Tai Chi,good self-defense art or not?

[BoarSpear]

I love you too!

.....................

[jubaji]

Yep, Female, and passive agressive

Wow, you sound tougher and tougher all the time!

[treelizard]

Yep, Female, and passive agressive Was that the virtual ashtray you threw as you went out the door?

I love you too!

The Tao doesn't take sides;
it gives birth to both wins and losses.
The Guru doesn't take sides;
she welcomes both hackers and lusers.

The Tao is like a stack:
the data changes but not the structure.
the more you use it, the deeper it becomes;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

Hold on to the root.

--Tao Te Chip

[BoarSpear]

"The Tao doesn't take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn't take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.

The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

Hold on to the center."

--Tao Te Ching

Yep, Female, and passive agressive Was that the virtual ashtray you threw as you went out the door?

[treelizard]

"The Tao doesn't take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn't take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.

The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

Hold on to the center."

--Tao Te Ching

[SamuraiGuy]

Switching to PMs...

PMS? Joining Jubaji's team eh?

[treelizard]

No worries. But I'm still done with this thread.

Really, the *personal* reasons I choose to train or not train in taiji or whatever can't *possibly* be all that interesting.

Switching to private messages...

Liz, It's just my goofy way of talking...don't take it personal. I don't know what I said to make you angry but I'm sorry all the same

[knifethrower]

I don't want to do tai chi from a video. I may want to try my hand at it in the future but don't want to mix it with what I'm doing now (not shrooms!!). And I never said the teachers in my area suck! Just that what they offer is not what I'm looking for.

I'm done with this thread.

Liz, It's just my goofy way of talking...don't take it personal. I don't know what I said to make you angry but I'm sorry all the same

[treelizard]

Does this mean you don’t want to do Tai Chi or does this mean you don’t want to do Tai Chi from a video? If you don’t want to do Tai Chi because you know what your luminous path is then pass the shrooms (that’s cool Liz, I understand). If, however, you can’t do Tai Chi because your teachers in your area suck…Well that one hits closer to home, so to speak. Which is it?

I don't want to do tai chi from a video. I may want to try my hand at it in the future but don't want to mix it with what I'm doing now (not shrooms!!). And I never said the teachers in my area suck! Just that what they offer is not what I'm looking for.

I'm done with this thread.

[knifethrower]

Yeah buddy!!! you have got the idea!!! No arguement from me on it being a blast! Great advice all the way around dude.

I didn’t think you would…I just like to keep my @ss covered

I won't mess with learning martial arts that could hurt me energetically by video, though. Esp. cos I have strange reactions.

I think I have you beat in the strange reaction department too

And cos I don't want to dabble too much in the luminous realm. I know what my luminous path is...

Does this mean you don’t want to do Tai Chi or does this mean you don’t want to do Tai Chi from a video? If you don’t want to do Tai Chi because you know what your luminous path is then pass the shrooms (that’s cool Liz, I understand). If, however, you can’t do Tai Chi because your teachers in your area suck…Well that one hits closer to home, so to speak. Which is it?

[treelizard]

LOL Samurai Guy. First off when I said ask offlist, I was referring to luminous/energetic questions, which I won't subject to the boards. But who said anything about my first instructor being a self-defense instructor? I went so long as I found it valuable, and because it was what I needed at the time. I quit when it was no longer so for a variety of reasons. I got what I needed and don't regret it for a second. And I still use some of the things I learned. And it was exactly what I needed at the time for a variety of reasons to help me break out of some stuck patterns. Like I said, I was going for health reasons, and I'm going to go into detail on a public board abotu what it is I was going through and how exactly it helped me, only to say that this is so. Your assessment is so off base it's laughable.

The second dude I was talking about, it was an hour-long class at a yoga studio where he was trying to teach four arts. What I did was write down everything we did in class and practice it, and I wouldn't let myself go to the next class unless I'd practiced what we learned every day since then. I was hoping what I learned would build on it, b/c the instructor kept saying we would go deeper into what we'd practiced as we got better at it. But since there'd be new students every week who would leave after two weeks, and the cycle kept repeating, we'd never really delve deep into anything. And what we worked on was done by vote... we'd do a half hour of warmups (mostly qi gong) and then he'd go around the room and ask what we wanted to work on next. I'd always say martial application but would often be the only one. Since I was training specifically at that point for martial application, it became problematic that I wasn't really getting it. Do you think it's preferable to stay in a school where you're not getting what you signed up to get? And the Japanese wall yoga was more harmful than helpful, but that's another story.

People have a zillion and one different reasons for training and I think almost all of them are equally valid. It's very easy to sit here on a message board and nitpick anyone's reasoning for doing anything. Good thing I'm not posting to get opinions on my personal decisions and why I make them from absolute strangers. In fact my recommendation to friends who want to train for whatever reason is to make a list of goals, figure out what arts will meet those goals, and constantly reassess to see if they're getting what they need. If not, they need to either change somehting about their behavior, find a different place to train, or both. And I've certainly stayed in different situations where I didn't care for the instructor. Could tell you about the herbalist I studied with who refused to treat Vietnam Vets because she thought they were evil. Took all the stuff she taught me and use some of her formulas to treat 'em myself. Again, got what I needed and moved on when it was time. Not that there aren't things about my training I need to work on, but aren't we all works in progress? (Those of us that will admit it, that is.) Really easy to make judgements about things/people you really know next to nothing about. I hope it serves you well.

Oh and btw, I don't think quitting is always the wrong answer, either. See http://www.24fightingchickens.com/20...thers-to-quit/

May our next steps bring light,
Yael

[7r14ngL3Ch0k3]

http://www.yangaofei.com/uc.html

Nice, at least someone replied to my question which was probably one of the most important q's so far...

[SamuraiGuy]

^^^ Sounds like you like instructors and not martial arts....

My first instructor, he was great.. I loved him, he brought me tea... but he kept getting new students!, SO HE WASNT PAYING ATTENTION TO ME!!, SO I QUIT!

Then the other guy, he didnt bring me tea, and he wasnt funny and sweet, SO I QUIT!

You said you wanted to go play with sticks.... you said "any questions send a PM" I'm not gonna send a Pm, but heres my question?

Are you gonna quit stickfighting because of getting hit with sticks, or the instructor isnt sweet enough, or doesnt shower you with praise and funny stories?

[treelizard]

Knifethrower,
I don't remember the name of the form I was doing. I only learned the first fifteen moves or something. The class and the form were both boring. But I don't regret going. I went because I absolutely loved the instructor. I'd have gone to a class on knitting if he was teaching it. I just love his stories. Emphasis was on health. He was also my acupuncturist. I loved some of the primordial qi gong forms for back pain. Loved five animal frolics. Appreciate the little he's shared with me about topical Chinese herbs, etc. We're still friends.

2nd instructor mixed taiji, xinyi, bagua and qi gong. I went for a while, and then stopped b/c I wasn't learning how to fight, and that's what I wanted. Teacher kept getting new students and would have to go to the basics every time, but would mix and match all four styles, so we never delved deep into anything. And by then I wasn't into the health emphasis and wanted to play with sticks. Also got confused b/c his chen style was different than the other chen style I knew. Etc.

There are a lot of things that are "a fuking blast" and I don't think one person can tell another why to train. I won't mess with learning martial arts that could hurt me energetically by video, though. Esp. cos I have strange reactions. And cos I don't want to dabble too much in the luminous realm. I know what my luminous path is...

Any questions, send a PM.

[jubaji]

So, who's the most legit instrutor of Taijiquan?

http://www.yangaofei.com/uc.html