Tai Chi Quan

[Jahun]

Hello,

I was hoping to to get some help locating a good place to learn Tai Chi in Austin, Round rock area. There are tons of schools here, but how can I find out who's legit. I met one guy but I didn't get a good vibe from him. My gut was telling to run away!LOL.

any advice would be great!

thank you,
jahun

[Mandeigh Wells]

do any of them have websites? can you post links or provide any further info on what they are offering and I will try and give you some help!

[dao]

Your fortunate in having several places to choose from. First you're doing the right thing in following your gut- the most important thing in finding a school is that YOU are comfortable with the instructor. If you get a bad vibe its a bad school for you.

Another good thing to look at is the senior students at the school- do they exhibit qualities that you want. Are they a good model for you? One of the goals you'll have if you stay the school is to become a senior member so its really good if the senior students are people you want to be like.

Consider:

- Things like how far it is from your house, school or workplace. Will you be able to get there when you aren't feeling motivated?
- What are the facilities like? How important are locker rooms to you?
- Do you mind training with mostly men? mostly women? or do you prefer a mixed group?
- Will you have to sign a contract? That's not always a bad thing but, if you are then make sure that you a comfortable with it.
- How flexable is their schedule and how flexable is yours? What happens if you suddenly have a change (i.e. you suddenly have to work nights) will they have classes you can take during the day.
- What do they charge? Are the costs something that you are comfortable with? Make sure that you understand and look for hidden fees (the big one here is you are required to buy the school's uniform and can't substitute anything else and although this isn't usually the case if Tai Chi what are the promotion fees)

But, the most immprtant thing is that you have to be comfortable with the teacher. You are getting into a long-term relationship so be careful who you choose.

Also per forum rules, please sign your full name with future posts :wink2:

[John Bennett]

Debra gives good advice. Austin is full of hippies. I bet most of the Tai Chi you encounter there will be of the new-age herbal tea variety rather than the fighting kind.

Whether you like the school is more important than "legitimacy".

So really the question is: what do you want from Tai Chi?

[KRJMAA]

Your right there are a bunch of schools to pick from.

Tom Gohring
East Wind training Hall
There is a school near the mall close to Lamar.

I'd avoid the Shaolin-Do schools though

[Jahun]

KRJMAA,
Funny that you said that. It was a shaolin-do school, LOL. Amazing...

Ms. Wells,
besides the one listed above there was one place. I really liked him and the school, but he is pretty far. He teaches Chang style tai chi only once a week. He said Chang style would be good for me because Its geered for throwing (I study jujutsu). I'm not sure about that, thats what I understood. I didn't get to see his tai chi class, but I watched a Shuai Chiao, which was really cool.
www.taichiherb.com

John,
I hear great things about Taichi. I remeber when I was going to college in Houston. I would pass by a park every morning, and see several older oriental people out there doing it. I interested in it as a form of exercise. I was thinking about this or Yoga.

Dao,
Good points. I'm very easy. The only thing on your list I would have to watch out for is the location, price, and teacher. All the others are not a big deal to me.

My thing is, Taichi was a deadly martial art before. If I am incorrect, please correct me. Now it seems its just a watered down system to make some money off new agers. If I did get involved I would like something traditional, and if it could be used cool. It seems like down here almost all schools offer Taichi, it just seems strange to me.
Do you guys think that is a good form of exercise?

thanks,
jahun

[KRJMAA]

I used to live in Austin and I still have friends there I'd forgotten about the Chang Tai Chi school. From all accounts they are as John say "legitimate."

If you're looking for school for the martial aspect of tai chi I'd try to find a Chen Tai Chi School. Yang is probably the most popular and I know I'm going to get some slack for this but it has lost alot of the self defense applications. I have seen some great yang fighters though. I personally practice Chen so I'm bias.

I think there is a school called the Jingyu Tai Chi and Chi Gung Meditation Center

[Jahun]

Thank you Mr. Garza,

What is the difference between the styles? Are they fundamently the same but with some personality added, sort to speak?

I really like Shifu Hwang. The only thing that was holding me back was the location (and the price a TINY bit.) I live in Hutto and work A LOT. I'm just not sure about committing, yet.

thanks,
jahun

[Mandeigh Wells]

Chang Tai Chi...well that got my alarm bells ringing for a start.........so I had a look at the website... :( looks like bad Cheng Man Ching

from the photos on the site...poor posture, no attention to the essences, poor stances, no body connections.

I would agree with KRJMAA, if you can find a Chen school that would be your best bet. I would also partly agree with the Yang statment, you need to find Yang family, also known Traditional Yang........andything else calling itself Yang is pretty much BS...sadly

[KRJMAA]

Mandeigh I've never personally studied with Hwang but by reputation alone he seems to be personable and he has had some great Doc Fai Wong and John Wang. But then again those teachers are known for styles other than Tai Chi.

There are some form differences in Chen and Yang. Most noteable is that Chen retains the aspects of silk reeling, fajing, and Chen IMHO is more dynamic. In my mind the best way to describe Chen is as hard Tai Chi. Chen is, arguably, the first tai chi style. And all modern tai chi(yang, Wu, Hao, Sun and Chen of course) can trace there lineage to Chen.

If you are in Hutto try getting in contact with David Pickens, I maybe wrong but I think he taught a form of Tai Chi. Again I'm only going by word of mouth.

Here are a couple of more places to try:

Sifu David Pickens,
Central Texas Martial Arts Association in Round Rock, Texas at (512)244-7410

Central Texas Kung Fu Exchange
Austin, TX
Head Instructor: Sifu Jeff Hughes
Contact #: 512-292-3127

[Mandeigh Wells]

Off topic I know...but didn't you say at some point you were an art teacher?

[KRJMAA]

Yes I teach Art (3rd grade thru 5th grade) it's my day job. I teach at my own school(mmmm my own school, I love the sound of that) Mon-Thurs nights.

[Mandeigh Wells]

Yes I teach Art (3rd grade thru 5th grade) it's my day job. I teach at my own school(mmmm my own school, I love the sound of that) Mon-Thurs nights.

I thought you did.....my day job is an art student...I am on my second year of a degree......not sure for how much longer though.......... :o

[KRJMAA]

I graduated with a bachelors of fine art 8 years ago. So I know how you feel, sometimes it is hard to see the light the end of the tunnel but just keep at it. People don't have any idea how hard studying art can be. When things are getting hard I always keep in mind that all things created began with art.

Art is the reason I took up tai chi in the first place. I was always a hard stylist but my art started to reflect that. I had a showing and one of the critics said my work was profound but primitive. I got a chance to talk to him and he said he felt my work lacked "chi." That made my ears perk up because I knew exactly what he meant. Then I met the guys from BMA Wushu and they started me off in Chen Tai Chi. I still practice the hard stuff but I'm a big proponent of tai chi.

[Grasshopper]

Do you all know of any good places in Shanghai? I know, it's a pretty silly question. But it seems that MA schools are far more common in Europe and the USA than they are here. Of course, the problem may be that I just can't read the signs. :D

[Bugeisha]

While we're picking your brains about instructors, have any of you heard of Robert Boyd? He's the second disciple of Ip Tai Tak (I think John Ding's the first). He teaches Yang family taiji, and seems pretty legit, but I don't really know much about taiji. His website's http://www.iptaichi.org I believe. Any input would be great!

[Jeff Burger]

Go down to the head of The Bund in the morning and you will see people doing and teaching Tai Chi.

Many of the universities have wushu teams. You would more than likely find Tai Chi or at least a lead there.

Jeff