How is tai chi when up against a in and out type street fight?

im planning on taking tai chi classes so i was watching some tai chi videos on youtube and they kept showing defenses against giant swings and straight where the opponet leaves there hands out. I see from sparring with other people no one realy does that. Also im currently doing wing chun will these 2 mix well?|||It is due to the poor quality of the vast majority of Tai Chi "instructors" and the bad experiences of many of these other answerers that Tai Chi has the ridiculous reputation that it has now. In its true state, Tai Chi is an excellent martial art and will complement almost any other fighting style. Tai Chi, when taught properly, fills in the gaps of the hard styles and elevates them to a much higher level. Even when taught by itself and under the tutelage of a GOOD instructor and dedicated student, will create a superior fighter within a short amount of time.





Within one to two years, many of my students have developed good skills to match up with and in some cases even overcome other fighters such as boxers, kick boxers, and wrestlers. I have had a female student defend herself successfully against an attacker almost three times her size - she layed him flat on the floor and he wouldn't get up until the police arrived! Of course this is because I have received very good training from my teachers and I give even better training to my students. Unlike most tai chi schools that train only one hour a week, we train a cumulative amount of almost eleven hours a week. Hopefully with the effort of other instructors like myself, we can slowly change the pitiful reputation that Tai Chi has in this country!





EDIT:


Sorry I realized that I didn't answer the whole question. Yes, Wing Chun and Taijiquan make a very good combination. In Taijiquan we have a saying: start with big circles and then progress to medium and then smaller circles. Wing Chun works the smaller circles wonderfully and Taijiquan magnifies them for refinement.|||Tai Chi teaches us how to protect your body most effectively. You learn to defend against 10,000 people at one time. Your body becomes a iron rod surrounded by a bolt of silk. This takes time like any great work. Want quick and easy try Ju Jitsu, but remember intellect always trumps ignorant force.

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|||keep with wing chun. tai chi will teach you nothing back when i was training in kajukenbo my uncle who trained in tai chi and i sparred. i destroyed him with so much ease. my instructor even trained in tai chi and had a class once a week. i asked him if i should join and he told me i shouldnt waste my time on tai chi cause its for old people with joint problems. bruce lee trained in wing chun and bruce lee is mine and many other martial artists heros so do that|||Tai chi can be very effective for defending yourself but most likely you would be better off with wing chun due to the numerous amounts of terrible tai chi instructors out there.|||dont do bjj unless u wan2 be a ufc fighter cuz bjj is useless in a street fight. try kempo it will mix well with watever else u do|||forget tai chi and learn brazilian jiu jitsu|||Tai chi just isn't worth your time if you are concerned with defending yourself in a streetfight.





In old-time China, Tai Chi, was considered one of the better kung fu styles. It's name in English is, "Grand Ultimate Fist." But, things were done different back in those days. They really took time in developing skills for one thing. In our modern society it's hard to be that patient. They also were super dedicated. They were just a different breed back then.





Tai Chi, as it's taught in modern times, is just too impractial. If it was taught the old way, with all the elements you need to make it a fighting art, then, maybe. But, Tai Chi is taught largely for it's health benefits and very little for it's fighting benefits.





I took Tai Chi for a while. The instructor told me it could be used for self-defense. But, I was always skeptical. The slow moving katas, ki development, and push hands was all that was involved. I couldn't see it practically working very well at all, especially, in a hardcore streetfight. I could see simple strikes, yes, but that was about it. I have a book on Tai Chi and outlines the different elements that are need for Tai Chi to be a functional fighting art. I wasn't learning the full steps. I was only learning about one-fourth of what you should know.


Even if I did the full steps it would have taken a long time. It could have taken a minimum of 5 years up to 10 or more. It was just too much. I really didn't think it would provide self-defense. I was taking it more for relaxation %26amp; health. But, I was interested enough to see if it's fighting side had any practicality to it.





Stay with Wing Chun it is far more practical. There is no need to do Tai Chi to add to your fighting abilities. If you want to take it for health and realxation then do that, it's good for that. But, stay with Wing Chun. I would look into other martial arts instead to help you Wing Chun for fighting. You might look into the grappling styles because Wing Chun doesn't have much groundfighting if any.