Tai Chi

[shotokanbeginner]

I am thinking of trying out tai chi some time soon and wanted to know what I should look for in tai chi. I also want to know how to avoid a bad sifu, and what styles are more affective. Not only that but why do people think of tai chi as an old person art?

thanks for any help

[nanfeishen]

Firtstly , what are you wanting to get out of your Tai Chi?, do you want to do it for health reasons?, or as a second martial art?.

If you are young and strong ,Chen style if it is available , Yang and Wu are very good seconds, Sun and Hao i cant comment on for lack of knowledge.

A good school will offer forms, push hands and qigong, there should be a decent physical workout with a lot of time spent on basics for beginners and push hands should be offered from a very early stage in training, i always doubt when i am told push hands is only offered at senior levels after "x" amount of years training. If you find a teacher who spends a lot of time on push hands and partner work , but not constantly, i would say you have found a good instructor for Tai Chi.

Unfortunately most articles or documentaries only ever show elderly or old people taking part in Tai Chi in China, so this thought has filtered down into the minds of people as being an "old" persons art.

As an instructor , i have a student range from 16 to 80 and they ALL do the same physicals , unless prohibited by injury or illness.

[lordtariel]

As nanfeishen says, it depends on what you want out of it. Watch the instructor go through some of his forms. Is he overextending? Is he rigid or flowing? Is his center going way up and way down? Is he ballanced? Does he focus on health, martial arts, philosophy, or is he just teaching people to wave there arms and look for that "cosmic vibe" None of these are bad, it just makes sense to find an instructor that spends most of the time on your focus. Just like choosing any dojo or instructor, some rules apply. If he says he teaches an unrecorded secret art handed down from 2000 of Chinese history to a handfull of disciples... you're probably better off finding someone else. Find out what style he teaches and find some clips of people doing those forms. They won't be the same, but it will give you an idea what it should look like. Get some information about the style and ask the instructor about it. A good instructor will know at least a little history of the art he teaches. Ask how long he's been studing. How long he's been teaching. I study Yang family tai chi and have found plenty of martial application to keep me busy between open handed forms, weapon forms, push hands and silk reeling. Tai Chi is a very effective and powerful martial art if you can find someone who can teach it properly. Enjoy it.

[shotokanbeginner]

Firtstly , what are you wanting to get out of your Tai Chi?, do you want to do it for health reasons?, or as a second martial art?.

If you are young and strong ,Chen style if it is available , Yang and Wu are very good seconds, Sun and Hao i cant comment on for lack of knowledge.

A good school will offer forms, push hands and qigong, there should be a decent physical workout with a lot of time spent on basics for beginners and push hands should be offered from a very early stage in training, i always doubt when i am told push hands is only offered at senior levels after "x" amount of years training. If you find a teacher who spends a lot of time on push hands and partner work , but not constantly, i would say you have found a good instructor for Tai Chi.

Unfortunately most articles or documentaries only ever show elderly or old people taking part in Tai Chi in China, so this thought has filtered down into the minds of people as being an "old" persons art.

As an instructor , i have a student range from 16 to 80 and they ALL do the same physicals , unless prohibited by injury or illness.

Your comment is much appreciated, and I think will come in very handy.

thanks

[Gaoguy]

Truly the most important thing you need to learn is the shen fa (body method). This si very specific to the CIMA. Applications are great but if they are performed without intenal strength and whole body power it's just external.