Hi Isaac888,
Again, no Offence meant when posting this question and thank you for your kind clarification.
I detect some anger in the reply.
Are you saying that you thought I was angry? If so, I can assure you that I was not angry at all. I am always trying to better my pitiful Chinese and so was just curious how that part of the rank specifications had been translated into Chinese.
I am aware of the difficulty of translating back and forth from Chinese to English and have seen examples like the ones you posted (although the dinosaur one seems almost correct to me). The one I recall most vividly is 小心地滑 being translated as "carefully slip on the floor," instead of as "careful, slippery floor." Almost every Push Hands class, I remind my students that "relax" and "fangsong" (放松), "push" and "an" (按), "soft" and "rou" (柔), waist and "yao" (腰). etc. are not quite the same in meaning. It is not so much that the English meanings make people do things that are against the theory as that they lead people not to do things that we also require them to do in many circumstances. Our "relax" often requires that you do more, not less. Our "push" can require you that you even bring the opponent's technique toward you. Our "soft" is what we use to generate hard energy. You can visibly use our "waist" without twisting at all. These things can be hard to understand or accept if you use only the English words as a guide to practice.
Btw, what is this 7 point in the entry level.
Point 1
Point 2
Point e
These points refer to the scoring points awarded by the judges. As you go for higher ranks, your score must be higher and higher. Ten would be a perfect score. We separate the points into three areas, called: Jing 精, Qi 气, and Shen 神.
By Jing, we mean how close the movements are to our standard of the form. By Qi, we mean how well the practitioner shows he or she can demonstrate the energy behind the movements. By Shen, we mean how well the practitioner shows the proper spirit. You can show standard movements, but make small mistakes that make the energy unusable. You can show the right energy, but do it with a spirit that shows you probably would not be able to make it work in real time.
It also works in the other direction. I was working with a student recently, having him practice a Rollback application on me. I could see that although he knew the correct movements and even knew what was necessary to use the energy, his gaze was wrong and therefore showed the wrong spirit. This scattered all his energy. As he applied the technique to me, he made my arm uncomfortable, but I did not have to move my feet and felt still in reasonable control. When I corrected his gaze, he sharpened his intent, focused his movements properly and swept me from my stance as he broke out into a surprised giggle and I looked ahead to make sure I would not smash into the nearby wall.
The judging system inherently puts more emphasis on standard movements, which is what allows level-one practitioners to pass with a 7 and only a minimal understanding of energy and spirit. Making no obvious mistakes in your movements, which is quite achievable for most people, would give you 6 points. As you progress to higher levels, making your movements standard becomes less and less sufficient to allow you to pass and it becomes more and more important to focus on energy and spirit. I think that a child younger than 8 years old would have great difficulty understanding even the most basic Tai Chi principles and that is probably why the age limit was set.
Take care,
Audi