ATACX GYM
2nd Black Belt
As others have said, for some this may be the ideal art, while someone else, maybe not. I glanced at the thread FC mentioned. Its a long one, so I didn't read every post, but as he said, he posted some good info about the art. When I have a bit more time, I'll read thru it more in-depth.I guess for me, and I'll go back to my TKD ref. I made....but when all you see is A, its hard to convince people there's a B, C and D in the art as well. This art is rare in my area, so all I have to go on is video, FWIW.
In most cases I agree with you, MJS. But I would very much caution against conflating a whole art with the way that you perceive various practitioners practicing that art. Tai Chi, for example, isn't known for producing ,monster modern day combatants...despite its storied history of doing exactly that in China's past. I know a pretty decent number of Tai Chi techs and practice them, and I have every confidence that I can do and shall continue to whomp copious gluteus with them. I can say with dead certainty that anyone on this site who's confident with a palm strike, a push, a trip, arm drag, limb whips and manipulations, is also doing things that Tai Chi is far famed for. They just practice it differently, train it differently, express it differently...but a palm strike is a palm strike. And having a 5th dan in TKD? I can say without a doubt that I've cracked maaany a person with the kicks that I was trained to use and got very satisfactory results from it, thanks. Lol.