:
When we start seeing some of these answers, we'll be making progress again.

What exactly is the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and how does it work?

This "Inner Circle", is a cash grab. Defend.

Where did the instructors get their weapons certifications from?

Why is there no interaction with other martial arts?

Was there, or was there not, dogshit sniffing? Seriously.

__________________________________________________ ___________

So many good questions, yet no one from the FSD hierarchy seems to want to answer them. Despite accusations to the contrary, I am very interested in answers to all these questions. As I have mentioned a number of times, I am in complete agreement with Stringfellow's original post on FSD as far as the problems raised there.

I noticed the other day that FSD now has a mcdojo wagon. They bought an suv and it is now painted with FSD slogans, colours, and logos. The other thing that's not been mentioned is the article on sijo JP in some business magazine. While that does not necessarily mean much on its own, I do find it interesting that a multipage article was written on the man talking about his business prowess instead of his martial arts.

I am not too sure what the bullshido feeling is on Inside Kung Fu magazine. FSD had a feature article in that magazine a while back about station training.

The two articles mentioned above are prominently displayed at some of the FSD schools.

Old Wolf mentioned a book at Chapters. I had heard not long ago that the book was out and was very surprised. This book was promoted within the school. I borrowed a copy and read bits and pieces of it. I am sure that there will be no one on this site who is impressed with it. As with many things offered by FSD, there was the possibility of this being something good, but the reader will be left feeling shortchanged. It looks hastily assembled and poorly edited. The language appears clumsy in places. There are plans for a ten volume set if what I have heard is true.

[Old Wolf]

The "knee capping" was actually the first rumor I recieved back when I started college. And that was 5 years ago. But since that was the only rumor that caught your eye. I'm starting to think the rest are true.


__________________________________________________ ______________
Bam

[Jaric]

I looked at the book at Chapters. I told the employee in the section that this belongs in fiction. The book was terrible. Yet another WC-esk book that teaches nothing. Oh and suffice it to say that inside kung fu, and the other mags like it are merely marketing devices for McDojo's. Sure they may have the odd article about something good, followed by 90 pages of bullshido advertising.

[Haru_the_larger]

old wolf: The other things you mentioned, other than the knee capping, have been discussed throughout this thread.

[TKD Black Belt]

I was thinking of taking piano lessons so I did some research and came up with a list of teachers who for the most part appeared on the surface to be teaching piano and had experience not only in teaching but also in performing.

The first teacher invited me into a room without a piano. We talked about the piano, we discussed what one looked like and this teacher went to great lengths to discribe not only their abilities on the piano but how mine would be after learning from them.

The second teacher invited me in and sat me infront of a piano. They began to teach me a lesson but would not let me play the black keys and every fifth note was forbidden as well. This teacher had photographs on the wall of them standing with very well known piano players and teachers but was never playing in any of the pictures.

The third teacher invited me in and then handed me off to one of their 'assistant teachers' who promptly told me what a great thing it was that I take lessons from his teacher. He then proceeded to tell me all about his teacher's ability without ever letting me touch the piano.

The last teacher invited me in to play the piano. I was permitted to play the whole keyboard and ask questions about what I was doing. They demonstarted their ability to play by both showing me and in behaviour. They had other stupdents who were coming and going and they all spoke highly of the teacher. I decided to take lessons here.

TKD