Marin Spivack interview

[I-mon]

I love that a thread about an interview with Marin turns into a discussion about all the people who've been banned over the years. Good times

[Trick]

What you may not realize is how much the information that he has costs when it comes from top-level guys like that in the world.

You'd be surprized how "little" it may cost(in terms of money) to be a student of a highly skilled Gong-Fu teacher in China, and especially back when Marin Spivack stayed here. All one have to do is to show one is willing to put in the right amount of time and effort.

[wayne hansen]

Yes anyone paying the big bucks mentioned here is either a bit simple or got the wrong teacher

[Trick]

Is he our old mo_ling? It seems to me that he and I just had argument yesterday. I still remember that when I said. "My Taiji teacher said that Taiji has no leg skill." He said, "Only Yang Taiji has no leg skill. Chen Taiji has leg skill."

Do you mean "kicking" when you're speaking of leg skills?....Some years ago I briefly met a knowledgeable and highly skilled Chen Taiji teacher in Beijing who works closely with ChenYu, I believe he's a student of ChenYu's father. The among first thing he showed me application wise was kicking(low kicks). Now of course I believe that yang Taiji also have the very same kicking In its repertoire.

[willie]

What you may not realize is how much the information that he has costs when it comes from top-level guys like that in the world.

You'd be surprized how "little" it may cost(in terms of money) to be a student of a highly skilled Gong-Fu teacher in China, and especially back when Marin Spivack stayed here. All one have to do is to show one is willing to put in the right amount of time and effort.

my impression was a bit different. Even now if you attend some of these workshops they usually cost about $300. And they might just work on the forms. No applications. Then go listen to that interview and you will hear that he is talking about people paying thousands of dollars or actually even buying these Masters and Grand Masters homes. Back then the material was extremely scarce. No one wanted the information out there especially from Chen Style

[willie]

Yes anyone paying the big bucks mentioned here is either a bit simple or got the wrong teacher

or they have the right one.

[wayne hansen]

No Willie
I'm the right teacher bring those big bucks my way

[Bao]

The right teacher is interested to preserve the art no matter what. Money is not his concern. = His heart is in the art.

The wrong teacher is interested to preserve the art if people bring them money. = His heart is in the money.

[Trick]

What you may not realize is how much the information that he has costs when it comes from top-level guys like that in the world.

You'd be surprized how "little" it may cost(in terms of money) to be a student of a highly skilled Gong-Fu teacher in China, and especially back when Marin Spivack stayed here. All one have to do is to show one is willing to put in the right amount of time and effort.

my impression was a bit different. Even now if you attend some of these workshops they usually cost about $300. And they might just work on the forms. No applications. Then go listen to that interview and you will hear that he is talking about people paying thousands of dollars or actually even buying these Masters and Grand Masters homes. Back then the material was extremely scarce. No one wanted the information out there especially from Chen Style

I'm not talking about workshops or people going to China on holiday Taiji practice

[Trick]

There are people that go to China just for a couple of days and basically just want to have nice pics taken with them posing side by side with some famous teacher. Many teachers easily spot these kind of persons and charge them big but teach them little

[willie]

No one wanted the information out there especially from Chen Style

I'm not talking about workshops or people going to China on holiday Taiji practice

I was only referring to workshops as an example. My teacher charges a lot of money for private lessons, there is no other option available. Very few people have the Martial applications and can use them. Almost none. So when you find someone who can, there is no other option but to pay them what they want or you just don't ever acquire the skill.

[willie]

No Willie
I'm the right teacher bring those big bucks my way

I'm sure that you are good. But I'm also sure that you are not familiar with what some of these individuals can actually do

[willie]

The right teacher is interested to preserve the art no matter what. Money is not his concern. = His heart is in the art.

The wrong teacher is interested to preserve the art if people bring them money. = His heart is in the money.

how Charming LOL! But unfortunately I have seen a much much different picture than you. The Chinese are the most money conscious people I've ever met.

[Bao]

The right teacher is interested to preserve the art no matter what. Money is not his concern. = His heart is in the art.

The wrong teacher is interested to preserve the art if people bring them money. = His heart is in the money.

how Charming LOL! But unfortunately I have seen a much much different picture than you. The Chinese are the most money conscious people I've ever met.

In the 80s my Chinese teacher was offered $10,000 from a very well known actor to teach him the staff. My teacher refused to teach him. He explained that it wouldn’t have felt right. He never charged any student anything for teaching his arts.

I’ve been around a lot in China, lived there and I have a Chinese family there. Most of the people I know there are very generous. People who live in the big cities and have a good education don’t tend to be that money fixated. But people from poorer places that suddenly have the chance to get rich tend to be. Just look at the Chen village and the people there. Suddenly they get a chance to earn money and they do everything to earn as much as possible. I would never want to step my foot in that place and I am not interested to meet any of the Chen guys. It wouldn’t feel right.

[willie]

The right teacher is interested to preserve the art no matter what. Money is not his concern. = His heart is in the art.

The wrong teacher is interested to preserve the art if people bring them money. = His heart is in the money.

how Charming LOL! But unfortunately I have seen a much much different picture than you. The Chinese are the most money conscious people I've ever met.

In the 80s my Chinese teacher was offered $10,000 from a very well known actor to teach him the staff. My teacher refused to teach him. He explained that it wouldn’t have felt right. He never charged any student anything for teaching his arts.

I’ve been around a lot in China, lived there and I have a Chinese family there. Most of the people I know there are very generous. People who live in the big cities and have a good education don’t tend to be that money fixated. But people from poorer places that suddenly have the chance to get rich tend to be. Just look at the Chen village and the people there. Suddenly they get a chance to earn money and they do everything to earn as much as possible. I would never want to step my foot in that place and I am not interested to meet any of the Chen guys. It wouldn’t feel right.

bao this is different. Chen Tai Chi was a completely secret art until probably about the 80s. So of course any information on it was worth a lot of money then. Another example which is not Chen is from Wudang Style. There was a time when I wanted to learn the mysterious fist form. That form is the form of the Taoist god Xuan Wu. The authentic Wudang priest who actually has it and was teaching it wanted $120 per hour and people were paying it. I don't know why you would believe that somebody would give away everything that they have for free. It just doesn't make any sense. There are bills to pay