Wudang Tai Chi in London/Cambridge/UK

[Inquisitor]

[This is a repeat post from the Kung Fu Forum - posted here just in case there are those who visit this forum but do not visit the main forum.]


I'm asking another question for the same friend who wanted information on Lau Gar in the UK (if you guys remember, heh). He didn't think Lau Gar was for him, so he's been looking around for other schools/styles. Apparently there is a Cambridge Tai Chi Club (something like that), and the instructors there are all students of a man named Dan Docherty, who is a long-time student of Chen Tin Hung. My friend is a student at Fitzwilliam (one of the Cambridge University colleges) and is seriously considering taking the time to learn this system. I have heard the names Chen Tin Hung and Dan Docherty before (Dan has a good reputation in Tai Chi fighting circles), but I have no first-hand knowledge of the system or style itself, having only learned the Yang and Chen styles myself (and only a few years at that). My friend tells me that they split the time between forms and application (which sounds good to me - especially considering that most Tai Chi schools don't bother teaching ANY application). Here is the URL of a web-page which gave me the most information about Chen Tin Hung:
http://www.taichichuan.co.uk/articles_and_discussions/wudang/lineage.html

It appears to be derived mostly from Wu style... Please only give constructive information (it can be positive or negative, but it MUST be constructive; in other words, no trolling/bashing/etc). Personally, I am very inclined to tell him to feel free to jump in.

Thanks in advance for any and all replies given. :)

[dz]

My name is Wai and I'm a student of Sifu Docherty's. There's a lot of talk about Wudang TCC, some people think it's muscle-wrestling, other say it's very good Tai Chi. I'm sort of subjective in this question, obviously since I'm a student. :)

Here are a few characteristics of WTCC:

. Yes, applications play a main role in this style. Students are often taught applications of the postures of the form(s) from the very first class.

. Conditioning and Neikung - Running thunder hands, rolling, 24 Neikung exercises, etc. For building power, strength, endurance, etc. Neikung exercises have a kind of Iron body function too.

. Pushing hands. And lots of this. Not going into all the kinds of different Tui Shou we do, but there is heavy emphasis on pushing hands.

I suggest that your friend should take a couple of classes and try it out. Sure, one can talk a lot about a style on the net, but in the end only practical training/experience can fully justify a school. There are also more information about the style on the website that you posted (main -> discussions -> five components).

I don't know the Cambridge TCC school myself, please ask your friend to share his experience with us here.

Regards

Wai