Posted by KC Elbows on February 04, 2003 at 08:03:06:
In Reply to: Re: Susan Johnson posted by Realist on February 03, 2003 at 20:38:10:
'And as an activity for increasing the use and enjoyment of your life, your instructors are better guides than these anonymous posters...'
Your instructors are barely thirty. In asia, people as young as that aren't considered guides period. The nationals are older, but the fact is, the vast majority of them have been in prison. To know how to enjoy life to the fullest, look to family, look to children, look to friends, do not look to your martial arts instructor.
The fact is, there was a point where I enjoyed the moo, but that enjoyment came at a price that was too high. For that enjoyment, I wasted my training time, supported a corrupt system by paying lesson fees, and looked down on people who didn't deserve it. You might escape from the last fault, but the first two you cannot avoid and still be in the moo.
Here is reality. I was a student of Tom McGee who was a student of Kim and the first black belt in chung moo quan, Forrest Troutner. Forrest Troutner built the Chicago empire, while Kim was failing to build much of anything. Kim copied his model. Every time you go to class, every opportunity that you thank your instructors for, you are ultimately thanking Troutner and McGee and that crew. Troutner went mad and was held on Kim's farm. McGee tried to take the fall for Kim, and Kim tried to let him, even though a teacher is supposed to look out for his students. These are the men who you owe for your opportunities. If you are going to look up to the flawed men who give you the moo, look up to ALL of them. Kim is the least notable of them, and is only notable at all because Forrest Troutner figured out how to use him as an advertising method.