Cma

[Taiji_Mantis]

Here is a form I am still working the kinks out of. I know where I need work, but since i am getting ready for competition, any critiques and criticisms would be most welcome! The salute and conclusion are not in this clip.
http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/...6/Martial Arts/?action=view&current=spear.flv

 

[punisher73]

CMA is not my forte so I can't comment on how it's "supposed to look". BUT, I liked what I saw. Hope you do well at your competition.

What style/form is it?

 

[masherdong]

Cool! Thanks for sharing. I have not learned spear yet so, I really cant comment on your form. Looked good to me though. Good luck in competition.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I like spear forms. Wish I could have seen the tip of the spear more to see how much vibration there was. Good looking form, you should do well with it

 

[bowser666]

Went to check it out but the link is no longer working.

 

[Taiji_Mantis]

Not working? Thats funny I just checked and had no problems. If you are REAAALY interested in seeing it and have problems I can send it to you.

Things I feel need work:
I need to strengthen the stances.
Some stances need to be deepened.
I need to work on strengthening the arm as well during the one handed thrusts.

I will try and take another clip of the whole thing in the near future and maybe display some of my drills if you are interested.

Will post some of our MMA stuff later

 

[terryl965]

I am not a CMA guy at all but here is my take the tip of the spear needs to have more vibration and that comes from a better stance and a stiffer arm in the one arm thrust. Next to that it looked very well done, see I have done alot of judging on weapon it looks like it should score high. Best of luck to you.

 

[JT_the_Ninja]

Cool moves...I just don't see how a one-handed spear thrust where the shaft is held at the end has any amount of power. I'm a TSD practitioner myself, which is a KMA (with Japanese roots), and whenever we do staff forms (closest analog I can think of to a spear) we hold the weapon at thirds 99% of the time, for stability and power.

But really cool. Reminds me of Soul Calibur stuff.

Peace,
JT

 

[Taiji_Mantis]

The spear as I was taught is not a spear but a knife with a very long handle.
You would be surprised how much force is generated with one hand. I personally could do better, but this isnt a contemporary wushu form either where the stick is going to bend 45 degrees. I know someone who can do that and it is pretty impressive.
When I get closer to October I will post again here with an updated version.

ps what is soul caliber?

 

[JT_the_Ninja]

I'll take your word for it.

Soul Calibur is a 3D weapons-based fighting game series; thought there might be a chance you'd heard of it. Sorry.

 

[Taiji_Mantis]

Sorry!
I don't do video games. I know, I know...

 

[tshadowchaser]

so how is this form going for you ? do you feel you are you making progress?

 

[krieger]

I think your form looks good.

What does CMA stand for?

I've noticed that there are a lot of abbriviations on here. Is there a link that lists them all?

 

[LanJie]

Craig,
How are you doing? I have not seen this spear form in CCK Tai Chi Mantis. I practice Say Moon Chiang.

The performance is good, you have good speed, power, good one leg stances, good control of the spear, and nice tornado kicks.

The things I saw that may need improvement. Take into account I do not know this set.

I do not see the block back in a crouch stance, then forward poke into a quick ride stance and then into a full bow stance.

I was taught that a kneeling stance, the knee should should be very close to other ankle and about a foot width of distance away. Your kneeling stance is wider, it looks very much like the kneeling stance of Choy li fut.

I think that you stances could be more defined. I know I have to force myself to do this and I think it is something that is more common to Northern Chinese martial artists. We move with a lot speed and make fast transitions.

We have to remember to make bow stance with the rear leg straight and the foward knee bent over the toes and make a ride stance that is deep enough to look defined.

I think you are doing well.

E-mail me back and tell me about the set.

Regards,
Steve

 

[Xue Sheng]

Looks good

One question what is your focus while doing the form?

 

[ShuriLeopard]

I'll bet your neighbors don't give you any grief about your yard.

 

[TaichiMantis]

The spear as I was taught is not a spear but a knife with a very long handle.
You would be surprised how much force is generated with one hand. I personally could do better, but this isnt a contemporary wushu form either where the stick is going to bend 45 degrees. I know someone who can do that and it is pretty impressive.
When I get closer to October I will post again here with an updated version.

ps what is soul caliber?

Actually, the force should generate from your core...

My sifu's master, the David Cheng was good with a spear. Master Cheng was one of Chui Chuk Kai's 12 disciples from Vietnam. He moved to Hawaii where my sifu studied under him for many years. He also taught Randy Choy who is now head of the CCK TCPM group in Hawaii. Here is a nice article he wrote on taiji and taiji mantis spear forms.

excerpt:

In comparison is the Shangtung Taiji Preying Mantis spear style which consists of five basic forms. They are the Plum Flower Spear, the Eight Diagram Spear, the Four Doors Spear, the Double Headed Spear, and the Halberd (Lu Bu Ji)... No matter what kind of spear you decide to master, there is an old saying, "It takes a hundred days to learn the saber and a thousand days to learn the spear."

 

[lulflo]

I guess the competition is already over.

I thought you may still want some critique though.

I don't know about the weapon form so much because I have not learned it and I study HRD so I may never get to either, but it looked nice, and I do have a tidbit if I may. I saw very few kicks, which says to me that if there are only a few, and I really only saw one that was "flashy"...that with so few kicks, they had better be the best dang kicks you can do, especially in competition. It would seem that it would compliment the whole weapon form as a cohesive flow.

What I mean to say is, the kicks are good, but the weapon part is great! It would improve the whole form if both were great.

Hope that works for you.

Farang - Larry