Real Tai Chi
  • Welcome to Real Tai Chi
  • What is Real Tai Chi?
    • Benefits of Tai Chi
    • Tai Chi Principles
    • Tai Chi Classics
    • Tai Chi Myths Exploded
    • Tai Chi or Not Tai Chi?
    • Tai Chi Lineage
    • A quote from Jet Li
  • Where to Start
  • Progression
  • Tai Chi Chuan
    • Martial Training
    • Competitions
    • Fa Jing
  • Tai Chi Forms
    • Cheng Man Ching Form
    • Yang Long Form
    • 24 Step Form
    • 48 Step Form
  • Contact Us
  • Links

Welcome to Real Tai Chi in the UK




This is a website dedicated to providing a rich source of information about Tai Chi Chuan.

It is for everyone everywhere who practices, or is interested in, Tai Chi.



Are you thinking of taking up Tai Chi? 
See Where to Start and download your free guide,

and please DO NOT pay out large sums of money in advance for courses, 
however many free lessons are offered as an incentive,  
at least not without studying some of the information available on this website first.  
Tai Chi is brilliant and we want you to have the best possible experience, 
without it costing you a fortune or wasting your time studying made-up stuff.  
That's why we're here.


Are you already doing Tai Chi? See Progression


 Are you looking for some information about Tai Chi?  
See What is Real Tai Chi?




(On this site, click on the orange lettering for links to other sites and pages)
_______________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your feedback!


Our thanks to everyone who has taken the time to contact us about this website and for sharing your own experiences, including those of you who have been "thrown out of church with your old ladies" and those of you who have come across promises of mastery within three weeks! 
This is exactly why we are here -  to increase public awareness so that such situations are less likely to occur.



_______________________________________________________________________________



Tai Chi for Health, Relaxation and Well-Being


A recent article in Tai Chi Chuan magazine expressed a concern that only martial Tai Chi was being considered as "real Tai Chi" in some circles and that Tai Chi for Health was not. We agree that Tai Chi has an invaluable role for health and relaxation and the vast majority of our students practice it for this reason. 


Our concern is not that many people practice Tai Chi only for health; it is that there are people out there claiming to teach Tai Chi without actually knowing any Tai Chi in the first place! We are also concerned that we are being asked to "pretend it's not a martial art so we don't put people off", which we feel is something nobody would ask of a karate, judo, aikido, kung fu, kick-boxing or any other martial arts instructor!


In the end, Tai Chi is a martial art which can be practiced for many reasons but it can only be called "real Tai Chi" if it follows the Tai Chi principles. Other exercise systems, which don't follow these principles, may be very useful and enjoyable and we have no objection to them at all but we would respectfully request that they are given a different name.


_______________________________________________________________________________


This website will  be continually developed and  further information and learning materials will be added from time to time.  Part of that development will be in response to feedback we receive from you, our visitors, so if you have any comments or questions, you are welcome to contact us on realtaichi@hotmail.co.uk 


Because this site is a general resource for everyone, there are no details of our own classes and instructors  here.  We will try to speak on behalf of the Tai Chi community as a whole, but if you want to know more about who we are and what we do, please go to: 

taichileeds.com 




_______________________________________________________________________________



Thank you for your interest in Tai Chi Chuan. 

g Hamilton

Yiheyuan Martial Arts



Free 
Downloads


Free MP3 Audio

instructions for the 
Cheng Man Ching Form

Free Tai Chi eBooks: 

Your Tai Chi Companion 
Part 1 - Getting Started


and  for more experienced students:

Your Tai Chi Companion
Part 2 - Moving On



ADVANCED GUIDES NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

The intended advanced guide has stretched to three volumes, covering how to improve your forms and access your internal power, how to use Tai Chi for self-defence and how to become a Tai Chi teacher. These are all now available on Amazon as the 7 Steps Towards Mastery Series. 


For Tai Chi Fighters

The following pages might be of interest to you:
Tai Chi Competitions 
Pros and cons and some practical advice if you're thinking about having a go!


and 
Fa Jing
 Explanations, safety tips - and advice from an old friend!

Tai Chi Martial Applications

There are lots of demonstrations of Tai Chi on the internet but many of them are not practical in real-life situations. This YouTube video shows some effective Tai Chi (and Hsing Yi) moves. Yes, some of the participants were kind of gentle on each other so that you can see the techniques more clearly but these have all been tried and tested in real combat situations.

For your protection


We are concerned about the availability of quick qualifications that can be obtained over the internet via DVD or by attendance at a weekend workshop. 

We heard of someone in our area who completed such a  "qualification" via watching and submitting video footage and is now teaching a bit of Qigong-like exercise and facial relaxation which is advertised as Tai Chi.

Health Club managers are presumably unaware that this is the equivalent of putting on a flower-arranging course and calling it Karate.

Do let us know of any concerns you may have about what's happening in your own area.