# Tai chi form on dvd



## ckn11365 (Mar 31, 2015)

Hello everyone.  I'm new to the forum and also new to taichi.   I am looking to learn the tai chi form and at the present time, I have time and interest to learn but my schedule is so erratic that I'm not able to commit to a class.  I would appreciate your recommendations for an instructional dvd for the Yang long form medium frame preferably in English possibly Cantonese done by a master/teacher whose form is truest to the original form. Thanks for your help.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 31, 2015)

You can't really learn taijiquan, especially the traditional long forms, from a DVD


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## mograph (Mar 31, 2015)

Agreed. The essence is not in the choreography that we might be able to imitate from a DVD; it's in the way we carry ourselves, where we hold our weight, where we keep our tension, how we respond to imbalance, and so on. We get those things from a good teacher who can see us, touch us, and give us personal feedback.


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## zzj (Apr 1, 2015)

Just to add, 'truest to the original form' in itself is a mighty can of worms


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## Kung Fu Wang (Apr 1, 2015)

zzj said:


> Just to add, 'truest to the original form' in itself is a mighty can of worms


No matter how good you can do your "original form", you are just a good "copy machine", no more and no less. All forms were created by people. If ancient people can created forms, why can't we modern people create forms too? The 24 moves Taiji form was created in the modern time.


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 1, 2015)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> No matter how good you can do your "original form", you are just a good "copy machine", no more and no less. All forms were created by people. If ancient people can created forms, why can't we modern people create forms too? The 24 moves Taiji form was created in the modern time.



Well first I do not think this has anything to do with the conversation, no one is saying you can't create a new form the OP is asking for a DVD recommendation to learn a traditional form. second no two people are exactly alike so no two people do the form exactly the same and it is not required and what you are calling "copy machine" I am calling making the form your own. However getting the concepts right and the basics correct is important. But based on the no two people are alike makes being "truest to the original form" darn close to impossible. Add to that changes to the forms by legitimate "family" teachers of the form...well....things are not currently the same in traditional forms as what was done when those forms started. Don't forget, Yang came from Chen, Wu came from Yang, Wu/Hao came from Chen and Yang and Sun came from Wu/Hao

As for 24 form was made mostly by a person that was more of a XIngyiquan guy than a taijiquan guy, but it is a nice little form, I learned it years ago but today, because of my traditional Yang Background it looks much more like a shortened traditional form than the competition form it is.


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## Instructor (Apr 1, 2015)

Find a local teacher and after class ask that teacher if he'll make you a DVD...


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## Vajramusti (Apr 1, 2015)

Xue Sheng said:


> Well first I do not think this has anything to do with the conversation, no one is saying you can't create a new form the OP is asking for a DVD recommendation to learn a traditional form. second no two people are exactly alike so no two people do the form exactly the same and it is not required and what you are calling "copy machine" I am calling making the form your own. However getting the concepts right and the basics correct is important. But based on the no two people are alike makes being "truest to the original form" darn close to impossible. Add to that changes to the forms by legitimate "family" teachers of the form...well....things are not currently the same in traditional forms as what was done when those forms started. Don't forget, Yang came from Chen, Wu came from Yang, Wu/Hao came from Chen and Yang and Sun came from Wu/Hao
> 
> As for 24 form was made mostly by a person that was more of a XIngyiquan guy than a taijiquan guy, but it is a nice little form, I learned it years ago but today, because of my traditional Yang Background it looks much more like a shortened traditional form than the competition form it is.


---------------------------------------------
Point well made- Xue Sheng.


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## Vajramusti (Apr 1, 2015)

Vajramusti said:


> ---------------------------------------------
> Point well made- Xue Sheng.


PS. Several Chen masters including Chen Xiao Wang have made several short Chen forms
because some moderns do not have the time to practice the long forms. But these newer versions contain
key principles abstracted by taiji masters who know what they were doing.


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 1, 2015)

Vajramusti said:


> PS. Several Chen masters including Chen Xiao Wang have made several short Chen forms
> because some moderns do not have the time to practice the long forms. But these newer versions contain
> key principles abstracted by taiji masters who know what they were doing.



Also there is a possibility that in the days of Chen Wangting and all the way to the days of Chen Changxing that there was only A Chen long form that sometime later got split in the Laojia Yilu and Erlu and of course Chen Fake came up with Xinjia Yilu and Erlu and there is also a Xiaojia as well. So there have been variations on the theme for a very long time. As well as Yang Luchan's form being changed by Yang Jianhou and then changed again by Yang Chengfu.


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## TaiChiTJ (Apr 2, 2015)

A possible game plan might be to consider where you are in the world geographically, then look for a Tai Chi teacher somewhat close to you. Ask if you can have some beginning lessons, making it clear that becoming a regular attending student is just not possible right now. If after examining what he or she is teaching, the material seems useful and relevant to what you want, go off and practice for awhile, stay in touch with the teacher. In this scenario, any relevant book or dvd would then be reference material, backed up with notes you have taken and written in your tai chi notebook. That could be a start.


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## Instructor (Apr 3, 2015)

TaiChiTJ said:


> A possible game plan might be to consider where you are in the world geographically, then look for a Tai Chi teacher somewhat close to you. Ask if you can have some beginning lessons, making it clear that becoming a regular attending student is just not possible right now. If after examining what he or she is teaching, the material seems useful and relevant to what you want, go off and practice for awhile, stay in touch with the teacher. In this scenario, any relevant book or dvd would then be reference material, backed up with notes you have taken and written in your tai chi notebook. That could be a start.


 
That is essentially what I said too!


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 3, 2015)

There also may be Martial arts school in the OP's area that are not listed as Taiji schools, but they may have Taiji seminars from time to time. Also look for meet ups in the OP's area as well


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## ckn11365 (Apr 4, 2015)

Thanks for the responses and suggestions.   Any recommendations for schools / instructors in the Queens/Nassau county area in NY.


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 4, 2015)

ckn11365 said:


> Thanks for the responses and suggestions.   Any recommendations for schools / instructors in the Queens/Nassau county area in NY.



There are a lot of Taiji teachers in that area, Ren Guangyi is down there some place and there are Chen Taiji metope groups, also William CC Chen is in NYC area as well. Look around and see who is there and then let us know who you found


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## ckn11365 (Apr 4, 2015)

I also came across Dong/Tung taichi.   Does anyone have any experience with them?


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 5, 2015)

ckn11365 said:


> I also came across Dong/Tung taichi.   Does anyone have any experience with them?



That is likely from Alex Dong, Grandson of Tung Ying Chieh. My taijiquan lineage comes form Tung Ying Chieh, he was my teachers teacher, but my sifu calls it Yang style. Dong style came into existence from Alex's father Dong Zeng Chen, as did the use of Dong for the family name instead of using Tung. What Alex does is a little different than what I do but I have been told he is not bad. There is a taiji person on MT that has trained with Alex and he could likely tell you more than I can.


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