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Dear fellow Dao Bums, I have recently begun studying Chen’s style Tai chi after much research on different styles. It would seem to my personal views (which are limited to mostly Western/Hindu systems) that Chen’s style is the oldest and closely related to the original principles of TaiJiQuan. It encompasses movements of hard and soft. Tension and relaxation. Fast and slow. Unifying the polarities into a whole system. Chen’s style also has a great depth to the movement of chi and its movements. From what I have seen of Yang style it seems to only be soft slow movements. Now that being said, I have seen a few people express concern on any tension at all. I was hoping some practitioners of different styles could weigh in with their personal experience and start a conversation on the differences between the styles and the beliefs surrounding them. Cheers, E. S. A. The Wanderer

Hello everyone! I have been studying Tai Ji for over 12 years. Started at a San Diego, CA school, Jing Institute, learning Yang 24. I progressed through all compulsory forms (Yang 40, Sun 73, Wu 54, Chen 56, Competition Forms, Chen Sword, Broadsword, Staff, and that weird Kung Fu/Tai Ji Fan), won a few local tournaments. Had to move to Los Angeles for college where I practiced Karate, JJJ, Systema, Wing Chun and Bujinkan (Ninjutsu style). I never missed a week of Tai Ji practice since I started. Tai Ji is my rock. My central philosophies regarding existence, martial arts, self defense, health and leading a good life really took hold thanks to ideas and concepts I learned through Tai Ji which were derived from Taoism and Buddhism. I have been hunting for fruitful discussion conceptual discussion and have had little luck. I never aim to offend, but I am not afraid to voice my opinion. My ideal to only speak truth from my perspective and I am happy to hear other points of view. My words are just words and I would never force anyone to take my position. So please know that I do my best to begin a conversation from a place of agreement and attempt to find the point at which I and another disagree before providing evidence for my position. No need to defend a position if we both agree, right? Thank you for maintaining this forum and let us understand each other so we can grow together! -Tie Xiong Ji

In case anyone was confused about terms like "Lao Jia", "Xin Jia", etc. Most people into Chen style Taiji don't know this Bonus, Chen family fighting applications