Question about Tai Chi.

Post #11,399 by static 10/3/01 2:33:38 AM Reply	Question about Tai Chi. What do people know about it? I was curious about trying some Asian relaxation exercises. Tai Chi is the one that normally springs to mind, but rummaging on Google seems to portray it as a Martial Art. Not that the two couldn't be different aspects of the same thing, but self-defense isn't what I was after. Wade. "All around me are nothing but fakes Come with me on the biggest fake of all!"
Post #11,402 by kmself 10/3/01 2:43:10 AM Reply	Slo-mo kung fu I haven't done it. In Chinatown, SF, St. Mary's (?), there's a small park where there are usually a few practitioners, I've watched them on the odd lunch hour. It involves slow, fluid, balanced motions. Strong grounding in Taoist traditions. Afterwards you recoup with a spoonerised Chai Tea. `-- Karsten M. Self [link\|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com\|kmself@ix.netcom.com] What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?`
Post #11,404 by static 10/3/01 3:00:08 AM Reply	Hmm. That's what I thought it was. Thanks! "All around me are nothing but fakes Come with me on the biggest fake of all!"
Post #11,435 by boxley 10/3/01 10:13:19 AM Reply	variation of poison hand kung foo but as a stretching relaxing exercise very good akin to yoga as Ashton Pointed out. thanx why did god give us a talleywhacker and a trigger finger if he didnt want us to use them? Randy Wayne White
Post #11,410 by Ashton 10/3/01 7:12:09 AM Reply	Think ~ yoga. As, like 'yoga' (root = 'yoke') it is not about just physical exercise or relaxation - though that is surely a by-product. I guess simplest way to put it is - you can get 'more' out of it than say, "just another way to move the muscles around". 'Chi' means energy. 'Tai' ~ 'tao' ~ "way". Another variant "Chi Kung" (phonetically) has accumulated millions of practitioners over past 20 years or so - also growth in US. Similar ideas. Might be worth talking to some local practitioner (of either) - after all, we all mean different things by 'relaxation'.. A.
Post #11,427 by jb4 10/3/01 9:59:54 AM Reply	Here's what I've heard Tai Chi is a form of martial art. Its premise is that if you're balanced, you can overcome an opponent of (practically) any size and/or strength. This is because, as an opponent attacks, s/he is off-balance during the attack. You can overcome the attack by deflecting it, and using the opponent's lack of balance against him/her. The movements are slow and fluid, as stated elsewhere in this thread. They are designed to release energy within the body, to make it flow smoothly, thereby raising awareness and energizing reflexes. When I studied it (casually) many decades ago, the point of all the movements were to remaim balanced throughout the movements. The energy release and channeling aspects are the parts that are relaxing; nonetheless, your heart rate does increase, and you can break a sweat. (I did, anyway). When studied as a martial art, the movements become larger, faster, and more targetted to defending against an attacker. I was told that, as a martial art, Tai Chi is strictly defensive; since the act of attacking necessarily throws you off balance, attacking is contrary to the premis of the art. (However, I'm no expert on this, so anyone with greater knowledge about this should feel free to correct and educate me.) jb4 (Resistance is not futile...)
Post #11,446 by Simon_Jester 10/3/01 10:56:27 AM Reply	Tai Chi Chuan - Grand Ultimate Fist... Soft-style martial art. (Possibly the softist of the arts). There is more than one type of Tai Chi (don't know the difference between them) but all of them concentrate of proper form (posture), balance, and breathing. Movements are generally slow and flowing - the idea is to learn to do the movement correctly at a slower pace; so that when the movement is done quickly is will also be done correctly. Tai Chi can be (and often is) studied strickly for it's health benefit rather than it's Martial Arts capability. It's a nice art, but I didn't have the patience for it.
Post #11,480 by wharris2 10/3/01 1:02:13 PM Reply	Sounds interesting As I may have posted before, I've had back surgery and have metal bars and a mile of wire around my spine. (well, maybe not a mile, but the two metal bars are there, and they are anchored by wire.) As such, I hesitate to try things that pretty much require tossing and falling; I might be able to take it, but I'd rather not chance it. From the description of Tai Chi I see here, it's a physical exercise that can be used (if needed) in self defense. That sounds good from my perspective; practising something that one never hopes to use so that one can use it effectively when one has to. Who knows how empty the sky is In the place of a fallen tower. Who knows how quiet it is in the home Where a son has not returned. -- Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966)
Post #11,507 by Simon_Jester 10/3/01 2:29:25 PM Reply	Tai Chi is extremely low impact... I don't know of any falls/tossing in Tai Chi. There's not even (really) punches and kicks. (In fact, that's why I went to Japanese Karate, I wanted to throw people and punch and kick. ;-) Most instructors are willing to talk with potential students and can show you exactly what movements are involved. (In fact, most good ones will insist on it). It's not a bad art...and it's harder than it looks, but I prefer doing a move and watching someone fly though the air.
Post #11,695 by Gibbo 10/4/01 3:24:54 AM Reply	Re: Tai Chi is extremely low impact... Not necessarily low impact for an opponent. I'll have to track it down, but I swear I've seen footage of a Tai-Chi master pushing an opponent away. Such that the opponent whent 'flying' and the master appeared rather unperturbed.
Post #11,735 by Simon_Jester 10/4/01 10:37:55 AM Reply	Yeah, but that's extremely top end. and it is a MA. <grin> But push-hands (tai chi ...um...kumite?) is putting the back of your hand against the back of your opponent's hand and moving slowly back and forth. (Certainly not high impact. :-)
Post #11,757 by rsf 10/4/01 12:10:54 PM Reply	I saw the same thing I think it was on 60 minutes or some similar pop news show. A Tai Chi master - one of those ancient white bearded types just like in Kung Fu movies - had an American try punch him to demonstrate how he could channel an attackers energy against him. The American threw the punch at the Tai Chi master. The master put up an open palm and blocked the punch. But what was remarkable was a split second later the American fell back and looked dazed. They asked the American what happened and he said that after his punch was blocked, it felt like the wind got knocked out of his chest and his legs went numb. Ray
Post #11,761 by inthane-chan 10/4/01 12:21:40 PM Reply	I've had some personal experiences... Not quite on that level, but there is something to it. One exercise we did in Aikido had us close our eyes, and then our partner for the exercise approach us. Whenever they stepped near us, we would lift up our hands. According to my partner, I lifted my hand every time that they came close, and I witnessed the same for them. Then, I had the !@$!% scared out of me, when while I had my eyes shut, my sensei walked up to me and tapped me on the forehead. I couldn't feel him coming AT ALL. Freaky. "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #11,763 by boxley 10/4/01 12:24:22 PM Reply	he is matching your life rythms Very easy to sneak up on someone except for the last 3 feet. That is why taking out a sentry demands a fast jump and faster action. thanx, bill What is a user? You mean userid isnt the same as uid?, gid? whats that? I dont understand "ask the requestor to send a non formal email request for ftp access? whaddya mean dean? Halp Iam drowning in Bovine Fecal Matter!!!! Bill
Post #12,068 by ben_tilly 10/6/01 12:47:34 PM Reply	Think extremely slow motion There was a group at Dartmouth College who used to go into a squash court with a motion sensor, wait until the motion sensor went off because things were still long enough, and then they started their exercises. If the lights went on, someone wasn't smooth enough. :-) Cheers, Ben
Post #12,082 by Ashton 10/6/01 3:12:35 PM Reply	They may have been on to something. Feldenkrais (A Swiss? physicist) who developed a technique for 'talking' or at least interfacing with body, the thought, "I want to move ___ by using just ___ muscles -- v e r y .. s l o w l y". Even those too injured (trauma from auto accidents, for ex.) could mentally go through the exercises, with a certain amount of 'energy' via being in a group performing the exercises. I know one such person (car hit her) - who was pronounced to be a permanent basket case. She could barely move anything. Just present on a gurney and doing the exercises mentally, at first. She is today lithe as a mime. (It helps that she was a runner, even an obsessive-athlete prior) She also teaches Feldenkrais now. I'm learning too that, however improbably, (always as deemed by the smartass logical mind): it works. (If... You are willing to pay attention and work, too - that is) No magic pill. A.

Welcome to IWETHEY!