tai chi and sai?

[dtstiachi]

Hey Everyone,

 

This is my first post. I am studying Tai Chi and I really enjoy it. I had studied weapons from a private instructor in town (nunchuku and bo). I really enjoyed the weapons. I want to try the Sai. As a Tai Chi practicioner, sai is not one of our weapons we train with. Can anyone give me a reason why I should or should not use the sai? Does it matter that it is not a traditional Chinese weapon? thank you for your help.

[ncole_91]

I don't know alot of Tai Chi and maybe it is traditional not to learn how to use a weapons that is not in the curriculum, but I mean, if you want to learn it, go for it. If I knew someone who could teach me to use the sai, would really excited. I don't think it matters if it is a traditional weapon or not.

 

So, I would say that you should go and learn it. Good luck with the decision process and the if you decide to learn the sai, good luck with the training.

[bouncing monkey]

There's no reason not to learn something that interests you, even if it isn't necessarily traditionally part of the system you study. From my (very) limited training in sai, I can tell you that your wrists will get quite a nice workout. Sais are quite fun, with a few techniques that can translate over to/from stick fighting. And as an added bonus you could be a ninja turtle for Halloween.

[dippedappe]

Welcome to you both bouncing monkey and dtstiachi.

 

I Had a friend ones who studied karate. He showed me a few things with the sai, and I fell in love with that weapon the moment I first held it in my hand.

 

Sure all the chinese weapons are nice, but theres just not a weapon that can match the Sai. I love it, I love it, I love it!

 

Learn it. You will not regret it.

[Myst]

Definatley go for sai. I started training with them when I was about 7 (I had to get the ones that were like six inches long ) and since then they've really helped me in my open-handed MA, because most of the techniques that are used with sai, can be used with openhand. Anyway, the point of the story is, go for it!

[monkeygirl]

I'm going to move this to the Weapons forum.

[aefibird]

I'd say to got for it!

and since then they've really helped me in my open-handed MA,

 

I found that too. Using Sai has also helped my wrist and forearm strength.

[soccerghost]

hey i am also interested in sai. how hard are they to learn?

[Kicks]

Does it matter that it is not a traditional Chinese weapon?

 

I take Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido. We do not use weapons in any of our TKD training and have limited use in our Hapkido. But my son and I were interested in learning both sai and bo. Since we don't have an instructor at our school to teach us as we would like, we are going it alone. We incorporate the weapons in our traditional forms (katas, poomse). Already knowing the application of the hand techniques helps with developing an understanding of how to use the weapon instead of the hand. An example of what I'm talking about can be seen in a video of me and my kids doing a traditional TKD form with and with out weapons:

 

http://www.livaudaisnet.com/mafit/videos/TaeGukOhJang.wmv

 

If you have to go it alone you may want to try incorporating the sai into your Tai Chi routine.

Edited January 26, 2005 by Kicks

[dtstiachi]

thanks for your help kicks