Wudang Style Tai Chi Chuan

[Dazed and Confused]

As you may have seen elsewhere on these boards I'm about to return to martial arts training and having listened to advice elsewhere on this forum I think I'm going to take up boxing, thai boxing or shotokan. I would however like to combine this with something a little deeper that I can still be doing in 60 years time, and have just spotted this.

"Classes in Wudang Style Tai Chi Chuan, Push Hands, Weapons Forms, Chi Kung & Sun Style Arthritis Form. The Classes are open to all abilities and ages. Student of Master Kew Yuan Wong"

I always thought Tai Chai was a sort of meditative exercise with no combat relevance, so if anyone could explain what this is offering I would be very grateful.

Cheers,

D+C

[elbows_and_knees]

taiji has plenty of combat relevance - it's a fighting system. However, these days it's touted mostly for its healing side, and there aren't a lot of people teaching its combat side. Heck, there are many who don't even know its combat side.

that said, if you are looking to become proficient in fighting quickly, I would still take boxing or muay thai in addition to taiji, as you originally intended.

[Karateka_latino]

I'm agree with elbows&knees.

[bushido_man96]

I have heard of Combat Tai Chi, but have not seen much of it. If you have actually found someone who teaches it, it could be a great opportunity to learn something not many get the chance to experience. That said, check it out, and ask questions.

[mantis.style]

Combat Tai Chi SHOULD NOT be different to "regular" Tai Chi. Apart from the different schools and their sligthly different methodolgies, ALL Tai Chi is about fighting and if where-ever you go to doesn't reflect this, then I say walk away politely. Tai Chi is Tai Chi. The style itself consists of very exact and rigorous movements that have to obey a very strict set of, let's just call them rules. Because of this adherance to a set of rules that deal with everything from breathing to body structure to dealing with force, you can't really properly train in Tai Chi if your practice doesn't deal with all aspects, especially the last part i.e dealing with force. If you don't practice Tai Chi in it's entirety then, because you aren't following all of the rules, you aren't really doing Tai Chi. What you are doing instead, is practicing a routine of movements that mean next to nothing.

Now going back to the original post. I don't often see schools that teach actual Wudang Tai Chi and if it is legitimate, then it is going to be a good place to start. By that little bit of stating the obvious, I mean that Wudang is one of the earliest forms of Tai Chi out there and it is much closer to the older long fist styles compared to the others. This often means that they teach it in a more classical fighting way as well and would offer a good parallel study to something more modern and more upright like Sun style Tai Chi. Not sure about the arthritis tag in that school you talk about though.

[HG]

I always thought Tai Chai was a sort of meditative exercise with no combat relevance, so if anyone could explain what this is offering I would be very grateful.

Cheers,

D+C

You best way to find out is to try out a class. What you should expect is a calm atmoshpere, usually and older crowd. The emphasis would be on the proper execution of the forms - movements will coordinate with your breathing. Which will be done very slowly. Push Hands is a partner exercise that develops sensitivity to an incoming force.

If you are lucky enough to have found a Tai Chi teacher that knows the martial aspect of the art, then you'll have additional trainings to make the movements more applicable to fighting/self defense.

There's far more to Tai Chi than my explanation. Again, your best bet is to go try out a class.

[lordtariel]

Tai chi is quite effective as a method of defense if you know what you're doing. Sadly, it is practiced nowdays more as a method of health and wellness rather than a martial art. The books by Yang, Jwing Ming provide excellent instruction on some of the martial applications of tai chi. Be advised that tai chi in combination with some hard styles can cause some difficulties and confusion as movement is obviously different.

[Dazed and Confused]

Be advised that tai chi in combination with some hard styles can cause some difficulties and confusion as movement is obviously different.

Oh right, I has wondered about this. I am keen to cross train, is there anything that particularly clashes with/compliments Tai Chi? That said I am struggling greatly to actually contact the school I quoted above, so this may all be academic.

[lordtariel]

Well, I found the transition from Tai Chi to Karate to be a little difficult to begin with since the weight distribution in the stances were different. Tai chi is also very circular and focuses on redirecting an opponent while Karate tends to be far more linear and direct. It did wonders for my Judo though. It really works your ballance, flexibility and rootedness.(Is that even a word? Oh well. ) I would say that soft styles like Judo and Aikido meld more easily than hard styles like TKD and Karate. I'm not saying it's incompatible with hard styles, but there's definitly some differences there.

[Dazed and Confused]

Well I finally tracked down the instructor. He told me that although he himself practices Tai Chi Chuan as a fighting art there is no market for this, and as such all his classes are taught for therapeutic benefit with the application of techniques not being discussed. He has also told me that he doesn't think I'll find anywhere that will do in the area which is a shame.