Tai Chi--usefull for self defense..?

[dtstiachi]

But back to the topic, it is commonly heard that yes, tai chi is good for self defence if you have 20 years and fight mostly other tai chi guys. If not, my advice is to go cqc!

I'm goingto respectfully disagree Ted T. If you have been trained from a good teacher, you can start using some of the basic aspects of the form for combat soon after you learn them. As far as mastery goes, that can take many years to a lifetime to learn. As far as them fighting other Tai Chi guys, If one has learned Tai Chi well it can be used to successfully defend one against any martial art effectively. Usually the one with the most skill and who is having the better day will come out on top. I hope I never have to use Tai Chi in self defence but if I did, I am confident that I could hold my own with a person of the same skill level from any of the other martial arts.

[The Hammer]

Well said!

[dingyuan]

But back to the topic, it is commonly heard that yes, tai chi is good for self defence if you have 20 years and fight mostly other tai chi guys. If not, my advice is to go cqc!

I'm goingto respectfully disagree Ted T. If you have been trained from a good teacher, you can start using some of the basic aspects of the form for combat soon after you learn them. As far as mastery goes, that can take many years to a lifetime to learn. As far as them fighting other Tai Chi guys, If one has learned Tai Chi well it can be used to successfully defend one against any martial art effectively. Usually the one with the most skill and who is having the better day will come out on top. I hope I never have to use Tai Chi in self defence but if I did, I am confident that I could hold my own with a person of the same skill level from any of the other martial arts.

Glad to hear it, I respect Tai Chi very much especially Chen style Tai Chi.

[nanfeishen]

Old Rookie, Yes, Tai Chi has a lot of merit as a martial art, but like all the arts, its what you put in that dictates what you get out. Yes there are also some schools that only look at Tai Chi from the health aspect, but that is just another view point. Yes, beginners do tend to work slowly at first, in Yang style,( i havent dabbled much in the other styles), students will start off with basic stepping, adding the various postures to the stepping routine through the weeks and months ahead, this develops balance, leg strength, timing and posture, this could go on for up to 6 months. The student would then go on to the basic form work, for me it was 24 step form, which was a years worth of training at three times per week, (my teacher was a perfectionist), this included the practical applications of the movements, and an introduction to basic push hands etc etc. Some schools would offer maybe 42 step competition form, then move to the traditional long form or 88 step form, then broadsword, then straight sword, not always in that order, but more or less. The routine naturally differs from school to school, but push hands partner work is a big part of the training, moving from single hand to both hands, to stepping with applications, to basic sparring to free sparring. At a higher level, the swords are often practiced faster then the hand forms to promote nimbleness of stepping and speed.

"Mind is blank,Emotions at rest, body responds" On another level, it is about achieving balance of the mind, ridding oneself of the ego and balancing the emotions, but then again few delve deep into the spiritual aspects of the arts in our modern society.

[Kajukenbopr]

for a beginner, I wouldnt recommend it because the practitioner would need to understand some of the concepts to actually defend himself(after learning pushing hands)

until learning everything well, you should not try to use it to defend yourself with tai chi because you could hurt yourself.

[taiji fajin]

The more I train taiji, the more I see its effectiveness as a martial art (NOT to say it doesn't have oher things it helps). I recently visited another school (which practiced Kung Fu, Bagua, and apparently not enough Yang style), and when the instructor came at me, I had him easily handled and he jumped away and ran off, then talked about how he felt me setting him up for something, and how its better to get out of range if you can feel the person preparing to do something big to you. Honestly, I barely even was aware of what I was doing, just moved to hold my balance, and I never felt threatened by his energy.

[jedimc]

http://crane.50megs.com/index6j.htm

A article about a very old Taji Quan master who defeats Mas Oyama the founder of kyokushinkai full contact karate. Good Read

[fallen_milkman]

Cool article, until it claims Tai chi is for superhumans. That is a little rediculous in my opinion. Otherwise, interesting. I didn't know anyone had mixed tai chi and karate techniques.

[dtstiachi]

fallen-milkman

many people have mixed Tai Chi and other "hard" martial art styles. At the higher levels, Hard MA become softer and look a lot like Tai Chi. Many people who have years of training in other styles go to TCC for its relaxing and strength (internal) producing benefits.

[Sam]

also - as mentioned countless times before, surely how people who dont train in a certain MA perceive it isnt necessarily accurate. I imagine that as with other MAs it depends on how you train in TaiChi on how effecitve it would be.