That wasn't how I saw it! Part 2

The 10k Buddha Temple, Shatin, Hong Kong

In my previous blog, I discussed the Rashomon effect and how it affects how your perceive what you have seen. So what happens next?

The Great Hall, Yuen Yuen Institute, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.

So you saw something being done and then you practice it. You think that you have nailed it, so you pass it on. How accurate did you think you were? Passing on information is like Chinese whispers. You think you have passed on what you know, yet unaware that there are gaps in our knowledge. You see this in the characteristics of some schools. Forms and techniques aren't being corrected and facts are not being questioned. So you have a group of people who either don't know or don't want to know. From this, several generations of the same lineage end up falling into irrelevance.

Learning requires students to think for themselves and analyse what is being taught. People often ask me about learning from videos. My answer is always the same. You need to understand what is being shown, before able to gain anything from it. After watching videos, there are mistakes. More than that, it wasn't how it was done on the video. Sure, many people think they are learning Tai Chi and Qigong from YouTube for free, but nothing beats proper tuition. Videos are beneficial as a guide, but they can't be depended on as the main medium to learn from. I no longer give out videos to new joiners. Partly, because they won't gain anything from it. Furthermore, free content means people don't respect the art. There is already a lot of free content out there and good things should be earned. People pay to learn, so learn and value what is being taught. Another thing to think about is. If content is free, how do you know it is right or even complete? The results show, so you're aren't fooling everybody. Whilst Tai Chi and Qigong are considered low impact activities. This doesn't mean there aren't risks. You also don't want to drift into intellectual laziness.

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