Tai Chi Gim Question

[backbreaker]

LOL, many times I will repeat one move of a form while I am doing a form, because it just didn't feel right to me, or I felt the martial intent was waek, so I end up repeating moves over and over anyways before going to the next one.

[ngokfei]

IMO

Yang and Woo have the softest gim/jian set emphasizing more balance and health then application (depends on the teacher)

Wu and Chen are more combat oriented as they use the spectrum of the body and power projection.

As far as I know Yang Lu Chan didn't teach a sword form but was very famous for his spear skills. Quite possible it was added later probably by his son but today many Yang schools teach different sword sets.

Chen family weapon sets are pretty recent in their present form. While based on much older sets/techniques.


In regards to the Hand forms I think it really has to do with the teachers experiences. There seems to be a trend in regards to the discovery of secret sets only taught inside of families but its hard to say.

I can only speak for myself (a wu stylist) as I perform the set I know in many different ways. These would include the flavor of slow method - medium continuous method to a fast exploding/releasing method including stomps and jump kicks.

Tai Chi is a real treasure in that it can have many expressions.

[Ao Qin]

Hi again - I would just like to thank everyone for responding to my questions! I learned a lot, and truly appreciate everyone's input! I wish I had something of value to add, but I don't.

One of my goals is to learn this set from a Chen Style Master, before I take my bows and leave the stage of life!

Cheers - Ao Qin