Hi everyone,
I went to a Chen Tai Chi seminar Sunday and I have new found respect for Tai Chi. The stuff can be awesome. My legs hurt worse than I’ve ever felt them hurt before. The real stuff is way cool… it’s just too bad that there’s so much fake tai chi out there.
One thing that I do know… without a solid root, you can’t have good kung fu no matter what style you train. I didn’t realize how weak my root was until this weekend. The good news is that now that I know, I can fix that problem.
Cool. Who gave the seminar?
cool
what form/exercises did you work on? lao jia, xin jia, silk reeling? i’ve recently been working on chen zheng lei’s 18 movement form from the lao jia. root is definitely important, as well as transitioning through the low stances gracefully 
do you judge what’s fake and what’s real by how much pain you walk away in?
just curious.
Can he fight against a resisting opponent who is dodging his punches and trying to hit him back? Or can he only defeat someone who throws a punch from a bow and arrow stance that wouldn’t hit him even if the Tai Chi guy just stood there, and then leaves his arm extended after the punch to allow the 10-hit combo to be performed on him?
I believe his name is Master Gou (sp?). He did a demo at the Master’s Demonstration in The Midland Martial Arts Open Tournament where he did the Chen form. He demonstrated awesome power when he did that, so, when I found out that he was giving a seminar the next day, I signed up. I don’t know much about him other than he’s from China and doesn’t speak much English. I’ve watched Tai Chi demos before and was quite bored, his was the first that made me want to try doing some tai chi myself…
Anyway, he kept it pretty basic at the seminar. He did a series of stance drills and exercises, and one chi gung exercise, and then he taught us only about 5 movements in the form, but it killed my legs. He invited a couple of us to try to shove him and he threw us like little girls. I do Judo so I thought I had a good root… I don’t. He demonstrated two things to me when I tried to shove him: 1) I couldn’t move him no matter how hard I pushed (this was something he didn’t say or tell the class-- it was more of a look he gave me when I pushed him and it honestly felt like I was trying to shove a brick wall) 2) then he yielded and I went flying.
What makes him “real” is that you can tell when someone knows his stuff. Most American tai chi people can’t fight their way out of a wet paper sack. They do YMCA tai chi and know nothing about the combat applications. They are boring and only talk about the health benefits-- mostly because they suck and can’t or don’t know how to fight.
This guy was awesome and was quite ready to throw down with whoever. I’ve never quite seen anything like it before. So, how do I know what’s real and what’s not-- by comparing it to what I know from studying 7 star mantis and by having met a lot of different Sifu over the years. I can spot BS in a second.
The seminar actually inspired me to want to seek out a Chen teacher in the states.
Interesting. I have yet to find a guy who couldnt be pushed over, just guys who didnt want to look for the trick.
Qichen Guo
might it have been him from Cali?
Hmmmm
Tell him to fight in MMA if he thinks he can mix it with anyone. No such thing as root by the way!
Boxers are better…
FT
My sifu went to that seminar also. I know he would like to resume his Chen studies however, I don’t think there are any decent practitioners in MI or within decent driving distance to GR 
“Can he fight against a resisting opponent who is dodging his punches and trying to hit him back? Or can he only defeat someone who throws a punch from a bow and arrow stance that wouldn’t hit him even if the Tai Chi guy just stood there, and then leaves his arm extended after the punch to allow the 10-hit combo to be performed on him?”
LOLOLO! I LOVE IT! Thank God I wasn’t drinking coffee!
Why you want to move him? Does he bother you by standing 10 feets away from you?
You will need “2 points contact” to move him. “1 point contact” is not enough.
Bruce Lee said, “I don’t push, I punch”.
You Know Who said, “I don’t push, I throw”.
i heard this guy finger ****s german shepherds and drowns baby birds in his sink. seriously … hes one sick little jerk.
i think he kicks old ladies out into traffic too.
oh yeah … kung for is the suxors noob.
i have heard of the kind of term often referred to as “root” before. it is similar in concept to the way tong bei sets it’s driving force through the small of the back and grounds in the lie he manner of rolling from heel to toe in the walking exercise. really, it’s referred to as ‘foundation’.
that quote about the ten strike is pretty funny. worth being in someone’s signature… 
Mighty B, I am glad you got to see real taji.
its just a shame that the amount of taiji teachers in this county are few and far between.
whats worse are the people on this board who dont have the faintest idea about the power and simplicity you can use to overcome your opponent. this stems from is life long pratice of real martial arts and not based opionons out of ignorance or lack of experience.
Dont get me wrong there are some people out there that actually CAN fight, but for the most part they judge something simply becuse they dont understand…, have not put in enough time… or lack the knowledge.
for others they have taken a few years of martial arts, beat up some weaker kids in high school and then pretend to know what they are talking about.
I often hear inexperienced martial artists comparing taij with wearing silk pajama’s and teaching senior citizens. This could not be ****her from the truth. While it does have great health benifits ingnorance is no excuse to judge something which one has no right to.
Just because it has not been turned into a sport like all the other watered down MMA crap out there does not mean it doesnt work. its just the people that say these things have not felt, seen, or fought a master… BTW if it didnt work better than any other martial art that came from China… they wouldnt have named it grand ultimate!!!
PS who are the people that said there is no such thing as rooting??? LMAO
this is my point exactly
BTW if it didnt work better than any other martial art that came from China… they wouldnt have named it grand ultimate!!!
I think you’re not helping yourself calling other people ignorant then saying something like this :rolleyes: Taiji rocks, but lots of ignorant people think it’s called “grand ultimate” because it was better than everything else. When tai and ji are put together it refers to a philisophical concept (think of the “yin yang” symbol), not that it’s the best or ultimate martial art.
Yes. You have the correct.
There are many legends and theories about how Tai Chi 13 postures came about.
Some said Wang Zhong Yue espoused them. Some said it was from Zhang San Feng a daoist priest.
The postures are seen thru out all styles.
Peng Lu Ji An Cai Lie Zhou Kao and 5 steps.
What make Chen Tai Chi differ from the other?
The answers may be in all the classics written by Tai Chi practitioners over the years.
Rooting is difficult to explain in Tai Chi.
Dan Tian is the center and the spine is the axis. The waist has the main rotation or revolution.
For all these to work lies in the 5 steps and weight shifting between steps.
So all these are roots or foundations.
brad,…
just curious about where did you get your information? was this something you read? or was it taught to you? if you want to really know the relationship between the fighting art and the philosophy allow me to post a quick explantion. below…
as for my statement, when we are talking about the classics when tai ji was first invented before it was even named…Chen San Feng its creator developed a different methodology o fighting and no other martial art at the time could defeat the path or avenue used in this obscure way of fighting therefore the monks called it the grand ultimate or supreme fist.
therefore it was most definatly named for its superiority not for the method and comparable philosophy it had in comon with ying yang… just a note.
Tai chi is an ancient Chinese martial art, It means Grand Ultimate Fist.It is most often referred to as a internal Martial art indicating that the emphasis is placed on strengthening the mind, circulating the chi, and relaxing the body so that is free to move. Beyond its Martial application however it is also a complete system of physics and philosophy, best characterized by the tai chi symbol known to Americans as the (yin yang circle) with in this symbol to semi circles of dark (yin) and white (yang) make a complete circle as they constantly merge into each other , Symbolizing the spirit of "moving harmony"this harmony of motion describes the laws of yin and Yang which assert that in the phenomenal world both physical and energetic.
All existence is a relationship between these two , for without left there can be no right, without night there is no day and Countless others. In the system Yang represents all that is expressive,productive and strength oriented ,yin is receptive yielding an internal. In the martial aspect of tai chi, the relationship between the yielding force of yin and the unbending force of yang forms the core of the fighting technique. The yielding force is used to avoid or redirect opponents attack,while the unbending force is used to counter attack.this change from yielding to a bending is achieved in the form of Circle therefore the main pattern of tai chi is like many circles spiralling continuously without end. In application these principles led to force, which Master Ching Man Ching once described as replied 2,000 pounds with four ounces.
SPJj,
Just want to clarify one thing you said… you posted that the dantien is the center.
this is not true. actually the fu zhong shin is the center of the body located between the dantien and the mingmendirectly beneath the baiwei.
So if we are speaking about the lower dantien is located in the front part of the trunk. not the center.. be well
Master Gou is in UK, Oxford right now, teaching full time.
His site is www.mastergou.co.uk
He teaches taiji for health for seniors and taiji gongfu (combat taiji) for all other classes. He also includes a weapons programme (including taiji gongfu fan, da dao, jian and duan gun).