AWMA did an interview with me recently, it's very well presented.

For anyone interested, here's the link: http://blog.awma.com/tim-cartmell-true-to-the-original-directive/

Excellent.
Makes me want get back into working out.

Great interview, and the video clip was an added bonus! I'm gonna try that stuff the next time I get Kesa Gatame. Thanks for posting it.

"...In actuality, there is no ‘Internal/External’ dichotomy, nor even separate ‘styles’, there are only individuals moving and fighting. Labeling movement and fighting skills as ‘styles’ is just a convenient way of organizing types of training and technique.”

I love that!
Great interview.

Tim, I often do ezekiel choke without the gi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZfIQw6kabA

Thanks Guys.

Backarcher, the no-gi Ezekiel choke is great, but, in my experience it becomes lower percentage as you move away from having the pressure and control from top mount since you can't anchor your hand with the gi.

Good point.

Great interview! Nice to see you getting some "press"!

Shared in my FB group,
Cheers

Tim,

If there are no styles, why do you want to organize practice and technique into styles? Can IMA be considered a tradition of training methods and therefore they exist? But in actuality they don't? I don't understand what you mean.

Or in actuality, I think I do understand, but sometimes I feel that you over-simplificate things. Yes, I spelled over-siplificate like that on purpose. Some think styles and labels also symbolize generations of people who developed a system through knowledge, experimenting and through real combat. I believe that we should respect and try to understand the complexity of traditional arts. Mr. you learned from a whole bunch of traditional teachers while spending 11 years in China.

Was it necessary to learn this tradition if "there are only individuals moving and fighting"? Was it a waste of time if there in actuality are no separate styles and if you learn more in five minutes on the mat than a whole life time of spending on forms? Yet I see no regret. Maybe his way of dismissing tradition is a bit disrespectful towards all of your teachers and theirs, but you doesn't seem regretful.

Bob#2, Escritor Fantasma

Teachers like Tim are hard to find. I dont know many jiu jitsu black belts with a rather extensive background in chinese martial arts. Many martial artists do not cross train in other styles. Which is why mma is so effective. imo

http://threeharmonies.blogspot.com/2013/08/tim-cartmell-interview-with-awma-true .html

Bob #2,
That was the first serious post I've ever seen you write.

This is my summation of Tim's method and I could be wrong. Tim learned principles of combat from the internal arts but was able to master them through mma. Let's face the facts. Many so called tradtional schools have a very forms oriented curriculum with no clear route to learn the true fighting skills of the old masters. MMA provides that venue. Do your chen tai ji form to learn the proper body mechanics but then apply those mechanics to hitting bags/people and to not get taken down.

Maybe Tim does regret it but doesn't want to disrespect his teachers. Maybe he loved his time in Taiwan and wouldn't trade it for anything even though he could've become a bjj blackbelt years earlier than he did.

I certainly regret my years in the so called traditional martial arts.

Iff you put a ba gua man in the ring against a tai ji man it will surely turn into the gheyest kickboxing match ever assuming that the two only studied their arts in the tradtional way. One can garner from this that it would be faster to just study kickboxing if you truly wanted to learn to fight.

The hsing I school of hsu hong ji modified their curriculum from what I understand. They added judo exercises in and named them fu hu gong because standing in San ti doesn't make you tough enough to withstand the Mongolian hordes.

Like I said...I could be wrong about all this.

This is my last word until someone else replies. I will say that the current offshoots of the old Tang Shou Tao school have abandoned the true fighting aspects of what they learned as a trade off to promote the traditional Chinese medicine skills and health skills learned instead.

Sorry for 3 desperate posts. It wouldn't let me edit.

Jake, why did you repost the same interview? To get people to your blog??

Here we go...

Thanks, Timber. (I copied and pasted that question from another site) your summation is of no use to anyone but you.

Thanks for the next post, Timber.
And your last word post, Timber.
and the next post too, Timber.

William, are you a fan of Salt'n Pepa?

The fact that you read my summation means a lot to me, Bob.

While I'm sure it means more to you than you'll ever admit; I stopped at "my... could be wrong".
If there's anything after that it could be wrong.

You're just mad that you read the whole thing and liked it. Stop lying.

Bob #2,

My advice is to practice what you like.

There are many reasons people practice martial arts.

If your goal is to acquire practical, useable fighting skills in a short amount of time, training in styles categorized as "combat sports" (some examples: Boxing, Muay Thai, BJJ, Sanda, Sambo, and especially modern MMA) are most often best suited to the task.

Case in point: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5698062/Burglar-left-bruise d-and-bleeding-by-retired-boxer-72.html