hi everyone just a quick question, ive heard ALOT of people bagging out tai chi because its that slow new agey thing that old people do. ive always had a sneaking suspicion that theres more to it then that, like moving at a speed capable of intercepting a real human being. so am i right? cheers Jim
i will leave this to the more experienced but what i think is that tai chi is meant to be practiced slow as it contains moves that have to be perfect and have to be done slow to get corrected but as you get good it speeds up eventually to proper tai chi sparring (at full speed not slow motion)
Neat, a troll! Seriously though... go to the gym and pick up a 10kg weight. Do ten reps as fast as you can. Now do ten reps very slowly, over 15 minutes.
ahhhhh i understand. the reason i asked is ive never seen it done any other way. thanks!!! cheers Jim
just a quick question, ive heard ALOT of people bagging out tai chi because its that slow new agey thing that old people do. Lets examine this one in detail Slow: Forms are done slowly, how can it possibly be used against a real attacker? I'm surprised by the number of people that can't get past this. Do you do your katas at 100% speed? Ohmygod! Someone tried to equate kata and forms! Sacrilege! Hersesy! Burn him! Hes a witch! In my limited experiance, forms are practised slowly, to perfect the movement and control the breathing. I promise, if Im ever in a fight I will try to speed it up a little. New Agey: No fight here, when its seen its generally a bunch of hippies looking for something to do while their pyramid powered crystals are on back order. Of course, the last time I saw a Karate class, not a single person in the class was over 12 years old. Am to assume that Karate is really an ancient form of japanese grade school? No one argues that tai chi has a definate appeal to the new age personality, just because they ignore the martial aspect, doesnt mean it isnt there. These days many MA schools offer classes that are geared more to the non-martial aspects of their art. Daycare, birthday parties to name a few examples, but what about the classes that are more for the entertainment or exercise interests of their clientele? You know which schools Im talking about, no one from that class is going to get in a fight or enter a contest. The customers are simply interested in a workout or a hobby. Sound a little trendy? New agey even? Welcome to our world. Classes like these water down the image of all Martial Arts, Tai Chi unfortunately gets the worst of it. Old People: No argument on this one either. At 39 yrs old I am one of the youngest people in my class. Some of the oldsters are there for the exercise, some are there to learn to kick butt. You know why you dont see old people doing karate on tv? (Excepting Mr Miyagi.) Because they cant! Look at it this way, how long do you want to spend perfecting a martial art? I read of people putting 20 years or more into it. Now imagine how that will feel when you become physically unable to perform that art. How many 60 year olds are going to be able to throw that round house kick they learned 40 years ago? I can see people that old and older performing Tai Chi everyday -and their skills arent declining, they are getting better.
The form of Tai Chi is a vehicle used to learning how to move in a relaxed and properly coordinated way. As practitioners move through the different training levels they concentrate on incorporating new principles of moving, posture and coordination into their movement, as each new principle is added their movement becomes more efficient, relaxed and unified. While the principles of movement, coordination and posture have to be the same, the exact movement adopted in a martial situation does tend to vary depending on which style of Tai Chi you are doing. :Angel:
