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<blockquote data-quote="Axeboy" data-source="post: 467425" data-attributes="member: 1842">I've dabbled a bit with several of the so-called 'internal' Chinese arts:&nbsp;&nbsp; mostly Tai Chi ('standard form' and Yang, but not much), but also Pa Kua and Hsing-I.&nbsp;&nbsp; I have a little (very little) experience with Wing Chun and a Chinese form similar to Aikido (though the name escapes me right now).&nbsp; I'm certainly interested in any of these, as well as Aikido, but don't know much about my current area (East Texas: Nacogdoches/Lufkin) as we've just recently moved here.&nbsp; Books are OK, but they're really not a substitute for a good teacher...As to the street utitlity of these styles, I dunno; I've never really used them in sparring or combat, but find them fun to learn (especially the 'Push Hands' from Tai Chi).&nbsp; There are, of course, the standard stories/anecdotes about the styles, but I've never actually witnessed anything that would attest to their utility, and (luckily) have never had to use the stuff myself--frankly, I'm not sure I'd even try (unless my life were at stake, of course).I found the other thread (linked above) a bit interesting; I'm not quite sure you can call something combat unless there's death involved--anything short of that has to have rules, and so is really just a game:&nbsp; one style may dominate the game, but that's probably just an artifact of the rules.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Axeboy, post: 467425, member: 1842"] I've dabbled a bit with several of the so-called 'internal' Chinese arts: mostly Tai Chi ('standard form' and Yang, but not much), but also Pa Kua and Hsing-I. I have a little (very little) experience with Wing Chun and a Chinese form similar to Aikido (though the name escapes me right now). I'm certainly interested in any of these, as well as Aikido, but don't know much about my current area (East Texas: Nacogdoches/Lufkin) as we've just recently moved here. Books are OK, but they're really not a substitute for a good teacher... As to the street utitlity of these styles, I dunno; I've never really used them in sparring or combat, but find them fun to learn (especially the 'Push Hands' from Tai Chi). There are, of course, the standard stories/anecdotes about the styles, but I've never actually witnessed anything that would attest to their utility, and (luckily) have never had to use the stuff myself--frankly, I'm not sure I'd even try (unless my life were at stake, of course). I found the other thread (linked above) a bit interesting; I'm not quite sure you can call something combat unless there's death involved--anything short of that has to have rules, and so is really just a game: one style may dominate the game, but that's probably just an artifact of the rules. [/QUOTE]

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