what is your view on Chen style TaiChi ?

[greendragon]

I am thinking of checking out a school teaching Chen family TC. What do you guys think of it, would like to hear either good or bad. How does it compare with other styles ? I have been doing the combined form popular in China. The Yang style schools seem weak, stiff and not teaching martial applications but that is just the local problem I am sure. I have a chance to go with Chen style but don't know much about it.

[Crushing Fist]

Chen style is very cool...


Its dynamic with quick explosive motions mixed in and more circular than Yang with its linear power delivery.


Doing Chen style is what first gave me explosive snapping power

I would highly recommend it.


BTW, the combined form you do, is that the 24 move form?

[greendragon]

yes, the 24 form. Sounds good, I've had some jook lum mantis so I can appreciate the snapping type striking. thanks.

[JuanMaldonado]

Chen style is very cool, looks very explosive. I haven't tried it myself but have seen some of it demonstrated. I would try it if I had a chance.

Too bad about your local Yang schools. Yang Style is beautiful to look at when done correctly and the apps are very powerful.

[bamboo_ leaf]

Taiji is taiji, all styles are good depending on what one is looking for.

http://www.emptyflower.com/cgi-bin/y...374280;start=0

probably your best bet on the net is to contact Mo_ling at Ef and ask him about chen style and different teachers here in the US. He seems to have a very broad and unique perspective on the art.

No, I do not practice chen style

[Hunt]

I've been been studying chen stlye old frame for about a year now....I must say that I went into it thinking of it as a supplement to my health, but the more I learned, the more I became facinated with the martial aspect....Of course I have nothing to compare it with...definitely empowering...of course 99% of this is due to my instructors

[Mo Ling]

Thanks for the kind words of course 'Leaf.
You know, your inquiry is hard to address because at issue is really what YOU are lookinng for and why. Answering that will answer your questions to some degree, but in the end, it is also about what you want to train, and why versus your local availability and/or willingness to travel.

If you want what Chen has but your llocal Yang style offering are of a higher calibre, I would suggest going with the highest skill you can rather than a lesser version of something presumed to be better/different. The same applies in reverse, if Chen or some other art is better locally.

[DarinHamel]

Chen style classes seem to be the only ones you can count on to have martial applications in them. I have seen no other Taijiquan that is so consistent across the country. Just as Chen usually has fighters Yang style usually doesn't. Worldwide it might be different but here in North America thats the way it seems to me.

I teach Yang style btw.

[yangyang]

Chen style classes seem to be the only ones you can count on to have martial applications in them. I have seen no other Taijiquan that is so consistent across the country. Just as Chen usually has fighters Yang style usually doesn't. Worldwide it might be different but here in North America thats the way it seems to me. I teach Yang style btw.

All I can say is WOW! Please show me all these North American Chen style FIGHTERS please. I anxiously await your response. I have never seen a single person who does Chen that actually fights. All this speak about Chen being the martial and Yang being the health is all nonsense. You get what you train, no matter what the style.

[DarinHamel]

All I can say is WOW! Please show me all these North American Chen style FIGHTERS please. I anxiously await your response. I have never seen a single person who does Chen that actually fights. All this speak about Chen being the martial and Yang being the health is all nonsense. You get what you train, no matter what the style.

Take a deep breath there buddy... I posted my opinion in response to anothers question. It was just one mans opinion. I did not post to argue. Take your anger somewhere else.

[Hulei Boy]

The Chen style and it's variation such as Zhaobao and Hulei do seem to sport some good fighters. The locks, leverages, and throws are all pretty evident and similar to the old Shuai Jiao or Chinese Wrestling throws. My teacher's teacher, Lin Ah Long only uses Taiji techiniques when he fights and is a renown fighter in Taiwan (he trains both Zhaobao and Yang style Taiji). The Chen Taiji people are also big on push hands drills and this is also most likely a good reason for their fighting ability. In fact, in push hands competition it is usually Chen people or Wu style (Wu Jian Quan) people that are the champs.

[yangyang]

Take a deep breath there buddy... I posted my opinion in response to anothers question. It was just one mans opinion. I did not post to argue. Take your anger somewhere else.

First of all, I'm not angry at all. To each his own, but you still haven't answered my question; Where are all these Chen fighters that you are talking about?? Show me some.

I'm not putting down Chen style at all, but all I have seen is push hands contests which generally are or become wrestling matches. I have seen no high level skill in any Chen push hands tournaments yet. Plenty of pushing and pulling though.

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

I have seen no high level skill in any Chen push hands tournaments yet. Plenty of pushing and pulling though.

LOL.. that is a perception.. if you have played with the likes of Josh Waitzken, Dan Caulfield, the Childress clan, Tiffany Chen, etc... you would realize that the "pushing and pulling" can be a very advanced sensitivity experience.. they can elevate sensitivity to a combat level, not just polite unbalancing games... Try pushing-hands with Taiwan Rules, where throws are expected and subtle manipulations in the heat of struggles are hardly noticable to the untrained eye.. I think we have a restricted perception of Taiji's martial capability, we seem to think it must be some esoteric set of mystical movements.. it is combat done with Taiji principles. At combat speed Taiji appears similar, it's the results that are Taiji's signature...

Be well...

[yangyang]

I don't know Bob, I respect your opinion and experience, but I guess I see things differently. The Chen tournaments (and Yang) that I have seen are tugging, pulling, and pushing, which is mostly the same way wrestlers get their advantages. The elavated sensitivity you speak of could or could not be TCC and I see no YI leading Chi or any of those higher principles being exhibited. Maybe it's the way the rules are setup which can be restricting and inhibiting, but judging by tournaments alone I see no fajing, no peng jing, just pulling, tugging, and pushing. I should also mention that I do see some good rooting skills anyway. I'm only an intermediate (at best) player myself, so maybe my eyes are not seeing the truth yet, but **** if it doesn't look exactly like wrastling to me

As far as the Tiffany/Max/William Chen Yang style people go, they train with boxing gloves and to me that is another non-tai chi type activity to train. I am not criticising their skillz but training methods that involve boxing gloves seems like Boxing, not TCC. I never heard of Yang Cheng Fu or CMC using boxing gloves.

[B-Rad]

As far as the Tiffany/Max/William Chen Yang style people go, they train with boxing gloves and to me that is another non-tai chi type activity to train. I am not criticising their skillz but training methods that involve boxing gloves seems like Boxing, not TCC. I never heard of Yang Cheng Fu or CMC using boxing gloves.

If I'm not mistaken, they openly train boxing and san shou to go with their taiji. If you look at the CMC form the punching and kicking seems pretty limited. Tiffany Chen is one of the few people I've actually seen knock people around in pushands though without resorting to wrestling or brute strength.