Originally Posted by
Judge Pen
Let me be hyper-critical here, because its the internet and its not me on video doing the forms:
With all due resect to sifu smith, I didn't like his tiger/crane very much. Granted my horse stance isn't as strong as it should be, but I was taught that the butt should be at the knee and his hand techniques were off. It seems as if he was so hyped up for the performance that he sped through many of the techniques to the point that they were shorted and not fully extended. He also seemed to sacrifice balance at times. It wasn't bad, but I've seen better from my perspective and he was obviously taught a bit differently than I was.
The chain-whip demo was nice.
The youth long-fist was a too high in their stances. (their butts should have been at their ankles for a good portionof that form)
Hsing-Ie two man set needed to be crisper and faster. No apparent connection between the body and the technique. No rooting or internal power generation from San Ti.
The gentlemen doing 7* sword was very stiff. Don't know if it was nerves or physical limitations.
Classical pa Kua was an excellent represenation of SD pa kua (although it would have been nicer if the camera was further away to show his footwork.
As far as Master Reid, he may do some of the forms differently then the way I was taught, but that's no crititic. He is one of the best SD people out there.
I could probably nit-pick almost every form there. If I was on video doing these forms (I know almost all of them myself) I could be just as, if not more critical. All and all it was a basic, across the board sampling of your typical SD class. Good and bad.