Tell the truth, pretty boy. You don’t really care whether your martial art works on the streets. You just want to burn calories and build muscle, because that is what works on the beach.
So let me warn you: although Taijiquan can benefit your health, your physical appearance will pay the price. Hazards:
- Regular abdominal breathing will relax and stretch your belly, causing abdominal distension.
- Standing pole exercises will strengthen your shoulder and back muscles, throwing them into sharper contrast with your scrawny chest and arms.
- Constant feelings of ease will keep a goofy smile on your face.
Zhang Sanfeng
Get Ready for Summer!
Legends say that Taijiquan founder Zhang Sanfeng resembled a sloppy, dim-witted turtle. Unless you wish to follow in his footsteps, you should moderate your practice. Fitness tips:
- Intimidate would-be bullies by sticking out your chest and chin.
- Super-size your muscles by working each group in isolation. Scientific fact: a sum is no more than its parts.
- Smoking and worrying make you thin. Do both as often as possible.
Share your own tips and advice below.
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16 responses so far ↓
1
John
// May 14, 2008
Work more hours so that you can earn enough money to buy those weight lose pills, and that “muscle milk”. yum!
good stuff here.
2
John
// May 14, 2008
loss*
3
Gebeleizis
// May 28, 2008
Not to mention the slow speed of the body movement resulting from here
. The relaxed movement of the body will not give anymore that “macho” impression that works for many girls.
4
elvin
// Dec 11, 2008
well, i’ve been busting my muscle’s asses for about 8 years on this stuff, and i have something to say about it: ultimately loss is just life before martial arts.
5
Steve
// Dec 12, 2008
Taji isnt all that great. You cant win a fight with it, you wont lose weight with it, you cant do jackship with it. If it had any real applications for anything they are long gone.
6
John Jr.
// Dec 12, 2008
Steve,
I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not. But if you’re not:
Tai Chi actually helps both of those things you mentioned. Both maintenance of health (including maintaining a healthy weight) and fighting require concentration to be good at. One of the many benefits benefits of Tai Chi is the development of concentration and discipline.
“Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe.” -John Milton
Different arts work best for different people. If you don’t feel like your learning anything from Tai Chi than maybe it’s not for you; or maybe that’s even more reason to explore it.
7
joshuahyoung
// Feb 27, 2009
One of my friends goes a step further than many, he collects martial art books to line his shelves with, in his own words it is just for looks. I borrow and read them but many of them he has never opened.
He is a type of pretty boy I suppose, just having the image of books on his shelf serves his purpose.
8
eastpaw
// Jul 22, 2009
Hey, Chris, do you have any sources for that abdominal distension thing? When I relax my belly, it is abnormally round and hard in an elastic way. But some very accomplished IMA teachers insist that a big belly is not a necessary consequence of IMA training.
9
Chris
// Jul 22, 2009
Sources? My sources are the dozens of pot-bellied Taiji students and instructors I have met over the years.
I absolutely agree that a big belly is not a necessary consequence of IMA…but it does seem to be a natural consequence of Taiji.
10
alwayslearning_drinkyourcup
// Jul 23, 2009
All martial arts are based on the same principles….but for you knukle heads who wont drink, or at least empty your cup here are some useful tips: ask any RKC (dragondoor.com) and you will find that abdominal breathing and inner abdominal pressure are key to martial arts not to mention strength. your body does not isolate any muscles for any martial technique, besides would you rather use your awesome chest muscles…or your whole body? snatches, clen n jerk, side press, dead lift, dips, pull ups, these are what real strength is all about. you cant have proper posture without the principle of breathing correctly. using your chest muscles to breathe raises your center of gravity… great for telegraphing… not to mention is the cause of a lot of upper back problems. yes a big belly results from laque of proper instruction on pressurizing your breathe with the vocal cords. martial arts are not to intimidate or defeat foes, its about self control. if you have more control over your own body than your opponent has over his own body and more control over our own bodies than our opponents have over us then how can we be beaten by anyone but ourselves? you might win your fight by chance while your lacking control, you cannot lose a fight when in control. read it, drink it and empty that cup! If anything think for yourselves and search for the real answers yourself, no one person is perfect, no one person can provide you with anything but a finger to point you in a direction. You have to feel being for yourself.
11
alwayslearning_drinkyourcup
// Jul 23, 2009
oh and look up rkc, pavel, dragon door, and somthing called systema (russia martial arts) ballistic striking on you tube. you will see that strength comes from tension, and power comes from concentration on one thing….NOW…. which means as little distractions as possible and thus as little tension as possible(if our brains power is put into any undue tension, its focus is just that much more distracted from the goal), icluding gravities pressure form poor posture which uses our minds focus to keep us upright, our opponent who to think of as an oppenent only gives him more power (hint:there is no opponent there is only your center, and in the end, truly, only being) there isn’t even an I, for to think of yourself as I is to become trapped in a moment. there is no I only center… and truly, only being……….. oh and i’m only 23 so give me a break
I belive that true martial skill comes first from fitness through a full range of motions. then repetition of the principles (and some proper technique) of upper body, lower body, throw and wrestling, joint locking attacks (standing and on the ground) and Pressure Points (which include nerve stikes, nerve presses, hair/skin grab/tear, and seperating the muscle/joint from tendon/bone). and finally LEARNING TO HAVE NO MIND. STOP THINKING AND START BEING. then you will see that your technique is my technique. then you will be technique.
oh and for the soft stylists out there in my opinion martial arts is about self control, so seeking to just be soft is only half the effort needed to have self control. in my opinion to truly undrstand being soft, one must understand being hard. I have found that chi is more about mental tension and having bodies that are hardened by wolffs law in any manner wont block chi, olny give us a greater understanding of it? I (of course) could be wrong;)
12
alwayslearning_drinkyourcup
// Jul 23, 2009
I failed english so forgive me for my poor writing skill and horrible structure
13
josh young
// Jul 24, 2009
you will see that strength comes from tension
Which strength?
14
Socratic Echo
// Dec 23, 2009
I can think of one very old, very strong-looking Tai Chi Chuan master. I have trained with several extremely athletic-looking Internal martial artists, with great skill in Xingyi, Bagua and Tai Chi Chuan.
Internal martial arts will not give you a pot belly. Poor diet and lack of exercise will give you a pot belly.
15
Socratic Echo
// Dec 23, 2009
In fact, internal martial arts emphasise hard work and muscular conditioning a great deal. If you think it’s all about being slow and doing qigong I don’t think you’ve been taught correctly.
Of course, the Chinese government raped tai chi chuan into tai chi and started selling that crap everywhere, so of course these impressions are persistent.
16
S.Smith
// Jan 16, 2010
Very fun.
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