Last month UFC has become legal in NY. As the fastest growing sport, it was only a matter of time before it came to NY. UFC is the antithesis of traditional martial arts, yet former students flock to it. It offers quick results and fast paced action. Traditional martial arts are now vanishing all over the country. Kung-Fu, Wu-Su is the last non-profit martial arts studio in NY. It is the last place where people can practice the traditional art of Kung-Fu, while the landscape changes all around them.
The Rest of the story
Last month UFC has become legal in NY. As the fastest growing sport, it was only a matter of time before it came to NY. UFC is the antithesis of traditional martial arts, yet students flock to it. It offers quick results and fast paced action. Traditional martial arts are now vanishing all over the country.
Kung-Fu, Wu-Su is the last non-profit martial arts studio in NY. It is the last place where people can practice the traditional art of Kung-Fu, while the landscape changes all around them.
Master Robert Thomas, started practicing Kung-Fu when he was 13 years old, as a way to escape the rough life in the South Bronx during the tumultuous 1970’s. While his friends joined gangs and did drugs, his mom brought him every week to practice Kung-Fu.
Now Master Thomas is almost 60, but he still teaches others. Because Kung-Fu, Wu-Su is the last non-profit martial arts studio in NYC, students from all over the city come to escape to a place where they can relax and learn.
Unfortunately MMA, has taken it’s toll on the surrounding schools. They have all changed to MMA or shut down. Kung-Fu, Wu-Su is the last of it’s kind.
Transcript:
Transcript
[00;00;33;23]
Well I would say the golden age of Kung-Fu was probably in the 70’s. I mean Bruce Lee was the man.
[00;00;42;00]
Bruce lee brought Kung-Fu to national prominence in the United States. The movies are what helped Chinese Kung-Fu. Different arts came jn and a lot of people threw advertising behind those arts.
[00;01;15;12]
There are less non-profits in terms of schools. We are very unique in that respect. We’re not chasing money. Many schools will start teaching MMA or they’ll start teaching kickboxing because they want to get into the MMA craze. We stay true to form. We stay traditional.
[00;01;40;28]
We don’t get paid to teach.
[00;01;42;26]
You see where my body is? I’m not here..I’m here.
[00;01;53;06]
Down and then up. And then you shift from the side and do a reversal.
[00;01;57;03]
Get used to bouncing back up as soon as possible. A quick recovery will make a big difference between winning or losing. Possibly life or death.
[00;02;11;15]
I started practicing Chinese Wu-Su back in 1974, I was 13 years of age. I lived in the Bronx. There was a lot of drugs. A lot of street crime. My friends thought their idea of a good time was going and stealing something, or going and jumping somebody.
[00;02;33;29]
I can’t say I would have moved in that direction, but I can say Chinese Kung-Fu has helped me stay on a straight path.
[00;02;40;24]
People have become less traditional. They want things faster, in less time. I think because Kung-Fu takes time to learn and master, it has fallen by the wayside in peoples minds. People want something they think is real, but not really traditional.
[00;03;12;05]
I’m sometimes an optimist and sometimes, to be honest with you, a pessimist.
[00;03;29;23]
If people can find commercial value in it, I think it will always continue be good, but to a certain great extent I think it is dying out. I think it is a dying art to a great extent.
[00;03;38;23]
People don’t want to devote time to it, and practicing martial arts isn’t as easy as it was back in the day.
For further info, contact Josh Futtersak
