taiji fajin

If you train correctly, about 3 years. If it's taking you longer than that, you aren't training effeciently. My laoshi has pointed out this simple fact: Taiji was made as a martial art (ie, physical combat). Any martial art that takes 20 years to be useful would never have survived. I've seen people get very good in 3 years, and that's the (rough) estimate he gives as well. You should start to feel something in the first 5 months or so. If not, you could improve your training program (ie, what percent of your training is spent on what part of taiji).

Taiji can be a great martial art (along with many other benefits) you just have to approach it with the right mindset, and that mindset is not trying to figure out how you can use it to fight. As for the x% go to the ground, I dunno. If you watch real fights, 1 on 1, normally within the first punch or two it's over. The human body can't handle nearly the damage they make it seem like it can in movies. One or two head shots and lights out.

Honestly, go with Eagle Claw. I would love to tell you taiji, but it won't be what you want (an art that teaches you to become a great fighter) specifically because you want to be a great fighter. That very mindset will keep you from the higher levels of taiji, and so you will never acheive it. If you're learning taiji to learn taiji, it can teach you how to be a great fighter. If you're learning taiji to become a great fighter, you will never really learn taiji. Go with Eagle Claw and be happy.

Go with the Eagle Claw. Not because I think taiji is bad, in fact I think it's great, but from your tone in both of these threads it makes me think taiji is not for you (different people want different things, doesn't make one better or worse), and with your way of looking at things you would get more out of Eagle Claw.

There is one seminar tour every year, with many different stops along the way. You could in theory travel around wherever Kuk Sa Nim does and go to all of them, but most people only go to the one in their town, and maybe a couple others.

So you are planning on going? Just a heads up if you are, they are refining blue belt techniques this seminar (at least that's what they did around here). Proper placement, striking angles, etc, or maek chi gi maek cha gi. Proper attack / defense during drills that begin with a kick / punch combination. There were some really useful things in it. Oddly enough, though, some of their placements (or at least one that I really like) contradict things I've read in very good anatomy books on pressure points.

How many of my Kuk Sool brothers and sisters went? What did you guys think of it, and what did they work on at your school?

Dunno what my favorite part was, but it was a good movie. If you liked the way X-Men or Spiderman was done better, that's fine, but Batman should not be like those movies. The quick in and out, hiding in the shadows fighting, along with the general dark atmosphere, was the way a Batman movie should be done. Sorry to all those who enjoyed the neon, glow in the dark, nightmare of a comedy that were the last two Batman movies.

There are other postures, but if your goal is to get a good arm (or any) workout, you're not going to get much of anything out of meditation. Have a talk with your laoshi about the benefits and purpose of the different postures, and meditating in general.

Of course, most people think that what they do is "superior". If it wasn't, why would they do it? Taiji can be a great fighting art, and it can be a horrible one. So can BJJ. So can tons of things out there. It depends on the instructor and the student. I've been able to handle myself easily by using taiji against guys with all different backgrounds and skill levels. I also know people who have taken taiji for years and years and years and couldn't fight a white belt in another art. As people have said on this forum more times than can be counted, it depends on the person, not the art.

The more I train taiji, the more I see its effectiveness as a martial art (NOT to say it doesn't have oher things it helps). I recently visited another school (which practiced Kung Fu, Bagua, and apparently not enough Yang style), and when the instructor came at me, I had him easily handled and he jumped away and ran off, then talked about how he felt me setting him up for something, and how its better to get out of range if you can feel the person preparing to do something big to you. Honestly, I barely even was aware of what I was doing, just moved to hold my balance, and I never felt threatened by his energy.

$300 a month? Wow. I know my laoshi doesn't charge as much as he could, but I'm only paying $130 every 9 weeks. $300 a month is simply out of most people's financial ability. Ask around, that's a good way to find someone. But do a check on the person. There are a lot of imposters out there who claim they come from this or that lineage who actually don't.

This thread wasn't so much "are they effective," it was more, "How do you practice them?" Examples: We stand and face each other. We do them stationary, then move on to set moving patterns with them. We do them stationary, then move on to set moving patterns with them, then we do random moving patterns with them, then we freestyle with them. We practice locking out one joint, then once we are good enough at that, we practice getting the next, then the next, etc, until it is a whole body lock (ie, you do a wrist lock, and slowly learn how to lock and control their whole body with that wrist lock). How do you guys practice? It was also about, do you practice them to be used to break bones, or to control a person? And, do you train counters? Is the way you practice how you would use it? (NOT "yes, I will use a joint lock." That doesn't answer the question)

The instructor can't teach anyone or else he'll be killed? Guess this "fighting taiji" is going to no longer exist after this generation dies.

No problem. I was really confused when I first went to the website after they changed it. I like how it was before, where you didn't have to choose a region, but oh well.

Chicago??? That's far too far away. There's a Kuk Sool school in St. Paul, Minn. Its run by Steffen Kellogg. I can vouch for him, he'll be a great teacher. Its a small school, so you'll get lots of attention, and he'll make sure you know your material. His is not one of those schools where people slide by without really being able to do the work. The trip shouldn't be long, probably around 30 min away, roughly.

In my school, its not something we test, but its something people practice by themselves. Its something you need to know, but we train it on one side for simpification, and due to lack of time (god would I love to increase minimum years to get black belt to 8 years).

What's with the large font? I haven't used taiji in "a real fight," mainly because I haven't been in a real fight since I started taking it (luckily). Would I use it? Yes. If not, does taiji still give me tons of other benefits? More emphatic yes.

Taiji forms can be modified to deal with most health problems. You have to keep in mind that if you have really begun to understand taiji, "any movement can be a taiji movement".

Nature vs. Nurture is wrong. Its Nature and Nurture. Both contribute. The degree is going to vary depending on how overpowering each is, but both will have an effect. Short answer? It depends on each person which it is. Yes, I know that's not a nice, simple answer, but that's life. People often want to be able to put things into easy categories (and to some degree they can be), but the truth is more often than not things are going to depend on their own situation, and can't just be answered by saying "Nature" or whatever answer.

Weapons that I've done so far (more to learn later): Kuk Sool - jool bohng (nunchaku), short staff, staff, long staff, knife, throwing knives, and sword. Taijiquan - broadsword (well, in a few weeks or so I will have started )

Got my B.S. this month. Going to switch gears entirely, and actually start doing some research in motor control / development with taiji to earn a masters (and if I like it enough, stay to get a doctorate).

I yell "yo-ha-sa-sa-sha!" and then boot them in the head. Its part of my Tae-Kwon-Leap training. Either that, or I just let out some air. If anything it sounds more deep and like a grunt than a yell.

its where they store all the chi they've built up over the years

Parents can be far worse than the students. I agree with the other people that you need to separate the parents, and / or sternly tell them they cannot interact with the class (except to clap, or yell mutually encouraging things, such as "keep it up guys" or "good work you two").