Master Jason Tsou not mincing any words

[TaiChiTJ]

The authors describe the origins of the style, methods of training, and the crucial differences between forms practice and application of the techniques in a real fighting situation

They contend that an emphasis on athletic performance, such as in tournaments and competitions, leads to a loss of understanding of the functionality of the movements. In turn, this leads to predictability and hesitation on the part of the fighter. The martial aspects of the style eventually become diluted and the true purpose and effectiveness of the training is lost.

Journal of Chinese Martial Arts

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I don't buy the premise that competition leads to predictability and hesitation. In my experience, predictability and hesitation are part of what training for competition aims to eliminate.

 

[Juany118]

I don't buy the premise that competition leads to predictability and hesitation. In my experience, predictability and hesitation are part of what training for competition aims to eliminate.

I think they are talking about the focus on athletic competition. So you aren't talking actual sparring or Lei tai but training for a well choreographed dance, even when it's with an "opponent." The Chinese Government actually did this quite intentionally when they made the transition from suppression of TMA to using it as a tool in their tourism industry tool box.

If training for this is what they are talking about...

And not

I think they might have a point.

 

[Buka]

In my opinion, the best thing about competitions is, you suddenly find yourself fighting against a person you've never seen before - and he is just as nuts as you are.

Like Twain said, "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way."

 

[Xue Sheng]

Something to consider when reading the article from Jason Tsao. He is a traditional Long Fist guy. Traditional log fist is all about fighting. However most people who do long fist are doing the flashy stylized forms that were developed based on traditional long fist. The competitions he is speaking of are forms competitions of something that looks a little like the long fist of Jason Tsao's from his POV. Any fighting he would be referring to by comparison would be comparing his traditional long fist approach to Sanda/Sanshou matches.

 

[Anarax]

The historical context of the shift from practical Chinese styles to more the "athletic" wushu is the Boxer Rebellion that took place in China in 1899.

The overall conversation going on about competition training's practicality is very dependent on the type of training. Training for a full contact karate competition is going to be more practical than training for a light-contact point competition.