Tai chi quan + wing chun?

[king chun]

Aloha ppl, i ve been doing wing chun for a while now, but i have been considering taking up tai chi quan, or baqua as well, as i feel they have different aspects to offer me. Any advice?

[Midnight]

I personally study all 3 of the arts you've detailed as well as Chin Na.

I feel they all compliment eachother rather well. I'd advise anyone to do the same, however not everyone may share my beliefs :)

[Nick Forrer]

Funny you should ask

I just spent an evening with a tai chi/bagua practitioner exchanging techniques, training theories etc. I have recently become very interested in Chen tai Chi after seeing some very beautiful forms and some lovely smooth flowing push hands and have considered doing some myself. However i always have in mind the saying 'better one sharp knife then many blunt ones.' That said if i can find a good Chen teacher I might take it up.

BTW who do you train with in Luton?

[pvwingchun]

I took up Wu style Tai Chi after several years of WC training. If you have a firm foundation in WC give it a try. I would only recommend it for someone who has spent some time in the WC system because the two are similar and you could get confused without being frimly grounded in WC. That said, I learned alot about WC and how to approach the softer side of it from Tai Chi and how to utilize the body. This is not saying I have a bad instructor but a fresh outlook and a different way of looking at things helped immensely in my understanding of WC.

[king chun]

Hey Nick, I train under Sifu Brian Desire, 2 time Brittish full contact Kung Fu Champ, and possibly one of the best fighters/martial artists in the world....... yup...... hmmmm

Thanks for hte comments on the tai chi thing, i think that i should go for it......... or bagua.............. or that new Northan shoalin, tien shan pai place

[Nick Forrer]

cool

Im one of Clive Potters students (st Albans).

I gather that back in the day Clives students and Brians used to have competitions with one another.

If you're ever in St Albans feel free to drop by:D

Take care

Nick

[Gangsterfist]

I currently train Yip Man wing chun and Yang Taijiquan. I can tell you that Taijiquan is a fanstastic martial art. Push hands alone somewhat opened my mind to chi sao. I also blend in some of the taiji stuff with my wing chun. My sifu and sigung both teach wing chun and taiji to all their students. Its good stuff to know and there are other benefits that come with it. I have been exposed to a little of wu style taiji but not much, and I liked it as well.

Good luck in your training,
GF

[foolinthedeck]

i agree, sharpen one knife.
but be open to other ideas and paths.
i've done 10 years of wing chun before now starting yang taiji, actaully i find it very very similar in that my wing chun has developed over time to become very relaxed and soft, moving from the centre, trying to distrub others balance and root rather than just strike etc..

so it maybe that doing taiji can help find the soft internal wing chun, but its not necessary to do so becuase its always there..

i think it depends on your wing chun mindset, my wing chun brothers travel regularly to hong kong to train in Ip Chun's schools, everything they say points to:
1. how much very advanced (30years etc) wing chun is similar to taiji, baqua etc.
2. how no one tries to hit you in the face, they just move you all around the room while laughing.
3. how my 'way' of doing wing chun is similar in style to someone who has done bagua (never done any) or taiji (only just begun).

if you take the concepts of wing chun they can apply to any other art.. it just depends on your interpretations...

does anyone feel there is any difference with which style of taiji you combine it? it seems as if chen people have quite a bad feeling for yang but not vice versa IME.. i suppose it goes back to what i just said - if your wing chun is good enough you will be able to take the best from what you also study..

[foolinthedeck]

actually where i said that good wing chun is like taiji or bagua - what i meant is that at high levels they are all the same thing.. 30 years of wing chun doesnt equal one year or taiji or bagua.. and its by no means a certainty...

just that every road leads inexorably to the same horizon.

[Gangsterfist]

I agree it does not matter if you train internal or external MA. Once you reach a certain level in training you will know both.