Winning with Tai Chi in an Open Tournament

tournament competition Feb 25, 2007

In the last couple of years, I've enjoyed performing Chen tai chi forms in open martial arts tournaments. I'm often the only kung fu person in the black belt division, and I get a charge out of doing something so completely different than the karate and TKD forms done by other black belts. I've done the Chen 38 form several times, putting a little more fajing into the movements to show the martial side.

Yesterday, I won first place at a tournament in Illinois with a shortened version of Xinjia Yilu, the form I'm studying now. It's so much fun to compete with these forms, which blend the smooth, relaxed strength with sudden bursts of power, while the forms run by other black belts are so "tense" throughout every movement.

I have a Google search running every day on the keywords "tai chi," and almost every article I receive from around the world talks about how tai chi is so good for senior citizens and for relaxation. Very rarely does the article mention that it's a martial art, and when it does, you can tell that the teacher in the article doesn't really practice it as a martial art, but just gives lip service to that aspect of tai chi.

If more Chen people went out to mixed tournaments and showcased this art, perhaps the word will spread and the image of tai chi will change. It's the most amazing and deep art I've ever studied, yet it's lumped in with the elderly or with people who believe in the supernatural.

What a shame.

I also won first place in fighting yesterday in the black belt division. You don't change the image of something without public recognition or marketing, and I'd like to urge more tai chi folks to go out and put it on the line with other styles so we can draw more martial artists to this fantastic art.

--by Ken Gullette

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Winning with Tai Chi in an Open Tournament

Try Two Weeks Free and Get Step-by-Step Training in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua from Basic to Advanced Skills with No Mystical Mumbo-Jumbo

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