Floating Monk

Buyer BEWARE!!!!!

Who’s your Sifu?

I address this subject lightly, but the issue is one that is becoming more and more relevant. New video clips of Chi Kung practitioners and instructors are rolling out daily on You Tube, My Space, Face Book and numerous other web sites, with links to purchase DVDs that teach you mystical, magical Chi Kung powers that we have only dreamed of.

The first of the three groups I will address here are the ones I call the look at me gang. The ‘first’ rule among true, dedicated martial artists is to clearly acknowledge your Sifu by name, to tell how long you have trained and to state your respect and dedication to your Sifu. Trained Martial Artists will recognize when other Martial Artists fail to identify their Sifu as their source and strength. In the world of Martial Arts, this lack of respect makes apparent the Artist’s self-serving agenda to seek the light himself rather than paying homage to the teacher who brought him to this place.

Such an Artist falls short of the standards of century old traditions. As I research the sites of these individuals offering to share their vast wealth of knowledge I frequently see no mention of their Sifu, how long they trained, or how long they’ve been a teacher if in fact they are a certified teacher or have even ever taught at all. This group fails to fulfill in one of the most revered unwritten rules of the martial arts, which is to give credit to your Sifu and in doing so become little more than pretenders!

There are two other groups of pretenders that I call 1) the smoke and mirror gang and 2) the inside out gang.

The smoke and mirror gang have one line that identifies them IMMEDIATELY. That line is “has studied a variety of”. There’s no need to go further once you come across this statement. Basically this group of individuals is doing what is often referred to as ‘Chop Suey’, they have a little bit of knowledge from numerous sources and no real or deep knowledge of any of them. The worst thing about this group is that they try to make a case for all the little pieces. Most often they will say things like, ‘has brought together the best of this system and the best of that system’, etc. In most cases, this group did not have the discipline to stick with any one system or teacher long enough to learn it well. They usually leave as soon as the training gets difficult. To turn around and try to sell this to the unsuspecting public is an insult, plain and simple.

The inside out gang take a little more effort to identify. What this group does is train or study one program or system and then turn around and use the names of other systems, usually to try and sell whatever topic is hot at the time. For example, I recently viewed a web site selling DVDs promising to teach on the Secret Internal Chi Kung Power of Kung Fu.

The problem here was that the professed teacher had studied yoga for years and capped it off with a brief period of Tai Chi, where is the Kung Fu? Where is the Chi Kung secret power that is rooted in this Kung Fu that they never trained? The fact was that the person selling this product had studied neither Chi Kung nor Kung Fu.

Most disciplined, dedicated long time practitioners and teachers of any system can appreciate what I have written here, however, it is really intended to aid the unsuspecting buyer who enters into our world with good intentions, hoping to learn something of value that they can incorporate into their lives, only to come across the pretenders in the three groups I have mentioned.

To you, the well meaning group, I would simply suggest that you avoid the groups I have mentioned above.

Remember, all true practitioners of the Martial Arts, ALWAYS pay homage and respect to their Sifu. Check the instructors biography and training history to see if they are qualified to be marketing the expertise they suggest, and don’t be afraid to ask the question, ‘Who’s your Sifu?” before you buy!