From: stnahc@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (L. Chan)
Subject: Tai Chi, final
Organization: UTCS Public Access
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 19:12:07 GMT



To clarify some of the points I have made previously
regarding Tai Chi teachers, the art, etc., here are my
points to made.

1. "throw" technique in Tai Chi means, when some person B
    hit person A, person A can bounce B away up in the air for 5 feet or more
    WITHOUT noticable body motion/movement. This technique looks
    very similar to Bruce Lee's 3 inch punch (which is a modified
    form of Yen Yee's "throw" method) but the way of releasing
    the power is totally different.

  -> no one can do this technique any more if the person is ONLY
     practicing Tai Chi TODAY. Reason is point # 2.

2. Today's approach to Tai Chi practice is,

    A. the forms
    B. push hands
    C. da lu
    D. single form
    E. sword and/or other weapons

  -> original approach is,

    A. the forms, and the spear (I don't know in English what that really is),
           and endurance training by doing fixed posture of the forms
    B. single form with speed and power
    C. 2 forms at a time, then 3 forms at a time
    D. sword, plus other weapons
    E. push hands
    F. da lu (optional)
    G. 2 person fighting forms

    Notice pt. B of the original approach is similar to what you do in karate
    session !! pt. C is similar to Bruce Lee's theory of complex combination
    of simple attacks/defences. pt. G is similar to all Chinese martial arts'
    2 person training.

    Without these extra parts in the training, Tai Chi practitioners will
    not be able to fight. Although, they may be good at push hand.

3. The "real" masters I refer to are those who know where and what in the
    body could be hit such that the opponent would be hurt most. All 
    "internal" style martial arts emphasize on this topic of how to win
    a fight by better knowledge of how the human body works. Each
    internal style of martial arts has its own discovery and that's why
    they are different styles. A simple example could serve illustrating 
    this point well - a lot of Tai Chi movement
    waves the hand and step forward, this is not what it should be when
    one is in a fight. The waving of hand is used for distracting the
    opponent to look at your hands, at that very same time, you have 
    already step very hard on his foot or kick at his lower leg. 
    A very simple human reflex was used in the example - when someone
    seems to hit you by his hand, you will concentrate on what he will
    do next with his hand and thus, miss some other possible things.
    This concept of utilizing human reflex is used by Bruce Lee in JKD
    and generalized this as faking.

   The type of skill/knowledge I mentioned is so deadly, will you
    teach it to everyone you know?

4. A lot of people after practiced Tai Chi for a long time will be capable
    of "dissolving" an opponent's attack easily and will be able to 
    do a weaker form of "throw". This is called "strong in strength" in Tai
    Chi. This will not help you in a real fight though. This level is most
    Tai Chi practitioners can do up to. If they want to do more then that,
    most people today head for another internal style or, train themselves
    with weights, etc. But that is NOT Tai Chi.

For any thing regarding this message, email me.
-- 
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lawrence Chan                     stnahc@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts