my college is forcing me to take tai chi

[kurt sloan]

i'm a freshman and my school makes its freshman pick seminar to attend. the choices were slim so i chose tai chi. i'm not bitching about taking it, the prof. seems cool enough and it's an easy grade. i was just wondering if it was good for self-defense.

[ryangruhn]

Can anyone inform us of the history of the art? Why was it invented, what were their goals? I myself am not very informed about it.

Gruhn

[Tom Yum]

i was just wondering if it was good for self-defense.

There are probably some good principles taught in taiji that would be usefull in self-defense. I guess its a matter of if your professor shows you how to apply them and lets you practice applying them.

I have only done a little taiji and use it strictly for excercise.

[EmptyneSs]

from what iv heard, tai chi can make u very relaxed and at peace with urself and ur surrounding, which can help u alot in self defense. one of the most important things is the ability to remain calm and relaxed in any situation.

[shuyun]

so i'm forced to take this class and all i hear is how great it is and how well it can be used as self defense. is all this self defense stuff i'm hearing total bs or can it actually be useful?

ps i didn't want to ask this in the chinese section b/c i know i would only get biased answers.

it is useful dude. the ultraslow movements of it in itself is a good warmup and stretching routine. also it makes you aware of each muscle you are using giving you an internal feel of your body this will make you more aware of your fighting form.

for combat of course you don't fight like kwai chang caine with his "stand-there-while-i-hit-you-DO". But having the movements based on the dantien (the center of gravity) it gives more stability to your attacks and stances ergo more power.

I used taiji push hands to slam my opponent away who was rooted in stance though he was more twice my mass. taiji by the way is also quite subtle, in fact it can be applied without even looking like taiji. Use your imagination and your commonsense you'll find the martial applications. it doesn't all have to be explained you'll see it.