Tai Chi As A True Martial Art

Is Tai Chi Chuan an authentic martial art, or merely a gentle exercise regimen loosely based on martial arts?

It’s not surprising some folks wonder. How, they ask, can those slow, graceful movements have practical value in real combat?

The truth is that most people who practice Tai Chi, whether here or in China, don’t have much martial ability. Many practice purely for health benefits and have little interest in developing martial skill. Others seek martial skill and power but don’t know how to acquire them.

Still, Tai Chi is a formidable martial art if practiced as one. Its long lineage in China includes many famous fighters. What separates those with real martial ability from the others is the way they train.

Many Tai Chi players today practice only the choreographed sets of movements called forms. Form practice is crucial because the martial techniques of Tai Chi are embedded in those sets of movements, but form practice is not enough.

The so-called internal power required to use those techniques effectively comes largely from other special exercises, including qigong. Likewise, single-person drills and two-person training of various sorts are needed to refine movements and learn how to apply techniques in a self-defense situation.

These training requirements have been lost to some branches of Tai Chi, where eager and capable students languish because their teachers have little to teach.

If a student is taught properly and practices correctly, progress may be slow but it should be clear and steady. If a student trains hard and achieves no results, he or she is either not paying attention to the teacher or needs a new one.

Some students train for years without developing any real “internal” power but plug along, hoping it will magically appear, maybe after 10 or 20 years. It won’t.