I am lucky enough to be training with an amazing tai chi teacher Shifu Shi Yan Jian a shaolin monk taought by the legendary Shifu Shi Tang jian li since birth.
Basically I was told this by Shifu (consequently not yan jian but Yan zi who teaches me external fighting and internal ro quan) generally there are 5 main styles of tai chi the oldest being Chen style, then Yang, Wu, Sun i forgot the other doh!
Anyway although all can help u focus chi and have many health benefits the only 1 that can be used for fighting is Chen style which is also the oldest.
Tai chi translates literally as ultimate fist and the theory goes is if u truly understand tai chi, u r unbeatable. Generally there are only a handful of people in the world that can actually use taichi to fight and i mean a handful. It doesnt matter if the guy is 9th dan, sash or whatever if either he/she understands it or he/she doesnt. The reason i mentioned that Shifu Shi Yan Zi told me this was the fact that to u external fighters out there ie. muay thai, karate u may better respect Yan Zi's point of view rather than Yan Jian's as Yan Zi is the former unbeaten world san shou champion kinown as "mighty steel leg", even he at his caliber (considered by many to be 1 of the greatest fighters in the world) considers tai chi in its most advanced form as being the most deadly martial art there is.
The reason there r so few that can actually effectively use it to fight is because it takes so long to master shifu yan jian says the quickest any1 has ever learnt taichi properly was 25yrs and that was a long time ago.
basically tai chi can be used as an ultimate fist as it were but there r so few who can do this that u might as well consider that in general no it cant be used.
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"He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers others is strong. He who conquers himself is mighty. He who knows contentment is rich. He who keeps on his course with energy has will. He who does not deviate from his proper place will long endure. He who might die but not perish has longevity." - Shaolin Proverb
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