tai chi

[Jay]

tai chi is very effective in a fight but only if you have trained to do it fast you start of with slow movemnts when yuo begin

[Taiji Mistress]

tai chi is very effective in a fight but only if you have trained to do it fast you start of with slow movemnts when yuo begin

The taiji form is always performed slowly, this is how we test and correct our posture.

Speed is obtained by studying the applications and the practice and training of partnerwork.

It all takes a very long time

[giang_hu]

it is not so much the potential speed of tai chi that makes it deadly. tai chi is a soft, internal style. Tai chi uses similar if not the same principles of sensitivity that Wing Chun utilizes. Against a tai chi practitioner, you can fight fast or slow, it will not matter to him or her. He or she will always be relaxed and be sensitive to your every movement. A tai chi master will be able to uproot you regardless of his or her speed.

[beAns]

Tai chi is one of the 3 most famous styles wu dawn practice. All internal, but all internal in a different wasy. It's really hard to apply Tai chi in real combat, due to it's not practical enough just by the theory. Many times or almost all the time a person who learned Tai chi will also have the other 2 styles backing him/her up. If not the user of Tai chi may very well know another external style to complete a set of attack.

And...let's use the word timing instead of speed yay!

[giang_hu]

The reason why people find Tai Chi impractical is because, like many people who study a certain style, they do not trust it. If you trust your style, you will use it.

[raven91]

My Sifu is a fourth degree in Internal Arts (Tai Chi). It really is scary to see him sparring with my other Sifu (also a fourth degree). He has trained for many many years to master this art and to utilize it in a fighting form, and from what I saw, it was very effective.

Because he has mastered his breathing techniques so well (something that is underestimated by many people), his hits are extremely powerful. Although it sometimes seems as though he is slow and harmless, that really is far from the case.

[zigy]

Any teacher who tells you there are secrets is either lying or is covering up limited knowledge.

im sorry Taiji Mistress. i was informed that Taiji secrets thing on TV in China which suposed to be true.

the main reason is that the "Menpai"(refers to "Style") master dont want others who practice other style learn his own martial arts(maybe i didnt make it clear huh, my english is not good enough). so all you touched Taiji skill or the skills could be taught is not the fight style.

Taiji fight style cant be taught.

[White Warlock]

Well, that is simply hyperbole. It is not true. The Chinese government authorized the representation of tai chi, as a healthy exercise, and thus modified the more commonly practiced forms of it. There are no 'hidden' things, except to hide them from the Chinese government, but tai chi has had ample opportunity to maintain its original formats openly outside of China, and behind closed doors inside of China.

Mystical, magical, hidden, secret... nice hook words.

[Kajukenbopr]

I have used it but kind of by accident - a friend of mine wanted to see if I could defend myself and started throwing punches at me( playing) and I adopted this tai chi position- when he came close and almost hit me in the face I punched him on the chest- drove him back and barely did I feel like I was doing anything

[Kajukenbopr]

Well, that is simply hyperbole. It is not true. The Chinese government authorized the representation of tai chi, as a healthy exercise, and thus modified the more commonly practiced forms of it. There are no 'hidden' things, except to hide them from the Chinese government, but tai chi has had ample opportunity to maintain its original formats openly outside of China, and behind closed doors inside of China.

Mystical, magical, hidden, secret... nice hook words.

secrets- could be because it is not something you can learn quickly, but takes a long time, or, in a more frequent case scenario, its not something most people can describe.

of course, there are movements or techniques be it for meditation, fighting or prowess that are kept between school members and should not be shared with everyone.