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What is
Tai
chi quan……..?
 Taichi
- Taiji This question is covered in much more depth in our lecture series. It
could be said that Taiji quan is an internal
martial art, that is a physically applied aspect of the Chinese
science of Yin and Yang, or the nature of opposites. It is a fighting style that
was developed after generations of scientific study in the martial arts, and is
still developing today.
Taiji quan today is most easily recognizable by the martial arts form that
groups of elderly people can be seen practicing in parks. This is mainly due to
the fact that one great side effect of it’s scientific strategy is that it
promotes a health body and boosts the condition of the internal organs.
What Taiji
is taught in your program..?
The full course in BUPE covers all the Major family styles, as well as the
modern competition styles. During the course of one study term a student can
only learn so much though, but all of the major forms are available for
learning. If a student has a particular form he or she would like to learn, and
it is not being covered during the time of attendance then it may be arranged
for that student to have private lessons in the desired form. But don’t fall
behind in your regular course work. Pushing hands is also introduced when a
student shows more proficiency in the basic courses. Also as part of the course.
What is an internal martial art..?
gain this will be covered more in depth in our lecture series. Anything referred
to as an “internal martial art” tends to be a style that focused around using
the intentions to lead movement, rather than just action and reaction. Internal
martial arts also tend to draw their energy first from the Electromagnetic
forces of the Body (or Qi)
rather than using brute strength to apply their power. From a position of
muscular system, internal martial arts tends to rely more on skeletal alignment
and tendon strength rather than larger muscles movements for their applications.
Internal martial arts tend to be more scientific in application and training
methods, build fundamentals deeply before actually giving the meat of fighting
applications to a student. This is truly a question that cannot be covered in a
simple faq.
What good is Taiji quan if it is so slow..?
You may have seen mostly elderly people practicing Taiji very slowly, and even
younger practitioners do it slow. This is the form they are practicing. The form
is practiced slowly in most Taiji styles, although there are fast explosive
forms as well. If one is asking what good is it, I assume you mean in a fight.
In actual applications and self defense situations the moves are sped up to
actual fighting speed. Of course you can’t move so slowly and expect to overtake
an opponent with fast reflexes. But the inner peace and quietness gained by
training the form slowly, can help one to slow down a situation in ones mind,
giving you an opportunity to analyze physical data more clearly. There are many
benefits of training slowly, but if you only train the form and never think
about fighting applications don’t fool yourself into thinking this makes you a
better fighter. One has to keep clear that forms are forms and fighting is
fighting, forms give you the basics and a chance to analyze your own positions.
If you want to fight you must fight and think about actually applying
techniques.
Why do people practice Taiji quan so slowly..?
Training slowly has several effects, for one it allows you to improve your
stances and positions through self analysis. Having more efficient postures and
eliminating gross wasted movements is one of the major benefits of Taiji quan
practice. If you do it fast you don’t have time to analyze, even in Fast form
styles you do it slowly in the beginning. Also Taiji practice is one way to
bring a practitioner to a meditative state. Moving fast boosts the heart rate,
hastens your breath, constricts the muscles and blood vessels cutting blood flow
to the brain and pumping more blood into the muscles. These physiological
changes make it quite hard to remain in a meditative state. Taiji quan is also a
form designed to train you to keep your heart rate even and blood flow balanced
even though you are in a stressful situation, such as combat. Training slowly
keeps you in stressful stances for longer periods of time thereby increasing
your strength in fighting postures much faster than training at fighting speed
would. Slow training at first can be very stressful, you may even find your legs
shaking, this is because your body takes time to adjust to new physical stimuli.
In time you get stronger, and when you are stronger you will then start to be
able to relax more. One other point in Taiji that many people are concerned
about is breathing control, when you move slowly you are able to control your
breathing more than if you were at a sprinting speed.
Isn’t Taiji just for old people..?
Absolutely not. In fact people who begin practicing earlier benefit more from
Taiji than those who begin at more advanced stages in life. One of the main
reasons for this is that the body adapts to new stresses more quickly at younger
ages. Many of the better masters we see tend to be quite old, this is true, but
they didn’t just begin. Many of the world’s top Taiji masters have been training
the art since early childhood, a lifetime of practice got them to the stage they
are at, They probably were even quite skillful at very young ages, but they just
happen to be a little more experienced and much wiser at the older ages, so
their skill is that much greater.
I heard Taiji is a fighting art, is that true..?
I heard Taiji is a fighting art, is that true..?
Yes absolutely. It is hard to see it when you see a group of elderly people
doing the forms at a very slow manner and in a fuller non aggressive attitude,
and usually these days many people are not taught the fighting concepts of the
art. I have heard people advertise Taiji as the peaceful martial art. I have
also heard of people who take up the art because it does not involve combat,
nothing could be further from the truth. Taiji does promote inner peace, and
quietude, but it’s fighting applications are some of the most scientific, and
some might say most vicious of all martial arts. While the numbers are far less,
there are those that still understand the true nature of the art today. Taiji
quan is a complete art, and it’s gifts in all areas can only be realized if it
is fully investigated and understood, cutting oneself off from one part of the
learning is detrimental, and restricts a practitioner from ever attaining the
highest levels. I am not saying one must learn to fight and then go around
killing people, but knowledge of fighting in the art opens up subtle doors in
the more peaceful aspects that may not have been seen in a more basic study.
What is pushing hands..?
Pushing hand is the first introduction a Taiji practitioner will have to human
interaction with the art. It is the foundation for the fighting aspects of the
art, but it is more as well. Pushing hands offers a practitioner the opportunity
to work with a classmate to test and see ones strengths and weaknesses, it
allows one to gauge their own development, and is a handy tool for identifying
shortcomings or unseen mistakes in one’s form and postures. Pushing hands itself
has developed into a competition of it’s own. There are yearly competitions
around the world now, and many participate, unfortunately some place pushing
hands proficiency above actual taiji proficiency, thereby digressing it into a
tug of war match testing each others strength rather than actually utilizing
true taiji fundamentals. The problem there is that lower level practitioners
have made an advancing tool the focus of their practice, thereby impeding their
own advancement. It is key when practicing pushing hands, that you are not
competing with your partner, (unless you are actually taking part in a
competition of course) Pushing hands is a tool for one to self analyze and help
a partner do the same.
Are there different types of Taiji?, What are they..?
There are five main styles of taiji or families. These are Chen, Yang, Wu, Wu,
and Sun. In addition to those styles, several modern competition styles have
been created, 42
forms/ 24
forms/ 48
forms/78 forms etc but mainly the 42 forms and the
42
sword forms. These are the most prominent styles, inside those styles
themselves there are several subdivisions. There are several smaller styles that
were developed outside of these styles as well, but never became as famous.
There is no one style that is really better than another, it depends on personal
taste, and body type. The theories inside are also slightly different, and some
of the developments within the styles represent the generations of research.
Martial arts is a science that develops along with those who train it. You can’t
keep down the human mind, we discover new things about old ideas everyday.
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