Best Chinese martial art to learn?
Hello, my name is Ryan, I’m 17 years old. I”ll get quick to it – what is the best Chinese martial art for me to learn? I have no prior experience in martial arts. Thank you so much for reading and answer,
take care.
The watch word for a martial art’s effectiveness is this; efficiency. If you train for years, for hours on a daily basis for years, and even after all that training at the moment of truth you are sweating bullets, its not a good martial art. If after training for years at the moment of truth you barely break a sweat, then its a good martial art so yes, there IS such a thing as a “best style.” Part of the reason that in “olden times” China competition among Kung Fu schools was as ruthless as it was, is because do not misunderstand the Chinese, they can be pragmatic to the point of seemingly rude.
You must understand that China has had a large population for 4,000 years, so even the nicest Chinese people have little interest in things that they feel will waste their time. With so many people, with such pressures regarding family obligation, when it comes to time issues most Chinese take New Yorkers to school. NYC denizens think they wrote the book on “I’m being rude to you because you waste my time,” when they didn’t, it was actually the Chinese who wrote it. Hell they have a whole library!
See, considering how much Chinese people value time, competition among Kung Fu schools to demonstrate which martial arts style would waste the least amount of time, was at times, inhuman. So you trained for years? You sweated it out for a long time? Too bad; someone challenged your school and your style lost, that was that. Most Chinese folks are nice people, however the culture also has darker aspects most westerners are not aware of. Among them, in how ruthless many Chinese can be towards competition, because of time issues. Again in a country so full of people, nothing but the highest standards will do.
Given this, the short answer would have to be Tai Chi Chuan, specifically, the Chen style if you can find a place. The strongest martial art on this planet, the most energy efficient, is the Yang style of Tai Chi, although, rumor has it that Yang Cheng Fu only taught the basic rudimentary form. I personally believe this rumor because I know for a fact that traditionally all Kung Fu styles have 5 108 step routines to learn. You can’t really grasp every aspect of conflict, or a given style, with only one form, and because the majority of Kung Fu styles have such long routines to learn, you pretty much have to make up your mind to make a living doing that, an outright career.
Tai Chi Chuan is the best martial art in the world, because it uses an assailant’s kinetic energy, and the laws of gravity, against them, wasting little energy, and at ANY range, whereas Aikido does those things primarily form long range. A competently trained Tai Chi expert is effective from long, mid range, and even in a clinch believe it or not. No matter what you try with them, they will use your body’s momentum to toss you to the ground like you were a rag doll. ANY movement you make, no matter how seemingly insignificant, an expert can use against you. Additionally, what will ultimately determine the outcome of a conflict, is focus, and being an “internal” style, whereas most martial arts begin with fitness, and move towards focusing the mind, Tai Chi Chuan begins its foundation by teaching its students how to focus first, and THEN doing more vigorous routines.
The Yang style it is rumored, starts out “soft,” those “snail dancing” exercises you see people do in parks early in the morning, but, the most advanced Yang routine it is also rumored, is indistinguishable from standard forms of Kung Fu.
I would go with Tai Chi Chuan; I know I may get flak for saying this but if there is a “fear no man!” martial art out there it would have to be Tai Chi. Even the rudimentary form, and its applications as guided by an instructor, can make a person quite formidable. Cheng Mang Ching, a student of Yang Cheng Fu, reputedly beat masters of Shaolin Quan. If he did he wouldn’t be the first; Shaolin Kung Fu has been bested by Tai Chi many times, which is part of the reason the modern Shaolin temple has a Tai Chi curriculum as well as their standard forms.
later.
Learning Chinese: Dating