I've seen some Fa Jin, but this?

[goldisheavy]

I can make it work with some people, but not very many (mostly my students). It's a difficult thing to master. I generally teach my students to avoid looking in their opponent's eyes unless they are confident that their spirit is strong enough to dominate or at least challenge their opponent, otherwise they will suffer intimidation, get anxious, and that's a big disadvantage.

 

This is intentional. We have many important values. For example, if you're a kind and compassionate individual, it may be hard or very hard to discard a human life. Compassionate people believe that no one is beyond redemption. In that case, where will honesty come from if you look into the eyes of your opponent with the view of annihilation? If you're a kind and compassionate person, where will the unshakable commitment to annihilation come from?

 

These things cannot be faked.

 

When someone has a scary eye, it's because that person is not 100% humane (at least! and at most, is not even a human except in form). There are some very rare people who can enter into the role of a demon as readily as they enter into the role of an angel. This is very very rare and hard to achieve. Most people have commitment to moral values of some kind, and I would say, this is healthy too. But this necessarily leads to certain "disabilities" or "abilities". Some people call it weakness. Others call it strength.

 

So if I look at you in a way that makes your blood run cold, it's only because I have gotten in touch with my inner demon, or at the very least non-human. And if you are not willing to be that dirty or that different and foreign to humanity, you can't fake it or pretend it.

 

In some sense, some of these abilities are better not developed, because to develop them might require unacceptable sacrifices at the deepest levels of our being.

[voidisyinyang]

Wow I watched the first one -- totally wild stuff! thanks.

 

 

These guys are recognized by the Yang family as being legit. It doesn't look real to me...especially when the father does the "paralysis" thing...but that doesn't mean it isn't. What do you think?

[goldisheavy]

You know all this talk about fearful gazes made me recall that the exact opposite is possible too.

 

You can have the type of warm and compassionate gaze that makes any assailant lose all desire to remain hostile. This one also cannot be faked, just like the fearful one cannot be faked. But why would someone who studies the ways of conflict have such a gaze? It's very unlikely. This comes back to honesty.

 

If you're trying to do something that's out of character, you will not feel "in your element" when doing it, and this will be picked up by the subconscious if not by the conscious of your opponent.

[erdweir]

The attractions in both videos are more the acting skills of Tom Tetreault (yeah, it's the same guy) than the Jing of the "masters"...

Typical: so-called master demonstrating Fa Jin on his student...

 

Gin Soon Chu is for real. He only has two students, as far as i know. He is retired from public teaching. My teacher is one of Chu Sifu's two remaining private students (the other being Vincent Chu) and he has this kind of Fa Jing as well. No acting involved.

 

This is a good conversation, but let's get down to business. Does this guy have the goods? I do yang taiji. My teacher is good, but he cannot teach me this stuff.

 

Yes, Gin Soon has the goods, but he doesn't teach anymore. His son, Vincent Chu, teaches in Boston.

 

If your teacher cant teach this stuff, then his yang tai chi isn't authentic, unfortunately. You will most likely have to start over when you find a teacher with an authentic transmission.

 

Gin Soon Chu is one of three full disciples of Yang, Sau Chung. Ip Tai Tak was another one, but he has passed away. I think the third disciple is in England. All three were full "inner door" students, who received full lineage transmissions and were authorized to teach by Yang Sau Chung. Gin Soon and Vincent Chu are recognized as being legit by the Yang family because they are legit. Yang Sau Chung's three daughters are still practicing and teaching in Hong Kong, along with some of Yang's other students.

 

Many of the so called Yang style teachers out there can be traced back to students of Yang Sau Chung and his father, Yang Chen Fu, but most of them did not study with the Yang family for very long and thus their knowledge of Tai Chi is not that deep. Most of them have modified the style they learned and made it more "flowery".

 

Real Tai Chi cannot be learned in a few months or even a few years. The reason why there are so few authentic practitioners out there is most cant find an authentic teacher, much less spend the spend the 10-15 years of studying with them.

Edited January 14, 2010 by erdweir

[Martial Development]

Two good videos. The first two, I mean.

 

I shouldn't comment on the last two.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Martial Development

[Martial Development]

You know all this talk about fearful gazes made me recall that the exact opposite is possible too.

 

You can have the type of warm and compassionate gaze that makes any assailant lose all desire to remain hostile. This one also cannot be faked, just like the fearful one cannot be faked. But why would someone who studies the ways of conflict have such a gaze? It's very unlikely. This comes back to honesty.

 

If you're trying to do something that's out of character, you will not feel "in your element" when doing it, and this will be picked up by the subconscious if not by the conscious of your opponent.

 

To paraphrase the Daodejing: it is better to be loved than to be feared, and better still to remain hidden in plain sight.

 

Honestly, one is better off without the attention of violent and unstable strangers, be it warm or otherwise.

[erdweir]

Found some interesting "fa jing" videos from the Southern Indian style of Varma/Marma Adi:

 

 

and

 

 

Cool.

 

I always figured the Indian Martial Arts had to have some Fa Jing, they seem pretty deep to me, but they are much less known in the west than the Chinese Arts.