Which is the best style of T'ai Chi?

Question

I heard the Yang style is most popular in Western countries, but I was wondering A) which can be most easily applied to martial arts and B) any suggestions from someone who has studied more than one style?

Answer 1

OOH! Someone knows about Chang Style! Chang Tung Sheng was a Master of Masters. He was just sick! (in the good way).

Tai Chi was coined after the development of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan - the most dangerous of all the "Yang" styles.

Yang Lu Chan knew the Silk Reeling exercises, Yin Yang Theory and all the things that made Chen Family Boxing as deadly as it was.

Another thing he knew was Poison Hand - which is from Chen Village Family Boxing ( as it was originally called). Poison Hand is Dim Mak.

Even though the movements themselves are devastating, they are not what makes Tai Chi deadly, so much as the Silk Reeling and Yin Yang/ 5 Element theory - which are part of Poison hand.

Breath - which is Qi, Intention, Alignment - all these things applied to any martial art, will make it more deadly.

So the best Tai Chi is the one that includes the original theories and concepts.

There is a Master of Chen Family Boxing that comes here often. He can clarify even further as my knowledge in this is limited.

By the way Somewhat Alarming - There is only one person in the US really qualified to teach Chang Style - his name is Frank DeMaria. He is the ONLY Adopted Son of Master Chang.

Answer 2

chen

yang

wu

wu (hao)

sun

are the 5 main styles of taiji. they are all based on one another.

the oldest isnt necessarily the best....do you drive a model a ford?...didnt think so.

sun style is very unique as it blends taiji, with movements from bagua and hsing i chuan.

chen style is faster than most. and includes some very deep stances. also more "fajing" or explosive power than many of the others. and a certain amount of 'stamping" it is the oldest of these styles.

yang style is based on chen style. but is done much much slower. many chen stylists say its TOO slow.

so basically...like karate, or jujutsu...there is only the art (taiji in this case) and variations of the theme. they are all taiji. karate is karate, jujutsu is jujutsu.

Answer 3

Well smart guy the oldest stlye of Tai chi is the best.

Answer 4

You should ask a Tai Chi practitioner. I, regretfully, am not one of them. Ask them in person. I could've lied and made something up on the internet.  

Answer 5

I don't think there is a best style as true Tai Chi includes many aspects from health,internal,external,sport and self defence.

I have recently joined Traditional Chinese Wu-Shu  which covers Yang,Chen,Beijing style at various stages with an excellent instructor and I'm not easily impressed as a realist, but check out this link it may help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_chi

Btw: I questioned many of the moves in the Taijiquan 24 form and had them demonstrated on myself in self defence applications so I know they work although they look simple and soft ,very deceiving indeed and I seen many similar techniques within it to jiu-jitsu and aikido.

Best wishes :)***

Answer 6

The ones that you would be looking for in more of the martial sense would be Wu, Chen, and there's one more but I don't have it off the top of my head. They still emphasize the same amount on health aspects but teach the martial applications as well. Yang is the most popular and well known among those who do it solely for health, however there are martial applications in that as well.

So what I'm saying is most martial instructors teach Chen and Wu and most health instructors teach Yang. Now the real issue is finding the right instructor, because... with the right instructor you can learn all you need to in the martial and health world.

You might want to look for a guy on here SN - Sensei Scandal, he may be able to give you more in-depth advice.