Now this is interesting. This is a website dedicated to exposing the problems in the American PH circuit. They have a very interesting movie that shows some of these problems.
Watching the movie, I was struck by how different the push hands format is in China and the US. What the heck are all those judges doing there? It looked like a convention. Did even one of those guys know what they were looking at? I was particularly unimpressed with the head judge. It seems he needs more red meat in his diet. Probably watches too much PBS, too. His calls seemed to be aimed at preventing anyone with any skill from scoring a point.
What the heck is up with the “throwing is using excessive force” bit? Are they out of their minds?
I understand that people want real skill shown in the matches. But what constitutes skill? There needs to be a REAL understanding that what happens in the form will look very different when done in a competitive environment or the real world. That seemed to be missing from the judges.
So the comment about totally unqualified judges rings true. Have any of those judges ever competed in PH comps? Why is that not a pre-requisite for becoming a judge?
I hope this website will provoke some discussion.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Tomita // May 9, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Hey Dave,
If I had to handle that many judges around me, I’d soon be using ‘excessive force’on them for interrupting me ;-p
The way I see it, the main aim of tuishou is neutralising and then apply force at the right moment on the best angle.
I’ve had this problem when I started, where I tried to be as relaxed as possible, even to the point I had spaghetti arms. Then I went to the stage where I was relaxed in keeping my strenght at the ready. Steel in cotton, as you will.
If all you can do is push hands, like these judges are stating, there is no way you can have efficient control over your duifang. No tripping or throwing? Give me a break.
Nice post, Dave
Kind regards,
Tomita
2 Chris @ Martial Development // May 10, 2007 at 3:33 am
I haven’t watched the video (yet), but what is stopping these competitors from entering open freestyle tournaments? Or organizing their own tournament under their preferred rules?
Or is this just an attempt to:
a) Control other people’s practice, and
b) Promote those particular rules that cast the complainants in the most flattering light?
3 Chad // May 10, 2007 at 9:28 am
Push hands is for learning. Get in there and fight. PH tourneys to me are like going to a tennis match and watching two guys hit forehands until one guy misses. The point is to fight. No throwing? No Tripping? No hitting? No Pushing? Sheesh no wonder Taiji is not seen as a martial art.
4 Chris @ Martial Development // May 10, 2007 at 1:38 pm
After watching the video: I wholeheartedly agree with its producer.
5 Graham // May 10, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Hi Chessman,
After watching the video I think it’s a case of 2 extremes.
The American rules are overly restricted (extreme Yin)
The Chinese rules turns it into a light Judo contest (extreme Yang)
Sadly, as soon as you make push hands into a ‘competition’ you’re immediately in an artificial situation, so whatever rules you come up with can’t be perfect.
I’ve uploaded you a clip to show you how I practice push hands. I think it’s something of a ‘middle way’ between the two extremes
Cheers,
G
6 Graham // May 10, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Sorry, that URL was a bit mad! It still works, but the shorter version is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qctl3TpwH8&e
Leave a Comment