Marin Spivack interview

[MaartenSFS]

From what I've seen his Fajin appears to be of the empty variety. I could be wrong, though.

Yup, you're wrong about that.

I doubt it and your endorsement isn't enough to sway my opinion by a long shot since I haven't seen anything from you at all (though it might be out there - it's not like I have easy access to Youtube etc. in China).

[MaartenSFS]

Plus, you had to feed your teacher, too - and of course you cannot just give him peanut butter & jelly sandwiches + water daily.
(Many will bring their teachers to high-end gourmet, etc. to show them respect - and this of course costs money!)

CMA has a long (if spotty) tradition of being expensive - I think Dai Kui's first disciple gave Dai his house... Some people do learn for free (i.e. sons), others learn sort of for free by being part of a religious tradition (although you may give up things worth more than money!). Many were privileged to learn due to their rich parents making it possible, too.

Yes the culture is like this,taking the teacher out for dinners. But(at least in my case) it doesn't "have" to happen too often, those occasions kind of feels spontaneous and right, even sometimes two of my teachers on occasions ask me and my wife out to dine .....But yes I can understand that there are teachers who put this tradition in favour a little too much......Here in China I heard one theory why families with kids who want to do MA let their kids study TKD is because with this they do not have to follow the Chinese traditions as for example as "feeding" the teacher.

Your teacher/s sound/s cool. May I ask what you are studying and where?

[Trick]

Yes the culture is like this,taking the teacher out for dinners. But(at least in my case) it doesn't "have" to happen too often, those occasions kind of feels spontaneous and right, even sometimes two of my teachers on occasions ask me and my wife out to dine .....But yes I can understand that there are teachers who put this tradition in favour a little too much......Here in China I heard one theory why families with kids who want to do MA let their kids study TKD is because with this they do not have to follow the Chinese traditions as for example as "feeding" the teacher.

Your teacher/s sound/s cool. May I ask what you are studying and where?

The teacher i have in mind is my Yang-taiji & Tongbeiquan teacher. Yes he is cool, easygoing,very kind. His gong-fu buddies(mostly Tongbei guys) often jump in to give some good instruction too. Many of them old timers used to(maybe still) operating in the Dalian "underworld", who could think they could be nice guys Since about a year now I live in Huainan(Anhui) but hope to move back to Dalian soon, after ten years there that city feels like home

[GrahamB]

I don't think Marin should have been banned from this forum. Can we get him back?

He clearly is a difficult personality to deal with, but generally, silencing people because they disagree with you (which is my vague memory of why he was banned) is not a good way to move the conversation forward.

[willie]

I finally finished listening to the entire interview and I have to say that I am impressed. He had mentioned Gene having trained in a very lethal style of mantis and then incorporating the Chen Tai Chi. Then later sticking to just Chen. Also it is a application orientated version of Chen. That is the exact same model that I am experiencing with my current teacher for the past few years. It is more of a Beijing Style taiji mantis. But of course my teacher is 50% Village as well.

[Ian C. Kuzushi]

Marin has an incredible teacher. I don't think anyone has ever questioned that. I also have no reason not to belive that he is an accomplished student and practitioner in his own right. Sure, he had strong opinions, but that's par for the course. Was he banned from this forum? Maybe because he brought up unpopular politics from the split?

Also, while completely irrelevant, I, too, have long wondered what happened to Tadzio. Is he still doing the rare village art or has he now taken it back to Brazil?

[GrahamB]

I'm pretty sure Tadzio used the money from the fake seminar to entomb himself along with his Quan Pu and a thousand terracotta army warriors deep underground to protect the secrets of the REAL SHANXI a few years ago now...

[Ian C. Kuzushi]

Fake seminar? Damn. I definitely missed some serious stuff. That would explain an indefinite absence. Any links?

Edit: scratch that, did a search and found it.

[marvin8]

Also, while completely irrelevant, I, too, have long wondered what happened to Tadzio. Is he still doing the rare village art or has he now taken it back to Brazil?

Not sure about art. But, if you missed this from 1st page:

Reminds me.. whatever happened to Tadzio?

I don't know the story. However, here are some of his postings:
https://www.tadziog.com/profissional

https://medium.com/@tadziogoldgewicht"

Professor, Bachelor and Master from Shanxi University, China. Specialist in classical Chinese and classical Chinese philosophy. http://www.tadziog.com

https://www.facebook.com/tadziogold/

Fake seminar? Damn. I definitely missed some serious stuff. That would explain an indefinite absence. Any links?

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14065&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30

[Bhassler]

From what I've seen his Fajin appears to be of the empty variety. I could be wrong, though.

Yup, you're wrong about that.

I doubt it and your endorsement isn't enough to sway my opinion by a long shot since I haven't seen anything from you at all (though it might be out there - it's not like I have easy access to Youtube etc. in China).

Well, one of us has actually crossed hands with Marin. Folks can make up their own decisions about what they want to think (obviously), and I have no need to convince anyone. Just adding another viewpoint to the conversation.

[edededed]

Not sure why some people had issues with Marin - I always enjoyed his discussions and anecdotes.

(Gene Chen originally did a form of southern mantis, which is quite different from northern mantis.)

[Kevin_Wallbridge]

When Mo-Ling first showed up he was pretty emotionally brittle. He took things as critiques which were honest questions. He had a gargantuan chip on his shoulder and gave off a "I have more China in me than you do" vibe. As well, he acted as if he hadn't heard something from his teacher it wasn't "REAL" Chen Taiji, so only information that confirmed his bias could be true.

It wasn't that he didn't have good information or perspectives, it is just that his defensiveness was so exhausting. He does seem more secure these days.

[willie]

From what I've seen his Fajin appears to be of the empty variety. I could be wrong, though.

Yup, you're wrong about that.

I doubt it and your endorsement isn't enough to sway my opinion by a long shot since I haven't seen anything from you at all (though it might be out there - it's not like I have easy access to Youtube etc. in China).

Hi Maarten, If you get a chance watch this video. The material is very high quality.

[Bao]

The material is very high quality.

You really think so?

[MaartenSFS]

Can't see the video, let alone watch it. Don't embed it here, attach a link.