Justin’s New (Or Old) DVD

Good Karma offers two instructional DVDs featuring Justin Stone. There is the DVD with four teachers that was filmed in 2005. It has a graphic of T’ai Chi Chih on the cover and we will call it “DVD One.” A filming from 1994 was re-released in 2013 and we will call it “DVD Two.” To distinguish it from DVD One, there is a picture of Justin doing Daughter on the Mountain Top on the cover.

The research for this project consisted of watching both DVDs several times. Over the years I had developed a negative impression of DVD One due to the poor picture quality. Watching it several times gave me a renewed appreciation of its value as a teaching aid. Choosing between these two DVDs is not an easy task.

On a side note, these DVDs are not just for students. As teachers, we usually work alone with little opportunity to get feedback about how we are moving. We can fall into habits that do not represent the best of TCC movement. We can think, “I know that,” and sell these DVDs to students, but our personal practice and teaching will be improved if we watch either or both of them from start to finish a couple times a year. After all these are the gold standards for how to move.

The most often asked question from students is which DVD do I recommend. Trying to be fair, I developed an answer that briefly mentions the differences between the various instructional DVDs and tell them which one I selected to watch daily while I was preparing for my Accreditation. Now this conversation is more complex with two DVDs of Justin. Both DVDs suffer from the same technical issues with poor picture quality. In fact of all the DVDs out there, only Sandy’s DVD on seated TCC has a high definition picture.

DVD One[Editor’s note: This is what Good Karma calls the Definitive DVD] is a more formal presentation with stage decorations and what seems like more scripted words. Justin is wearing a coordinated outfit. And it has a practice by four teachers at the end. This DVD has chapter breaks so you can go directly to any of the movements if you don’t want to watch the whole thing. The major negative for this DVD is that Justin does not mirror the movements, and he is filmed straight on from the front. Many students say it is confusing when they hear Justin say to start on the left, but he appears to move with the right. The other complaint I hear is about the music during the practice. I know, Justin composed it – however some students feel it is “old fashioned” and too “bouncy” for TCC practice. My first teacher played flute music with the sounds of birds and flowing water, so that has been imprinted on me as the sound of TCC.

DVD Two[Editor’s note: This is what Good Karma calls the Solo DVD] is much less formal. Justin is wearing a sweatshirt and talks more extemporaneously. The only stage dressings are a couple of small pictures. It is more like an actual teaching session rather than a presentation. There are two versions of this DVD. One version has chapter breaks and the other does not. The cover of the DVD with chapter breaks has that listed. Be sure to only sell the DVDs with the chapter breaks – I don’t know why anyone would want the one without chapter breaks. [Editor’s Note: Good Karma Publishing no longer sells the DVD without chapter breaks.] The most important difference between DVD One and DVD Two has to do with mirroring. In DVD Two, Justin still does not mirror most of the time, but he mentions it and actually mirrors occasionally, especially in the practice section. Also, the camera is frequently filming from a three quarter angle, which seems to be less confusing to the students. During the practice, Justin gives pointers and directions that are valuable, which again makes it more like an actual teaching session. There is no music during the practice.

A case can be made for either DVD, but I am recommending DVD Two to my students. I like the informality and feel it contains more direction from Justin. I want make it easy for my students to buy a DVD, so I offer to exchange the DVDs if they want to try different ones. I also allow them to return a DVD if they don’t think it is helpful and refund all but $5 as a rental fee.

As a final note I want to summarize six points from Justin that are in both DVDs – soft, soft, soft and practice, practice, practice.

Technical Notes

Today most of us have high definition (HD) TVs. If you put either of Justin’s DVDs in your player and hit start the chances are that it won’t look very good. The main trade off is between picture size and clarity. To get the clearest picture, start the DVD and with your TV’s remote press the following options MENU> SETTINGS> PICTURE> PICTURE SIZE. You should see a list of choices like 16:9, Stretch to fit screen, Zoom, 4:3, Smart Picture 1 and, Smart Picture2. The options will vary depending on the TV’s age and manufacturer. Try each option to find which gives you the best picture. “Smart Picture 2” is the best setting on my Samsung Smart TV.

Both of Justin’s DVDs are recorded in standard definition and even with the best setting, the picture will be grainy. But even with picture quality issues, both DVDs are extremely valuable because Justin is showing how he wants us to move.