How deadly is tai chi???

[Taiji Mistress]

do Tai Chi/Taiji people spar and why is it so slow when you practice?

You betcha!!

Push hands is used for sparring. It is the best way to pinpoint innacuracies in your Taiji stance and remedy them. At high level, there is nothing slow about push hands. I love this aspect of training. I mostly train push hands freestyle and quite often both people are blindfolded.

We practice slow to excecute at very high speed when necessary. By practicing slowly, we test the correct alignment of our bodies at a very minute level. Every nanosecond we are moving and attuning our bodies to the correct position, that way, in combat, we are always rooted and balanced and can launch from anywhere and are never off balance.

Try doing pressups very very slowly and you get the idea!!

[Kajukenbopr]

Tai Chi is really good for self defense.

of course, only if you know how to use it for combat will it be effective, while most schools of tai chi teach only the movements and the art, not how to fight.

If tai chi taught how to fight, we would all have heard about them in fights. But that is not the point of tai chi. Tai chi is taught to grow and develop a balance of chi in the body . It teaches to heal instead of how to hurt.

It does however, turn into a devastating art when it is taught as a fighting art. I've read and seen the results of this type of training and it is truly amazing.

[Anakin_Skywalker]

I have no doubt in my mind that I'll be learning real tai chi. I have booked a 2 yr course to the famous chen village in october.

All I wanted to know was how tai chi would fair against a commando or military martial art.

[Infrazael]

Tai Chi like I said is deadly and brutal. I've experienced just a small amount, and I don't think I want to any more than that.

[Anakin_Skywalker]

I hope your right. I hear tai chi uses something called "Dim Mak" which is something like acupuncture. Is it effective? is there any scientific proof or evidence that it can work?

[Infrazael]

Not all the time. I'm not a big expert on Tai Chi, but they do learn how to fight, and it's not just "dim mak" death touch.

It's an internal martial art, whereas external ones such as my Choy Lay Fut and Hung Gar can be compared to a Wrecking Ball or Bulldozer, Tai Chi is more like a "wave" in its terms of attack and energy.

[Goju_boi]

I read about a tai chi demonstartion once that the instructors assistant had to wear a motorcycle helmet to stay safe from what he did to him

[elbows_and_knees]

considering the length of time it takes to become proficient to a decent level in taiji, I'm willing to bet that 2 years won't be enough.

[ovine king]

that has always been one my complaints with how tai chi is taught.

in a typical class, too much time is spent of doing forms. In nearly all other styles, actually doing the forms is kept to a minimum in class, instead it being something for you to do in your own time. Class time is better spent practicing with other people drills and exercises but I hardly ever see this in tai chi. It's a shame. Sure, i know that correct form is very important but then again, as a martial art, so is the fighting aspect. It doesn't make sense to me to devote more time to only one aspect and ignore another.

Two years is more than enough, if the training is right. Unfortunately, more often than not, it isn't.

[Kajukenbopr]

that has always been one my complaints with how tai chi is taught.

in a typical class, too much time is spent of doing forms. In nearly all other styles, actually doing the forms is kept to a minimum in class, instead it being something for you to do in your own time. Class time is better spent practicing with other people drills and exercises but I hardly ever see this in tai chi. It's a shame. Sure, i know that correct form is very important but then again, as a martial art, so is the fighting aspect. It doesn't make sense to me to devote more time to only one aspect and ignore another.

Two years is more than enough, if the training is right. Unfortunately, more often than not, it isn't.

sadly, you are mistaken. Tai chi doesnt do all those forms to improve stance and correct posture. By learning the movements, you learn to move your body the same as your mind.

When you reach a level where you practice fighting in Tai Chi- your controlled movements and overall senses will make you be able to stay ahead in a fight.

After you master the art, the fighting comes naturally