Bad Taijiquan

[Andy_S]

OK, this is a serious thread, not simply a piss take, so I'd thank the mods to keep it here, not in Off Topic.

What's serious?

Well, I think it would be helpful for the, er, wiser gents on this board to point out some of the common mistakes made on YouTaiji. (Needless to say: Given the tremendously amount of dogshite Taiji out there - HsingI and Bagua peeps must look on the Taiji world with awe on this point - there will also be plenty of room for fun and frivolity.) It holds the potential, in fact, to become the longest in EF/RSF history. So have at it.

I'll start the ball rolling with these demos from a Chen group in sunny Espana.

Group form
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyzzToRl ... re=related
Spear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Z4mag5 ... re=related

Now these guys do some advanced material, but their below-the-belt basics are dodgy.
(1) Knees have no peng...they need to be screwed outward, over the knees, not sinking inward
(2) When they sink/settle at the completion of movements, it is their knees/stances that sink, rather than their torsos into/onto their kwas (I known as this is a mistake I used to make, in my efforts to 'go low' - until someone pointed it out to me and corrected it.)

[ChiBelly]

I think it's a mistake to make your students demo in outfits that make them appear to be on a day trip from a mental institution.

Aside from that, it looks like they only learned choreography and no physical basics (lead guy included).

[nianfong]

sorry andy, but teacher bashing is necessarily BTDT. but you can go to town there!

[GrahamB]

The ego loves to feel superior to others. Finding fault is not a good character trait to develop.

[PartridgeRun]

The ego loves to feel superior to others. Finding fault is not a good character trait to develop.

Not talking about this particular thread, but are you saying that there's no use in sorting wheat from chaff then

Man, that there is the straight wisdom GrahamB.

[Steve Rowe]

C'mon be positive! You can always find something good to say....... it was a nice shopping centre...

[GrahamB]

The ego loves to feel superior to others. Finding fault is not a good character trait to develop.

Not talking about this particular thread, but are you saying that there's no use in sorting wheat from chaff then

Man, that there is the straight wisdom GrahamB.

The answer you seek is within

[Dmitri]

It's amazing how all malls look so much alike, even in different countries!

Except for people demoing taiji forms in them -- in that sense this mall is a lot cooler than others, in my book.

The ego loves to feel superior to others.

Graham, you suck, your shit is fake, and my dog has more TJQ, XYQ, CLF and whatever-else-it-is-that-you-practice skillz in its left rear leg's paw than you do, or even will, have developed with all your fake so-called "training"!!

Finding fault is not a good character trait to develop.

Oh, crap...

(*edit* just in case this part of my reply directed at G is misunderstood: just trying to make some funny joke. Besides, my dog was only trained in TJ and XY -- no CLF.)

[QuaiJohnCain]

Wow...

For the past couple of years I have chosen to be mostly quiet about MA in general here on RSF. But the reactions to Andy's comments rang a bell for me today... Maybe it's because I switched the kind of coffee I drink just this morning, and/or accidentally put more sugar into it than usual, but...

I have noticed PLENTY of bashing of all sorts here. Plenty of fair criticism as well. But the standards of acceptability of either have become entirely dependent on the presentation thereof. I find this childish and hypocritical, and typical of a mentality that is scared shitless of real, honest analysis and debate.

Bashing seems to be OK, so long as it's made in some round-about abstract fasion. There are example of this in nearly every thread on this board. With regards to certain people who really are "out-there", or suck REAL bad, it's even accepted outright.

Yet then when some honest criticism is thrown out, unless it fits a classical, politically correct vernacular, it is instantly labeled as bashing by those who just do not want to deal with certain points of view, whether they are correct or not. It seems to be particularly intense when a teacher, "name", or member of the board is put under scrutiny. This is to shut down debate, much like the morons of national politics pull the race card where race just ain't an issue.

A teacher of mine sometimes says, "If you stick yer dick out, someone's gonna come along and whack it..." Very true. It's just the way the world is, whether you are right or wrong about something. But I find it interesting that the dick-whackers are the first to use thier own to piss all over others when they are presented with something uncomfortable.

So what are we left with, if we are no longer allowed to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak?

[BruceP]

Post some of your own clips so we can see how it's done. Show us the wheat in your own work first. It's easy to slag on someone else's martial dysfunction, but it's pretty cowardly if you're not willing to show everyone how awesome you are first. There's enough chaff in your own practice maybe? Or maybe it's how some wankers try to exorcise their own martial dysfunction? I've never understood it myself.

I see I've changed some peoples' attitudes at least...ha!

So c'mon, andy. Show us that combat you claim as the primary objective of your own training. Walk on your own legs and make your own skill the standard that we can weigh against the shite.

[Muad'dib]

+1

[QuaiJohnCain]

hmm.

No criticism allowed without posting self-vids? With all due respect, that is another cop-out designed to avoid real discussion. Reeks of dick-contest mentality as well. And your little snide about the chaff in my own practice. Yeah, there is plenty. Happy now? Get off the chest beating. I am not an exhibitionist. There are plenty others here that aren't either. Some of them quite highly skilled, and highly regarded here, yet no video footage of their current practices exist... I couldn't care less what anyone other than my teacher thinks about my own practice. And if you care to look, you're not gonna find any posts by me here that dig hard on anyone. Well maybe except for Erle....

So despite you not liking Andy's "presentation", his criticism stands. Look at the vids he posted, he happens to be right about what he's saying. Debate it if you care to, but put the peen away. Fact is, any vid posted by anyone, is gonna get some scrutiny. But you should know that having posted your own. So why the need to come to someone else's rescue if you are secure enough in your own practice to post vids of it? With few exceptions, most vids are posted by thieir constituents quite decisively....

[Muad'dib]

I think its just that, at least of me, it is simply pure bitchiness to create a thread simply to knock other people. Hell, I would say that 90% or more of what I see online or in life is crap. I don't seek people out to say how much I think they suck though.

[Methods]

I agree Shooter, there are a bunch of fuck nuts with opinions but they couldnt Taiji themselves out of a box - hehe

[QuaiJohnCain]

I think its just that, at least of me, it is simply pure bitchiness to create a thread simply to knock other people. Hell, I would say that 90% or more of what I see online or in life is crap. I don't seek people out to say how much I think they suck though.

Fair enough. There is a degree of truth to that. But would a more polite presentation of the criticism made it any more or less valid?