Why Tai Chi ?

[Skankatron Ltd]

Although I originally got interested in Tai Chi as a spiritual thing (since i actualy didn't even KNOW about the martial applications), I now evenly distribute my interest. Well......I might be slightly more martially inclined. But! I am a firm beleiver in the yin yang aspect to martial arts. I beleive that martial application must be counterbalanced by health application. I'm thinking of getting a book on pressure points, mostly for healing, but also for defense.

 

[Mr_Scissors]

I'm studying the Wu Hao/Yuxian form. Mostly for the martial applications, which are quite brutal I might add. %-}

However, I find that it's almost impossible for me to separate the energy & health aspects from the martial aspect because if you're doing the fighting parts properly it means you're also using your energy properly, which will, in turn, create tremendous health benefits.

I'm primarily into JKD and Jiu-Jitsu and I must say that form day 1 I have noticed an improvement in my other arts, and I attribute that to the Taiji practice.

My JKD group had already incorporated many of the push-hands movements into our regular chi-sao practice, so as soon as I began on the push-hands I realized that I was already familiar with many of the techniques.

The similarities (as well as differences) between Taiji and Wing Chun have helped me improve in both arts.

 

[7starmantis]

Very true, it seems taiji tends to help many other arts and fighting.

7sm

 

[Shadowdh]

I study taiji as a martial art that gives me balance physically, mentally and spiritually/emotionally... I was very lucky to find bona fide teachers who teach it as intended and not as just an arm waving exercise...

 

[agatanai atsilahu]

Tai Chi Chuan is an invaluable asset as a supplement to any fighting style as well as a viable stand alone system. Its push hands concepts of yeilding, adherence, softness, spontaneity, and rejection of brute force, are excellent methods for developing a greater awareness. It really aids in the understanding of other systems as well. For example 7 star mantis has very similar concepts with adherence and yeilding to gain attack advantage. The underlying goal is to be able to feel the attack before it occurs. The reasoning behind this is that if you can strike as your opponent is "thinking " attack, just at that moment before he initiates, it will quite difficult for your opponent to defend. This is due to the fact that his/her mind and/spirit(intent or will) is so presently focused on attack, the thought transferral to defense will be too late to stop your attack, at least in theory, and Ive seen it in practice. most of these styles are lost in the west due to the impatience of students who want all the skills right now. The stance training, and relentless basics, and breathing exercises of this system are either discounted as false or mystical, or given up on by students because of the length of time it takes to grasp them. Still for those who earnestly seek martial studies this type of training is quite useful if not necessary for a survival minded fighter.

 

[kenpochad]

i started tai chi just as a worm up before my kenpo class ,
and becouse of it my kenpo has come alot farther i cant
really put my finger on why ?
what do you think ?

 

[pete]

kenpochad,

could be you've simply rounded some corners making your kenpo more fluid, or begun to develop a mind-body connection becoming more aware of the source and direction of the energy behind your movements.

or, maybe you've improved your balance by recognizing the counter-resistance and complimentary opposites (yin/yang).

or maybe you've just slowed down your kenpo to better understand what your intent and eliminate the fast sloppy stuff... or actually regulate your breath to improve endurance.

basic tai chi will help with all of these, and eventually more tai chi practice will help you to improve your sensitivity for contact manipulation and grappling.

keep with it~

pete

 

[eyebeams]

I practice Yang Style as a martial art. This involves progressive push hands practice and developing form by learning the applications of each movement.

Over time I've come to the opinion that Taiji actually assumes a pretty aggressive, straight-line strategy. My school emphasizes a firm pun arm and stepping to progressively enter the opponent's space. Taiji shuai also resembles the kind of techniques you find in wrestling and judo. For instance, Cloud Hands works well as a semi-sprawl over/under counter to a takedown.

What seems to be missing in many people's application is aggressive movement. Many other softer arts prefer to evade, then enter, but Taiji tries to minimize this as much as possible, leading to what you might call "sophisticated crashing" as a strategy. Otherwise, it's important to learn to fill nonresistant areas with force *as well as* going with the opponent's force. Artful redirection is one thing, but when it comes up, you have to pound an opening hard.

 

[CrushingFist]

I want to and when I start taichichuan it would be for both aspects or all taichichuan can provide me not just 1 . but its hard to find a good teacher

 

[pete]

rob, check your private messages...pete.

 

[mrhnau]

I'm personally suprised at some of the results. I was wondering about the possible bias on this board, since its called MARTIALtalk. As a whole, with the groups you train with, do you see ~75% of participants interested in the martial aspects of Tai Chi? Do you think age has a large factor in determining the interest in Tai Chi? For instance, do the younger tend to focus on the martial aspect? Or would it be the opposite? Would older people be more interested in the martial aspect, since they might not be capable in participating in a more physically aggresive martial art (physical problems, ect) ? What do you think?

 

[pete]

mrhnau, from your profile i see that you are an aikido practioner. would you question the results if the poll was taken in your art and had similar results?

pete

 

[Marvin]

I've never trained in Tai chi, I've always thought it was cool. What I was wondering is how do th slow movements translate into self defense?
Marvin

 

[Dronak]

Obviously you can't fight in the same slow way you practice. As I understand it, the slow motion is primarily a learning tool which makes it easier for the teacher to see and correct any mistakes the student is making. You have to speed them up for real fighting applications. I bought a video that does have some demonstrations of fighting applications of some moves. I can't point you to any application video clips on the web off hand, but you may be able to search some out or get pointers from others if you're interested in seeing some. I also have books describing various applications of moves, so the moves to translate to defense, but I think you need to be taught (properly) how to make this sort of translation.

 

[mantis]

I'm interested in how many people here, who study tai chi, do so for the martial or fighting aspect of it, and how many simply for its health benefits. Obviously, many do it for both, but I'm interested in the main reason you practice this system.

7sm

to balance the yin and the yang in me

 

[Jelik]

I must say, I considered Tai Chi a bit more on the "health" side that the "fight" side... then I had a full contact match with one.

Ow.

 

[TheBattousai]

I do Tsung Shi Tai Chi Chuan as an aid to my main martial art of kempo, but I also study the health aspect of it. I find that with my Tai Chi, I feel that I'm adding to the fluidity of my training and feel more full of energy. But it cannot be denied the health aspects are tremendous, but I would personaly like more martial art focus on it just so people can see the added potential.