What styles of taijiquan have you studied?

[shenme]

Mostly Yang style Taijiquan as it comes form Tung Ying Chieh

And I am now training Chen style again as it comes form Chen Zhenglei

And way back when a bit of Wu style as it comes from I have no idea

[Muad'dib]

While I agree that the teacher is most important, there is more to it than that. My teacher learned Wu from Ma Yueh Liang, Hao from Hao Sao Liu, and Chen from Feng Zhiqiang. Her rep in China herself was not that shoddy either. I had a chance to do all of those styles, but when I first tried WJQ she literally stopped teaching the class, came up to me and told me to stop doing every other style I was doing, I had found the right one for me. And it was. It just really fit me. AFTER I started doing Wu, my Hao and Ba Gua improved markedly, because things I didn't understand before made sense through the lens of the Wu Style.

[edededed]

Qiphlow:

Ha ha, Dong Yingjie, makes sense (all those Dongs can be confusing...).

Dan:

Yeah, actually, these days I really want to work on my legs, anyway... This thread is more a hypothetical question to hear what others think about taiji, I will eventually do Yang style (because that is what my teacher teaches).

[river rider]

Various circumstances resulted in my being exposed to several different taijiquan schools and styles over the years. I've had varying degrees of training in Sun, Yang, Wu2, and Wu3. One result is a strong feeling for them all being essentially the same thing, taijiquan. The skills and understandings I've picked up in each of these schools have transfered seamlessly among each other... reconciling differences has led to deeper understanding of principles. There are real differences between these styles, but they are not as important as the similarities. Different paths up the same mountain.

Perhaps if I'd had the opportunity to train extensively and exclusively in just one style, under a really good teacher, I'd be further along my MA journey. Oh well, it didn't work out that way. And as I've said, I consider it all to be different facets of the same art. It is neat to be able to travel around and interact with a variety of taiji practitioners in different schools.

[SPJ]

For people that are interested;



Wang pei sheng book on wu tai chi (northern/beijing as opposed to southern/shanghai).




Ma Hong book on Chen Tai Chi.

[xuesheng]

I practice Yang and Chen Pan Ling forms.
The relative simplicity of the Yang movements makes it really good for focusing on the training of the intent - the mind/body conneciton which, IMO, is the reason for the slow practice of the form. It's a large frame.
The Chen Pan Ling form is a bit more physically complex - it really emphasizes movement of the qua and the waist more so than the Yang. The coiling is more obvious. It has more explicit martial applications. It has elements of Xing Yi and Ba Gua in it as well as obvious influences from the Wu, Yang, and Chen family styles. The Yang family lineage of Chen Pan Ling was not through Yang Chen Fu but form Yang Ban Hou which gives it a very different flavor. It's a medium frame.
Both are very valuable in their own rights, as are all styles of Tai ji Quan taught by quality teachers.
Quality of teacher is more important than family style, IMO.

[Wudangshan]

I studied Yang Chen Man Ching In NY and Wudang Daoist Tai chi 28 in Wudang. The Chen Man Ching form was good to get started, for 6 years. But the subtle stregth behind the Wudang style was superior. imo

[Methods]

Yang - Public and one of those so called combat / secret / Military sets

[Shanghaijay]

You should re-title this thread to what styles have you studied?

Learned is past tense of "to learn" and implies you have mastered the material.

Zheng Mangjing style 10 years.

Shanghai Wu Style 13 years. And Wu suites me better. The slow form and the qigong sets tend to realign the body while the fast form contrary to some people's beliefs is quite martial and explosive. If I told you about the indoor jiben gong sets though I would be duty bound to kill you.

Jay

[edededed]

Good point, done!

[Buddy]

Wu Jianquan, Chen Panling

[cgtomash]

Only one style of tai chi, Yang style through the lineage of Tung Ying Chieh. My teacher was a student of Tung Ying Chieh. I've been practicing this style almost 25 years. Wow, time flies!

[neijia_boxer]

I practice only one but i had to meet many people along the way to refine it.

Started off with Cheng man ching style since it was the only thing available- 37 form and some push hands and Da lu. I learned from a few Americans and did a few Ben Lo seminars. Later a college student introduced me to Master He Weiqi a disciple of Fu Zhong Wen. Studied under her for 6 years learning 24 form, Yang Long form and Straight sword, Push hands and Da lu variation, Sticky spear and Broadsword. She took us to Shanghai to study with Fu Zhong Wen.

Dabbled in some Wu style 37 form from a teacher who studied with Madame Wu Hing-hwa, and some with Dr. Li Li- Wu fast form and Wu style variations of push hands in Shanghai.

Weiqi invited some teachers from Beijing to teach 36 and 56 Chen Competitons forms. That sparked an interest to do seminars with Chen Zhenlei and Chen Xiao Wong to learn the traditional Laojia yilu and Er lu. I learned both and studied with a group in DC but really only practice them on occasion.

For competition reasons i did the 48 combined form, 42 and 42 sword forms. Took some seminars with Yang Zhen Dou and Yang Jun to get there take on Yang style.

Now i primarily do Yang taiji that leans towards Fu Zhong Wen's way of doing it. I'll practice with CMC people in the parks since they have alot of push hands groups in DC.

[Ian]

If I told you about the indoor jiben gong sets though I would be duty bound to kill you.

I got a super-secret set of drills as well. Wanna trade?

[Wudangshan]