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"Great post that generates a few questions...
We have seen so many ways to perform Sanchin. Some folks lean forward, hunching and stressing across the chest. Others are more upright but very tense and tight. Still others look loose and relaxed, leaning slightly back with expanded chests. Some bend the knees greatly, others have almost straight knees. Wider or narrower stances, Sanchin foot position vs. "I've progressed far past the need for that", elbows close or outside the body lines, throwing shoulders into the strikes or not, hips vs. no hips vs. slight hip movement, all sorts of breathing...
Which are the deviant structures, and which are the "natural" ones, or which ones follow the structure mentioned? How does one decide? It's the same old question that's been banging around on these forums for so many years - what is the gold standard Sanchin?
Maybe they're all correct for the time, place, and needs of the student. Maybe they are all taught differently in accordance with the teacher's philosophy, and the environment in which he/she teaches."
How does one decide? well I would go with what works. What I notice with Chinese martial arts is that the forms are not nearly as important as some people think, it is the principles that are contained in the forms...and in some systems the majority of the system is two man partner exercises. So the Chinese will change the forms as it suits them, now some people have lost the principles on which the form was based, or tried to create new principles and some have been taught incorrectly . One of my teaches told me not to reveal what he had taught me to anyone else from other schools, he said "Don't give your sweets away for free"
I think that the thing to realise with Chinese forms is that they are reverse engineered to achieve very definite results. A punch can be reversed engineered when we think how can I make this more powerfull? what do I need? a stance? a breathing method?
So I would say unless somebody can actually show you real and tangible results for doing something a certain way, then don't do it
I like this Sanchin a lot ( Goju)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9iqsfIb ... re=relatedbut for reasons that I don't think most people would get