Here is a couple of Brittish sites you may be interested in re Tai Chi Chuan as a fighting art. The Wudang style is the style I practise. Dan Docherty based in London used this Style as taught by Grandmaster Chen Ting Hung from Hong Kong to compete in full contact fights in Tawain with much success and won the open weight division at the 5th south east asian chinese pugilistic championship in 1980. www.taichichuan.co.uk www.martialway.org www.shadowhand.com Hope you find these interesting Wutan.
im taking taichi from a 20 year practitioner. every session so far he has given me precticle application to fighting, although im still very young in this art and mostly im just learning balance and health benifit. ... actually i thought i was goin into a hostile situation friday and all i could think of was the applications. but it turned out to be a surpise party for my B-day, i was so embarrassed, thinking i was gonna have to crack a guys skull and then im surrounded by friends... Off topic. yeah taichi for self defence here, but goin from 60 pound legpresses to 180 lb leg presses in 2 weeks is not a bad health benefit
One of the problems encountered while fighting is getting hit and having a sudden loss of equilibrium. Bagua circle walking is a dizzying exercise, but your body adapts and overcomes this, after time strengthening the inner ear muscles, which will result in a stronger equilibruim, and hopefully make you better than your opponent at resisting a knockout. Circle walking could be added to anyone's style just for this reason, plus while turning you are constantly working on your footwork. Just don't practice around a pole (bad habit) use your own hand for the center. We want to learn to fight people not poles and trees.
I don't have any experience with Bagua. Could you elaborate a little on this circle walking? Is there a specific procedure? How much walking is good? If it helps keep you from getting shaken up and you can pair it with any art, it seems like a really useful addition to anybody's training.
The three sisters, Pa Kua, Hsing-I and Tai Chi. I have been told that the most benificial aspects of these three arts are complimentary. Tai Chi will teach you to become aware of the circulation of your Chi. Pa Kua is the best to help you to increase its flow and Hsing-I will teach you how to express it in large quantities.
I'll try to make it short. The diameter of the circle you walk is roughly the same as your body height. It is imagined in your mind and the forward hand of your fighting stance is the center of the circle, usually pivoting around the wrist, this requires your waist to be twisting into the circle because your feet are walking in a normal fashion following the outside line of the circle, one foot inside the the circle, the other on the outside. Keep your eyes focused on your hand. Start in a counter-clockwise direction, then reverse and go clockwise. Walk with knees slightly bent to develop leg strength. There will be a constant winding motion between the waist and hips, as the waist will want to turn outward while the waist must be turned inwards to keep the wrist in the center, this is what develops an incredible hip/waist strength for striking.
