Tai Chi Question

[MFC__2020]

Just out of curiosity...and I'm assuming this may vary from the styles/lineage, but is there a set in stone first form in Tai Chi/Taiji?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Chen - Laojia Yilu
Yang - Long form
Sun - Long form
Wu - not sure but traditionally the long form
Wu/Hao - Also not sure

Most people you see doing taijiquan these days are doing the Beijing 24 form, it is based on Yang style, but not from the Yang family

 

[MFC__2020]

Thanks for clearing that up.

Ive heard of the numbered forms and had no idea where what fit in to what.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

You don't have to train the whole form. If you just train part of the form, repeat it over and over, you may get more out of your training.

- Post to the eyes.
- Kick to the groin.

 

[MFC__2020]

Thats true. Thanks for the advice. Is the video of Tai Chi?

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Thats true. Thanks for the advice. Is the video of Tai Chi?

That's Chang Taiji "left/right separate leg" (1.47 - 1.52).

 

[mograph]

Wu, through the Eddie Wu lineage, has a beginner form, and it's kind of a "stick figure" form.

But in my experience, in general, teachers vary the way they teach beginners quite a bit. However, Chen is likely to be a bit more precise in its sets, with less variation. Yang might have the most variation, partly because it's the most common.

The type and quality of Tai Chi we learn is extremely dependent on the teacher and organization. About the only thing that is (for the most part) consistent between teachers is that the movements they teach look sort of like slow motion Kung Fu.

The inconsistency is vast, so the idea of "learning Tai Chi" has limited meaning.

As for videos, there are a ton of them out there, and also (it seems) just as many MartialTalk threads on how one should not learn Tai Chi from a video.