As I said in my previous post I got into martial arts in general after watching a Bruce Lee movie (as, if they are honest, will be the major reason that most people get into martial arts! It may not be a Bruce Lee movie, but it will be because of some Kung Fu film or TV show!).
I loved Muay Thai because at the time I was a bundle of nervous, twitchy energy and I liked the intensity of the art (I was into pretty hardcore stuff back then; hard house dance music, extreme sports etc), but as I have got older, I realised a lot of that twitchy energy was due to being a bit of an introvert and therefore having something called a "high acting arousal system" (which isn't rude, it is about the amount of stimulus you need to get an adrenaline dump, the higher the acting system, the more excited or nervous you get more easily, make sense?), so all these extreme things I was into were actually making me more nervous, over excitable and twitchy.
I needed something to chill me out and calm me down. Tai Chi was ideal for that, the slow controlled movements, the breathing, the relaxation... It helped me calm down, chill out, become more mindful and less clumsy. I tried Yoga, but I found that just too painful, Tai Chi seemed to suite me better...
I still find I get all twitchy, clumsy and nervous if I don't Tai Chi or sit (meditate - but more on that in a later post), regularly enough. I moved house about a year a go and in all the upheaval and stress, I stopped Tai Chi-ing and sitting for probably about 6 months. I noticed that I started getting all twitchy and excitable again...
But Tai Chi, is much more than standing and waving your arms. It is well known for its gentle exercise and meditative properties. The evidence for the positive effects of Tai Chi are boundless, I will, in one of these blogs, put a list of links to research that shows the positive effect of Tai Chi in so many different and varied areas of health and well being (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if one day they find out that Tai Chi is all you need to do to keep fit and healthy!).
Tai Chi is actually a pretty intense work out if you do it properly, it may look all gentle and easy, standing there waving your arms around, but if you focus on the movement you can find after just minutes of doing the form you know you have done a workout!
However, mostly, I became addicted to Tai Chi because I realised that it is a very, very effective martial art. In fact, it is predominantly a martial art and with all the talk of health benefits of Tai Chi, this is often lost. The Tai Chi form is a very carefully designed form of shadow boxing...
You see the full name for Tai Chi is "Ta Chi Chuan" (or taijiquan as some of the more hardcore devotees demand it to be written) literally translates as "supreme ultimate fist", "boundless fist," "great extremes boxing" (depending on who you believe).
By practicing Tai Chi you can start to develop some of the seemingly superhuman abilities you see in those old Kung Fu movies. OK, you may not be able to fly or jump off mountains, but you will find you will be more limber, faster and much stronger than you appear, with the ability to push, pull and shove things with ease that people twice your size would struggle to do.
And the great thing about it is that, unlike to so many other martial arts that you seem to peak at in your 20's and slowly decline over the years, the more you practice Tai Chi the better you get it, no matter your age. This is why you often see the stereotype of the old master living on a mountain being able to throw their younger and seemingly fitter students around with one finger!
You can never, ever perfect Tai Chi, you will tweak and change and adapt and perfect it over the years. Some days it will feel like the Tai Chi will take over, other days it won't flow at all and I will give up in a huff.
But don't let all that talk of fighting put you off, Tai Chi is the worlds laziest martial art and you only need to put as much effort as you can or want to into it to start developing your abilities it gradually builds up over time (learning and perfecting Tai Chi is not to be rushed!).
So, Tai Chi really seems to be to be "the ultimate" that is translates into!
Matt
The Tai Chi Guy
www.thetaichiguy.co.uk
Tai Chi and Chi Kung Classes in Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, UK
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