Is there any form of Tai Chi that can be used effectively in self defense?

Is there any form of Tai Chi that can be used effectively in self defense?|||All forms of Taijiquan (another spelling of tai chi chuan) can be used effectively in self defense. There are five major families of Taijiquan: Chen, Yang, Wu, Wu (Hao), and Sun. I have met practitioners of several of these styles who were very proficient and in some cases lethal in their execution of the techniques. But I have also met many more who couldn%26#039;t fight their way out of a wet paper bag. It just depends on whether your instructor teaches the full curriculum with a complete understanding of its martial nature or a watered down version. Unfortunately most Taijiquan taught in the West is watered down, as most say it is primarily for %26quot;health%26quot;. These health-only instructors have seriously done a disservice to Taijiquan, since most people don%26#039;t have much respect for Taijiquan as a martial art. Luckily there are still a few of us who train and teach this art form in its true spirit.





If the principles are truly understood, then Taijiquan becomes one of the most practical and effective forms of martial arts from the classical world. But if the principles are not properly understood and not trained, then it%26#039;s just another classical mess.|||The only form of Taijiquan that doesn%26#039;t have self defesne in it is Tai chi chih. All others do. It%26#039;s simply that a lot of schools will only practise the form with you and the exercises but not the self defense aspect .eg. pushing hands. I think Yang style in particular is one that has the most schools that only teach the health aspect. Just check with the schools nearest to you. Go to a class and watch and ask as many questions as you can.





See if they practise plenty of competitive pushing hands. Competitive pushing hands is pretty much stand up wrestling with a lot of emphasis more on principle than technique. Here%26#039;s an example of a match.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg-5D8Hkc...


Make sure they can tell you of their lineage. It might not neccessarily mean anything if they can%26#039;t but they get more brownie points if they can. Modified forms of Taijiquan for health have become popular worldwide in recent times because the benefits of training have been found to be very conducive to calming the mind, relaxing the body, relieving stress, and improving one%26#039;s health in general. Beware of these because these schools won%26#039;t teach you any self defense.





[edit].





Sorry. I didn%26#039;t realise the link had been borken. it%26#039;s fixed now. Here%26#039;s another few videos aswell:


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ1OOPdki...|||I learned Bagua and Hsing I from a little Chinese fellow who was an exchange student. He also taught Tai Chi. I have never seen anyone in the United States teach like this man. I have never seen these arts used like this man uses them. The internal arts are truly effective. They just take a little time to learn how to use them.


So, the answer to your question is yes.|||all forms of tai chi are for self defense.


the problem comes in with the instructors who dont know what they are doing. and dont teach it as a self defense system, but as an exercise class.