Why?

[Xue Sheng]

I generally hate posts like I am about to post. But I have been doing WAY too much thinking lately about why I have studied what I use to, why I stopped and why I study Tai Chi and CMA now.

Which then goes to why do I continue to study Tai Chi and CMA? And am I staying with Tai Chi and CMA just because I have done it for so long.

So here goes.

Why do you train Tai Chi and or CMA?

 

[dmax999]

Tai Chi is the ultimate MA when it comes to skill making the better fighter. No other MA is skill such an important part of being good more then physical speed and strength.

In addition you can continue Tai Chi into old age and constantly get better, while almost any other MA you peak and get worse with age.

You don't see top martial artists in other styles past 60 very often, but Tai Chi and many CMAs it is quite frequent.

 

[pstarr]

I think that sometimes it's a matter of personality. Some people just seem to "click" better with certain martial disciplines than others. Maybe it's due to body structure, psychology, or whatever.
And not everyone is necessarily looking for the same thing in a martial art. I think that in order to really understand why you've chosen a particular martial art, you need to look into yourself.

I enjoy Chinese martial arts because of their richness;the vast amount of material contained within them. This isn't to say that other disciplines don't have the same thing. Certainly, the old forms of karate contain material that most people don't even suspect.

No matter how old I get (and believe me, I'm getting there...) there will always be more for me to learn. That's what I love.

I couldn't care less about trophies (I acquired trunkloads of 'em when I was younger), or being the best fighter, or having the prettiest uniform.

I love to learn. And if the day should ever come when I stop learning, it's time to hang up my belt and take up crocheting.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I started studying tai chi to add to my learning and to try to learn from the flow of the movement. I also wanted a different way of learning chi flow.
I studied CMA because of a few instuctors that i knew and know that had more knowledge of the martial arts than 97% of the other instructors i had met. I also love the forms and the challange they present to me

 

[Flying Crane]

I think there is just something very appealing to me, about the fluidity of Chinese martial arts. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I just really really like it.

 

[Jade Tigress]

I think there is just something very appealing to me, about the fluidity of Chinese martial arts. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I just really really like it.

I feel the same way. I can't put my finger on exactly why I love CMA so much but there is something about the fluidity to it. I just love it.

 

[Kensai]

I've trained in a variety of arts, both from a Chinese and Japanese background, I have a found a more informal approach to training in CMA, yes you pay your due respects, but you exchange ideas, talk, laugh, have fun, and experience enjoyment. I've found in my experience of JMA for example, that there's an awful lot of bowing, the training was done in near silence, there was no interpretation, very rigid. There was even one particular occassion when I accidentally trod on the corner of a mat with my training shoe, I got shouted at by the sensai, I tried to say "sorry it was an accid..." "DON'T ANSWER ME BACK!" was the response, all I could think was, "Christ, I'm nearly 30 FFS"...

 

[mantis]

simply because it's near my house... okay kidding.
because it beautifully balances the soft and the hard, external and internal. the systems are mostly complete. you learn what you need from defending against any weapon, to locks, good-looking moves, grappling and so on. the people who teach it are generally humble (judging from my experience at least) and down to earth.

kung fu movies are great, anything else sucks in my opinion. i dont enjoy movies that have other arts (with exceptions)

it's amazing how the use the way of animals in SD. i think it's great, fascinating.

besides if you live in a town like mine where everyone is chinese kung fu is what you want to do to fit in

 

[Unsung Hero]

Well, of course when I was first getting into martial arts, I just wanted to learn how to effectivley defend myself. So I started out doing Hapkido, that was fun for a little while, but it was really expensive, and there was just something about it I didn't really like....then I got into Jeet Kune Do (mainly because at the time I was really obsessed with Bruce Lee, and learned that there was a dojo that claimed to teach JKD about 45 minutes away from me), that was also fun for a bit, and I actually probably would have kept up with that if money and transportation hadn't been an issue then....so to make a long story short, I had to quit that. Then I learned of a guy who lived closer to me that claimed to teach Bagua, Xingyi, and Yiquan. So I did a little reaserch and decided "sure, why not?" And ever since my first day studying under him, I've never wanted to learn anything else but the Chinese martial arts. Like already said, I love how they manage to make a perfect balance of internal and external stuff and make it really effective in combat. I especially love the internal side, and the philosophies and stuff like that.

 

[MRE]

When I was 7 years old, I started training in CMA at a school where my uncle instructed. I started because I loved watching the kung fu movies that were always on Friday nights. However, when I started training, stretching, callistenics, doing forms as slow as I could possibly do them, then being asked to go even slower and slower, I thought to myself "this isn't what I watch on tv!". So, I was going to quit and join a hard style school so I could look like the guys on tv. However, I was talked out of it when my uncle told me "there are different potential curves for all styles. In hard styles, your skills improve quickly, plateau after a while, and diminish with age. In soft styles, your skills improve slowly for the rest of your life." Although I didn't know what he was talking about at the time, his talk got me to stick around for 3 years, after which I got involved in sports and other little boy stuff. Now, 23 years, later, I finally understand what he was talking about. My son, 4 years old, and I are enrolled in a chinese kempo karate school that combines hard and soft techniques and forms, a good compromise, I think, for a 4 year old with lots of energy. However, I am looking around for a taiji chuan school for myself, and hopefully my son when he is ready, because I do want to improve my skills for the rest of my life.