Qi of Life

  • Tai Chi? Health or Martial Arts?

    —

    by

    Richard
    in

    While some people practice Tai Chi for health, other people practice for the martial arts aspects, sometimes preferring to call what they do Tai Chi Chuan (Chuan being the pinyin for the word “fist” 拳). Some in the latter camp even go as far as saying that when Elder Yang Chengfu created the Yang large frame that, he “watered down” the martial aspects and the popular YCF forms are only good for health and useless for fighting.

    The truth is that Yang Tai Chi has always been about both. Of course, the fighting forms such as the Fast Form train the fighting art more, but the difference between Tai Chi for health vs. for fighting really has more to do with the use of Yi 意. Sifu Sam Tam could bounce you with Tai Chi – long force that feel like being hit by a wall but no shock to the body, or with Xing Yi, where it feels like being hit by a pole, to Yiquan, where it feels like being hit by a jackhammer, and the difference is the Yi – the mind intent. The move and internal is exactly the same. Elder Wong Yongquan said the same thing.

    To fight, as my good friend Michael Phillips used to say, “you need bullets in your barrel”, and Tai Chi and other internal martial arts do give you different types of “bullets” different from other martial arts.

    In 2020s, unless you engage in sports or street fighting, being able to fight is not of primary concern for most people. The form that Sifu taught me is slow and gentle, like other Yang Tai Chi forms. It is also true that the moves can turn into applications, hidden in plain sight. But in the end, practicing Tai Chi improves balance, lower blood pressure, and provides much health benefits and that’s more important to all of us as we age.

    Of course not all forms are the same, but finding the right teacher is more important. Look for the quality you want to study or improve on, and find the right teacher that will give you that.

—

by

Richard
in

While some people practice Tai Chi for health, other people practice for the martial arts aspects, sometimes preferring to call what they do Tai Chi Chuan (Chuan being the pinyin for the word “fist” 拳). Some in the latter camp even go as far as saying that when Elder Yang Chengfu created the Yang large frame that, he “watered down” the martial aspects and the popular YCF forms are only good for health and useless for fighting.

The truth is that Yang Tai Chi has always been about both. Of course, the fighting forms such as the Fast Form train the fighting art more, but the difference between Tai Chi for health vs. for fighting really has more to do with the use of Yi 意. Sifu Sam Tam could bounce you with Tai Chi – long force that feel like being hit by a wall but no shock to the body, or with Xing Yi, where it feels like being hit by a pole, to Yiquan, where it feels like being hit by a jackhammer, and the difference is the Yi – the mind intent. The move and internal is exactly the same. Elder Wong Yongquan said the same thing.

To fight, as my good friend Michael Phillips used to say, “you need bullets in your barrel”, and Tai Chi and other internal martial arts do give you different types of “bullets” different from other martial arts.

In 2020s, unless you engage in sports or street fighting, being able to fight is not of primary concern for most people. The form that Sifu taught me is slow and gentle, like other Yang Tai Chi forms. It is also true that the moves can turn into applications, hidden in plain sight. But in the end, practicing Tai Chi improves balance, lower blood pressure, and provides much health benefits and that’s more important to all of us as we age.

Of course not all forms are the same, but finding the right teacher is more important. Look for the quality you want to study or improve on, and find the right teacher that will give you that.