Jess
Hey Jess,
Any idea if that’s accessible by public transport?
-D
Merciless is Mercy.
Hi Daniel 
Howareya?
No, Marin is not accessable for “the rabble”. Only Volvos and BMW’s allowed!
Maybe you could BART over to Berkeley and catch a ride with me some night, that would be no prob.
I will post the dates tomorrow, I don’t have em on me.
Hope all is well with Yao Sifu. Take care.
-Jess
Liu . . .
. . . also taught Frantzis his baguazhang and at least a little xingyiquan. Liu’s primary art was baguazhang, according to Frantzis.
Go play with BKF a bit. While not necessarily in the same league as Wang Shujin, he might surprise you with what a larger, heavier body type is capable of.
[This message was edited by wujidude on 10-18-01 at 02:45 PM.]
think you are slick huh?
I saw what you wrote about “you have be 6’ 4” and ebony to know baguazhang" (something of that nature)…you switch that statement with Wang Shujin - thats why it is stated you that you edited your statement at 2:45pm
I have it cached my friend…
Jess
Sounds good. I have the feeling I’m going to have a lot of time on my hands soon. We can talk more.
Things with Yao Sifu are good. Her top student moved back from egypt, so you’d see things a little more clearly now.
Actually maybe not, he’s mainly focusing on taiji and barely ever does the bagua form. I’ve switched to focus mainly on taiji as well.
-D
Merciless is Mercy.
B.K can’t be a fake
I met Mr B-K Frantzis in 1994 at a push hands workshop in the village downtown New York. There use to be a push hands workshop every sunday in the village where all tai chi palyers would come and push. Most of them where from the Chen Man Ching school of tai-chi chuan. I push hands with B-K, and i have to say he was good, and for a big man, the man can move. I only met him one time and we talk, the man is a cool guy and knows alot about BaGUAZHANG fighting principles. I never saw him freefight, but i know Mr Frantzis have a killer mind set, just from how he explained his methods of fighting, and the way he move when he explain to me what he was doing. I think he is no fake. Thats just my opinion, so don’t jump on me guys. LOL
water dragon, you are right.
there are too many factors, and too many skills that people take for granted as being the same. the way that different styles, different families, and different schools blend qi with inner and outer-muscle tension is another example of how hugely different training methods can be. it’s ridiculous to say that the way you were taught is the only right way, and that only a few people in the world do it right. look at chen village. a few thousand people practice chen taijiquan there, and most by the time they are in their teens, they are very good fighters (that’s what 10 years of lao jia yi lu will get you).
people someday will accept the fact that there are many more people in the world, and most really good martial artists aren’t going to be famous like sun lutang, yet people are still looking for people like him to explode onto the stage. not with over 5 billion people in the world, my friends, and certainly not without challenge matches.
there are frauds and people with little skill in every profession and practice. they aren’t what most people think of as the overwhelming 98%, though. :rolleyes:
i would encourage some of you people who think that you have the only “true transmission” to go to chen village and challenge a guy like wang xian. i’m not sure about you guys, but i have full confidence that he would pound me into the dust. 
Water Dragon
“So what is the correct way to throw a punch? Root off the front leg, root off the back leg? or root off both?”
Neither, but that’s just my opinion.
“…either you like reincarnation or the smell of carnations.”
- Cannibal Ox
“So what is the correct way to throw a punch? Root off the front leg, root off the back leg? or root off both?”
Neither, but that’s just my opinion.
Exactly!!! Unless you’re implying that people who use one of these three methods are wrong.
You may take my life, but you will never take my Freedom
Neither?
Neither implies there are two choices.
Seriously though, despite nit picking differences there are some constants in internal martial arts.
A solid example of this would be spinal alignment.
Another example, though less known, would be the “four corners”.
So, despite the nitpicking, there remain some true constants with which to make base judgements.
Merciless is Mercy.
Daniel Madar - what’s the “four corners?”
4 corners
Proper alignment of the shoulders and hips, related to the six harmonies, but more basic.
Merciless is Mercy.
Daniel - So, how exactly should they be aligned? Facing the same direction, and both level with the ground?
My Bad
Actually I meant to say ‘none of the above’.
“…either you like reincarnation or the smell of carnations…”
- Cannibal Ox
Hao
To clarify, the four corners comes mainly from the Hao form where it was explicitly stated, but it seems to be a truism across all forms. Perhaps I was incorrect in putting it as a constant.
Origenx is correct. The idea is that your shoulders and hips should form a rectangle, along the plane defined by your spine. No shoulder should be higher than another, and the hips should not shift back and forth when rising or lowering stances, when one leg is empty and another full, creating a tendency to “slope” the hips/waist.
It’s pretty subtle, and seems to be violated in principle by several movements in all the styles, but in fact is not.
Merciless is Mercy.
Daniel Madar - ha what a lucky guess! Although I have been taught before to “maintain my frame.” And also, I know it’s proper posture when you’re lifting a heavy object to square up to it first (as opposed to twisting around and lifting). I think the spine has the most structural integrity and energy flow when straight - you think that’s safe to say?
Drunk
Okay,
**** sucks at work, so I’m hammered right now.
But, Origenx, and everyone, I will say this.
True is true.
Hao, wu, chen, yang and sun have different methods for things. That’s true. The weighting varies between styles varies. The methods of punching varies. But internal principles are as constant as the laws of physics. ((Which is to say, not too constant, but good enough))
Origenx’s comment about maintaining the frame is dead on. The frame, the positioning of the body is the core of Internal Martial Arts.
You can tag it as body mechanics, or you can claim it as metaphysical. I don’t care, but if your spine’s not right, forget about it. And when you break it down the form is more important than the intent.
Is an electric generator more likely to succeed if its built with the correct form, or the desire to generate power?
The body is the same.
Where is the power from? Form not intent.
I’d love to believe that internal power is just a simple matter of body mechanics btw. But it’s not true. Body mechanics don’t make me see people’s chi. Body mechanics don’t explain why I tap my wife with a finger and cause a bruise.
Okay. I’m ripped. God love my job.
Merciless is Mercy.
Maybe she should take an iron supplement
Most actions of men can be explained by observing a pack of dogs. Not wild dogs, just neighborhood dogs who all scurry under the fence on the same night and set off together to reclaim a glimmer of the glory their species possessed before domestication.
missed it
who is she?
Merciless is Mercy.
Your wife. Sounds like she may have an iron deficiency.
Most actions of men can be explained by observing a pack of dogs. Not wild dogs, just neighborhood dogs who all scurry under the fence on the same night and set off together to reclaim a glimmer of the glory their species possessed before domestication.