baiyuantongbei wrote:In my experience, Cheng Man Ch'ing is never "underestimated" -- Indeed his followers have elevated him to god-head. The Cheng Man Ch'ing phenomenon is a religious one. Apparently, a taiji practitioner of very average talent, Cheng Man Ch'ing made a big impression among ill-knowledgeable westerners eager to deify anyone "exotic." Cheng Man Ch'ing exerted his reputation over a gullible and largely unquestioning public of people who had never seen such practices before.
If we consider Wang Peisheng -- whose lineage is unquestionable and unquestioned, Cheng Man Ch'ing is but a poser.
baiyuantongbei:
Unlike most others posting on this thread, apparently including you, I actually met and interacted with Cheng Man-Ching on several occasions, as my late father-in-law was dating his daughter, and saw him perform both with and without weapons a number of times. I also personally witnessed a few of his gang control encounters on the streets of New York's Chinatown back in the day.
As such, with all due respect for your impassioned opinion, I think you go too far to say that Cheng was "a taiji practitioner of very average talent", or that Cheng was "a poser". Compared to other teachers in NYC at that time, guys like Wm. C.C. Chen, C.K. Chu, Donald Ahn, Herman Kauz, and others, Cheng Man-Ching consistently demonstrated a level of knowledge and skill well above and beyond what most would consider average. That's why many of them studied with Cheng for varying periods of time. Plus, Cheng was a gentleman, who would have happily engaged you in physical interaction to dispel your doubts.
It's very easy to trash a man's name and reputation after he has died, but it only serves to diminish your own in doing so!
Doc Stier