Public Display

A fellow student was talking to my teacher, and suggested that my teacher should actually find some opportunities to publicly show others his skill at pushing hands, so that people will become interested in learning pushing hands and join our class.

For me, I don't really like the idea of a public display of pushing hands. It is an open invitation to challengers and troublemakers. And while I am confident that my teacher is able to handle them, people will end up losing face and may bear a grudge against him. We should instead be like the Ip Man in the show, who faces challengers in his own living room behind closed doors, so that no one outside will know who won and who lost, thus saving everyone's face. And in doing so, ensure that challengers have no reason to bear grudges against him. And it also saves a lot of unwanted attention and additional challengers, because when you are good, there is always someone out there who wants to prove that he is better.

So far, my teacher hasn't really taken up the suggestion yet. However, he welcomes people to pop by and observe our classes, and maybe have a bit of hands-on.