These simple questions were asked-What definition(s) of ch'i are you using in relation to TC and/or other MAs? What does it -(or they)- do in relation to/with the practice of TC and/or etc ? Please answer these,as otherwise just using the term ch'i as in the quote below is meaningless. sw-post 276: "What if ch'i is very criterion to differentiate a master from a novice." How does it differentiate them? As the 1st question can't/won't be answered it negates discussion.Please refer to third line above,starting at "just using,,,". Suggest slowwins find out more about the subject matter. Mystical TC masters,or dragons out of the sheath stories.Some of us have stories of elves who make singin' shoes,or a god who everyone fears who rides in a cart drawn by..... goats.Take it or leave it. Well,Carys is the first person I know of to have the fortitude to say she finds Cheng's attitude towards alcohol admirable.Must have been the poetry he wrote about it.
Seek, and you shall find. Ask, and it shall be given unto you. Prio Hartono who wrote a book about a form of inner art. Inner Wisdom Prio Hartono available as a free online pdf book. http://www.undiscoveredworldspress.com/bookstwo.html
I was thinking my previous post missed out Qi and was trying to write something simple. I will start a new thread "What is Qi"
I had the book by Robert W. Smith and read about Cheng Man Ching and his teacher Yang Cheng Fu. They seem reasonable and honest. Too many masters. Tai Chi is difficult. All arts in general decline and nothing can be done.
Please don't. At least not until you've read everything that's been previously posted on the subject. Use the forum search.
How do you know that they seem honest from reading books? Can you explain this...how many masters do you know? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....talking out of your hat again, imo, seeing as you don't actually practice it... Absolute nonsense, probably garnered from book reading,. I have trained with several talented TaiJiQuan practitioners who study around the world in an effort to put it back together again, as much as is humanely possible.
"nonsense" is a word that has deep metaphysical content. Fighting skills like Western Boxing, Muay Thai, etc (that are events in the Olympics) do not degenerate nor improve with generations. Tai Chi (the art) degenerates . I add usually so. statement : There are at most three Tai Chi masters alive whose skills surpass that of Yang Lu Chan. My bet is zero. Simply because very few students surpass their teachers even after learning from other masters. It is not impossible that someone revives Tai Chi, but not easy. Morihei may be one of the exceptions if you believe. Aikido then again degenerates as a matter of course after him. We then need find another Morihei. "Tai chi is difficult" - of course. Try to fight someone moving that slowly. Try moving that slowly to fight someone . Or try getting near a Tai Chi master. Tips for those 20-something wanting to master Tai Chi:- dont's :- 1) don't go to Song Shan Shaolin Temple. Their Tai Chi is not better than that of the next person. Also during the Cultural Evolution, the red guards forced them a lot of beefsteaks to evolve them back to normal living and that lineage is gone. Also, paper being scarce then, their secret manuals were all stolen just for the paper. But it is the best place now to go for a Masters in Business Management. 2) don't go to the Chen's Village. That's the wrong village. Go to the Chen's Village in Kwangtung where my ancestors came from. 3) Don't learn from the Tibetan monks. Even if finally you could fly or walk through walls, there's still problem. You come back to Boston and have a fight in the street and got yourself all bloodied and don't know why. I tell ya, what works in high altitude may not work in Boston under normal atmospheric pressure. 4) Finally, never, never, ever learn from charlatans. Do's :- after learning the basics from some honest bloke, just pray.
This statement shows that you have little knowledge of the subject about which we speak. Taiji, in combat is NOT slow.
Think Carys is right, this is either genius level mickey takin or we have the Forrest Gump of the tai chi world.
One can only pray that slowwins does not believe what he/she is posting and is just trolling. If he/she actually believes it... dear lord...
English is not my native language, however, "nonsense" is a word. That's it...a word. Oh, someone hold me down. This statement is strange, seeing as it was your great CMC that adulterated the yang style 40+ minute long form into an 8 minute abberation....because americans were 'too busy' to find time to practice the long form daily. And there names are........(not holding my breath, but would like to know who they are...in your opinion) Every teacher I have encountered has said the same thing,.... one of their aims is to help their students surpass their own skills. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh, it was worth my while to switch my computer on before going to bed. That is soooo funny. and proves you to be a lurker or a twpsyn Literally...rotflmpo.....too much.......beefsteak...paper thieves.....gonna pee myself.....
Slowwins...could you do us TaijiQuan practitioners a huge favour. Seeing as you say you live in greater china and your occupation is a levitator...could you drift over a local taiji class...have an earwig...and report back to us.
OK,I think points 1 and 3 above finally show us an entertaining individual who's having a bit of fun here on MAP. Pretty funny,too. Would advise slowwins to head for MAP's Joke section. Rather intriguing that someone in China has only read a TC book which was written and published in the west,esp. as Cheng wrote books which were originally published in China.In Chinese,no less. Must also add that western boxing has evolved a great deal from what it was in the 1890s,in mechanics,tools,and tactics.No big secret. Btw- Cheng did not create his short form for Americans-I think he's first on record as teaching it in a military academy in the 30s.At any rate,it was made long before he had any thought of coming to the US. As there have been many discussions regarding peoples opinions on Cheng-fu's TC with his simplified form and transmission as compared to that of his forebears I find a comment such as "seeing as it was your great CMC that adulterated the yang style 40+ minute long form into an 8 minute abberation...." rather odd.One could say Cheng was just following his master's lead.And form length is inconsequential.If you practice for X hours,you've practiced for X hours.(Cheng also taught long form ,folks oft seem unaware of that). Don't know where the 40+ minute form idea comes from,unless one counts 1 round of form as a long form done one time on each side.Except for specific purposes at certain stages of training,general practice times for long form recommended by Yang system masters vary from 10 to 20 minutes. I expect any response on the above comments to at least reach the humor level slowwins has graced us with. Preferably in limerick form.
Concur with Herr Doktor . BTW, greater China is not China itself, but I believe references the rest of the continent and probably the Indonesian archipelago as well ... depending on whose frame of reference I suppose. But I could be wrong . As to the taichi "masters" who surpass Yang Luchan ... Slowwins must have been refering to moi ... dang it, I tried sooo hard to keep it under wraps, but now the secret's out. Tell me Slowwins, how did you find out about my stellar skillz? I really must be more circumspect next time ... I assure the rest of this forum, I look favourably upon your quaint attempts at mastery ... truly! GOOD ON YOU, I say, keep up the faith ... heheh. Cheers, P.S. What's the prize EM?
In Greater China, distances are great just for trips to visit friends and there's no modern transport. We just have to be practical and adapt. We all levitate. As for the Chinese language, we find it a recent innovation and ignore it. We prefer to keep to Sanskrit which preserves intact all the wisdoms of the ancients. I have a question for Tai Chi practioners. Say I imitate the 108 moves from video and my practice, externally, is as as close as that of Chen Man Ching himself and if I practice regularly enough, is it all there is to form practice? Just on form practice, it seems to me that the "close-door" students have more - like "yi xing qi", synchronizing the breath with the moves, etc, secrets not divulged to the rest. Or there are no secrets. Thanks.
No....there is posture testing and the internal aspect, for starters. Some TaiJiQuan teachers teach synchronised breathing, others teach free breathing. Nothing to do with Tudi's training. There are no secrets, only teachers who chose to keep information back from their students. I prefer the 'broadcasting' method. Oh yes...Btw....I know who you are!!!
