redfox and drunkard.

20090116
01:53

it's being a long time since i grumble online.

i've just watched ip man. i got goosebumps upon the first fight. i was being hit like that before when i was 12. not by my parents, not by sch bullies. it was my first contact with martial arts. i did not enrol into a wing chun class, but apparently the master, master chen, was trained in this artform. he wasn't as spectacular as wat the movie portrayed ip man to be, which i do not know the extent of truth in the fight choreogrpahies, but he moves in the similar way. i recalled how we, the handful who took extra combat lessons from him, were always being pinned down by him, being slapped in all directions where we will never know how, and being lifted off our feet and realizing it only after landing back onto the mat.

i was then a kid. kids easily believe wat adults say, especially a role model. master chen once said bout some demon in the heart which will hinder you to become better, and it's important to overcome this demon. being a kid, i innocently believed. not the demon, but to overcome. it does sound stupid if some one tells me that now. but i'm glad that i met master chen. i may be too young to appreciate him back then, and i do not get alot of close encounters with him, but now thinking back, i wished i could have learned more from him.

i found sense of belonging in the classes. i was recognized for my efforts. everyone in the class knows i'm good, given my age at that time. not to boast, i may not be the best, but at least one of the better ones. this is wat i dun find at home. i was never appreciated at home. seen as the youngest, and incapable of many things. but these strangers acknowledged my potential, i was given the chance to teach new comers, at the age of 12... now thinking back... what the fuck a 12 yr old can do? but those strangers appreciate me more than my family ever did.

donnie yen as ip man. this brings me back to my childhood memories of watching the fist of fury series, the honky drama series adapted from bruce lee's fist of fury. donnie yen acted as a national hero, a fictional disciple of huo yuan jia (founder of chin woo athletic association), who fights japanese too. his moves back then seemed fake, which i feel that the production attempted to represent bruce lee's swift actions by fast forwarding. by the way bruce lee slowed down for the camera in his movies. a bad attempt indeed. but even so, i would always rush home to watch; halfway thru soccer games. when mom wanna cut my hair i'd get the trim in front of the tv. i might be the only series i had being so addicted to.

i could have gone on and on about my encounters with martial arts, but it'll just be like a blunt pencil. i feel that i've found my root.

links:
Ip Man the Movie - http://www.ipman-movie.com/main_en.html
Yip Man, Master of Wing Chun - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yip_Man
Information on Wing Chun - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_Chun
Who is Donnie Yen? - http://www.donnieyen.com/
Fist of Fury (1995) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKcBoLRX24I

-redfox & drunkard lived again-