I have talk to a few Renowned internal masters in New York about John Painter skill level today. I would post these teachers names that I talk to, but I know I get Hell for it if I did.
Ok. !#Most of them told me Mr. painter have very good Bagua skill. 2# he have a very deep understanding of Theory and can utilize it unrehash.
Ok. Fine. I myself never Question Mr. Painter fighting skills. Because when I first got in to BaGuaZhang the only people I knew that was writing about BaGua as a fighting art was Robert W. Smith, Jerry Alan Johnson, and Mr. John Painter. Back in the 80"s these guys were the only people to my knowledge writing about BaGuaZhang as a Fighting Art.
Back then these guys were all I had as far as information about BaGuaZhang. As More BaGuaZhang practitioners come out of the wood work. I was able to get my Hands on more new information. Some good some bad". But thats what life is all about Yin And Yang. My sifu Chen Xiao ping , told me something today:
There are three kinds of people:
1# people that want to be World renowned.
2# people that want to be just known.
3# people that just want to be unknown.
But no matter what kind of person you are in this life time, you are always going to have people that are going to love you or hate you.
A person must always stay discipline and balance in everything in life.
I learn today That I didn't keep my discipline and balance. Things you can learn about yourself, from just having a talk with your sifu.
I Sincerely apologe to Mr. john painter for calling him a fake. I had no right to pass judgment on him. If the photos of his Bagua Teacher are real or fake, or if his Bagua come from Sichuan province, it should not matter to me. I gain no benefits from these photos or information about his lineage or talking bad about the man.
This is not true Taoist virtues, My sifu help me see that today.
I think we all should just move on from this matter, its time to walk the circle and make a change".