11/03/2020
Recently, I have seen a number of people in the Chinese Martial Arts community posting things that link to their ideas about Communism and the impact of the PRC government on Wushu/Kung Fu and Taijiquan.
The Chinese government HAS interacted with the martial arts world for hundreds of years. The Shaolin Temple - its allowance for training martial arts is one of the oldest examples.
In the 1800's, Prince Tuan was responsible for the promotion of a lot of martial arts - in particular he provided Yang Luchan a position that solidified the position and existence of one of the most popular forms of Wushu practiced today.
Beginning with things like the Nanjing Central Guoshu Institute and then into the Ching Woo Association, there has been an effort to classify and standardize the martial arts practiced.
The PRC just did what others did. BUT...they were more successful.
The big complaint now is with some running down the 24 Posture Taijiquan routine. It WAS created in the 1950's at the instructions of the PRC government.... It DOES downplay the martial aspects to focus on body mechanics and health...
So what.
I Begin students with 24 Posture. It allows me to make sure they understand how to protect their knees, move, maintain balance. I can teach the routine in about 12 weeks. The student won't be able to do it well, but they will have a taste of what Taijiquan is. They will have also learned HOW to learn a routine.
I have had one or two people come to me wanting to only learn Yang or Sun style. Of the two, Yang is the hardest of these.
With the traditional Yang form, it takes between 15 and 20 minutes to do it at the correct speed...compared to 5 to 6 for 24. It does NOT allow for the rock step that was used in 24 - The rock step teaches the person to remove a full grounding on the front foot before turning it....not to do so leads to screwing up the knee in a major way.
If I start with a beginner - zero experience...It takes between 1 and 2 YEARS to teach Yang style. If I teach the same person 24 first, I can teach them 24, 32 Jian, and then the Yang barehand in the same 2 years....simply because 24 teaches how to learn, how to move, and how to prevent injuries to the knees.
I really do not care about those that wish to inject politics into their Taijiquan or Wushu practice (I do NOT mean Modern Wushu - I mean Wushu in the actual sense of the word - Martial Arts). This is an issue between the PRC and the ROC.... I do not care for their politics.
Know the history...but don't be sucked into it.
