Chinese Wushu Association to test posture?

[ngokfei]

so who qualifies the judges?

If this is a new requirement then ............

[johnwang]

so who qualifies the judges?

- You have to be a member of the communist party.
- You had participated 25,000 miles battle against KMT's soldiers.
- Your family background should be worker, farmer, or soldier.
- You still carry a "red book" in your pocket.

[ngokfei]

lol - I deserved that

[Darth Rock&Roll]

unfortunately, it's probably somewhat true...

[Areios]

there are a few things: how they test the posture and who is gonna say to the celebs that they don't have enough root or sun and what not, because that would very unpolite to the other people in the judge seats wouldn't it.

[cdobe]

So, you have to take a stance against the enemies of communism?

[edededed]

Appearances are important - most have to at least show that they are Communist in name, even though they may not really believe the principles inside. Those who were unfortunate to have allied with the Guomindang, however (and did not flee), found life rather difficult after the civil war, to say the least! Ironically, many martial artists probably could have cared less about politics (at the least, martial arts trumps politics).

[johnwang]

If your name has words such as "red, east, sun, hair", you will have better chance to become a judge in Chinese Wushu Assoc. If you can create a form with name such as "east red fist", you will become a chairperson of the Chinese Wushu Association in no time.

[edededed]

Ha haha... Well, actually, I think that the PRC hasn't gone that far... (thank goodness!)

Unfortunately, another country HAS gone that far... Korea.

ITF taekwondo forms are ALL named after Korean patriots, Korean principles, etc.
WTF taekwondo forms are not as blatant as ITF, but still many are named after Korean things (Korean dynasty, etc.).

Originally, taekwondo was karate (tangsoodo/kongsoodo) and thus used Japanese forms like bassai, etc. This was, of course, terrible, so they quickly replaced and Koreanified all their forms

Note that WTF is currently the official style of South Korea, ITF is the official style of North Korea.

[fuga]

WTF?

[shawnsegler]

Hehe....I thought that too. We've been messed up by the lazy ways of the internet to use too many Acronymx.

Everytime I see SC when written for South Carolina I immediately think Shuai Chiao etc....

[bailewen]

While it can be fun to make fun of the politics in government supported Wushu, I just thought I'd throw out there a point that there is nothing particularly communist about them. AFAIK, they are the same sort of politics that exists in any martial arts organization. Different teachers fight for influence so that they can promote their own branches. I have not been able to detect anything thing communist slanted in what I have seen so far. My Da Shixiong is always traveling around to be sometimes a judge and sometimes an "expert commentator" for the big Wulin Dahui shows that CCTV has been using to promote it's concept of traditional arts and he's actually a card carrying KMT member. My Shifu, OTOH, actually is a CCP member so I often wonder what sort of discussions they have about politics in private. In Xi'an the wushu politics are dominated by Xiao Hong Quan guys. The "red" has nothing to do with communism though. It's a really really old style that has its roots in Shaanxi. It does tend to result in a certain amount of Shaolin standards applying when judging IMA performances. In the Baji scene, Wu Lianzhi has established his own little empire and has done a good job of monopolizing Bajiquan withing China. His political control is fairly extensive but I am not aware of any significant party affiliations of his.

Anyways, just sayin'. Internal politics in large organizations are not specific to China.

[ChiBelly]

The idea is silly, IMO. The fact that they have to push on someone to check their posture represents a deficiency in the judges' skills, not the practitioners'. Physically checking posture is only useful if you subscribe to the mythical notion that because it's "internal," then something so basic like correct structure and power can't be seen. If they can't see it, then either the contestant's silk pj's are too baggy, or the judges haven't acquired significant gongfu for that particular IMA, so they can't identify correctness in someone else. But then why would you be qualified to judge it? Better to require contestants to wear spandex.

Besides, if they've decided that looks aren't the essence of what matters, why stop at checking structure? The ultimate goal should be to determine if the practitioner have the physical foundation to apply and understand the application of the movement.

[johnwang]

The ultimate goal should be to determine if the practitioner have the physical foundation to apply and understand the application of the movement.

I agree! This is why CMA loss it's reputation day by day. Any MMA guy will say that all you need is just to send that guy into a ring to be tested by boxer, or put him on the mat to be tested by Judoka.

Who's fault was this? The Chinese communist party of course.

The idea is silly,

I agree on this too. To check that someone has a big dick doesn't mean that he is a love making expert. To think that "CMA = solo dancing" may be the most silly thing that ever exist on this planet.

[wushutiger]

Well, I blame ego. I dont blame the CWA but I rather blame all us traditional martial artists who have such an ego that we feel it neccessary to have ourselves graded by people who arent directly involved in our martial journey, tell us if they think we are doing it right or wrong just so we can get a piece of paper with a duan ranking on it and hang it on the wall and advertise with it. As if this paper will prove anything about our actual martial arts........we can all point fingers at the institution, but its our hunger for this fake certification that they are simply feeding.

Why on earth should we as traditional ma'ist care what a panel of strangers have to say about our level? You have a teacher to tell you if you are doing it right or wrong. You have eyes to see from others what is good and what is bad, and take or discard..........We are all sad little people.