Water Dragon: Cheers, appreciate you taking the time to help.
Walter Joyce: Studying under someone like Chen Xiao Wang would be great. I am considering doing an internal art along with Shuai Chiao, so if I decide to go with Taiji I would jump at the opportunity to train with him. It really comes down to how much it will all cost though. I doubt I could afford to study under someone of Chen Xiao Wang’s renown, particularly if I am going to be studying Shuai Chiao simultaneously.
hey azure,
i would reccommend just picking one; after checking out all of your options.
also, don’t get caught up in the “more, more, more” mentality… learn a little, and work it like crazy.
Do any of you guys know Dr Daniel Weng? He only teaches the chang tai chi form but no push hands with it. He incorporates chin na in the tai chi teaching.
Are you sure about that? When I learned Chang Taiji from Dr. Wu, there was most definitely push hands skills involved.
WD,
I don’t usually post on this forum, but I noticed the bit about SC throwing in combination–I’d just like to point out that it’s not unique. Judoka and wrestlers drill follow-up combinations constantly.
An example–I like Uchi Mata. If it doesn’t work, I try Ko Uchi Gari, and if that doesn’t work, I go to O Uchi Gari, and I can fish back into Uchi mata on either follow-up to start the process again.
MP - you are right - combinations are critical to all grappling. In my Judo experience, we never had it taught with the same focus and detail as in Shuai Chiao, however I met a Sambo / Systema guy who has all the same drills minus the Kua work. So it is found in some fashion or another in good fighting styles. Just like anything, it’s up to the quality of the coach.
I plan to check out the Scottish and Swiss styles of stand-up grappling later this year. I saw some footage of the Swiss and the technical similarities to Shuai Chiao / Boke / Sambo are astounding.
Oh, and congrats on your victory. Enjoy the taste of it.
No, MP, it’s not unique to all arts. But I have seen it as being unique from other CMA. There are throws in Karate, but the way Judo does them in combination is very different than other Japanese arts. That’s wat I was getting at. Judo and SC are very similar in how they approach throws. But there are also differences in the same way that Western Boxing is different than Muay Thai though both are solid striking arts.
I’ll buy that WD. I think that’s reasonable and certainly misunderstood your larger point.
Monkeyslap Too–thanks for the congratulations. I appreciate it!
T’ai Chi Throws?
Wu Chien Ch’uan style T’ai Chi Ch’uan has many throws and combinations of throws. The Wu family are originally from Manchuria, where, as in neighbouring Mongolia, wrestling is a national pastime. So generations of the Wu family have applied T’ai Chi power generation and offsetting technique to various throws, footsweeps, trapping and locking and groundfighting more systematically than have the other T’ai Chi families. The other families do have some throws and groundfighting at their highest levels, but in Wu style the repertoire of throws and combinations of throws is extensive. Throws are introduced typically very early, right after basic Pushing Hands.
“Why should I hit someone with my fist when I can hit them with the ground or a wall?”
Throws and groundwork are also very handy for dealing strategically with multiple opponents.
This training and its results are very different from anything in Shuai Chiao or other CMA, Jiu Jitsu, Aikido, or Judo. The stances are different, the closing is different, the uprooting technique is different and the severity of injuries that can result is different.
Azure
So far, no word on the Shuai Chiao. Chen Taiji is good stuff though.