Alright well was hoping you would put more of that article with Wang Xiangzhai. I guess that means I have to try an find it, <woops>!
He was always trying to create his own system not trying to learn the system of Xingyi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Xiangzhai http://neigong.net/2006/06/05/anecdotes-of-dachengquan-founder-wang-xiangzhai-by-wang-xuanjie/ Anyone else see what the wikipedia has in it! Bad writing!
the guy in the video would probably perform better in a fight than a lot of traditional tai chi'ers. Fitness itself is more valuable than practising a martial style imo, when your talking about fighting ability... if one guy goes to the gym often, runs often, stretches often but DOESNT do MA... and he fights a guy who practises 2 hours of karate a week but that person doesnt do any additional excersises .. id saythe fitness guy would win.
Though, I don't think that's really a fair comparison as I think this guy really is a traditional guy. He really blurred the lines as far as form goes. Most of his form was traditional technique. Of course watching forms only gives you a small window into someone's overall training I really thought I was going to hate this video before I clicked, but this guy is really good!
Hi All, WOW -Great video (the first one) Would I like to be able to do that - YES Is it Tai Chi - Not as I know it. Could he fight - Maybe. Could he run away so fast and so far that you would never catch him - YES Would I like to be able to do that - YES Great leg power - I'd have liked to see more upper body power - I don't mean strength I mean when a technique looks the part - like it could do damage (mainly to do with intent) and I didn't see that in the video. Of course video is not an ideal way to judge such things... and... Would I like to be able to do that - YES All the best. Robert.
It's not supposed to look good, it's supposed to be balanced and to heal you and great taiji feels great inside and thats the whole point!
and let us not forget... Teach you how to bust up and kill people really really quickly. Yours in the arts. Robert.
Well, one has to consider how something which in China wasa martial art, whose benefits were external, as in, the ability to defend oneself, becones transformed in to an art where the benefits are entirely internal - as in, it makes you feel good inside. So does sex. And I also rather notice that when criticising the opening performer of this thread, he's criticised because his stuff isn't martial... and then when it's pointed out that none of you taiji warriors actually ever demonstrate any realistic martial taiji ability - beyond editing your slug-out fights down to the one lucky shot that vaguely resembled a taiji move (the taiji equivalent of joining a dating agency and putting up the one lucky photo that by some amazing twist of light and chance made you look almost good looking) - y'al switch to "Well taiji is about how it makes you feel on the inside..." It's like a slippery excuse - like a executive toy on the desk of taiji which tips one way or the other to get you out of which ever cliam it is you're being pulled on. As ever, I've never seen any convincing taiji except from top level masters from mainland China. Even then, I've never seen it used in a real, serious bout.
Are you saying that sex is a martial art then. I criticised it because it is all about gymnastics and not TaiJi...I don't doubt that he is possibly an excellent martial artist. Um, I thought TaiJi is all about what you do on the inside. Maybe you should get out more (jk)
No, a marital art - many an amusing night on youtube spent with that mistake. Sex makes you feel good, and does a lot more for your health and mental well being, inside and out than taiji, in my humble view. Well, here go round the maypole again... You mean, as opposed to normal taiji which isn't just about dancing? Well, where is the proof that there even IS any real, effective martial taiji left in the world? I think he is so much better than the level of taiji I see in this country that I'd eat my taiji ruler if any one on here had better taiji than that. Well, I guess so - who knows anymore? If someone says there's no evidence of fight effective taiji then we're told that it's about health... if someone, like the openig guy is doing all the moves, but it isn't your brand of taiji, then its "gymnastics" and not martial. Actually, taiji is about what you do with your whole body, inside and out, and then, like everything else, whatever is claimed for it is measured by results - and most specifically the results required should be comparable to the claims made, i.e., the more and bigger claims made the higher the proof band you fall in to. JK has my respect because she is actively searching for deeper understanding and expression of the martial aspects of taiji - but I'd like to see some of the other put up their so called martial taiji that they claim is effective. Searching for the martial heart is one thing, but demonstrating it in a serious bout with a seriously resisting opponent is another. I was recently watchign a video on youtube of a self defence school in the States, where for their black belt test they have a guy all padded up, in the ring with a woman, and boy does he give her a test - some real self defence orientated training that young woman is in to. I'd like to see the men who claim that their taiji is martial do that - and I'd like to see some stylistic presence of taiji, so that we know that it is taiji, and not just kick boxing. That would be a start, and then we could look from there as to how to improve on that. As ever, my intention is not to make Quan disreputable, but to play a small part, if possible, according to my humble means, in promoting the right way of thinking for glorious Quan to re-emerge in all its true greatness.
No, but there again, I don't claim any martial ability - merely that I train in martial arts. In fact, I've said many times that my level is humble. My great battle on this website is to lay the ground rules of thinking that will allow the right way of looking at these issues. The primary aspect of that is to establish awareness that the claims of the big claimer are not in any way linked to the level of the critic - only to their own claims of level. The critic need never display anything. The critic could be ancient, or in a wheel chair - or, not be able to show any great level - may not even be a martial artists. There is a quote by Wang Xiang Zhai, discussing this, where he says that even those who know nothing about martial arts understand the obvious wrong points of false martial arts. The fact that it comes back to my level, when it's about what others have claimed, is an indication that their claims are un-provable - i.e., they aren't true. I can call people taiji warriors all day long if they claim high level and never back it up. I claim low level and never back it up. If I could get anything across as a primary start point, it would be to stop claiming anything of high level or combat efficiency. Fall silent, re-assess what you believe. Question everything. Re-group, take on the search for the right way, rather than asserting the false way as truth and attacking the critics for not believing you. What have you got to lose? Nothing - and everything to gain.
Well all well and good, wise words and I humbly admit my time on MAP has led me to some hard questioning and opened up some new avenues for exploration. However I wasn't attacking you - the critic - I just thought that, good or bad, mad man style would be a fun watch I think I might have seen a version of it in town a few months back. A "townie" was chasing a "crusty" round and round a car shouting "come here I'm going to **** you up" or words to that effect. After a few minutes of chasing, the crusty, obviously tiring by now realised he was going to have to try something different or get caught. He pulled a small knife out of his pocket. All pretty standard saturday night stuff so far except that he proceeded to slash at his own arm with it shouting "I'm going to give you AIDS if you come any closer". End result, townie decides it's not worth it and leaves. His style was, as Han says in Enter the Dragon, "unorthodox but effective".
That is certainly unorthodox. You know, I kind of feel that I've been prevented from putting me up, because it's become such an issue that from starting out questioning whether tai ji or traditional CMA is effectice what we've established is that Fire Quan is stupid, ignorant, a troll, uneducated, a worm, up his own ****, a coward, knows nothing about kung fu... How did they manage to do that shell game switch? STILL, after all the questioning of the claims that people have made for their art or for themselves, they've STILL provided zero proof of any of them... instead, they chose to "prove" that Fire Quan is a total goon for ever daring to question them. Isn't that interesting... and I wonder that other people can't see that for exactly what it is and what it points to. I can't put my stuff up because it would legitimize, at this point, the outrageous idea that their claims can be legitimized by smearing me. If I'm crap, actually, well that just goes to prove that I'm crap, not that they're any good. Mad man style remains under wraps, where it's supposed to be.
Let me say even if regardless of what Fire-quans point is. Yes sex is a martial art. That is why I always tell them, the way I do it-its hard for me not to beat it up.
All that build up and we never found out what his crime was! Although I loved the bit where he told them he killed a man and chopped him up. For a second there he freaked the guy with the tash right out. Mad man style for sure.
