new Master Su Dongchen Channel on youtube!

[middleway]

Wooohoooo !

http://uk.youtube.com/user/EssenceOfEvolution









Very exaggerated movement to show the details of direction ....

Cant wait for some more stuff to go up there....

Cheers
Chris

[xingyijuan]

Oh boy! Not crazy about that xing yi. Even if exagerated, lot of movements go against Hebei principles (if it's Hebei he's showing at all). Not to mention that leaning back San ti... Oh well, to each his own.

[Ian]

Oh come on man... his credentials are impeccable. I'd try to find out why such a great fighter's training this way instead.

[xingyijuan]

There are a lot of good fighters out there. Not all of it has to do with xing-yi. I'm pretty sure his fighting record as little to do with this or that style. Personally, even his he is considered a great teacher and fighter, I never really liked his take on xing-yi. If you want to be impressed by his "credentials" and overlook the way Hebei xing-yi should be like, it's your thing and I have nothing against it.

[Dmitri]

I just watched it and was just about to post "xingyi people probably won't like it, but that's a very good movement FWIW" ...and, what do you know, here you are.

I'm not a xingyi guys though so here's that bag of salt to take with ya.

[Ian]

Oh I don't know what xinyi should be like, period

And FWIW I think Mr. Su's xingyi looks really weird.

But yes his credentials (in inverse quotations...?) are undeniable, and I'm impressed by them.

Without knowing much about your teacher, I'd say Mr. Su's has the most experience of the two. Would Yang Hai concede to Su Dongchen or vice versa? I think the former.

No disrespect to Yang Hai, because I truly think he's awesome as well.

All I'm saying is that what Mr. Su does is worth a second look, by any martial artist, regardless of style. He has more than proved himself, and it doesn't matter two shits what his form looks like, no?

[xingyijuan]

If they (Su and Yang) ever meet, they would probably have a good laugh at us discussing this here!

Don't get me wrong, I was not attacking his credentials. I know some of his stories and I believe that they are stuff movies are made of.
But... we are discussing Hebei xing-yi and I just put out my opinions about what is shown on the videos. Nothing more.

[nianfong]

sweeet!! subscribing now....

su dong chen's xingyi is from xu hong ji... hence is "bagua-ified". he evolved it himself to become a blend of xingyi and bagua (seems to me at least). too bad matt isn't around to explain things anymore. I miss that guy.

su dong chen has rolled with many big dogs in japan and taiwan... and come out on top. doesn't matter if his xingyi looks "hebei" or not--it works, and is true to the fundamental principles.

-Fong

[mixjourneyman]

Ian: Just for once in a thread where students of my teacher post, can it not be about my teacher please? Juan is expressing his own opinion and Mr.Yang really doesn't need to be brought into it unless he himself decides to talk on the subject.

My thoughts on Su and his xingyi: well it aint authentic Hebei style, but that doesn't make it bad. He obviously modified what he learned, but if it works, more power to him.

[chicagoTaiJi]

his fist moves after his body (at least in video 2)

[GrahamB]

There are so many reasons why you should never post a video of yourself doing marital arts on the Internet. This thread is one of them

[Josealb]

Blaming the video or the guy in it is a low excuse. Its a viewing problem. My eyes, like Juan's, dont understand the context of the moves and why he modified them....sure i could hint a bit, but never understand just by video. His is a personal flavor thing.

But, that being said, ive seen plenty of application clips of Su Dongchen back in the day, and regardless of what i think of his form training, his application and quality of movement are flawless, and the way he moved when administering slaps always reminded me of my teacher, and later, of Yang Hai as well.

[I am...]

Su Dong Chen is awesome, one of my favorite IMA guys to watch. It never ceases to amaze when people will criticize the way even he does things. Maybe the idea that many of the people on here are all working towards a common goal is more illusion than we think? Seriously, if you or I think we can weigh in on anyone that has practiced hard for that long, we are taking ourselves way too seriously.

[xingyijuan]

I am, criticizing is good for everyone. Just because you are a renowned shifu it doesn't mean you are excluded from criticism. Now, if I were to criticize just for the heck of criticizing then I should just shut the fuck up. But he does things in these particular videos that are questionable from a Hebei Xing-yi point of view. Someone said it was probably "BaGuafied", that, or any other way he modified it, could explain why. I did not say he wasn't good or that he can't fight with it or that he's a bad teacher. I just expressed my views on what is shown. The way he does it works for him, that's for sure.

[Josealb]

What Su does is not classical Xingyi, and yes, it may even seem to go against hebei rules here and there. But, if the guy shows results (hell, not just any results...Su can move like a Jedi. I think it was Fong who nicknamed him), then its clear that what he is doing works. I dont know if he can teach it to others yet, ive never heard of a student of his with a fight rep (any student of his, besides Matt), but thats a whole other subject.

So, if we know it works, better questions would be...what is he developing with the changes that he made? why did he change them in the first place? is he getting extra stuff, or did he take out original xingyi stuff to make space for the new ones?