Thursday

Short-cut?

New approaches to taijiquan must be considered in light of their purpose.
There is a danger of arrogance, naivety, impatience and vanity on the part of the inventor/teacher.
Is the teacher seeking to put their own personal stamp on the art?
Do they court controversy?
Are they advanced enough to determine how to improve the art?

Many people seek a shortcut to the skills of taijiquan.
Committing hours to mindful, patient, careful practice does not really sell the art to many modern students.
A snappier, hip shortcut may be widely appealing.

But one question remains: if you remove all the qualities that make the art taijiquan... is it still taijiquan?

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