Graham does...

[Wanderingdragon]

Attack like an eagle , defend like a bear, thats all I know of the Xing I animals.

[yusuf]

I don't think it's very constructive. No competition is necessary, meet and you can figure any stylistic crap out in about 5 seconds. "You don't beng properly after your eagle claw" "Que? Look, it works -" <WHACK!!!>

Matthew.

it's a total gift if any fight follows any form.. tbh i don't think anyone whould worry about sequences at all, other than to get strategies of fighting..

[mrtoes]

I don't think it's very constructive. No competition is necessary, meet and you can figure any stylistic crap out in about 5 seconds. "You don't beng properly after your eagle claw" "Que? Look, it works -" <WHACK!!!>

it's a total gift if any fight follows any form.. tbh i don't think anyone whould worry about sequences at all, other than to get strategies of fighting..

Sure.

What I was trying to say in a rather unclear way is that if there is any meaning associated with a particular movement in your form (whether it's an application or quality of movement or whatever) it is infinitely easier to demonstrate that you are "doing it correctly" when you both are in the same physical place as someone, rather than trying to figure it out from a video. You rarely get this kind of confusion in real life.

Matthew.

[canard]

As to all the bullshit and snide remarks in this thread.. I would love to set up a fighting compettiton and just let everyone fight it out.. If someone then spends two pages explaining bear eagle bollox it'll onl;y be if they haven't been pulped ....

i'm going to get fedor to substitute in for me at the last minute.....

[kenneth fish]

I would have to say that Jose and I are on the same page on this - its the "yi' that pervades the movement that counts - and the crispness I was referring to is the sharp, explosive quality (which is not necessarily obviously expressed)

[Wanderingdragon]

The Bear though, as you say plodding, carries a huge amount of weight , with which he moves about with a good deal of speed when necessary and quite agilely , it is the power of his weight that gives him the ability to take your head off with one swipe of the same paw that he snuck up on you with on padded foot, not a clumsy animal, the swallow though quite graceful, as are most creatures of the sky, darts quickly and explosively , when skimming the water in search of food, tthe eagles talons do not just land on you and carry you away, the are lead by the eye and dropped on you from the sky with the force of gravity to aid in their deadly accuracy. All animals are graceful in their habitat and in their natural state, but are always precise in their movement as they live instinctively for survival.

[c_xlong]

Graham put up these for us to see and compare, here is what I see:

1. I look at Dr. Fish's video. He is old and fat, but he moves very good. He has power from his back and hip to his hand. He has a lot of small movements hidden in the big movements. He moves his feet just enough to go where he wants to. His stances and moves are clear. He has intent in his movements. He lines up from foot to top of head. He has good hand speed too. He has kung fu body.

2. I see Dr. Fish's teacher on Youtube. Dr. Fish moves a lot like him. Maybe smoother.

3. I look at Grahamb's video. His body drag his feet. His movements are not clear. There is not any intent. His hands move without connected to his body. He does not have kung fu body.

I learn Li Cunyi xingyi. My teacher in China, you don't know.

[Felipe Bidó]

Annnd, I was talking about the turn at 0:16...

Paul noticed some stuff, he will probably post later.

I'm gone for the weekend. have fun, people.

[WongYing]

I have to say regarding ken's video piece, that is ken at probably his worst in terms of illness and ability. Ken You suck in that video

A whale is not a mammal it is an insect

For those that miss the sarcasm in my post. To clarify that is ken at his not best at all...in that video due to his health. Yet in that video he clearly shows all the shen fa requirements of Hsing Yi and a lot of skill.

I have seen him at his much much better. at that time I just simply shake my head and say screw that, there is no way I am going to get in the way of Ken.

[Pandrews1982]

Graham, yeah Felipe said he was looking at the turn at 0.16. He mistook the heng you are doing for a beng. I have to agreeit is not your best heng turn you've ever done and I do think you lose a little of the connection there when you go into the bear punches. Its a bit like you are thinking of doing the bear punch rather than the heng out of the turn (BTW for the others, that variation of heng is forward weighted) which would be a momentary loss of intent. Though you pretty much pick it up again afterwards. Have to say I didn't notice that the first time I watched but when Felipe told me I looked again and something obviously is different. I don't think its a big deal per say, I like the rest of it and I've seen you do that turn perfectly in the past. Anyway enough critique I'll talk to you in person in just over a weeks time, looking forward to seeing you mate because its been too long.

For those who wish to know, the turn there is a heng turn, the heng extends with the right hand and left foot steps so that weight is placed onto the left. Just as the left foot lands and the strike completes it skips/bounces straight into the first of the bear punches - the uppercut type movements. This is quite technically difficult as it requires that you skip the energy using what we call "shun jin" same direction force, and it requires a change in the direction of the intent, and if we are being technically correct the heng is Eagle and is driving and extended moving directly into Bear which is soft, compact and rounded. It is very easy to think ahead too much and miss the power or intent from the heng or the first bear punch and it takes practice to get it right.

[GrahamB]

Paul,

Yes, I agree I should have extended into the Heng more then into the Shun. I fluffed it. Like you say, technically difficult. If you want to go over the whole thing with a fine tooth comb then there are more obvious faults than that - the horse stance thingy (I forget the name) could do with a bit more footwork at 0.25, for instance. But hey, if you do a link that long and complicated you'll never get the whole thing perfect. On the whole I thought it was ok. Not too bad, but nothing special.

Now go and teach your new friend the difference between a heng and a beng so we can tell what the hell he's talking about

Looking forward to seeing you soon - haven't had a good scrap in ages.

best,
G

[Felipe Bidó]

Now go and teach your new friend the difference between a heng and a beng so we can tell what the hell he's talking about

[Pandrews1982]

Look I'm not taking sides or anything. Someone saw something, wanted to know what it was, I took a look and said what I saw. Its less than 1 second mate and I know you'll not fluff your heng again on film (did that sound "wrong" or is it just me?).

Overall I say that link is better than ok, its pretty good especially when compared to the youtube stuff out there right now. Xing yi is a difficult, furstrating, ball breaking art to practice, it depresses me at times how difficult even simple things can be sometimes, how you can mess things up with even the slightest loss of focus, how hard it is to progress at times and how much there is still to learn, but that's part of the challenge and enjoyment and interest too.

I think the fact you put your stuff up online and the main criticism it got was a momentary loss of focus is an achievement, what would these harsh evil dominicans have said if you'd have posted that clip two years ago at the standard you were at two years ago? What if you go away and work on the link a few weeks and video again and compare the difference? Hell man I'm too scared to post a video on here myself so kudos to you

PLus at the end of the day...can't we all just get along?

I'll talk to you later mate

[kenneth fish]

Uh, thanks c_x. I think. My first reaction at seeing that video again was "geez, why didn't anyone tell me that my ass was that big?"

[kenneth fish]

Graham: I thought this was supposed to be on a private URL link? If not, please take it down.