| The greatest martial arts legends lived before video | | | | students and disciples. I have a collection of their |
| existed--masters who allegedly could knock down | | | | videos and there is a near total lack of actual |
| opponents with their chi or, with a flick of a finger, could | | | | instruction on them. Not all great masters are great |
| knock a large opponent twenty feet. | | | | teachers. My best teachers have been |
| One legend tells of a young student who wanted to | | | | Americans--students of these masters--who |
| learn a form (also called "kata") from a master. | | | | questioned beneath the surface and explained, in plain |
| According to the legend, the master performed the | | | | English, the meaning of the movements. |
| sequence of movements one time, turned to the | | | | Body mechanics must be taught clearly for a student |
| student and said, "I will be back in one year. At that | | | | to learn properly, and most masters show the |
| time, you should have mastered this form!" | | | | mechanics on video without teaching the details. And |
| One year later, the master returned and the student | | | | that's the problem. |
| had, in fact, mastered the movements. And he didn't | | | | An effective martial arts video requires a teacher who |
| even have a DVD player! | | | | knows how to teach through video -- with specific |
| In the 35 years that I've studied and taught martial arts, | | | | visual detail. Most masters only do repeated |
| I've never seen anyone--even visual | | | | movements at different angles with very little |
| learners--memorize more than a couple of | | | | instruction on body mechanics. Without proper body |
| movements of a form by watching it one time. In 1978, | | | | mechanics, you can't do the internal arts properly. |
| however, when I bought my first VCR, it opened up a | | | | Some of the best videos I've seen have been by |
| new world of martial arts training for visual learners like | | | | martial artists who were not considered masters, but |
| me. | | | | they were great teachers and knew how to use |
| Wouldn't it be amazing to see videos of some of the | | | | video. |
| great, legendary martial arts masters. Imagine if you | | | | If you try to learn martial arts on video, find a way to |
| could watch the creator of Tai Chi, Chen Wangting, | | | | get feedback on your techniques and movements |
| perform his movements hundreds of years ago in the | | | | from a qualified teacher. We all believe we look like a |
| Chen Village. Legendary Hsing-I master Sun Lu Tang, | | | | great master when we perform, but the reality is |
| the creator of Sun Tai Chi, lived until the 1930s but | | | | usually different from the self-image in our heads. |
| sadly, not long enough for camcorders and VCRs to | | | | Use a camcorder to record your movements and then |
| be invented. | | | | compare them to the video you're studying. Be brutally |
| Since the early 1980s, martial artists around the world | | | | honest with yourself. Get a friend to look at both |
| have been recording themselves on video. The rise of | | | | videos and tell you where you're making a mistake. Is |
| the VCR and DVD gave us the chance to stop a | | | | your body really doing what the instructor is doing? |
| master in his tracks or slo-mo the movements like | | | | Some of my students who live in other parts of the |
| never before. | | | | world put private videos on YouTube for me to watch |
| I study and teach the three internal arts of China: Tai | | | | and critique. Sometimes I make video replies to show |
| chi, Hsing-I Chuan, and Baguazhang. The body | | | | them the mistakes they're making. |
| mechanics for these arts are incredibly complicated. It | | | | Nothing can replace face-to-face teaching, but if you |
| takes years of study to do them correctly. | | | | live in a town without people who teach the arts you |
| I've studied in person with some of the best tai chi | | | | want, the development of video and the Internet has |
| masters -- Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang and his | | | | given anyone a chance to do training like no other time |
| brother, Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing, their students | | | | in history. |
| Master Ren Guangyi and Chen Bing, and American | | | | |