Tai Chi

I just started doing this to help me get back into shape.  Does anyone else do it?  I'm an even bigger novice at this than chess but it's pretty fun.  Harder than I thought it would be.

What is tai chi??

is it a game similar then chess??

Tai Chi is a form of martial arts that benefits the mind and body.  It's considered a "soft" martial art because it doesn't emphasize brute strength, it concentrates on your body's inner energy, also referred to as core energy.  I know that sounds very eastern religion and jedi'esk but core body training is pretty big now and is used by many professional athletes.  Inner energy also refers to certain religious beliefs of Tai Chi masters.  Tai Chi is practiced by most of China and people are often seen doing Tai Chi in parks all over the world.  It's the slow movements thing that you see people doing in the movies.

josh waitzkin does tai chi chuan. i prefer brazilian jiu jitsu :)

Martial arts and all that seem pretty cool, but the religious/spiritual beliefs that go along with it just aren't really my thing. And for self-defense, I prefer my Glock 26.

Tai Chi doesn't appeal to me.  It's seems to be one of those trendy activities whose reputation and number of adherents far outweigh any actual evidence for it's efficacy.  Plus it has seems to have a lot of vaguely religious pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo surrounding it.

 

Here in the UK I don't have the option of a Glock 26, or any other type of gun, since the carrying of guns is not allowed; with very few exceptions.  I don't have a problem with this and would find it strange living a country where most people were armed.  I expect people in the opposite position would feel the same about the UK!

 

If anyone attacks me, I'll have to hit them over the head with a chessboard and throw the chess pieces at them!

I personally agree with your assessment of Tai Chi, SonofPearl. I also think that getting hit with a chessboard and numerous triple-weighted pieces would have good "stopping power" :) Regarding a pistol... random acts of violence do happen, so I prefer to be prepared. (being "prepared" saved my grandfathers life.)

I stopped doing this already. >_<  Basically, I couldn't find a place to teach it without first signing me up for all kinds of other crazy fighting styles to learn first.  "You'll need a good foundation in marital arts before we can teach you Tai Chi."  Plus the DVD I bought to teach you how had the instructor constantly confusing his right with his left.  Which just pissed me off and defeated the whole purpose of it, which was to help relieve stress.  It's proven to be a stress reliever and it helps keep the body limber.  You can obviously practice Tai Chi without practicing any of the religious aspects of it.  Like I said, I took it up because it's proven to relieve stress, it can be done anywhere, and it's good for the body.  If the damn guy had known his right from his left I probably would've stuck with it.

 

Here is an example of his DVD.  "Now slowly move all of your weight onto your right leg and move your right leg forward." W-T-F  Plus he's doing it all backwards visually because he's facing you on the TV so you have to pretty much disreguard what you are seeing and listen to his instruction.  He does it numerous times and corrects himself mid-word and sometimes mid-sentence, but there are 3 times when he doesn't correct himself at all.  Anyway, my wife is trying to get me to do yoga now.

I prefer Shoalin Hung-Gar Kung Fu.

Granted Tai-Chi is one of the most "misunderstood" martial arts. however I like it to for the benefits it gives me, It allows me to develop focus, strength (not like Hulk Hogan strength), patience, and a few others. I think thats where they get the "spiritual" aspect of it. We live in a society that is moving ever so fast. When was the last time you just kicked back and relaxed? (Other than playing chess.) When did you do something for you that mentally took you away from the world and its messed up issues? Thats why I like Tai Chi.

I think people here are a little confused about what Tai Chi is.

Tai Chi is a martial art just like any other which can teach you how to defend yourself, however the vast majority of practitioners study Tai Chi as a form of exercise which can improve (among other things) balance, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness. Studies from China and Western countries has convinced clinics, senior centers and even hospitals to start taking advantage.

I am not any kind of expert as I have only been taking lessons for around five years, however I will say that I have experienced many positives as a result of those lessons. And there hasn't been any kind of religious or mysticism aspects in my lessons what so ever.

It seems that many, if not all, martial arts is seen as being very mystical by those that don't know much about them, yet western martial arts and fighting styles (such as boxing for one) don't have these myths attached to them.

sonofpearl, you, like me live in the UK, so you should have no problem getting a gun ( well so the papers have you believe ). And LeviAjones, i read somewhere that Josh Waitzkin as retired from chess. But whether its to concentrate on tai chi i don't know.

Last to first... troll LA LA LA troll.