Looking for feedback from all styles of practitioners!

[fudoshin_ryu]

Im training in Baji Quan right now, and I would like some feedback on my martial arts performances! So if you would please, please check out my video via the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63NMHcfmLBg&feature=plcp


Thanks again!

-Tim

 

[clfsean]

I'm not up on baji specifics, but check your feet in your horses. At times they're pointing out, not forward. Also your general horse structure... knees bent, feet flat & forward, hips over ankles & pelvis tucked, back straight, but not forced. Shoulder relaxed but over hips. Feet as wide as or slightly past shoulders.

Also in your "low reverse bow", right right heel is up. I'm betting that should be flat.

Otherwise, keep working!! :burp:

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I don't know a thing about CMA, but it's amazing how much I can pick out that we use in Isshin-Ryu from what you appear to be doing. The locks, especially. I cannot comment on your forms; they're something I have zero experience with. I note that we do not stomp into our stances as you do, we say it interrupts ki flow. But if you're doing what you were taught, then I guess that's right for you. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

- 0.18 to 0.21, the hands movement is not needed.
- 0.25, your right palm should be futher away from your belly.
- 0.42, your back left foot should point 45 degree forward.
- 0.44, need more body vibration.
- 0.50, your right heel should stay on the ground.
- ...

Adam Hsu's Baji is a good reference point.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

It may just be differences in style, but to me it looked like you were a bit to static/not fluid in your movements, and didnt need to stop as much as you did. Outside of that, seemed fine

 

[Xue Sheng]

Yeah well let me tell you this about that...... I don't know....I never did Baji... would like to... but I'm a Xingyi/Taiji guy.... but from what I read above, I'd go with what clfsean and Kung Fu Wang said.

 

[Prostar]

I would just ask that you lead with your eyes. If you see the opponent before you strike, we see him too. I googled Baji Quan and watched a couple of videos of practitioners. Even if momentarily, you could see them look in the direction before turning for a strike.

 

[fudoshin_ryu]

I'm not up on baji specifics, but check your feet in your horses. At times they're pointing out, not forward. Also your general horse structure... knees bent, feet flat & forward, hips over ankles & pelvis tucked, back straight, but not forced. Shoulder relaxed but over hips. Feet as wide as or slightly past shoulders.

Also in your "low reverse bow", right right heel is up. I'm betting that should be flat.

Otherwise, keep working!!

Thanks for the info on the horse stances! I will keep it all in mind! ^^
And yes, I'm glad you caught that heel sticking up, I didn't realize it, until you mentioned it! Thanks again!

I don't know a thing about CMA, but it's amazing how much I can pick out that we use in Isshin-Ryu from what you appear to be doing. The locks, especially. I cannot comment on your forms; they're something I have zero experience with. I note that we do not stomp into our stances as you do, we say it interrupts ki flow. But if you're doing what you were taught, then I guess that's right for you. Thanks for sharing!

I completely agree with you on this one! My primary style is Goju Ryu and I see a lot of bunkai and embusen that's similar with the two styles!

- 0.18 to 0.21, the hands movement is not needed.
- 0.25, your right palm should be futher away from your belly.
- 0.42, your back left foot should point 45 degree forward.
- 0.44, need more body vibration.
- 0.50, your right heel should stay on the ground.
- ...

Adam Hsu's Baji is a good reference point.

Mr. Hsu is a great Baji man and he is well known in the Baji world. My teacher was of the An Family lineage so they do it a bit differently, and I should have added a link with my above link to showcase the lineage. Unfortunately me and my teacher no longer talk but I would love to continue on with my Baji practices. Here is a link with Mr An Jian Qiu's baji of the An Family Wushu.

Thanks again for all your info! I will definitely take you advice and watch and learn from what Mr Hsu's has to say!

It may just be differences in style, but to me it looked like you were a bit to static/not fluid in your movements, and didnt need to stop as much as you did. Outside of that, seemed fine

Yes! This is something I need to work on a bit more. We do stop a little bit...but not for as long as I did in the movie I posted! Thanks for pointing it out!

I would just ask that you lead with your eyes. If you see the opponent before you strike, we see him too. I googled Baji Quan and watched a couple of videos of practitioners. Even if momentarily, you could see them look in the direction before turning for a strike.

VERY VERY good point! And I will keep that in mind for next time! Thanks!

 

[lklawson]

Im training in Baji Quan right now, and I would like some feedback on my martial arts performances!

Tim,

Forgive me for asking (I'm not trying to be a jerk) but, why? Why do you care what we think about your performance? Wouldn't your Sifu's critique be way more valuable?

Why not enter a forms tournament or the like. That would give you better feedback too.

But, since you insist...

Don't splay your fingers. I'm not saying clench them tight in some sort of shuto but don't splay them out like a fan either.

Anyway... Good luck.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[fudoshin_ryu]

Tim,

Forgive me for asking (I'm not trying to be a jerk) but, why? Why do you care what we think about your performance? Wouldn't your Sifu's critique be way more valuable?

Why not enter a forms tournament or the like. That would give you better feedback too.

But, since you insist...

Don't splay your fingers. I'm not saying clench them tight in some sort of shuto but don't splay them out like a fan either.

Anyway... Good luck.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

Well, that is a pretty good question, and I can start off by saying that my teacher and I are no longer on talking terms. I do respect him still...but due to small stuff we got into a bit of a confrontation and now neither of us are really making an effort to get back on the right track.

The above form is Baji Xiao Jia...I had competed with Da Jia before and took Gold in a forms divison, but that's not really what I want...and I guess using the term 'performance' might have given the wrong idea.

I want to pick the brain of other stylists to see what they think about the form, if they think something should be changed or modified to make it more realistic. Im sure I have m biases towards Baji because it is a style I find to be my own...but that doesn't make everything I should do in the art...the 'right' way. I want to see if someone else can add something to make me a better fighter/practitioner.

I thank you for your post and insight!

 

[mook jong man]

Can't add much I'm afraid , it's about a million miles removed from Wing Chun.
I can only echo what Mr Lawson has stated about keeping your fingers together , as the recipient of many thumb and finger injuries they can take a long time to heal.

You don't want to have any fingers sticking out like that when the punches start coming in thick and fast , they can get jammed , bent back , or snagged on clothing etc.
Still keep them relaxed , but keep them together.

 

[Black Belt Jedi]

The thing that needs to be fixed is you horse/sumo stance. It needs to be lower and well rooted. Your feet has to be pointed out on an angle instead of straight, that would help a great deal in lowering your stance. Overall that is a good form.

Thanks for sharing, It helps me a lot in improving my judging skills for tournaments.

 

[WC_lun]

Lots of good advice here and I won't repeat it. The thing that I will add is the upper and lower body do not seem connected. It isn't that either the stances are terrible or the hands are subpar (though they still need work the same as many of us). Power in CMA comes from the stance up or in some systems the entire body moving at once. In both cases, your hips are the link between your upper body and lower body. In this clip, I am not seeing a great knowledge of that link or tranferring power through it. It does take a lot of physical training to get this mechanic into your body.

If I had to suggest something other than continue your training under a qualified instructor, it would be for you to tilt your hips up, locking them in place, performing movements in a slow manner. This will force you to keep your knees bent and lock your lower body to your upper body. It will force you to pay attention to what you are doing.

Good luck in your training!

 

[Flying Crane]

The above form is Baji Xiao Jia...I had competed with Da Jia before and took Gold in a forms divison, but that's not really what I want...and I guess using the term 'performance' might have given the wrong idea.

It did, actually. I found myself thinking, this shouldn't be a performance. What others might think of it as performance art shouldn't be an issue at all. What matters is that you are doing the form correctly so that you benefit from the exercise. Visually the form could be the ugliest thing ever devised, but if it correctly teaches you the skills and gives you a way to properly train those skills, then it is of the highest value. Forms were originally meant to be a training tool, a way to practice that would help your skill in your martial method develop and grow. If you do your form correctly, and you pay attention to the details, then you should benefit from the practice. It's only in more recent times that forms have become a method of performance art. Once that happened, in my opinion the practice of forms lost much, or even all, value. When the focus is on impressing an uneducated audience, then usually the important stuff gets thrown away for the sake of that which is visually impressive, even if it is useless as a martial method.

OK, so I have no background in Baji and will not comment because I don't know if you are doing it correctly or not. While it may or may not be visually impressive to me, that is irrelevant. I can only encourage you to look inward if you are estranged from your sifu and have no other alternatives. If you are striving to get every point of the form correct, and you have a strong concept of what that means, then keep at it. You never "get there", you are always just working on it.

If someone tells you to change your stance, or don't splay your fingers, or deepen the stance, or whatever, I would really hesitate to take that advice unless they are knowledgeable about Baji and you know that you can trust their input. If you are actually doing it as your sifu taught you, there may be good reasons for each of those details.

The only thing I will echo is that in CMA the power is often derived from the stances, so you need to know how to connect your technique to your stance and your root. But exactly how your system goes about doing that, and how it trains that skill and how that training is manifest in the practice, may be unique to your system. So for someone like myself to suggest "do it THIS way..." is a reflection of my own experiences with in the system that I train. As such, any advice I offer you could be a direct confict to how it should be done in Baji. I just don't know and am not willing to take the risk of leading you astray if Baji is what you want to work on.

If you get interested in Tibetan White Crane, well then you and I can talk. But for Baji, to be correct for the methods of Baji, don't do it like others from different systems do it, because it just might not be the same. Sometimes "similar" is even more dangerous, because if fools you into thinking you've got it right, but there might be critical differences that are really important in getting it right for Baji.

some things to think about.

 

[ATC]

I know nothing about the style and form you do. I canhowever offer some advice when practicing. It is almost impossible to catchmistakes when doing an entire form. I would suggest that you break down thebasic movements of the form 2 at a time. 1 movement then it transition then thenext movement. You should practice 2 movements at a time perfecting only the 2movements. Once you get through and entire from this way you will have a solidform as the movements in the form will have become second nature and built intomuscle memory. Now no matter what form you do, if it calls for any of thosemovements you will naturally do the movement correctly without thought.

As it is not you without thought lift you heel and pointyour feet to wide as pointed out by others that understand your style. You nowneed to make the correct positions natural and what you do now un-natural. That is just my advice.

 

[Flying Crane]

I know nothing about the style and form you do. I canhowever offer some advice when practicing. It is almost impossible to catchmistakes when doing an entire form. I would suggest that you break down thebasic movements of the form 2 at a time. 1 movement then it transition then thenext movement. You should practice 2 movements at a time perfecting only the 2movements. Once you get through and entire from this way you will have a solidform as the movements in the form will have become second nature and built intomuscle memory. Now no matter what form you do, if it calls for any of thosemovements you will naturally do the movement correctly without thought.

As it is not you without thought lift you heel and pointyour feet to wide as pointed out by others that understand your style. You nowneed to make the correct positions natural and what you do now un-natural. That is just my advice.

That's actually some pretty good advice.

The bottom line is, don't feel like you need to race thru a form from start to finish. Take your time with every movement, complete each movement before you do the next, get each one correct. My sifu says, the form doesn't matter. Every movement within the form matters. Just "getting thru" the choreography is pointless if every movement is not done correctly.