Question about Shuai Chiao and Tai chi.--------Really Worth Reading

[JNA]

:D Hello to ev'ryone. I'm new if you didn't know. I'm in sort of a question frenzy since this is my third one on my first day. What can i say, I love Martial Arts and I'm generally a curious guy. Anyhow I read somewhere that Shuai Chiao and Tai Chi are very similar in that Shuai Chiao gives you the same health benefits as Tai Chi. Some practitioners of this style even consider it 2 sides of the same coin (do you?). Does anyone know if its true. Second question is about Chang Tung Sheng's style of Tai Chi. Does anyone know if its as effective as Chen, Yang, and Wu. I read on Frank Demaria's site that Chang Tung Sheng himself didn't think push hands was important. He even was reportedly known to play it as a game to relax. Do you think this would effect Chang style Tai Chi's effectiveness. Someone correct me on this and please forgive if this was stated already on another's post.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> [/quote]

"The Self Defense mentality" is one of escaping from a violent encounter unharmed. "The Warriors mentality" is one of taking out the enemy as quickly and efficient as possible-
Ji Ji Ke (Ji Long feng).Which one do you have?

[MaFuYee]

Leonidas,

i don't know if i would say that shuai chaio gives the same health benefits as tai chi, as that may be a bit misleading.
certainly almost any physical exercise is beneficial to your health; however, shuai chaio can definitely be considered a more 'vigorous' activity, than say, yang style tai chi chuan, ("can" being the operative word.) and thus be considered to be more appropriate for younger folks, where as tai chi can be practiced very late into your life, due to it's low-impact proclivities.

the yang style of tai chi that i learn, has a heavy leaning towards shuai chiao applications. - every move can be applied as a throw. - and, we also put only a small emphasis on push hands. - it is mainly the cmc lineages that put the heaviest emphasis on push hands.

as for chang style tai chi being as effective as yang, chen wu, etc; i think that is dependant upon the practitioner. - but, i will say, chang style is most simmilar to yang style, as it is a slightly modified version of a yang style. - and, the book on chang style tai chi, written by frank demuria, is supposedly not authorised by chang, and is supposedly, not actually THE "chang style tai chi", but rather a simple variant taught to appease mr demuria.

please, won't you give us a brief bio.

http://www.changshuaichiao.com/index.htm

- neque mibi quisquam Judaeorum fabulas objiciat.

[DarkKnight]

Shuai Chiao is an external style. Taiji is internal but has some very external applications. It is not correct to suggest that both styles (Be it Ch'ang, Yang, Wu, Sun, ect...)have the same health benefits. When properly interpreted, taiji
has several core Shuai-chiao throws. This interpretation was made more distict by the great GM Ch'ang. However, I would venture to say that if you train only Ch'ang taiji, you are not really training Shuai Chiao. In the same breath, if you are not training taiji, you will miss a very worthwhile component of you Shuai Chiao training.
In the end, it all come down to your instructor

[Water Dragon]

Shuai Chiao has a much heavier feel to it. Shuai Chiao likes to go in and directly attack the center.

Taiji prefers to lead the center out and exploit it in a weakend condition.

We're speaking about the center of gravity here. Shaui Chiao seems to prefer attacking the center directly, Taiji will get to it from a more obscure angle.

The mechanics are very similar but they are used in different ways. This is what makes them feel different.