I can only answer this from my own experience, I trained in a school where we were taught several arts at once. we had one hour of Wing Chun, one hour of Kali, and a half hour of Thai boxing, these classes were 3x a week. Later the classes shifted to 2 hour classes, and each art was taught once a week, I studied Kali on Monday, Grappling on Tuesday, Wing Chun on Wednesday, and Silat on Thursday. All the arts just become the same thing eventually, with different ways of applying power, force, and technique. We only have 2 hands and two legs. I have learned many arts, and put in much time, with sweat and blood, etc. I have the material from all these arts to share, however it is impossible for a person to Master anything when studying so many things at once. I am now focused on  specific arts that I want to get very good at, but I still teach all the material from all the arts I studied in order to pass it on. People who have not crosstrained cannot understand how one can learn many arts, however many arts are very similar.

Internal Arts are different in the sense that you need to train how to use your whole body, and some Internal Arts are very hard to develope their body method, and it takes many years. It is nothing esoteric, nothing spiritual, etc etc, it's just that they are a different engine to create, and it is very hard to complete the engine and be able to drive it. Many people are claiming to be Internal Master's and are stealing students money, and stringing them along. Because of this, the general martial arts community feels Internal arts are just b.s, and are nothing special. Remember Internal is just a label, I have seen so called External arts have very Internal training. Any art that teaches you a specific power generation and how to use Internal energy and whole body, while giving you the side effect of excellant health, takes time.If someone wants to learn to fight, I tell them to kickbox and grapple first, then when they are confident and want to refine the power, and whole body method, then study Internal arts.

Very good is relative, I may be good to some, and terrible to others, my goal is to just be a professional student and learn from the best role models and teachers I can find! I have a tremendous amount of quality material to share, and I was fortunate to have trained with alot of great people. I want to make friends and share with people. I have no agenda, other than sharing what was taught to me, and making a living do something healthy that I enjoy. Between Chinese Medicine and Martial arts, I am very happy with what I do for a living.

I crosstrained when the UFC first started, and I continued to train in MMA, but it was nothing like it is today, where there are so many great teachers. I trained, and got alot of injuries from the type of crazy training we did. Their was no weight classes, and we abused our bodies, I was around 160 lbs, fighting guys up to 240, a few times a week we did this, and it was plain stupid. The teachers should look out for the students safety and health, and now, teachers are more educated, whereas back then, class was like a UFC match.People were always getting hurt.I train my students in a smart way, we train hard, but not stupid.I think mixed martial arts for the most part is great.There is no shortage of boxing coaches that are very good, and now, the same hold true for grappling. Their however are not that many great teachers of gong Fu, who have schools and teach real fighting. Their are some, but not alot in ever state, where people can just walk to a school down the block and go in and find quality.

Yeah, stay away from arguing with people on the net, and in the street. People want to start trouble all the time. I got sucked into some stupid arguments at one time. Now I learned, that the few that really want to learn and share, will be easy to spot, the rest that like to start trouble between schools, etc, are usually the ones who were never happy, insecure, or just have problems. Stay away from these kind of people, enjoy life, and training. Don't try to be a internet warrior! UFC is for the pros, don't pretend, etc. Be yourself and just have fun man, life is too short!

Yes, they are, Wing Chun and Kali can be crosstrained easily,Silat,and Bagua have very similar things in certain ways. Xingyi and Wing Chun on the surface  are also very similar. All arts have general similarities, such as all cars get you from point a to point b. How to desiagn each car differs very much, and how cars handle, and how they move. Martial arts are the same thing, all arts punch , kick, elbow, knee, etc, its how they do it that differs, and whats behind their engine, that differs. BODY METHOD AND STRAETGY IS ALL THAT DIFFERS MOST ARTS!

The difference is conditioning! Many streetfights are over in under 3 minutes, UFC type fights can be very long, and you have to be very conditioned to be in UFC. The street is about surviving, there is no ref, it is very dangerous. I have a few friends who were killed at a young age in the street, it's not a sport. UFC guys can also fight well in the street, they are trained very well, however the mind in the street is different. Some guys have only respect to live for, whether they are in gangs, or just a tough guy, and they will not lose. You can beat them, but they can never let it go, they sometimes go as far as to shoot somebody. It's a very different mentality. It also depends on where you live, what class of people your around, etc. Not every streetfight is life or death, but sometimes it can be. I seen alot of things over the years, I just suggest you choose your battles wisely. Treat people with respect, if you want to do UFC type fights, do it in the ring.

My opinion on this is quite basic. The idea I have is that most gong fu,and most internal art guys don't train realistic,or against skilled opponents. Many schools are stuck on forms,and that is ok, but don't let your student go fight a fighter if all he did was forms. Many real Masters in Gong Fu still do not show their skill, or compete, whether it is good or bad, thats the way it is.Many family styles are kept indoor,and don't share with outsiders, they will spar or fight, but usually behind closed doors. It is very hard for westerners to understand this,as we fight and go out for a beer afterwards in our culture. Most arts in other countries are family styles,and they don't fight with other families because it will turn real, as nobody wants to lose, so it's harder to have a friendly match. It will usually turn real. So to sum it up, most gong fu guys do not train as hard as other sports,in general. I do not want to offend any gong fu guys who do train realistic, so I do not say this is all gong fu guys.The ones that do train realistic and are foreigners have a different cultural mindset,and we need to respect that.They may not show you what they know. I have seen real gong fu,and it is very effective.There are some great gong fu guys here in the states as well, you really need to search for them.

It's easy! I have not mastered any art! I am a professional student, and many teachers taught me alot of material which I need to work on for the rest of my life. I do not live with a teacher as traditional arts are taught and they are taught very slowly everyday, many hours each day,and can become a Master of a style. Here in America we have to work, pay high taxes, Martial Arts are a hobby for most,even when we train very hard, so I am a teacher and student. In America the title Master or Shifu, or Sifu, are often confused as the same thing. A Shifu, or Sifu is just a teacher, not a Master.. So do not get caught up on titles,as it can be confusing, it's the material that matters. Try to deal with humble teachers who have good material to share. Also in reference to Chinese Arts,as well as other asian countries, their are student and their are disciples,anyone who claims to be a disciple can be verified by the teacher,as there is always a book kept to list all disciples of a Master.I have seen many people make false claims, to get students to follow them.