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    Default Chen Xiaowang on Internal Power

    Chen Tai chi chuan master Chen Xiaowang discusses and demonstrates principles of connected internal power. along with some of its martial applications and strategies, in this video:

    Cady Goldfield

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    Default Ancient wisdom....

    ".... the soft is not floppy..." Indeed.

    Yes, these insights have been around for centuries. In fact, a couple of thousand years ago, Ezekiel in the Old Testament may have been the original taichi master:



    For those readers not fluent in southern American English, the lyrics:

    Ezekiel connected dem dry bones
    Ezekiel connected dem dry bones
    Ezekiel connected dem dry bones
    Now hear the word of the Lord


    Well, your toe bone connected to your foot bone
    Your foot bone connected to your heel bone
    Your heel bone connected to your ankle bone
    Your ankle bone connected to your leg bone
    Your leg bone connected to your knee bone
    Your knee bone connected to your thigh bone
    Your thigh bone connected to your hip bone
    Your hip bone connected to your back bone
    Your back bone connected to your shoulder bone
    Your shoulder bone connected to your neck bone
    Your neck bone connected to your head bone
    Hear the word of the Lord!

    This is well known in traditional Japanese jujutsu, which even takes its name from the concept from ancient China, integrated into the open and hidden teachings of any number of Japanese jujutsu koryu for hundreds of years:

    黄石公 - 三略
    ●上略
    柔能制刚
    弱能制强


    Huang Shigong's Three Strategies (Huáng Shígōng Sān Lüč)
    ● Upper (or Higher) Strategy:
    Flexibility controls Hard
    Softness controls Strength

    Ancient history aside, would anyone care to opine if this gent is:


    • basic?
    • good?
    • advanced?
    • excellent?
    • actually hiding his tremendous ki from the cute interviewer?


    Lance Gatling

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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by LGatling View Post
    "....would anyone care to opine if this gent is:
    • basic?
    • good?
    • advanced?
    • excellent?
    • actually hiding his tremendous ki from the cute interviewer?
    Why would anyone waste their time answering a question phrased like that?
    I had a teenager watch some tapes of koryu jujutsu. He dismissed them out of hand, saying... "That stuff wouldn't work on the kids I know."
    Then he watched Rickson and said " I thought only kids fought on the ground. You told me never go to the ground if I can help it."

    Budo opinions are everwhere!
    A good friend of mine ( Japanese shihan in Karate) once said to an aiki news reporter after watching the ki demonstrations and flipping and flopping of seminar people of another Japanese karate teacher. "Don't ask budo people what they think about a teacher. Budo people are stupid." He said it in English to so we would all know what he said.
    We all but fell over. The cute interviewer was stunned into silence.
    That's a bit over top for me, but he's Japanese and figured he could get away with it.
    Last edited by Dan Harden; 17th June 2014 at 11:50.
    Dan
    [url=www.bodyworkseminars.org][COLOR=#B22222][B]Ancient traditions * Modern Combatives[/B][/COLOR][B][/url] [/B][COLOR=#B22222][/COLOR]

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    Default

    Edit:
    Maybe it's just better to say that you think this or that is nonsense, or you think this or that idea has no merit instead of being sarcastic. The way you phrased it is a conversation stopper about a widely accepted, no nonsense teacher (no, I don't train with him or do ICMA).
    Dan
    [url=www.bodyworkseminars.org][COLOR=#B22222][B]Ancient traditions * Modern Combatives[/B][/COLOR][B][/url] [/B][COLOR=#B22222][/COLOR]

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Harden View Post
    Why would anyone waste their time answering a question phrased like that?
    ....
    I thought anyone could see the latter question was a joke. Perhaps more smiley faces are in order. Since I can't edit it, here's a couple to make it up.

    The base question was serious - and a question one might expect that a subforum on Internal Power - is this gent good or not? Does he demonstrate internal power? Not even a scale of 0 to 10, just mediocre / good / excellent would work for me.

    This gent moves very well, (in some other videos, beautifully) but the interaction with his 'uke' seems nothing spectacular to me. Compact, smooth, solid, integrated movement. There is at least one spot where the 'attack' seems too set up, uke reaches out from a bad angle and is doomed to fail. Other than that, I don't see anything remarkable. He does spend a lot of time yakking so that might have affected his game, I don't know.

    Lance Gatling

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    Quote Originally Posted by LGatling View Post
    The base question was serious - and a question one might expect that a subforum on Internal Power - is this gent good or not? Does he demonstrate internal power? Not even a scale of 0 to 10, just mediocre / good / excellent would work for me.

    This gent moves very well, (in some other videos, beautifully) but the interaction with his 'uke' seems nothing spectacular to me. Compact, smooth, solid, integrated movement. There is at least one spot where the 'attack' seems too set up, uke reaches out from a bad angle and is doomed to fail. Other than that, I don't see anything remarkable. He does spend a lot of time yakking so that might have affected his game, I don't know.

    Lance Gatling
    Hi Lance,
    Videos, unfortunately, are not great at conveying what's going on inside, and with documentary videos, it's pretty much expected that scenarios will be set up for the benefit of academic presentation, not street fighting. We have only external views of "effects." I don't think that CXW intends to do anything terribly fancy in these videos - he is showing and describing some of the basics. That said, even basics can seem remarkable to someone feeling and experiencing something unfamiliar and unconventional for the first time.

    In this clip, CXW is demonstrating a few specific aspects of Chen-style tai chi chuan's internal method, mainly the expression of force ("fajin") and how he generates that force. The segment from about 7:39 to 8:10 probably is the clearest and simplest explanation and demonstration in this video.

    CXW is the generational gatekeeper of the Chen style, and one of only four people (if I am not mistaken - drawing from some historical materials) who are recognized as having mastered the full system. So, he likely would be considered the authority and best model of the art and its internal processes and capabilities.

    Btw, I take issue with your use of the Delta Rhythm Boys film rendition of "Dry Bones." Clearly, the superior adaptation of this inner knowledge was demostrated by Patrick McGoohan and his cohorts.

    Cady Goldfield

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    And there I was about to post the version from the TV Drama "The Singing Detective" starring Michael Gambon as a hospital patient with extreme psoriasis, who keeps hallucinating the staff and patients singing songs from the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.

    Thread drift of the highest quality. Hats off to those of you who can remain in good humour. It is the one essential fluid methinks.
    David Noble
    Shorinji Kempo (1983 - 1988)
    I'll think of a proper sig when I get a minute...

    For now, I'm just waiting for the smack of the Bo against a hard wooden floor....

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