the efficiency of tai chi chuan.how effective is tai chi chuan when facing other martial arts?

I think it doesn't have to do anything with growing old, but how much efforts and training you put into it. Tai chi chuan is obviously a gentle fist style, so when going against another gentle fist style, it's more of a battle of focus and persistence. Persevere and train hard, you will be first-rate martial artist before you even grow old

The REAL Tai Chi after lots of practice under a very good instructor/master is very effective. Back in 1981 or `82 I went to New York city to attend an Open Style Full Contact competition. Forgot all the winners but the ones that stood out was in the Heavy and Mid weight categories: Both were Tai Chi practitioners!!!!

Unfortunately most of the Tai Chi you see in schools now are for "Relaxation and Health etc."...the instructors or masters do not teach the fighting applications to the moves. Even worst some schools are so bad....think McDojo, the moves (Stances, body and arm positions) actually are counter-productive to the principles of Tai Chi and Kung Fu. One of the worst is Ta_ist Tai Chi Inc. ....my God, that chain is pumping out "Masters and instructors" every few weeks!!!! Gotta to admit they`re racking in the money though....and have alot of followers (Sorry for them....they don`t know better). And if/when they try a REAL school/class they won`t like it....because the courses are so slow.

Effectiveness of Tai Chi Chuan is no different from any other martial art. It is dependent first on what the training was focused on. Some instructors teach their style as a self-defense art. Some teach teach it as a sport. Some teach it as a childrens, or family activity. Some try to teach their classes as as to try to combine several of these things.

If the student has been taught the true self-defense applications of their art, they have a good chance that their training will be useful for self-defense. If not then what they are capable of will have less benefit in a real fight.

With that being said, here is something I witnessed. about 15 years ago...... I was asked to attend a tournament in Virginia to help judge. There was one guy that was a Tai Chi Chuan stylist. He did forms that were slow and took more than 5 minutes to complete. everyone was mumbling behind his back that his Tai Chi was useless as a fighting method. When the Kumite/fighting started, this guy was fighting. He fought only one fight. The opponent could not land a technique. This guy threw only one technique. His punch was so fast. I blinked and almost missed the punch. The opponent was knocked back several feet. he was seriously injured and paramedics worked on him for a long time. The guy was still unconscious when he was transported to the hospital. When we left the tournament, we still did not know the condition of the injured competitor. No one questioned the effectiveness of the Tai Chi after that fight.

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Great answer pugpaws2! They surprise you sometimes don't they?

I will add this:

Believe me when I tell you, you will be very surprised by the arts you suspect of being less. I was young and had that very thing figured out, just like you. Then a young (I was still young then too) judo brown-belt beat the tar out of the parking lot with me! Smart-arsed karate guy couldn't get close to that guy without hitting the ground, and I thought judo was girlish and soft! I saw some tai-chi demos that left my jaw hanging from the POWER of their art, and I do shotokan. I saw a TKD guy simply chop down a muay thai guy with fearsome kicks the MT guy could not fathom. every time I disrespected some different art, it hurt when I found out the hard way. Your martial art is yours alone, when it comes time to use it, and you will make of it what it becomes, and you alone, no matter the art, you the practitioner must make it work. I can teach you enough karate in 15 minutes to beat Chuck Norris silly. YOU have to practise it for 40 or 50 years until you are good enough at it to do that. Chuck"ll be too old to care.

Your grand father has many more years of experience on you in the art. As my master used to say "I taught you everything you know, not everything I know" and then he would vacuum throw me and watch me try and get it right.

@Zak: Not true. When you break down soft styles like tai chi, you notice that it's more about speed and accuracy rather than strength or power. Also, many of those who dedicate themselves to the art are in excellent physical condition. Grandmaster In Sun Seo is physically stronger than most people I've met and he's about 70. Of course he also does like 1000 kicks a day so I don't think that's a fair comparison.

Ehh, I personally think, through personal experience, that the 'old master' shiz is a bit of a troll, a 50 or 60 year old might defend themselves sure, but no geriatric will beat someone 30 years younger, Machida>Miyagi i'm afraid, though certainly Miyagi>some retard.

Anyhoo, all striking is vulnerable to grappling, especially trapping styles, Chinese MA's also have little grappling, certainly when compared to Japanese ones, my dad does Wing Chun, but having seen the stuff I can say even Karate has more grappling.

Focus on footwork and unbalancing, like sweeps and trips.

Or practice the Chin-Na element or try Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling).

this just shows that the type of martial art is less important than the individual and the quality of the training.. everyone thinks tai chi is a joke in terms of combat, but it can be very effective if one uses it right..

Taijiquan is a very effective MA depending on the quality of training u recieve. The more u practice the better u get. U develop Internal Strength over time.

Just do some research on Chen Style Taijiquan and the history of Chen Jia Cao. Taijiquan was created there and they have ALWAYS taught it as a MA.

You could not win against your grandfather because he has more experience than you - as you gain more experience, so did he. As for your cousin, it's because he has studied and practice more.

It's that simple. Your skill and effectiveness is simply the natural progression of continuous training. It has nothing to do with styles, but with where you are at this moment.

As you grow older, you cannot depend on muscular strength or speed. Your only real strengths are your experience, knowledge, and the quickness of your mind. There is an old saying where I live - Don't mess with old people. They won't bother to fight you, they'll just kill you.