| Many people think of Tai Chi as a spiritual/ health | | | | someone in their 80's could fight effectively. If an |
| exercise similar to Yoga, but there is a lot more | | | | 80 year old man were to use effort to wrestle |
| there than meets the eye. It is in-fact a deadly | | | | with a young Shaolin expert he would lose, and if |
| and brutal combat art. Training in the art includes | | | | the 80 year old were to try and use the same |
| striking, grappling, throws, counters and a whole | | | | vigorous training methods as the young Shaolin |
| lot more. The study of Tai Chi is the study of the | | | | student he would injure himself. This is why most |
| human body from the inside out. Practitioners gain | | | | of the time Tai Chi is practiced very slowly and |
| an a highly refined understanding of applied body | | | | softly. So that an 80 year old can train regularly |
| mechanics, but the study goes much deeper than | | | | without injury. This is also why there is such an |
| just building an understanding of angles and | | | | emphasis on applying technique without any |
| leverage. Students learn how feel the autonomic | | | | effort. For an 80 year old to successfully defeat a |
| process withing the body and how to manipulate | | | | 20 year old he must be able to move very |
| them with the conscious mind. There is also a | | | | efficiently and apply effective techniques without |
| very in-depth and sophisticated understanding of | | | | using effort. |
| how the mind works. | | | | The amazing health benefits of Tai Chi are an |
| Studying the human body and mind in this | | | | intentional byproduct of this highly refined and |
| extreme detail has amazingly impressive combat | | | | sophisticated understanding of the human body. |
| applications. It allows a 80 - 90 year old man to | | | | This allows some on their 80's and 90's to have |
| toss some who is twice their size and half their | | | | the flexibility and ease of movement necessary in |
| age across a room, or to cause massive internal | | | | order to lead an active life style and defend |
| damage with an effortless touch. Part of the | | | | themselves when necessary. |
| reason Tai Chi Chuan was developed, was so that | | | | |