Lee Style Tai Chi

 

 

Howard Gibbon’s New Lee Style Form DVD Moves 1-50

 

In this new DVD Howard Gibbon has gone back to basics and remade his short form 1-50 beginners DVD. You might ask why he has done this as he already has a form beginners DVD available, which in my opinion is probably the best beginners DVD you can buy. I think the answer is twofold. First Howard is a bit of a technical perfectionist, and the existing DVD was made first using old video technology. As Howard has produced more of his excellent DVD series he has added increasing sophistication to the representation of the form being demonstrated. Second, the short form DVD is where everyone starts and I think Howard in the new DVD has tried to put a complete home course in a box. The key features of this DVD are:

• Howard provides an audio commentary to the execution of each move as he demonstrates the moves. This includes split insert screen to highlight key hand or foot movements. This is just like having Howard give a class demonstration of the finer points of each move.
• There are as usual front, back, left and right angle views of each move and sequence.
• There is a demonstration of the 50 move form, although this is only given from the rear in the way you would see it in class.
• In addition to the DVD itself the disk also contains an electronic copy of Howard’s manual describing in words and photos how to execute the entire short form. You can print this off as a PDF document if you have a computer.

I would feel confident that a dedicated student who was unable to get to classes could make a reasonable job of learning the form moves and stances from the combination of material presented here. This is not to say classes are not needed. A DVD cannot replace the experiential activity of learning with others in a group and you won’t get any personal help and guidance with the errors that you make which a good teacher sees but you don’t. Nevertheless this is a step forward in support material for learning the short form and goes beyond anything else I have seen that is available. If you are learning in a class this material will help you learn more quickly and more accurately the stances, movements and transitions.

 

For more advanced students who have learnt the short form in class and maybe have never broken down each move into its exact execution this DVD lets you look close up at Howard’s demonstration of the detailed movements of the form. In your training, if you are using an acknowledged master as a model,  there comes a point when you think you know the moves, and that you need to really focus on how you make each move picking up all the little differences between what you do and what your teacher does in their own practice. This in part is about learning to correctly make the movements; it is also about internalising the movements in your own muscle memory. It is how you make the form your own.

 

As I have said previously Howard’s rendition of the form is very close to that illustrated in Chee Soo’s book. Various people have criticised some of the movements illustrated in Chee Soo’s book as not conforming to some classic Tai Chi principles.  Chee Soo was always confident in his own ability and never took any notice of people who suggested to him his approach to the execution of the form did not always conform to Tai Chi principles as they are expressed and represented in mainstream Yang style Tai Chi. This point only matters if you are familiar with other styles or a Lee Style teacher that has been influenced by the Yang Style. Here you will find that the execution of the Lee Style accords to rules that are a little different than the rules that you may have been taught to expect. This is however very much classic Lee Style as taught by Chee Soo and I think that is the highest recommendation this DVD can have.

 

Overall this is a first class product. Howard has raised the bar again in terms of the standard and range of teaching material presented. He is a natural teacher who clearly wants to share what he has learnt with each student. This is the best short form teaching DVD I have seen.