Tai Chi

The uniform color for Ku style/Yang style Tai Chi is black shirt and pants with black buttons. There are other colors for Tai Chi/Wushu uniforms, but those are other styles. Tai Chi is a style or type of Wushu. To tell you the truth, I really don't know what color the uniform is for Ku-style Tai Chi. I'm thinking it's Sky Blue or Light Blue, but I'm not really sure.

Tai Chi Chuan was invented to help an average sized man to stand a chance against much a much larger man in fight, using special techniques and an attitude of mind. If a very strong man falls prey to exhaustion, even a weaker man can bring him down. Basically regardless of your body type, every body type has limits. It is a way to transcend the body's limits, and to optimize its functions.

Chi is the term used in traditional Chinese medicine and in "internal" martial arts for the biological energy that energizes all living things and connects them. The flow of this energy in the body is considered essential for health. Health practices such as acupuncture and acupressure are designed to unblock the flow of chi.

The practice of "chi-gung" trains the student to develop and strengthen the flow of this energy in the body for increasing health and in the martial arts, to increase power and the ability to neutralize force directed against you.

There are many styles of chi-gung such as "Eight Brocade, "Wild Goose" and "Animal Exercises" (nowadays given the modern name, "Zookinesis". This is an ancient style which also provides great exercise).

The way this energy is used in the martial arts is as a type of internal sense. The student is able to pay attention to the feeling of all the muscles, joints and other parts of the body and is able to coordinate their activities precisely. This allows him to use the minimal movement for maximum effect. There is the least amount of external body movement possible, while the muscles and joints are internally shifting to create the most advantageous alignment of the body for fighting at each moment.

In massage, the masseur must be able to perceive any blockages to the flow of energy to his patient and use techniques to unblock that flow. In this way he brings the maximum chi energy (and blood and lymph) to each cell of the body, keeping the body healthy. Such massage is referred to as "Tai-chi massage" or "chi-gung massage".

{| |- | Yoga is not a martial art. It originated in India. It is believed that the martial arts can trace their roots to Indian martial arts training, some of which probably incorporated things similar to yoga in the routines. |}

Tai Chi is an ancient art that has been around in China for a long time. There are many masters of Tai Chi. One of these many masters include the famed master Zhang Dong Hai.

Racing through the forms. The basic ones are designed to be done slowly to get the maximum benefit.

If you want to learn the forms, there are plenty of them for viewing on YouTube.

Beyond that, I believe the best resource you could access which will have many pertinent guides and pieces of advice you can use to have a clear guidance in what you plan to pursue can be found at www.taichimaster.com (and it's free!)

One basic type of exercise is called, "chi-gung". There are hundreds of styles of chi-gung but their purpose is to clear the channels of chi in the body (the meridians) and to strengthen the flow of chi. Some styles are very active, such as those based on animal movements (like "zookinesis", a modern translation), also increase range of motion of the joints and develop fine motor coordination. Other styles involve very little movement. Chi-gung is not only a physical exercise but includes concentration and proper breathing.

Slow forms such as Yang, Chen and Wu styles develop the fluidity of body movement and eliminate the tendency of the mind to lock up. Attention becomes distributed throughout the body rather than just in the head. You learn to relax all joints so that you are well connected to the ground (root).

From these exercises you then go on to Push Hands, training in healing and self defense.

Yes you do. Some skeptics believe that chi is a myth.

Some believe that it is real because numerous scientists were proven wrong in testing to see if chi is real or not. Chi isn't like a religion because chi is physically proven whereas religion is proven spiritually. So for all of you who don't believe it is real, try it for yourselves sincerely and passionately then we will see what your opinion is.

With 2 years practice in addition to heavy meditation, assumign both equally talented, built, and birthday practitioners fight, the Wing Chuner will probably win. I don't think I was clear so I'll try again; you assume they are identical in every way, evenly matched to the point where its ridiculous. You also assume that in addition to the training requirements of their respective martial arts, that they also do a lot of meditation. With 2 years of training, the Wing Chun guy wins, and he will keep on winning, until 10 years have passed, after which point, the Wing Chun guy will never win again against his Tai Chi rival unless, he himself learns Tai Chi. It is the same story with all internal martial arts; they are in fact, more powerful, effective, and efficient than the external ones, however to use them effectively requires more time, largely because being peaceful, being benign, and applying "peace" in a fight, is counterintuitive to most people. When someone attacks you your instinct is not to sidestep and throw, or sidestep and redirect the attack, your instinct is to either run, or if cornered, smack the crap out of them. The internal schools, and their Japanese cousin Aikido, consider this a "mind that is still stuck on a primitive level." Again, the external martial arts, are more effective than the internal ones but only for the short term; with long term practice like I said, the Wing Chuner will never again defeat his Tai Chi rival no matter how hard he trains and meditates. Unless, like I said, he takes up Tai Chi Chuan, or some other internal martial art himself. Getting more esoteric, the reason the external schools, internal martial arts masters of days past have said, will give you a temporary edge over the internal ones, is because it is easier to build up the muscles quickly, than it is to build up the chi flow, and later the spirit. Think for a second; what do you use when you fight? Obviously your muscles; martial arts are very physical. No one in the west has heard, certainly "he smacked the crap out of me with his soul." It just does not happen. See, to effectively use the internal styles, according to the beliefs of internal practitioners who hold Daoist teaching to be true, your very soul has to be "muscular." External martial arts, make your muscles muscular, internal martial arts make your soul "muscular." Internal martial artists argue, because the soul is the only thing that does not deteriorate with age assuming you follow a "good path" or "path nourishing for you," it makes more sense, to cultivate the soul in martial arts, than the body, because the health of the body is dependent on the health of the soul anyway. So why bother with physical training? Those are not my thoughts; that is how most internal schools feel about the matter. Of course external martial artists may counter "but huffing and puffing, sweating it out IS good for the soul!" Myself personally, pick whatever is available without neglecting meditation; to meditate, be sure to count the breaths, and to do 1,000 deep breaths. If you are not properly fed, or rested, you'll collapse from exhaustion; breathing may seem easy, but consciously breathing in deep, is a lot of hard work, it is deceptively hard in fact.

No, they are very different, though there is a distant historical relationship.

Yoga is a series of positions that stretch and exercise the body.

Tai Chi is a series of motions that stretch and exercise the body. Tai Chi is also a marital art and can be used for self-defense.

No. There is no gradation system in Tai Chi. You can win competitions though. In some schools there is a sash system. It usually is three, one that is worn by students, yellow, one that is worn by an instructor, red, and one worn by the master, black.

A Tai Chi uniform; you can google it and it should take you to martial arts or Kung Fu supplies outlets that sell them. The material ranges from cotton, to polyester, to the same material used in professional basketball shorts, don't know the specific name for it but it has a glossy look to it, its supposed to be breathable, and, the most expensive ones are made of silk. Its not a luxury kind of silk mind; the ever ingenous Chinese, have found away to take the silk extracted from silk worms, and make clothing designed for athletic purposes (namely Tai Chi). It is highly breathable, highly resilient, and I think it will even withstand a washing machine. There are many ways to weave silk, and since China is pretty much the authority on silk weaving they have discovered all sorts of ways. Again though, a silk Tai Chi uniform is ridiculously expensive; you're better off just buying a breathable cotton fabric Tai Chi uniform.

Tai Chi is a practice that has existed for centuries. It is believed that theories and practice of Tai Chi was invented by the Taoist Monk Zhang Sanfeng in the 12th century, and many different styles have been adapted since then.

In China you can learn it for free if you can wake up early enough. Actually, that also goes for any major U.S. city with a large Chinese community, if you can wake up early enough you can get free lessons. However if you are too lazy or "unsincere" to do it the hard way, you can purchase Terry Dunn's DVD "Tai Chi For Health" I believe its called. You can always google Terry Dunn and look for his DVD; its only 20 bucks and very easy to find. If you have a Hastings or Barnes and Noble near you, and I BELIEVE Barnes and Noble MAY sell DVD's and movies now, then you should be able to find it. Been a while since I been to Barnes and Noble; the closest one is in Spokane Washington and that's like 3 hours away. There is the $20 DVD you can buy or, you can get on Tai Chi magazine's website, and look at DVD libraries with greedy Chinese turds wearing expensive silk Tai Chi uniforms offering low quality Tai Chi lessons for up to $400, the total cost of the DVD library. Remember, if you live in a major city with a large Chinese community, all you need to do is wake up ultra early, and go to a park. As they say "when the pupil is ready the teacher will appear" right? Whoever you encounter, that will be your teacher; remember, if a man or woman, regardless of their age, has the kind of discipline to wake up that early to do Tai Chi Chuan, if they have that kind of discipline, it probably means their skills are formidable. Remember that; one of the things that separates a high level expert from a wannabe, even a wannabe who receices instruction in a school, is the ability to get up to train at 5 a.m. Serious martial artists, all wake up early; never forget. Actually serious ANYTHING; Arnold Swarzennegger, back when he was a bodybuilder he was a real turd. He was cocky and overconfident in his younger years and he displayed this in the more or less autobiographical movie "stay hungry." He was at his very worst, when he was juicing up; steroids gave him a size of I think 240 lbs of solic muscle. Okay moving on to the point; "the governator" said, that he could tell "losers" from "champs" apart, by what time they went to the gym. The people who trained with him in the early hours of the morning, they all had a trophy in something; be it Mr. America, or Mr. Europe, or whatever. All other bodybuilders who did not train early in the day, they were all "loser wannabes," now, these are Arnold's own words, I'm not making this up hey if anything I think he used even more derogatory language, I'm actually being nice compared to the way he was. Myself personally the bodybuilder I look up to is Charles Atlas; not only did he stay in shape until the day he died, unlike Arnold, but in his prime and without steroids he was stronger than him too, and not nearly as massive. I am personally more impressed with all the "Superman" types of the world, than with the "Hulk" types. In the world of strength training, you are either the "Hulk," or you are "Superman." Those are the two breeds of strong men, the "Superman" type is becoming increasingly rare. A "Superman" bodybuilder is exactly as the nicname implies; someone who is disproportionately strong for their size, just like the famous comic book superhero. A "Hulk" type bodybuilder is someone who is strong because they are so freakin' huge. In modern day comics, Hulk is in fact stronger than Superman, at least the standard version, BUT, even at only his golden age of comics level of strength, Superman can still hit the Hulk hard enough to cause pain. If you do strength training you need to decide what manner of shape you want to be in; do you want to be "Superman," or do you want to "Hulk" out? You can't have both; its biologically impossible. In classical bodybuilding, the "Superman" bodybuilder was considered the greater achievement of fitness. Back to the "5 a.m." point, Atlas woke up every morning at 5 a.m. and if you were an early bird yourself, if you lived in or near Conney Island New York when Atlas was alive, people could see him working out on the beach. Residents of Conney Island who stayed near the area said "you can set your watch by that man." Just letting you know, Tai Chi Chuan is one of those things that requires a similar level of commitment; if you want a truly skilled and competent instructor, you will have to train yourself to wake up that early. When Arnold calmed down as he got older, the language he used in his Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding was "I can tell who is serious, and who will quit, by how early they get up to work out." Again, that pattern of thought is not unique to Tai Chi; all endeavors requiring high discipline, men who follow said endeavors, have the same mentality. Those who wake up early and last at least a month, will stick with it, those who don't will quit within a month. Famous Karate instructor Hidetaka Nishiyama awarded black belts faster, to people who trained with him in the early morning sessions; Nishiyama's Karate school in Los Angeles, I believe had 5 a.m. sessions. If you attended those, you could earn your black belt faster because Nishiyama sensei would "know you're serious." Even going to bed on time, even getting your 8 hours, being well rested, and heck, even having a girlfried or wife who gave you a good @$#%# the night before and you are REALLY well rested, etc, etc, even with all those benefits, one of the biggest hardships a human being can endure, is waking up at 5 a.m. Waking up at 5 a.m. is a difficult thing to do even if you are emotionally stable, well balanced, and healthy. Because it is a hardship in a way, many top people, Bodybuilders, Martial Artists, Yogis, people known for outstanding skill, they feel that a personw willing to endure THAT hardship, the hardship of waking up early, will endure ANY hardship to succeed at whatever discipline they choose. If you just up and quit, when all that is asked of you is that you get up early, then you won't have success. A famous Scottish merchant, I believe it was the man who wrote the treatise on free market capitalism of all people, once famously said "I can tell the size of a man's income, by how early he wakes up." Pointing to the fact that only men who learn to consistently wake up at 5 a.m. will see a large income, those who don't, won't. I know it was an overly long answer but, food for thought. Myself I am trying to train myself to wake up at 4:30 a.m., mostly without success. Haven't given up though; I think I have tried well over 1,500 times, each time ending in miserable failure. However I'm not giving up.

Yes, Tai Chi Chuan is a Chinese Martial Art.

Not one that has any references that I've seen. I have a library of over 100 martial arts books and never seen that listed.

no martial art is better than another because they are both forms of art they are about self expresion so it is more about the person. this is like asking if ink is better than paint or is guitar better than violin.

Red dragon

moo chi is a person!

Chi blocking is not as important as un blocking Chi. One must learn how to unblock the energy fields in our meridians in order to enjoy life. Why would you want to block chi? That is not healthy, but I can still tell you how you can do it, if that is what you decide... But your energy would be better spent learning how to un block your energy fields.

Kindly,

By working hard to become a well-respected man in his village, he had become just that.

However, the case where he said yes, but his chi did not also say yes, was when he was exiled. This was a case where Okonkwo said yes, but his chi denied him the same affirmation.

The simpler styles of Yoga, as some can be dangerous without the aid of an instructor, can be self taught, as well as the Yang, Hao, Wu, and Sun styles of Tai Chi Chuan if all you want to do with them is exercise. However the Chen style of Tai Chi is very, very dangerous, as it uses a lot of leaps and squats requiring guided specialized conditioning under expert eyes. If you do not have a teacher closely observing your stances in the Chen style, you can very easily blow out your knees. Its the same thing with Shaolin Kung Fu; its more advanced routines can be very dangerous if you do not build up to them under the watchful eye of a teacher.

However, the other 4 schools of Tai Chi, are benign enough to be self taught. If you wish to learn them as martial arts you need to;

1) Condition yourself to eventually hold mabu (google it) for 4 hours.

2) Practice the given Tai Chi routine for at least 3 hours a day every single day.

3) Push hands with a more advanced student, or your teacher, once a week, to gain a feel for how momentum applies to the human body.

If you do not meet all 3 of those requirements, no Tai Chi style can used as a martial art. Additionally like all Kung Fu, Tai Chi Chuan uses chin na, advanced joint locking techniques reliant on momentum. If you do not know how to properly time when to lock a punch or kick, a chin na lock won't work. Chin na, operates on the principle of using an opponent's attack against them in order to trap them. Simply put, an attacker's attack helps you, the person defending, trap himself. The harder he strikes, the tighter and more painful the lock. Because a lot of men can strike with extreme power and speed however, the timing needs to be precise, consequently the need for repetitive drilling, and patience spanning years, decades even.