Thread: Martial Arts

Glen is right on the money,

I was able to find an instructor which covers all 3 of the styles over a week. Performance MA for competition a bit like dance and not really my thing.
Traditional martial arts, line work, patterns/kata, sparring
Competative MMA fight training
all mixed in with heavy duty fitness training.

I'm not currently training as being self employed in the current economic climate and getting to classes regularly are not compatible at the moment. Pitching up every so often is as far as I'm concerned disrespectful, which as a Black Belt in my organisation isn't something I would be happy with.

There are some shockingly bad McDojos out there the biggest challenge is finding a good club and instructor, the style is far less important.

Best of luck

I have no clue as to how people find the time these days to practice all these arts, it took me most of my young life to learn Wing Chun ip style to the point where I actually graduated with honors and was offered to teach in my school I began at.

I think these day's too many do too much, diluting arts to me is ok to a point but it seems that is all any one dose these day's and it is sad that many may go extinct and only remnants may remain one day. I suppose I believe in a pure form of an art, and I believe Wing Chun is a match for most of not all if the user is intelligent and uses their head and knows when and how to improvise.

Close to 30, huh? Wow, brother, you're really getting up there! Take it from me, who has successfully crossed the half century mark: You're in a great place to start seriously training in anything you want, and if you take good care of yourself, that will last well into your 40's., at least!

TaiChi is fantastic, but I would not approach it from the perspective of wanting to lose weight. As you start coming into a more balanced state of mind and body through the diligent practice of TaiChi, you may find that weight loss is incidental, and maybe not. I know a few very serious and gifted practitioners of TaiChi (Yang style short form), and although they are all very healthy, the buddha belly is not uncommon among the group.

By all means, if you're attracted to it, start doing TaiChi. Credentials don't really mean a whole lot IMHO, some teachers will always be a better fit for you than others, and you'll tell whether someone is a good teacher or not by whether they can help you make progress in achieving your goals.

If you want to lose weight, you won't get around some intense metabolic conditioning, aerobic conditioning and strength training. Those three areas are covered very well in boxing/kickboxing or MMA training. You may actually find that regular TaiChi practice complements those activities very well, and will aid your recovery after intense training sessions.

Best wishes for your success!

I've read this entire thread and it seems that there are some common misconceptions here regarding Tai Chi. Unfortunately most North Americans see Tai Chi as a granny's slow aerobic class when nothing could be further from the truth. It is a true, legitimate form of Chinese Gong Fu, just like Crane or Tiger or any of the other Shaolin affliliated styles. It's original form was/is fast, and although it is largely an internal form it was originally conceived as a very deadly style. Granny's martial art it is not.

Somewhere along the line, perhaps because it does have a heavy emphasis on the use of chi and employs sweeping graceful movements, it became known as a tranquil excercise routine. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, other than the fact most people have no clue about its true origins. I suppose its typical Chinese ying/yang - deadly yet tranquil....

I've been fortunate enough to observe and converse with a true master, a former world Tai Chi champion straight from the old country whose family developed one of the modern styles. If possible seek out a master and see for yourself (as opposed to some dude down at the Y). Or else, if interested in seeing Tai Chi in its old form, I'd recommend watching Jet Li's "The Tai Chi Master", which showcases this old style the way it was meant to be.