I’ve often used this term in the past but now it’s legit! So the question remains, do you belong to a McDojo? What is a McDojo you ask?

A McDojo (used as a noun) is a martial arts school of any style that uses specific business practices or principles for the purpose of generating revenue for the school. McDojo as an adjective is applied to indicate that a particular action or practice by a school is motivated primarily by financial gain.

Source: Wikipedia – McDojo [via]

Whew.. that’s a mouthful and just the tip of the iceberg. Just be aware there are such schools out there. While I do believe the usage of “Belts” can be a good thing in giving students motivation, it can get a little bit out of hand when there are like 20 ranks with a ton of intermediate stripes, resulting in the school being a “Belt Factory” aka “Revenue Rainbow”.

In addition to a “Belt Factory” be warned of joining a “Form Factory”. While these are not that bad if that’s your main goal, to learn as many forms as you can, but I think ultimately we need to ask ourselves, “Am I a Forms Collector?” This then leads to asking ourselves, “What is my goal in training?”. All good questions that should be answered before spending time and hard earned money on a potential McDojo.
[tags]taiji,training,finance,forms,McDojo[/tags]

Professor Cheng was once asked, “What is the most important reason to study Tai Chi Chuan?”

“The most important reason is that when you finally reach the place where you understand what life is about, you’ll have some health to enjoy it,” was his answer.

More than self-defense, more even than its health benefit, he taught Tai Chi Chuan as a Tao, a “way of life”.

– Wolfe Lowenthal. (1991). There Are No Secrets: Professor Cheng Man-Ching and his Tai Chi Chuan (page XVI).

Taiji applications are often executed in a controlled and cooperative environment, but what happens when the opponent is not so cooperative? Below is an account of my own experience based on my own interpretation of taiji instruction.

The transition from Lazy Tying Coat to 6 Sealings 4 Closing, in the Chen Village manner, starts with weight over the front right leg. Both hands then deflect to a downward 45 degree angle as the weight shifts to the rear left leg. After that, the hands raise to chest height (with the weight mostly in the rear left leg) before shifting weight forward and executing the push.

In the above scenario, if my opponent “sticks” to me after the deflect, I am often uprooted. This is because the rollback ends with both my lower and upper body centered over my left leg. In other words, it ends with left foot solid, left hand solid. Anyone with a little bit of rooting and power can easily take over my centerline and in effect “bulldoze” right through me. In fact, my wife has done this to me and I am almost twice her weight!

However, when I tried this according to the Hong Junsheng method as outlined by Chen Zhonghua, I was able to successfully execute the application. The Hong Method addresses this issue by redefining the concept of double weighted:

When the left hand is solid the left foot must be empty. When the
right hand is solid, the right foot must be empty.

For more on the topic of double heavy read Misunderstanding Double Heavy? Applying this principle to 6 Sealings, 4 Closings, the rollback is executed with the weight remaining in the front right leg while the upper body becomes solid in the rear left. In other words, the right leg is solid and the left hand is solid. This creates equal opposing forces opposing forces within the body.

Using the 6 Sealings 4 Closings sequence found in the Hong Practical Chen Taiji Method, I was easily able to execute the application with little to no force. My body felt connected, rooted, and centered. It brought the concept of “Standing Like a Mountain” to a whole new level.

For an example of Chen Zhonghua demonstrating the application, check out the following video:

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUDNr8v7eRI

I’ve written a couple of times about the importance of backing up one’s data and some of my own approaches (Backup Time, The Offsite Solution, Remember to Encrypt, Backup Separation).  I’ve decided to readdress this issue after the recent purchase of my 400GB Samsung SATA hard drive.

Why would I need to do something like this after a hard drive upgrade? No real reason other than to add other points in case I get a break in the chain somewhere. This new method is basically Set-N-Forget, meaning, set it up once and let it automagically backup your data in the background.

Also, this method not only encrypts your data in transit, but you can also use your own passphrase or encryption key! However, be aware that if you forget your password to decrypt the data, you’re out of luck!

Best of all, it’s easy to setup and IT’S FREE!  Alrighty.. have I gotten your attention yet? You’re probably curious on what the world am I talking about. Well, here it is . . .

Sign up for your free Mozy Account

If you click on the above link to sign up, you’ll get an extra 256MB (making it roughly 2.3G of backup space) and so will I. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now and I’m quite happy with it.

Backup your data NOW!