tai chi

Every fall a new student asks me the same question in different words: which sword should I buy. After years of answering it one person at a time, here is the whole answer in one place. Five numbers decide whether a tai chi jian works. The tassel, the scabbard wood, the fittings, all of that is...

A beginner question I hear every season: should my first jian be stiff or flexible. The honest answer is that flex is neither good nor bad. It is a job description. The trouble is that sellers use the same words for three very different swords, so let me sort them out, then give you a ten second...

A new jian showed up at my door last week, and before I even cut the tape on the box I caught myself doing what I always do: no scale, no ruler, just hands. Most buyers are in the same spot. The sword arrives, the spec sheet is buried in an email somewhere, and the kitchen scale tops out at a...

The question I get most often from new students is what length jian to buy, so here is the chart most schools use, plus the old way to check without a chart. 5 foot 0 and under takes a 26 inch blade. 5 foot 1 to 5 foot 6 takes a 28 inch. 5 foot 7 to 5 foot 11 takes a 30 inch. 6 foot and up...

I thought I'd share an article I wrote in around 2014, regarding footwork in Taijiquan, and how it might relate to the 5 elements creative/destructive cycle.

Hi, I am a PhD researcher at Griffith University and currently studying continuous contact interactions in martial arts disciplines such as wrestling, judo, jujitsu, MMA, Wing Chun, and Tai Chi. We are seeking experienced martial arts practitioners and coaches to participate in this research...

I’m a boxer and I’m interested in tai chi for cross-training purposes—combining an external art with an internal one to better understand power generation and body mechanics. However, I’ve read that tai chi takes a long time to learn and I only have a year to study with an instructor. Would this...

I'm a 39-year-old man who is in a wheelchair. I recently discovered Tai Chi as a form to help me with life in a wheelchair. I've also recently become a freelance writer, and I wrote an article about Tai Chi. I would love some feedback on the article and if I missed anything. THE HEALTH BENEFITS...

Laura Bonthuis is my girlfriend and a Dutch martial arts practitioner. Besides martial arts she was a very good Badminton player and won many tournaments and titles. She practised full contact kickboxing under a famous Dutch teacher Wim Scharrenberg ( brother of Koen Scharrenberg a Kyokushinkai...

Hello my name is Kim Bergen I live in the Netherlands and i study BJJ (still a white belt) and i practise Tai Chi with my best girlfriend Laura Bonthuis from Apeldoorn. I am.just a beginner but Laura is truly amazing at Tai Chi will post a link of her later so you the "martial arts experts" can...

How to understand qi in taijiquan, an introduction, and 6 harmonies.

Video for beginners to have a sense of peng jin.

Yang 8 movement form for beginners and elderly, split screen to make it easy to follow...

Hello everyone. I am interested in starting a martial arts class. What I am mostly interested in is learning about discipline, self control, defence, but at the same time some physical movement as well. (I’m not so much into the hitting and fighting) After research I concluded that Tai chi and...

Hello everyone! I’ve been practicing traditional Yang Taiji for about 15 years. Early in my training, I practiced form and push hands equally; then moved cities and took a break from partner practice, continuing forms practice on my own. Recently, I’ve gotten a group together to explore and...

This is one option for training, if you are near Wallingford, CT. Youtube: Facebook: 3 Element Martial Arts Email: 3elementmartialarts@gmail.com

Not sure whether to post this in beginner's section or the Chinese MA section, so I hope it is okay here. I took a Tai Chi class when I was in university, and have wanted to get back into it ever since. I was particularly intrigued with the teaching style of my second teacher. He would tell us...

Greetings fellow martial arts practitioners and Enthusiasts.........any South African Baguazhang practitioners or fans here??? i see very little on Bagua in this forum

This is a video to share some fa jin play – There is no particular technique being practiced, just the expression of hard jin (energy) into various parts in the body (begins about 1/2 through). I don't show any leg fa jin in this video, but that can be practiced in the same way. This kind of...

Hi everybody. Join our Yiqua/Dachengquan school. Yiquan/Dachengquan is an inner wushu style derived from Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Luhebafa. Yiquan, “Yi” meaning Intent, “Quan” meaning to grasp that which has been scattered. Yiquan (Mind Boxing) Dachengquan (Great Achievement Shadow Boxing), is...

Hello Martial Talk Forums! I am a 12 year Taiji Player; started in 2003 with Yang -> Competition Forms -> Sun -> Wu -> Chen. I was a regular in the tournament circuit around Southern California between 2004 and 2008. I taught for over a year in Los Angeles out of my Karate coach's school around...