DVD review

[SavvySavage]

Has anyone here viewed the 2 Internal Power Dynamics DVDs by Mike Patterson? Mike Patterson teachs hsing I, ba gua, and tai ji for competitin and fighting. I was wondering if anyone thinks the power building excercises are beneficial to those who already have experience.

Normally I mightve just bought it and made my own assessment but the DVD is only 35 min and it costs $35. That's a dollar a minute! A little too pricey to be buying on the fly, IMO

[MartialDev]

How much would you be willing to pay per minute of private lessons? Just curious.

[David Jamieson]

35 dollars for a 35 minute dvd is expensive.

[SavvySavage]

Generally speaking I would never take private lessons especially in the traditional martial arts world. Private lessons usually translates into form training. I'd rather be in a class with others, get some personal time with an instructor, and do it on my own without the guy breathing down my neck.

Enhow, David. $35 is a lot of money. What of the first 5-10 minutes is an intoduction with swirly girly crouching tiger Chinese music with no instruction? Then I'm screwed.

[Dale Dugas]

Seems your view on training is a little eschewed.

Private lessons are not forms lessons. Private lessons are you and the teacher one on one going over what was agreed upon by both parties.

I teach private lessons and public lessons.

I have many people come to me to learn the various arts that I have studied. Private lessons are much more in depth as I can focus on one person and make sure they understand all that is being presented to them.

You might get a good education in public classes, but getting privates never hurts so that you can make sure you understand what the material really means from that teacher.

It is also offensive when you think of all the sweat, blood and tears that Shifu Patterson has shed to learn and then teach all that he has to offer, listening to you ASSume you know how his material is presented and his pricing of said material.

He has great results and great material. He has taught many people how to really use what he teaches. His record is rather public.

You want it? You feel it is going to help you further your knowledge?

Then purchase it.


I have had numerous people contact me and tell me that this or that is too expensive. actually trying to haggle with me over the price of certain material and programs.

If you really want it, then you will get it, no matter the cost if you feel it is something that is beneficial to you and your training.

There is no entitlement in the martial arts, though most people nowadays feel that there is. You want something then you have to work for it.

$35.00 is not a lot of money if you are talking about knowledge.

[David Jamieson]

35 bucks for 35 minutes is a lot if it's a pig in a poke.
If there's no knowledge to be gained, you're out 35 bucks I guess.
If there is something, then it's up to you to decide if it was worth your 35 bucks.

I think charging that much is a bit much. Nobody really has anything all that special.
Ultimately it is you who has to do the work anyway. lol

[Dale Dugas]

David,

Breaking someone's ricebowl is offensive. Unless it is Brian Gray we are talking about.

Shifu Patterson has a lot to offer those seeking how to use their material effectively.

You want to come out and state his material is not worth the money, how about coming out with something other than words, as he is doing?

You put down a lot of people, yet never show us if you have any skills or not.

[SavvySavage]

Dale,
I can see where this conversation is going. You're going to mention the pea**** feathers on your alter and issue some silly challenge. It may not be a fight challenge but a challenge to show skills lime you almost stated. Stop being so macho. In the end no one cares about you or Mike Patterson or his DVD or me.

If you don't like my views about private lessons then that's fine. We can agree to disagree. I'm not sure why you took my comment personally as I don't know you from a hole in the wall. Please relax.

I started this thread to ascertain whether or not Mr. Patterson's exercises were of benefit to anyone here and if it would benefit someone with prior experience.

I was not questioning the man or what he teaches. For the record I respect what he teaches and how he learned it. He learned from a teacher that taught a Loy of conditioning and sparring. His teacher was also a traditional bone setter. No more drama queens please

[kfson]

I have purchased some of Shifu Patterson's Xing Yi dvds.
He appears to know his subject very well in this field, from my perspective.

My previous Tai Chi teacher and OM doc said if you are practicing some serious internal exercises without a teacher, you should be checked every two weeks by a doctor of oriental medicine to make sure you are not damaging yourself.

[Dale Dugas]

Dale,
I can see where this conversation is going. You're going to mention the pea**** feathers on your alter and issue some silly challenge. It may not be a fight challenge but a challenge to show skills lime you almost stated. Stop being so macho. In the end no one cares about you or Mike Patterson or his DVD or me.

If you don't like my views about private lessons then that's fine. We can agree to disagree. I'm not sure why you took my comment personally as I don't know you from a hole in the wall. Please relax.

I started this thread to ascertain whether or not Mr. Patterson's exercises were of benefit to anyone here and if it would benefit someone with prior experience.

I was not questioning the man or what he teaches. For the record I respect what he teaches and how he learned it. He learned from a teacher that taught a Loy of conditioning and sparring. His teacher was also a traditional bone setter. No more drama queens please

You started this thread and asked if what this teacher has is of merit.

Pony up the 35.00 and get the dvd and then you can answer your own questions.

good luck with your attitude. seems you have no idea what Wu De is about.

You say you respect what he has, and how he learned it yet you B I T C H about such a small amount of money, and ask an open question on a MA forum about him and his material.

Respect is buying the DVD and showing Shifu Patterson you are interested in his material.

[bawang]

to hell with wude. you try not eating for three days straight because you have no monies.

if anyone wants i can sell my instruction vcd (im too poor to make dvd) for only 15.99
or video casette for only 10.99

[Dale Dugas]

If you want something, save your pennies and get it.

It will mean more to you then.

eating bitter is not easy to do.

[B-Rad]

It would probably be pretty easy to pare down most martial arts instructional vids I've seen to 35 minutes. How many stretch out a 1.5 minute form into a 60 minute video and still fail to show any meaningful usage? Just saying you can't judge the worth of an instructional vid by its length. If you know this is information that helped someone you respect become very successful, then $35 isn't very much. If not, then even $10 is too much :-P Really though, its still cheaper than a lot of more frivolous items many of us buy every month (assuming the info is good... I'm not familiar with his methods or the level of competition he faced back in the day).

[Drake]

Videos can be very useful, but it really depends on how the content is delivered. I've seen videos where they simply show the form and say "good luck", and I've seen videos where they go over every section of the form, pointers for proper technique, practical applications, and the teacher even providing an accompanying script to study.

Master Tat Mau Wong had a very complete package, which included booklets, historical stories, basic Cantonese lessons, audio tapes, and videos which taught both technique and forms, all providing direction on proper execution. Heck, he even had a "bloopers" reel at the end, to show us that even the best make mistakes. It WAS a bit pricey, though, costing around $120 per package. Unfortunately, I hear this was discontinued.

[Shaolindynasty]

Really though, its still cheaper than a lot of more frivolous items many of us buy every month

Correct! I sometimes wonder why people in the martial arts are so cheap. What else will you spend the $35 on? A pizza? a movie? I say get the dvd if it has one thing you could use to get better than it was worth it.