Tai Chi does have a martial arts application but can a Tai Chi master inflict serious damage to his opponent?

in real life?


I read in a Tai Chi book that it has a martial art application.|||always depends on how it is taught, as any martial art.





Taiji has a recent history of being used as a health art, although its original purpose was martial





that said, if you can find a teacher who still teaches martial application, it would be great ina fight.








one of the reasons is that it teaches you to remain calm in a fight (quiet your brain and eliminate your preassumptions about what the opponent is going to do - "not anticipating but being a reflection upon the attacker)





anyway not all taiji is practiced slow- some styles are practiced more quickly with the further your skill is








so depending on what that taiji master trains for -self defense? then yes he could.








also one person said taiji has no sparring - they have a form of sparring where two people make arm contact with eachother and in a rhythmic pattern attempt to overcome the other persons energy





search youtube for pushing hands if you want to see this exercise





also other chinese martial arts have similar "sparring"-esque things such as wing tsun has Chi Sau which is also a method of feeling and overcoming your opponents energy





research this well!|||Taijiquan (another way of spelling Tai Chi Chuan) is first and foremost martial application, not a "feel your qi and let's get healthy together" exercise. It can be used to generate incredible health for the practitioner, but it shouldn't be defined solely by its therapeutic benefits.





Remember that Taijiquan as a martial art was created for use on the battlefield. This means that the bare-hand and weapons techniques were meant for quickly and efficiently dispatching the enemy. According to the Chinese systems, there are four basic combat elements: 1, kicking; 2, striking; 3, grappling,wrestling throwing; and 4, seizing and controlling. When taught correctly, Taijiquan teaches all four of these methods.





EDIT:


Unfortunately it is true that most schools and instructors do not teach any advanced sparring beyond just push hands - and American style push hands too! Again this is because most do not know how to incorporate Taijiquan principles into fighting. Likewise, due to the complex nature of these principles, you cannot just throw a new student into straight sparring, because it will just look like a kickboxing or wrestling match - and a bad one at that. There is a proper process where the structure and sensitivity (qualities that elevate this style) are taught through numerous push hands exercises, applications drills, and various levels of sparring, that will eventually lead up to freestyle sparring where your partner is also intent on dominating you.





You have to understand that we are trying to instill a particular type of muscle memory beyond the use of straight brute force and all out speed. And this training procedure does take time.





EDIT 2:





Again, ignorant comments like smiling jack's are fueled by irresponsible instructors who only teach the circling arms with no purpose. True Chinese martial artists call this ridiculous type of instruction as "flowery hands and dancing feet." We want nothing of this type of instruction.|||You got that a bit backwards. Taichi which is short for Taichiquan is a martial art. Most people today train in it because it has health benefits, but there are many masters who teach it as a martial art.





Can it be used against an opponent? Yes, if you find a teacher who actually knows the martial applications. As for serious damage, a blow place anywhere at the critical area of the human body can cause serious damage. This is nothing new or unique to taichiquan.|||Tai Chi was created for self defense and for fighting in wars. It should only be learned from a qualified instructor. Its impossible to properly learn any MA especially complex ones like Tai Chi by urself from books, dvds, or the internet. There is a lack of instructors that actually know the art. Most are just jerk offs that teach it as a watered down health exercise.|||As always, EXCELLENT answer from Siytangco Sifu.





Here is video from a woman in the UK who trained in Taiwan.





http://www.youtube.com/user/martialtaich鈥?/a>





See for yourself what the movements of Tai Chi can do when properly taught.|||yes, it can if...


If you follow through with the basic appliication and understand what are the defensive moves, and what are then the offensive moves.





It is just a slowed down version , emphasizing the peaceful aspect that maritial arts has.|||http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W1ym3ygg鈥?/a>





Tai Chi Masters battle!


Some serious damage in there.|||Why wouldn't Tai Chi master be able to inflict serious damage?





Often with Tai Chi, the harder you try to hurt them the more you hurt yourself.|||Tai chi looks to be a very relaxing soft martial art but in the hands and feet of a master who truly understands their art it can be as deadly as any other art.|||Tai Chi can indeed have combat applications, but any martial art that does not have sparring against resisting opponents is not going to be very effective.|||No doubt Tai Chi have a martial arts application.





But!





The question is: Why do you wants to inflict serious damage to your opponent???|||I didnt know making circles with your arms could inflict damage to someone|||Oh yeah.|||Yes, it can.|||yes, Chen (from Chen Tai Chi) destroyed a man's ribcage when he was defending his village in China..