Tai Chi, Often Not Seen As A Martial Art???

[nanfeishen]

Why is it that Tai Chi Chuan is often not seen as a Martial Art in the Western World? There are often articles or stories in magazines and periodicals, that describe all the wonderful health benefits of practicing Tai Chi Chuan ,yet read through many of them , and there is no mention of it being a Martial Art, there are schools that teach Tai Chi Chuan, and yet only from a health aspect. How did this thought emerge, that it is only for health, or focusses primarily on health with a few self defence aspects thrown in? I have trained in China on a number of occasions with some very good instructors, and in many parts of China, Tai Chi Chuan is often viewed as the pinnacle of Martial Arts training, so howcome this view has become so distorted in the West??????

[Muaythaiboxer]

because no one has seen tai chi ever used in any martial conflict with any success in the USA no MMA no K-1 no sparing champs.

[MenteReligieuse]

because no one has seen tai chi ever used in any martial conflict with any success in the USA no MMA no K-1 no sparing champs.

that would make it a sport, not a ma.

[Triddle]

First, please realise that i am NOT trying to bag out westerners in this post. and it is a VERY big generalisation

Because westerners dont understand it, or how it could be used as self defence. That is of course, a generalisation. remember though, that most of the old western martial arts were simply hitting someone with a large weapon, or stopping yourself from being hit with a large chunk of metal, or your own large weapon as best you could, all while wearing a nice, big, heavy, suit to make the smashing with the large weapon hurt less, with little training, except being told things like to hit the head at an angle with a broadsword (of course abit more complex than this, but what im getting at, is that they are VERY simple fighting systems). And that is still kinda the way alot of of westerners think, combat means smashing, so something graceful, or practiced slowly, clearly isnt combat (in many minds). Hell, alot of westerners think that no martial art is combat effective and only works in the movies, let alone arts like Tai Chi, and then, most of the westerners who would want to do something graceful and peaceful, well, their generally not combat type people so all they want is the health benifits, and maybe a little bit of self defence that they will never train to the point where they can use it under pressure anyway.

Also im not saying that Western martial arts were bad or ineffective, just that they were very different to things like Tai Chi, more simple, but still effective for what they were used for.

Soooo... basically, alot of Westerners have a very limited understanding of combat, or at least, the approach to combat that Tai Chi takes. I know the combat means smash thing i was talking about is way too over-simplified, but basically what im getting at is the lack of apprechiation for the Tai Chi style of aproach to combat.

Im a westerner myself, and personally i dont think like this, as i know alot of westerners dont, but alot do, particually the MEDIA and the MEDIA creates those storys in the magesines and stuff that nanfeishen mentioned and puts views into thousands of peoples minds, which is fair enough people need to get information somehow, but it means we get alot of biased views jammed down our throats

Anyway, just my opinion on the matter, probably not a very well formulated one, ive never thought about this until just now, lol, hope i contributed constructively, and dont cause too much flaming

[taiji fajin]

First let me say that there is no "Taiji for health" or "Taiji for self defense". There is just Taiji, and if you practice it correctly, you'll get both, and more.

Taiji is seen as for health because, to someone who doesn't really understand it, it seems like a "mystical" way to get good health, washing the organs with qi and the like. Health from other martial arts just seems like a workout type of health. "Yes yes, I workout I get in better shape and am healthier." People have seen it (and usually ignore it). They don't care. People like mystical stuff. "Oooooo, it uses QI!"

Taiji is not seen as a martial art by many in part because of all the bad teachers out there who teach it as if it's just for health. Besides those people, anyone who doesn't really know anything about taiji have trouble seeing the martial aspect of it. It's easier to see how someone who punches really hard and yells is doing martial arts than someone who is calmly doing wave hands through clouds.

On a similar note, the high level person who screams and punches really hard is more likely to enter into a "fighting" competition. The high level taiji person is less likely to enter into a fighting competition.

[Menjo]

I have to say all the posts above are exactly what iam thinking about the subject...

[ovine king]

The simple answer to this is that Tai Chi isn't seen as fighting art is because there are too many people in robes and with long moustaches teaching it as a slow dance.

[cheeks]

the problem is that loads of old people and new age hippies take it for its healing benefit

very few people get to see or take part in a class that has martial application

[stonecrusher69]

I have a lot of respect for tai chi.It was a great art,but it's a lost art or almost lost now.I never met anyone who could really fight with it,and I've try to find some.I gone to many school but I was always disapointed.Some of them can do push hands very well but that 's not fighting.Some realize their tai chi is usless and try to incorpate things like western boxing to cover-up there poor tai chi.

[nanfeishen]

Thanks to all of you who have answered this query so far ,your answers certainly came from a range of different directions, but i see now that the answer to my question seems to be a combination of :

1) A total lack of understanding of the practical value of Tai Chi Chuan,

2) Bad press, as in it tends to be linked a little to closely to new age thought processes and the mystical.---- (Oooooo, it uses QI) lol

and finally to some unscrupulous teachers, who as stated, (have robes and long moustaches), and who have no intention of teaching the actual art, simply a watered down version.

Although it is comforting to know there is still a strong core of schools out there doing the real thing and teaching Tai Chi Chuan traditionally.

p.s. Ovine King, you forgot to mention having the Yin Yang and Bagua symbols stamped on the robes. ...he.he.he!

thanks to all, now i am off to buy some razor blades.