Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

yslim wrote:If your thoughts are locked on that Tai Chi is a martial art,
This is a mixed of 'yes' and 'no'. To be clear, The 'No' is that our thought is not "locked on that Tai Chi is a martial art." Our thought is to train to be free from Martial art aspect and our "awareness" acknowledged that the Tai Chi Chuan is a martial art. My lovey and I train Tai Chi for the true "side-effect-health-benefit" through the way of martial art. So Yes, "Tai Chi is a martial art".

then, your "real body" will not be as effective from your training
'Yes', you are right on this. If I "locked on...." then I can't change with change.

due to your eagerness to be a good fighter.
A 'No' on this. That is why Martha and I don't practice the Push Hand in TCC . We only practice to drill the Tai Chi Principle into the Form of TCC to heal each other and enjoy health as its best

好自為之！Thank you for your kindness

yslim

Thank you for your positive response despite to a little criticism. I am glad to hear you have understood the Tai Chi has two sides, the "side-effect-health-benefit" and martial art. Either way, both came from the same origin. Whether you like it or not, they just come with the package. The reason I had said that is because, either way, your priority is to have Tai Chi body. In the other hand, to be a good fighter, one needs to have a Tai Chi Body to begin with. Therefore, as a beginner, one must train oneself to practice Tai Chi Quan until the body becomes a Tai Chi body(TCB).

Now, the question is how do I know when I will have a true TCB? Well, after a few months or a year of practice, one should feel that the body strength have been increased with more muscle tone. In addition, the breathing should be deeper and deeper until it reaches the tantian(氣沈丹田). Of course, it depends on the initial health condition of the body. Some will take a little longer and some less. Eventually, one will be conditioned to have a Tai Chi body from the diligent practice. If the diligent practice was done continuously, the health of the body will improve drastically. One shall have a tremendous body strength which one had never feel before. Finally, one have reached the basic goal of Tai Chi Quan which means that one has developed the jin(勁) in the body.

The jin(勁) is something has to be acquired from the practice of Tai Chi for a prolong period of time. It is not just something that was prenatal. With the developed jin, one can go into the upper level of Tai Chi practice, such as push hands to learn to tingjin(聽勁) and fajin(發勁). These two features can be practiced by anyone who has a Tai Chi body. What tingjin(聽勁) does is to increase the sensitivity of touch. fajin(發勁) is to train oneself to issue jin(勁) at will from minimal to maximum. Fajin is a deadly force, the issuer must be very cautious not to apply excessive force to hurt someone. Especially, in handling a child. BTW An experienced master always know where and how much jin to apply to a person to avoid putting someone at risk.

In summery, li(力) is a prenatal strength; and jin(勁) is acquired from Tai Chi practice which includes abdominal breathing. Please keep in mind, without the abdominal breathing, fajin(發勁) cannot be performed. It is because it has alot to do with the biological and physiological effects of the human body.

Editor's note:
May I invite everyone to participate in any discussion to keep the forum active. I can accept any criticism as part of my cultivation as a semi-Taoist. Even though, I have a long way to go to become one!

Thank you very much for your undivided attention!

Greetings!
Recently, I have seen many video on boxing vs Tai Chi. I have been thinking it is not a fair game. The major difference was that the body structure of both opponents is because of the different methods in their training. I don't think it is fair to put a pair of gloves on the hands of a Tai Chi practitioner to fight. Also, it's not fair to a boxer due to the lack of experience in kicking. Would someone like to give the most humble opinion on the unfairness in the boxing ring between the two arts? Such as some disadvantages and advantages over one another!

Put a TCC martial arts practitioner in boxing gloves, throw him inside the ropes, force him to follow the rules of boxing (which is essentially telling him he can't use ANY of the skills he has trained, for instance; joint locks, tendon tearing, sinew splitting, groin strikes, any kicks, eye gouging, finger tips to throat, any elbow or knee strikes... and that's just for starters) is just like giving someone a pen-knife and throwing them into the middle of a raging gun battle...
They're going to lose, fast.

Let's flip that over.
Take the boxers gloves off, remove the ropes, take away all of the rules of boxing, and throw him into an actual life or death, no holds or strikes barred battle against a fully trained TCC martial artist (one who actually knows what the hell he's doing, since that's what I assume we're talking about here and not someone who goes to one class a week for health)...
What do you think would happen then?

It goes both ways, neither is working in his element so both would be starting with a severe disadvantage right off of jump street.

Bob