In the past, it seems there was a lot of fakes in the Chinese martial arts world.
Many of them say that they were entertainment as in street performance. The word “Kaken Shutai (花拳繍腿)” which writes “fist like flower (花拳) and leg like embroidery (繍腿)” means it has no martial arts value when the techniques look only fancy and cool. We are often being fooled, but it is more dubious when the techniques are flashy and outstanding as in the movies.
In case of fighting for a life, a bit of carelessness or negligence will result to death. You can realize if you visualize that the opponent carries sharp blade when fighting. It is not hard to imagine that you can be killed if you make any useless movement. It is inevitable that the movement in such a fight becomes simple and monotonous. Nothing is more discouraging than finding the techniques you have learned is useless in case of emergency.
Considering such circumstances, it is a critical issue to meet a real martial artist, which affects the outcome of your training, and so, it is a matter of course to devote yourself to search for a good teacher even if training is delayed to some extent. As there are saying in martial arts, “Choose a good teacher even if your training is delayed for three years.” the training of martial arts may be changed to a richer one by adding color to your life if you learn under a good teacher.
I was very fortunate to meet three great teachers, “Masutatsu Oyama”, “Kenichi Sawai”, and “Hideo Nakamura”, which I should say is a miracle, and I learned precious teachings from them which cannot be expressed in words. I will continue to embody the teachings over my whole life. In the world of martial arts, the relationship between teacher and student is essential, and according to that teaching, our training continues for a lifetime.
Kancho Hatsuo Royama
