Who here has heard of Dan Inosanto?

[Red Rum]

Hahaha I love this... For years and years, most of the idiots on MAP, Bullshido and now this site have slated wing chun, just because of what they have seen on YOUTUBE or read in a book.

Now that someone comes along with no aggression behind a comment and says that they do not think that Inosanto is as influential as many of the great names to come out of America (not yours Garland), the JKD guys saddle up. I think you are appreciating how it feels to be a wing chun guy and people telling you that your art is rubbish when they haven't even seen you in action

[medic06]

I know I'm ignorant, but that's not the argument. The argument is whether Insonato is the most influential martial artist to come out of the USA.

I have found three people on here so far who have said they have never even heard of him, let alone be influenced by him. And they were American!!!

I've found 287 as of now who have heard of him.

So about 98.95% of those responding have heard of him.

Why would you have to have heard of him to be influenced by him? How many people know who invented the cell phone? Or the internet?

[Red Rum]

I've found 287 as of now who have heard of him.

And do these people do JKD? I could find 4000 people who have heard of Kevin Chan (in our federation), let alone outside, but that doesn't make him the most influential martial artist in the UK

So about 98.95% of those responding have heard of him. ?

Out of people on a JKD forum...
I also quoted that a lot of people hadn't heard of him let alone be influenced by him. I didn't say MOST people haven't heard of him. I would argue that Jet Li has influenced more people than Inosanto and that is just off the top of my head.

Why would you have to have heard of him to be influenced by him? How many people know who invented the cell phone? Or the internet?

Er, wasn't it you who started this thread titled 'Who here has heard of Dan Inosanto'???

I can understand your passion for your instructor - I would defend mine too, but I am just trying to make people appreciate that comments such as 'Inosanto is the most influential martial artist in America' could be a little insulting to other martial artists in the US

I have never said Inosanto was cr*p. Just want people to start seeing things outside the box and beyond their own arts

[Red Rum]

3 whole people?

My god. It's a mob.

Hmmm yeah and I wonder how many of the 287 are real people??

The point is that you asked JKD guys on a JKD forum who has heard of Dan Insonato. That is like asking WC guys on a WC forum if they have heard of Yip Man. As I have stated numerous times, I was talking about people outside JKD, outside of martial arts, etc.

But Mike has to protect his teacher

[Red Rum]

Hardly. If there's anyone in the entire world that needs no one's protection, it's Dan Inosanto..

Hahahahaha sounds like an advert

If you asked people who've trained with Dan Inosanto who's heard of Yip Man, you'd likely get a universal "I have." There's one of the major differences between someone like Dan Inosanto, and someone like you. Dan Inosanto shows people more than what's contained in the walls of his school or particular lineage. He doesn't claim to be (or even feel comfortable with the notion) that he is the "source" or that he has all the answers. He is constantly encouraging people to seek answers outside their own group, which means most of his people are aware of influential instructors across a gamut of martial experience.

It keeps people from becoming self-absorbed one trick ponies, as you are increasingly appearing to be.

Hey I show my students and teach my students everything about the martial arts world. Most of my students have studeied other martial arts at top level and already know about martial arts.

I don't know why you think I am so self obsessed - I have barely mentioned my level in martial arts, except when you asked for a resume from me Mike.

Kamon has certainly given me a lot of skilll that I have used successfully in tournaments, but I know it it isn't for everyone.

I am certainly not as good as some martial artists I have seen, but the post isn't about me - it is about a bunch of JKD guys saying that a JKD guy is the best in the US. That is what I would call self obsessed

[Tom Yum]

Sorry to interrupt.

Redrum, I've never said anything insulting about the art of wingchun. Personally, I let the art and its practitioners speak for itself.

My biggest critique of wingchun (prior to guys like Orr getting involved in MMA) has been its lack of spontaneous training against resisting opponents; sure chi-sao is somewhat spontaneous but its also against other wingchun stylists and depends on a fixed position. Yes, there's some practicality behind that position but no one starts out fighting like that...

Since I've found the vids of Orr, some of his students and others fighting in NHB and winning, I think its a good thing. In most of those fights, the wingchun fighters revert to the basics of stand up, right? chain punching, wingchun style low kicks, knees and throws.

This is a good thing for wingchun as a combat art.

[heyyou316us]

I'm going to my first Inosanto seminar next month, he's coming to Dallas. Very Excited!!! What should i expect?

[Tim McFatridge]

I'm going to my first Inosanto seminar next month, he's coming to Dallas. Very Excited!!! What should i expect?

I am going to try and be there as well. Hopefully we can meet up and maybe do a little training together while there. Guro Dan puts on an awesome seminar. Just be sure to bring a pen and plenty of paper to take notes on. Also, if you have a video camera I would suggest bringing it as well. YOU ARE NOT ALOUD TO VIDEO TAPE DURING THE SEMINAR.... but you can always set it up in the corner somewhere so after the seminar you can video yourself doing some of the material that was presented during the day.

Peace

[medic06]

I am going to try and be there as well. Hopefully we can meet up and maybe do a little training together while there. Guro Dan puts on an awesome seminar. Just be sure to bring a pen and plenty of paper to take notes on. Also, if you have a video camera I would suggest bringing it as well. YOU ARE NOT ALOUD TO VIDEO TAPE DURING THE SEMINAR.... but you can always set it up in the corner somewhere so after the seminar you can video yourself doing some of the material that was presented during the day.

Peace

Very,very good advice. You will walk away with volumes of information. . .

[medic06]

And do these people do JKD? I could find 4000 people who have heard of Kevin Chan (in our federation), let alone outside, but that doesn't make him the most influential martial artist in the UK


Out of people on a JKD forum...
I also quoted that a lot of people hadn't heard of him let alone be influenced by him. I didn't say MOST people haven't heard of him. I would argue that Jet Li has influenced more people than Inosanto and that is just off the top of my head.


Er, wasn't it you who started this thread titled 'Who here has heard of Dan Inosanto'???

I can understand your passion for your instructor - I would defend mine too, but I am just trying to make people appreciate that comments such as 'Inosanto is the most influential martial artist in America' could be a little insulting to other martial artists in the US

I have never said Inosanto was cr*p. Just want people to start seeing things outside the box and beyond their own arts

I took the liberty of using "influenced by" and "heard of" interchangably since you have been doing the same. Glad that you noticed. . . .

Yep, here's a poll, I've gathered information and came up with statistics. Your strongest argument so far is a poll in a British MA magazine that's supposed to rank martial artist around the world. How come you never questioned that poll?

[Garland]

Now that someone comes along with no aggression behind a comment and says that they do not think that Inosanto is as influential as many of the great names to come out of America (not yours Garland)

**** you, bitch...I'm bigger than the beatles.

[Red Rum]

Everything, huh? You know everything about the martial arts world??

Nope, it was just an expression.

You claim to teach them everything about the martial arts world, and yet you don't seem to know what's happening in your own back yard. You talk about how little Dan Inosanto visits the UK, and yet he was just there a week or two ago. He has several instructors in that neck of the woods who teach full time as well.

What does a recent visit matter. I was talking about the frequency of visits, not the last time he visited

The nuts and bolts of my disagreement with what you've said is that on one hand, you claim to be this open-minded, highly knowledgeable (you do, after all, show and teach everything about the martial arts world...) instructor, and yet you have what seems to be a focused desire to deny the contributions of someone like Inosanto. It doesn't detract in any way to acknowledge what he's done, but you seem to think it's some kind of badge of honor to belittle his contributions. That's fine, if it's how you choose to represent yourself to the students to whom you claim to be teaching "everything," or if that's the kind of person you want to be seen as. Personally, I would hope that someone like you would be more willing to give credit where it is due.

Isn't that what you've been crusading for when it comes to Wing Chun?

I don't deny the contribution of Inosanto. He has done many martial arts, but the argument stems from a commemt made by a member of this forum saying that Inosanto was the most influential in the US.

I felt that this was as arrogant as anything I have said previously.

I feel that Kevin Chan is an extremely good and progressive martial artist but I would never be so arrogant as to say he was the best as I know it would insult many martial artists in the UK who have worked just as hard

As for TomYum....
'My biggest critique of wingchun (prior to guys like Orr getting involved in MMA) has been its lack of spontaneous training against resisting opponents; sure chi-sao is somewhat spontaneous but its also against other wingchun stylists and depends on a fixed position. Yes, there's some practicality behind that position but no one starts out fighting like that...'

This is my biggest pet peeve. People seeing one tiny bit of a martial art and writing it off. Orr is not alone in fighting. Kevin Chan spars and wins against guys like Dean Meringo who was signed to join the UFC but injured his leg

He is not alone. There are some fantastically good wing chun masters (like Orr) and schools out there who use wing chun in the way it should be used

[medic06]

He didn't write off WC. Read the whole post.

[Red Rum]

I have read the post and yes he did write off wing chun. It was only when he discovered it does actually work if trained right and under the right school, that he started to appreciate it.

And my comment was pretty generic - it wasn't just labelled to TomYum (you know who you are...).

[jubaji]

It was only when he discovered it does actually work if trained right and under the right school.

Wow, a two-fer!

1) The classic "it works" nonsense

and

2) The desperate allusion to the 'right' school/teacher/training to excuse any 'art' that has become famous for turning out armies of LARPing losers.