The applications must still be understood, at the very least in the end frames, and the body mechanics must be correct or.....no taiji...its a simple as that.
Amen to that. If you truly want Tai Chi, you need to understand and be able to produce the martial aspect.
taijiquan is basically an art for masochists...........
Funny...I've often said the same thing. In our class, we thank each other for being pushed off balance. Plus, it's just fun to experience "flying" when someone correctly applies a technique
Ken JP Stuczynski, I admire your attitude and honesty.
As far as good Tai Chi in Southeast Michigan...Wu Style has two academies in SE Michigan, one in Ann Arbor, and one in Royal Oak, and several classes offered in surrounding communities.
Judging Tai Chi's combat ability by forms is a tough thing to do (for a low level student like me, at least). For one thing, the applications are often hidden. From what I know, Chen shows more martial things, with explosive power. However, in traditional Wu style, the form is performed at constant speed, which makes it harder to read.
My Sifu told me a story about her experience with judging skill. When my Sifu was still a beginner, she was watching a tournament, and this one guy had an amazing, beautiful form. She was very surprised when this guy did not get high marks. Appearances can be deceiving. I think that in order to see whether someone has skill through their forms, one must have good knowledge of Tai Chi or perhaps another internal art. Therefore, to a novice/outsider, a Tai Cheee dancer and actual master might look similar.
As far as Tai Chi lacking certain training methods, I think this depends on the teacher and the level of the students. The teacher might not know how to train certain things, but it's also possible that the students aren't ready to train those things yet and would only hurt themselves if they did them. What ground techniques does Wu style have? I don't know, but then again, I'm still quite the beginner. I have some experience with chin na, and Wu style has quite a bit of that.
While a Tai Chi practicitioner is supposed to be able to react to any type of situation, for most people, it is easier to react to a situation they have experienced in the past. In practicing Tai Chi, one shouldn't be stiff and hard. This brings a dilemna: how to gain experience against stiff and hard people when Tai Chi students shouldn't be stiff and hard? I personally rely on the other person being hard and stiff, and am not going to be hard and stiff to provide my training partner with an example. I think this is an area in which tournaments may help. In tournaments, you are exposed to students of other Tai Chi schools who may or may not be practicing proper Tai Chi, giving one an opportunity to deal with stiff people. Even this isn't a great solution, as push hands is not really combat. Freestyle, I think, is the way to train combat. Unfortunately, I'm not ready to train freestyle yet.
IMHO it's important that people realize that Tai Chi is not composed of a set number of kicks/punches/throws/etc. I've been told that Tai Chi was created as answer to all other styles, which is not possible if Tai Chi was a finite set. Tai Chi is based on a set of principles. As long as the movements are in accordance with those principles, one is performing Tai Chi. From one comes two, from the two come the ten thousand.