Medway Tai Chi Society

Sorry, I would have thought it was fairly obvious that I was just sharing some clips of the training that my guys do, in order to maybe start a discussion, or exchange of clips between members. I apologise if the meaning of this was not clear to you.

Here are some clips of a couple of my new students training in their second lesson last month. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIFRaT6FnmU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCh-GsaZm8E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGPyYDLno9w

Thanks for the welcome guys

Qi is simply an expression for energy. Not some mystical energy or anything like that. Simply the energy we get from eating food, from sleeping, from breathing... If someone is said to have "weak qi", it simply means that they have low energy levels. This can come from poor diet, lack of sleep, lack of exercise etc etc... If someone has "strong qi", they are in good health, "full of beans" as it were. They eat well, get enough sleep, keep healthy etc etc. In terms of martial art: Qi, as I say, is simply energy. Being fit and healthy, in good condition. 'Qi' is not directly used to fight an opponent. Your "energy" has to expressed in a certain way, and we call this "Jin" (not "jing", as this is 'essence', most commonly sperm in Daoist Alchemy practices). There are, obviously, different kinds of Jin (refined power) that produce different effects. IMO, none on these effects include 'no-touch' - unless you count psycological factoring, intimidating the opponent etc... In terms of Dian Xue (dim mak): Contrary to popular belief, this term does NOT mean "death touch". Dian Xue roughly translates to 'cavity press', and refers to precision striking techniques, whereby a practitioner attacks the vital spots of the body, such as the temples, the nerves on the neck, the kidneys etc.. Some points from TCM are also included, although I have no experience regarding this, and have only anecdotal evidence that suggests these points are indeed valid, in terms of causing major damage to an opponent.

I disagree. Yang Luchan was considered a great fighter because he accepted challenges to fight, and by all accounts, never lost a match. He didn't "use the form" on them. The idea of "using the form" on someone means you are instantly inviting defeat. The form is a set sequence of movements that should be used as a form of neigong, as a method of training basic principles of practice, as a method of training the 13 principles, and as a catalogue of example fighting techniques of the particular style of Tai Chi. The ultimate goal is formlessness. Every movement should become martial through being powered by the 13 principles.

Hi all, new member signing in. I've practiced various martial arts since 1993, starting off in Karate and gaining Dan grades there, as well as in Taekwondo and Jujutsu. For the past 7 years I've been studying Yang style Tai Chi. Two years ago I was granted permission to teach by my third teacher, and have since set up the Medway Tai Chi Society, a non-profit training resource for anyone interested in Tai Chi practice. Our website hosts articles and tutorial videos which are all free to access. I'm looking forward to joining in some good discussions here.