Weapon Forms (Tai Chi)

Notwithstanding arguments about how to spell or say Tai chi.....
(Which makes searching for the topic a bit tedious )

More or less against the advice of my instructor, I'm thinking of starting a weapon form for Tai Chi - Does anyone have any experience with this? Which weapon forms do you enjoy the most? Where/What companies make good tai chi weapons?

I'm looking at straight sword or staff.

Possibly determined by my ability to get a nice/affordable straight sword

I would personally choose the Light Saber...

But why? Tai Chi, as I understand, is a spiritual practice that had a martial parallel which has since been lost. I don't know how accurate that is with historical information we have on the origin of various martial arts.

There is a reason why there are different Spellings

One is Martial

One is Spiritual/Health

If you wish to start learning...Might I advice learning the history, philosophy of it? It will help you to understand the variance of practices.

Myself...I prefer Kendo.

Jamie Stick wrote: But why? Tai Chi, as I understand, is a spiritual practice that had a martial parallel which has since been lost. I don't know how accurate that is with historical information we have on the origin of various martial arts.

Mweeell, I think I know what you mean... but Tai Qi Q'uan (yep, different spellings abound, but same school of thought) actually has an internal form (more ivolved with what we might call the Force) as well as an external form - perhaps that's what you're talking about?

As far as "spiritual" goes, a lot of practitioners were Taoist... but interestingly, religious Taoism sprang forth from academic Taoism

But back on topic, I'd have to say the lion sword (perhaps a pair), and the staff... definitely

To clarify - I currently practice Tai chi, and have done for a while, and am looking to expand with a weapon form.

As I don't currently study or practice any of the weapon forms, I was wondering if anyone here had some input as to styles they have used or enjoyed.


My Trainer/Mentor in Tai Chi is...recalcitrant about helping me in this direction.

Whether because he thinks I'm not good enough to start, or that he's not good enough to instruct, or some other issue is beyond me at the moment (I know he at least knows some staff forms that I've seen him doing)

Could be he has a very very good reason that should be listened to/considered

Google and Youtube

When I was studying Tai Chi and Shaolin Kung Fu, I learned to use to guan dao. It's really fun to work with and it's easy to use with Tai Chi Chuan fundamentals.

As for Tai Chi Chuan as non-martial, I'm not sure where people are getting that. I have never seen a standalone Tai Chi Chuan school (and I've been to about a dozen in the area) which doesn't stress martial application and competitive push hands and/or free sparring. The only non-martial (health/spirituality-based) Tai Chi Chuan I've seen taught has been in small groups, mostly among the elderly. Perhaps that's unique to my location, though.

TheDude wrote: As for Tai Chi Chuan as non-martial, I'm not sure where people are getting that. I have never seen a standalone Tai Chi Chuan school (and I've been to about a dozen in the area) which doesn't stress martial application and competitive push hands and/or free sparring. The only non-martial (health/spirituality-based) Tai Chi Chuan I've seen taught has been in small groups, mostly among the elderly. Perhaps that's unique to my location, though.

http://www.taoist.org/

This org has schools everywhere. It's where I learned.

I've thought about jumping in some tai chi classes around me, my only problem is the days I work one week are the days I'm off the next week and visa versa so these "weekly" classes that run for 9 weeks or 3 months at a time I would miss every other class, and they aren't usually to fond about that. I'm trying another place now to see if they have a way of working some extra time before or after or something where I could attend and work around my schedule.

My Father teaches Tai Chi in Arizona, and he recommends this DVD for the Tai Chi straight sword.
https://ymaa.com/publishing/dvd/internal/Tai_Chi_Sword_Beginners

As far as purchasing the sword itself, You could either start with a wooden training sword, or a collapsible training sword. Both are available on Amazon for around 20 bucks, or you can find somewhere locally if Amazon is not available in your location.

Staff is a personal favorite of mine, but I've always wanted to try and get into a sword form. I hear the sword and the Fan forms are similar.

Good luck!

Sirch Nayr wrote: My Father teaches Tai Chi in Arizona, and he recommends this DVD for the Tai Chi straight sword.
https://ymaa.com/publishing/dvd/internal/Tai_Chi_Sword_Beginners

As far as purchasing the sword itself, You could either start with a wooden training sword, or a collapsible training sword. Both are available on Amazon for around 20 bucks, or you can find somewhere locally if Amazon is not available in your location.

Staff is a personal favorite of mine, but I've always wanted to try and get into a sword form. I hear the sword and the Fan forms are similar.

Good luck!

This looks great! Is the rest of the series good? I see they have a bunch of other weapons and non-weapons Tai Chi DVDs

I wish I could say, but I know my dad orders from them a lot, and they have a pretty large following amongst the tai chi, qi gong, community. I'd try one and move on if it's helpful

I have a few of the qi qong meditation books I'm going to dive into soon!

Jamie Stick wrote: But why? Tai Chi, as I understand, is a spiritual practice that had a martial parallel which has since been lost. I don't know how accurate that is with historical information we have on the origin of various martial arts.

The origin of Tai Chi, before it was named Tai Chi, can be traced back into legend 3.000 years ago, the 'modern' traditional styles as is practiced today can be traced back to 1670. Tai Chi began as an material arts, but developed more and more into way of becoming your own medication, an art of health stimulation.

Qi-Gong on the other hand, is older, not sure how much older though.. It started as an art health stimulation, and later developed material art applications. The way of development of Qi-Gong is the 'reverse route' of Tai Chi in the timeline

Both share similarities and maybe a similar origin, but I am not sure about that last one.

~

https://www.alz.org/ct/documents/c4.pdf
https://taichiforhealthinstitute.org/history-of-tai-chi-2/

https://www.shen-nong.com/eng/lifestyles/chinese_qi_gong_history.html

Might I also suggest a fan form eventually? I think there are a few in T'ai Chi, and they're lovely weapons.

JamesSand wrote: Notwithstanding arguments about how to spell or say Tai chi.....
(Which makes searching for the topic a bit tedious )

More or less against the advice of my instructor, I'm thinking of starting a weapon form for Tai Chi - Does anyone have any experience with this? Which weapon forms do you enjoy the most? Where/What companies make good tai chi weapons?

I'm looking at straight sword or staff.

Possibly determined by my ability to get a nice/affordable straight sword

Yeah, I pratice the Yang form and learning this form with Fan. There is a video helps you with your firsts steps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Z4sQNQtJM

It is highly recommended that you look for a master to learn. Despite what people think, Tai-chi is a form of Kung Fu, it is focused on manipulating energies that can come to help with healing and other martial techniques.