Fu_Bag said:
I have this theory, based on what I've been researching lately, that it does have a lot to do with the martial artist. I think that, if you can just become natural enough and remove your own self-imposed limitations, the Way will then be able to come through magnificently in your time of need. Maybe it'll look like really good martial arts, or it might just be the perfect thing said, at the perfect time, to diffuse a situation. So that would definitely be in line with the martial artist either making, or breaking, the art. What do you think about this theory?
I agree with the theory. I believe I read once if you do something about 10,000 times (It may have been 2000, I know big discrepancy there but it was about 10 years ago) it becomes habit so if you train something and train it well it should come naturally when needed. Also having to stop and think about something can get you hurt. And in internal MA, particularly Tai Chi, it has been my experience that when I do something right the first time and say WOW!! Finally I got it right I am thinking about it too much and it takes what feel like forever to get back to that accomplishment and stop thinking so hard about it.
What I meant by the martial artists making or breaking the art was that if someone trains their chosen art well with a person that truly knows it and they honor what they have been taught then they can not only help propagate that art to others they can contribute to it as well.
However if someone does not do anyone of those, particularly the last one, honor what they have been taught, they can dilute and even destroy the art or at best make it something lesser.
Most unfortunately many that decide to train martial arts, and I feel this applies greatly to Tai Chi, don't really want to work at it, they want to be a master now. They would rather say I do Tai Chi or I'm a Black belt than train hard to actually understand Tai Chi or truly earn the Black belt.
So the student that did not truly learn the art or didn't have a teacher that understood it or really taught it or if they simply do not honor what they have been taught can very likely go out open a school and have a lot of students. Where the one that truly understands the art and teachers it as they were taught and really trains it has fewer students.
However regardless of the number of students or how long it takes to learn it is always better to take the time to truly learn it and teach honestly.
I have used these examples way to much on MT but here I go again.
A TDK school near me use to promise a black belt in a year. This is one of the biggest schools I have ever seen. And now there are at least 3 of them belonging to the same guy.
There was also a TDK school in my area that taught they owner of the previously mentioned schools. This TDK master was just that a master and he never gave this person permission to teach. He could do nothing about it however and became disgusted, closed his school and left the area. TDK is worse off because of this.
There is also a CMA school that teaches you multiple forms, and they are not even demanding the forms be correct and some of those students have gone off and started teaching too and there are a lot of people going there. Yet the Wing Chun School down the street from there is very small has fewer students and in my opinion if you want a true CMA in my area you should go to the Wing Chun School.
I have tried to get people to go there and some have, but most are afraid to get hit and they wont get hit at the forms school and besides what do they get if the go to Wing Chun? A couple of years from now they can say I do Wing Chun. But if they go to the other CMA school a couple of years from now they can say I do Chen style Tai Chi, Yang Style Tai Chi, Shaolin Kung fu, Northern mantis, and Wudang too.
Can they do any of these? No. Are they destroying those styles? Yes and there are a lot of them, far more than the Wing Chun School has.
Damn there I go ranting again and I may be off post
sorry about that.
