I found this movieclip of students performing a basic form of Wudang Style Kung Fu (which is not the same as our Wu Tan). However, I am not writing about differences of styles. As Grandmaster Wang Chieh says "all Martial Arts are the same in the end" (I will try to write a chapter about the differences between Wudang and Wu Tan in the future, but for those who can't wait and would like to know more about Wudang, I refer you to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudangquan).
So now, I would like to show this video according to the quality of the performance. I believe that YouTube is a source not to see which martial arts is better, but to see which masters have great skills or what kind of mistakes students (like us) make. Often, one could see students performing on YouTube, whose aim is merely trying to gain attention with some moves they have learned in a hurry, then as reply to be trashed by others (which proves teacher Mike's teaching, that without jiben gong (basics), form will only be as beautiful as a flower without roots, foundation, strenght and finesse- and thus missing the soya sauce). Of course I can't do it better and should not judge, but not saying anything would not help the learning curve either. It can be seen as a denial. At least, the reply should be constructive towards ourselves as students, always in the progress of learning. Thus it's important to be constructive by promoting good training and performance. When I see what I think is a good performance, I believe we should encourage ourselves and other fellow students to see how it should be done. When I saw this video after much browsing on YouTube, the first thing it came to my mind was: "I am embarrassed to be a lousy student, these guys/girls are much better!", then it changed into: "Yes, regardless the different style, they show great martial spirit and teamwork in their form, which we all should be inspired by". Please watch the video, and ask yourself: don't we owe to ourselves, to our teacher and his art to practise and perform with at least half the spirit of these students?
Superbouncykid aka just another grasshopper
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3 comments:
They are really dedicated to the Art ... although the stuff they show is not my Taste.
Good find!
Its not important how others train is that good of bad? You must see only to yourself that you have the spirit to train.
Kwaichang
Reply to kwaichang,
yes, you are right with your comment that it is important to look at ourselves and not care about how good or bad other people are, but what I do believe is that we must look at others, especially those with good martial skills, training methods and performance to understand our own shortcoming. Spirit too is something we tend to forget due to laziness or because we take our quality for granted. Thus it is good to see better students. Comparison is actually very important for progress in the art. The danger of ignoring what is better or what is worst through the image of others can lead to training with a closed minded view (Chinese saying: a frog in pond who believes the pond is the world) and maintain bad habit or laziness. If we should not look at others and only focus on ourselves, then why do we need a teacher? Even more, why do we need to find a good teacher? So although you are right that we should motivate ourselves, I am talking the fact that not everyone know how to motivate themselves or take themselves for granted. I am talking about looking at others to improve oneself, to get a wake up call. Within this context, I believe it is crucial to do so.
Thanks for your reply!
Superbouncykid
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