Tai Chi and Tournaments

[liangzhicheng]

How do you guys feel about tournaments and Tai Chi? I've heard that it's bad for Tai Chi development if one goes in with the wrong mindset (like expecting to win). Another problem is that in pushing hands, oftentimes the competitors use brute force and not Tai Chi principles to win. I've competed in one tournament, and I think that tournaments can help Tai Chi training, as long as it's approached correctly. I didn't go in expecting to win (...ok, so a part of me did ), and I decided beforehand that in pushing hands, I would try my best to only use soft techniques. I increased the intensity of my training before the tournament in order to prepare. On the day of the tournament, I felt ok up until the moment I had to perform...then I got nervous and my hands were shaking like a mofo But, I got through the form and was on time. In pushing hands, I did a fair job of keeping soft. Instead of letting my head get big, I realized that my form was much worse than I had thought it was, and therefore, I have been training even harder! Thus, I think that tournaments can actually help one along the Tai Chi journey.


Any tournaments coming up in the midwest? I know there's one coming up in October in Canton, OH.

 

[liangzhicheng]

While on the topic of tournaments, what about Tai Chi in the Olympics? How will this affect Tai Chi?

 

[arnisador]

It'll surely help its popularity--though that's always a two-edged sword.

Look for more people focusing on just those aspects that lend themselves toward competition.

 

[East Winds]

liangzhicheng,

Interesting post. I personally don't like tournaments. The tournament forms are in general wushu based and therefore to some extent artificial. They have lost the flavour of the original forms. For instance, I have a compilation tape which I show my students of six different "masters" each performing the same section of (supposedly standardised) 24 step "simplified" form and each is doing it differently! Then I show them Master Christopher Pei performing 24 step in the manner of Traditional Yang Family Taijiquan and you can immediately see the difference. Chris Pei would not win any competitions with his performance but it certainly contains all of Yang Cheng-fu's ten essences. As for pushing hands, yes they generally deteriorate into grappling strength contests with the real purpose of "sticking and adhereing" being lost. The olympics will certainly bring Taiji to the notice of a lot more people and I'm sure we will get the flood of "celebrity" taiji for health videos. But I look on it that any publicity is good puiblicity and those who stick with it past the first few months, eventually graduate to "real" Taiji schools.

Very best wishes

Alistair Sutherland

 

[liangzhicheng]

East Winds, I understand your sentiments completely. One of the things my Sifu worried about was whether the judges would be able to truly judge Tai Chi skill, and not just external appearances. At the tournament I went to, there were no required standardized forms. I performed a shortened version of the Wu family 54 form, which was developed by the Wu family, and not by the Chinese government. I see why there are standardized forms, but I think it's a bad idea when those forms are not developed by the respective families themselves. Another bad idea is external MAs judging internal MAs. Theoretically, the judges should be able to see whether or not the competitor is actually doing Tai Chi or some pretty variation. I think Tai Chi will gain more popularity, which I hope will lead to better judging as the Tai Chi portion of tournaments grows, requiring actual Tai Chi judges. If the trend towards flashy external forms continues...true Tai Chi will become harder to find. Peace

P.S. Great quote, by the way :wink1: