Hi Jerry,
I was there in he early-mid 80's - at the height of the cults power.
It was very entertaining.

I'm back in Chicago now, so I probably won't be in Rochester. Although
I'm rapidly becoming the home for wayward Reeders clan members (i.e.
moved to Chi-town) in Chicago. I'm looking forward to meeting some of
the instructors from that lineage some day.

A lot of good people got sucked in by the Moo, I think I would have
too if I hadn't already had some experience.

Best,
Joe



--- In LiuSeongGungFu@yahoogroups.com, "jerry martin" <jerry@...> wrote:
>
> Hi again Joe,
>
> What year were you in that area? It's funny to me how the whole moo
> thing has evolved. It used to be really hard core when they first
> started out. Then it got a little bit watered down in the 90's. And
> now, it's just pitiful. At least from what I see of their students.
> They shouldn't have changed their model. Once they got money hungry,
> they lost all of their great talented instructors.
>
> My experience, martially speaking, was not a bad one. I was in when it
> was still pretty hard core ( and I had an instructor; Michael Leoni,
> that had a clue about movement ) and I've found that I pick up new
> things very quickly now because of my training then.
>
> My main issue was the whole higher level Mind-Body training and respect
> line, all the while charging me way too much money.
>
> The idea of what they were preaching was a good one; brother/sister-
> hood, a higher moral path, community, and other grandious statements.
> They just didn't walk the walk. The longer I stayed in, the more
> apparent it became to me.
>
> Now, when I meet people like Sifu Guro Dan, Sifu George, Mr. Salomone,
> Mr. Barr, Miguel Hierro, etc... they welcome me without any questions
> asked, as a Gung Fu brother. Not as if I'm some slave that has
> to "earn" what they have. They have a skill and are willing to
> teach/share it and hope that I will make it my own and in turn pass it
> to the next generation.
>
> I don't have a problem paying someone for this knowledge. And I don't
> have any problems trying to make a living teaching what I know. They/I
> earned that right. I just don't think because we know how to punch and
> kick better than most, that we can suck our students dry of everything
> they have. How can they sleep at night is what I want to know?
>
> That's enough ranting for now.
>
> Where are you located now? Will you be at the workshop in Rochester in
> a couple of weeks?
>
> In peace, Jerry
>
> --- In LiuSeongGungFu@yahoogroups.com, "mas_judt" <mas_judt@> wrote:
> >
> > Jerry,
> > I grew up in the West suburbs of Chicago - so I was surrounded by them
> > and had lots of interaction at high school parties, 'visiting' the
> > schools for free private lessons for personal amusement and other
> > general bad behavior. I was lucky that I had been exposed to some okay
> > stuff before encountering the Moo, so I was not roped in - I had
> > another frame of reference that protected me from them.
> >
> > I'm amazed at how many people they roped in, but people today do not
> > know what it was like then - the complete absence of real knowledge in
> > regards to history, methods, anything - it was easy for goofs like Kim
> > to fool the public. And a lot of good people got taken.
> >
> > -- Joe
> >
>