My take............
Hi folks.....
My impressions of Hsing-I as a whole art is precisely the same as my take on *any/all* of the Internal Martial Arts. It's the fact that knowledge has been lost over the recent past due to the "secrets" of past masters, and the "misinformation" that's been propagated. What's happened is that civilization has been changed over the last century to the point where fighting is superfluous in the martial arts. The original intentions have been/are lost in todays commercially oriented arts. What counts now is money/commercial success/fame. It's a "chocolate" society worldwide. Immediate gratification.
Previously it was all about survival. Period. What we seem to be left with is uncounted hundreds of "sifu's", "masters", and "grandmasters" who have nothing, *but* forms. The "martial" side of the arts is disregarded wholesale, and even if "fighting" is recognized, the details of the training(s) are/have been forgotten. This generation of Internal Martial Artists is *so* far below/behind the previous generations as to be laughable.
That's not to say that there aren't good teachers available, but that they are *very* few, and far between, and even if they're available to the public they may only have a piece of the puzzle. Even at my, admittedly, low level I can "see" if a supposed "master" has any type of "internal" ability. I've even managed to "touch hands" with several very well known, and found them seriously wanting. Lacking even what I consider the most basic of "internal" mechanics. These are the men we look to for the answers, and they don't even know the questions. Sad state of affairs.
We are in a "visual" age where "what we see must be true" rather than what should be felt. We manage to "fool" ourselves into believing what's "real", rather than just work hard, and realize that any benefits are just the byproduct of *correct* training. Recently I made a visit to a few collegues in the south, and had a chance to see a, relatively, well known teacher from their area. I didn't even have to see him do anything other than walk from his car to the front door of his school to recognize the fact that the man had nothing. He may have been a fine athlete, but was definately *not* an internalist. Even though *that* was what he promoted himself as. Just because a form is "correct" doesn't make the practitioner *correct*.
This is what I see all over, and it lessens what the internal martail arts *should* be. I see video clips of hsing-i, taiji, and bagua from all over the world, and I've yet to see anyone worth my time, other than the man who has trained me from the start in the internal arts. That's why I choose to train privately, and work exclusively on the core of my art. *That* training is what counts. *Not* fifty different forms, and countless hours of "practice" of what "looks" good, but has no real value. Down the road those things *may* have value to me, but for right now, and the foreseeable future, core training, not practice, is what it's all about.
That's what's missing from all of the internal arts for the most part. The diligence, patience, and willingness to put in hours of work for the long term. *Training* instead of "practice". What's seen is "empty hands" instead of full ones from the ima community. As far as teachers/schools who are/have competed recently in tournaments? Let's just say I'm not overly impressed with any of the students, or the instructors, "abilities" as a whole.
Best regards,
R. Drake Sansone
(rdrakesansone@wowway.com)
http://www.liuhopafa.com/
"Train, or go to hell."Terry W.